SUNDAY, JANUARY 11, 2009

PAGE 4PAGE 4PAGE 4

Krewe of Tri-CitiesKrewe of Tri-CitiesKrewe of Tri-Cities43rd annual carnival ball43rd annual carnival ball43rd annual carnival ball

set for Saturday nightset for Saturday nightset for Saturday night

PAGE 10PAGE 10PAGE 10

Gulf Coast PiratesGulf Coast PiratesGulf Coast PiratesTeam efforting towardTeam efforting towardTeam efforting toward

June kickoffJune kickoffJune kickoff

CLOSED IN 1950

Y.M.C.A.Boatyardescapedhandsof scrapdealers Hewlett

Receptionset forlibrarydirector

By JOANNE ANDERSONCorrespondent

The story of the reserva-tion boatyard picks up in1951 when the U.S. ArmyCorps of Engineers closed itdown.

Feb. 23, 1951 — The oldU.S.ArmyEngi-neerboat-yardwas of-feredfor saleby the

General Services Administra-tion. Deadline for bids wasMar. 30, 1951. The propertywas described as having 18.5acres of land with 26 build-ings and structures, one1,000-ton and one 50-ton ma-rine way, machinery and in-stallations. Estimated valuewas $175,000.

Mar. 9, 1951 — A jointcommittee, representingcounty government, Pasca-goula and Pascagoula PortCommission was named tomeet with GSA in Atlanta totry to purchase the reserva-tion boatyard. Committeemembers were A.P. Moran,board of supervisors presi-dent; E.A. Khayat, Beat 2 Su-pervisor; Mayor Wilbur Dees,State Rep. Hermes Gautier,and W.R. Guest, Port Com-mission president and EastonKing, Port Commission secre-tary.

Apr. 13, 1951 — The GSArejected all bids due to insuf-ficient amounts and set fairvalue at $117,000. The localcommittee had bid $80,000.GSA called for new bids to besubmitted by Apr. 25, 1951.

Apr. 27, 1951 — The boat-yard bid was awarded to H.H.Colle and J.H. Colle as theGulf Coast Marine Ways Inc.Colles’ bid of $126,785 washighest among eight. The cityand Port Commission had noobjection to the award.Colles’ proposal for the facili-ty’s use included mainte-nance and repair of its five

Please see Yard Page 2A �

Photos by ANN MANISCALCO/Correspondent

YMCA employees, board members, volunteers and other community representatives gathered recently tocelebrate the Active Adult Center ribbon-cutting ceremony at the 1820 Government St. location in OceanSprings. � Friday’s gala will

be open to the public

Submitted byJackson-George Regional Library

A reception for Carol C.Hewlett will be held from 5:30to 7 p.m. Friday at the InaThompson Moss Point Li-brary.

The reception is open tothe public and will include abrief presentation at 6 p.m.

Refreshments will beserved by the Friends of theLibrary in Moss Point.

Musical entertainment willbe provided by the MossPoint High School Jazz Band,under the direction of OtisCarter.

The regional board an-nounced in November thatHewlett was appointed as li-brary director of the JacksonGeorge Regional Library Sys-tem.

Hewlett was previouslybranch manager of the MossPoint library from 1999-2008.

In 2004, she worked closelywith city officials, the Friendsof the Library, and advisoryboard members to bringabout the new library at itscurrent location.

Her community involve-ments include Rotary Club,Moss Point Active Citizens,River City Cultural Founda-tion, Moss Point CelebrationsCommittee, Moss Point Wom-en’s Club, PEO and advisorycommittees for the MossPoint School District.

The library is at 4119 Bell-view St. in Moss Point. Visitthe library Web site atwww.jgrls.org for otherevents and services of theJackson George Regional Li-brary System.

New center offers growth,exercise and education� Physical, mental andspiritual programs target‘baby boomers’ andothers, officials say

By ANN MANISCALCOCorrespondent

OCEAN SPRINGS — As dozensof people gathered in front of thebuilding at 1820 Government St.,the ribbon-cutting ceremony gotunder way, and a new center for

the baby-boomer-and-beyondgenerations was officially opened.

Shan Hudlow, the active adultcoordinator for the Ocean SpringsYMCA, welcomed the crowd andintroduced the event’s speakers.

One speaker at the Jan. 7 eventwas Dan Hecker, president andCEO of the YMCA. He pointed outthat “15 percent of Americans areover the age of 65, and almostone-third of the Mississippi GulfCoast YMCA members are over65.”

Since boomers consider issues

of individual health and longevitya top priority, he said, “We hopeto promote those values by offer-ing a place where these folks cancontinue to grow mentally, physi-cally and spiritually through exer-cise, healthy lifestyle education,Bible study and informal educa-tion classes in areas of interest.”

This day culminated about sixweeks of intense planning andpreparation.

“This building was being

Please see YMCA Page 8A �

CEO Dan Hecker was one of the speakers at theribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Ocean SpringsYMCA Active Adult Center on Jan. 7.

YMCA volunteer Barbara Fournier chats with JohnRhodes at the YMCA Active Adult Center openhouse in Ocean Springs. Starting Feb. 5, Rhodeswill teach a class in photography basics as part of avariety of programs the center will offer.

Youth court worker dedicates her time, talent to CASABy APRIL M. HAVENS

Staff Reporter

After three years of working atthe Jackson County Youth Court,Laura Taylor finds herself gettingcraftier and craftier.

A hobby that began in the mid-1980s with sculpting a few piecesof pottery for fun has turned intomaking hundreds of throws forGautier’s Christmas parade andheading up CASA’s craft needs.

Court Appointed SpecialAdvocates is a group of localvolunteers who take on abusedand neglected children cases andact as an extra set of eyes and earsfor the Jackson County YouthCourt. They spend time with the

children, their families and others,which helps the volunteer makerecommendations for the child in

court.Last June, Taylor was one of 17

CASA volunteers who graduated

from the program’s rigorous30-hour training period. Becauseshe is a deputy clerk, Taylor isunable to take on cases, but shewent through the training to learnas much as she could about theprocess.

Instead of taking cases, Taylor,“the craft lady,” heads Friends ofCASA, about 13 volunteers whohelp her with events, crafts andfundraising efforts for CASA. She isresponsible for all the ribbons,bookmarks, magnets, and holidaythrows that CASA hands outduring the year to raise awarenessfor the cause.

She sews, she embroideries,she writes poems, she cross-

stitches, she quilts, and she’sabout to start baking her own claybeads for making jewelry, whichshe will sell to raise money forCASA.

“I guess I can pretty much makeanything if I know what someone islooking for,” she said. “Doing craftsstarted out slow and kind ofsnowballed. Eventually I neededmore help because it’s hard whenyou start making 200 of three orfour different crafts.”

She first tinkered with potteryand making padded photo albumswhile she was in the Army in 1985,she said. From there, her interestescalated. Now she often makes

Please see Taylor Page 2A �

Gulf Coast NeighborsGulf Coast NeighborsGulf Coast Neighbors Laura TaylorLaura TaylorLaura Taylor

Hometown: Ocean Springs, aGautier resident for nine yearsFamily: Husband Jeffrey Taylor,sons Kevin Campbell and WilliamCampbell, and two grandchildrenOccupation: Deputy clerk at theJackson County Youth CourtHobbies: CASA volunteer, crafts,poetry, gardening, fishing

Old Crab IndexPolitical announcement.......... 2Coast Calendar................... 2, 3Reunions................................ 3

Business Briefs ...................... 4Supervisors agenda ............... 5Editorial.............................. 6, 7

You know you’re getting old whenan “all-nighter“ means not getting up touse the dadburn bathroom.

Vol. 161 - No. 331, 10 Pages ©