Minutes to Memories

After getting everything squared away for the two days I'll be out of the office next week, I worked the downtown area for my Ocean Springs photo-project (check out three new entries HERE).

I enjoyed meeting Kim at Chandeleur Outfitters, swapped Katrina stories with the owner of an antique shop, and sat on the porch of Two Dogs Dancing for awhile with its owner, Mickie.

In the middle, I had the pleasure of seeing my friends, Jim and Betty, and Betty posed for a picture with her new "urban art" project in front of their downtown business (pictured above).

After Katrina, a bar opened in downtown Ocean Springs. Followed by another. And another. And some more "anothers," though I don't have an official count. Many Ocean Springs citizens (along with many downtown business owners) are disheartened to see this sudden influx into what had normally been a clean, quiet, quaint area.

Recently, several of the bar owners came together to create a Cinco de Mayo Festival for the downtown area (that has since been renamed, May Fest). The downtown area of Ocean Springs hosts several festivals each year, and often the streets are blocked off to turn them into pedestrian stret festivals. Without polling the downtown owners, the city approved "May Fest" for the first Saturday in May.

A lot of downtown business owners aren't happy about this development at all, but in spite of appealing to city government, the festival continues its preparations.

So today, Betty decided to do her bit to expose the situation. After another day picking up a lot of beer bottles and other trash new to the area since the influx of the bars, she decided to turn it into what she named "Urban Art," which you see pictured above. I'll tell you, with the lighting, the glass, the beads, and the landscaping, she sure made it an eyecatcher!

It will be interesting now to see the reactions.