Browsing: Featured

There’s something special about a win that feels both well-earned and long overdue. That’s exactly the energy surrounding Jackson’s newest honor: being named the South’s Top Culinary Town for 2025 by The Local Palate. After two rounds of public voting this summer, Jackson didn’t just hold its own — it rose to the very top, beating out cities across the region with a confidence only Mississippi’s capital can carry.

The 5th Squad began in 2016, founded by four veterans from Mississippi’s 184th Sustainment Command to build a strong brotherhood and address combat isolation in military life. After becoming an official nonprofit, 5th Squad provides immediate, impactful support for fellow veterans in crisis, filling gaps in traditional aid with quick financial help daily living, and rallies veterans together to foster a unique, service-oriented community.

MOSS POINT—Nothing says Christmas more than the joy in the eyes of a child upon receiving a gift, and the Junior Auxiliary of Pascagoula-Moss Point is working to make sure children in foster care have that same look of joy.

Toyota Mississippi team members build more than just great cars, as the automaker hosted a paid volunteer effort on site…

Writer and director Clinnesha D. Sibley is bringing a new holiday production to McComb on December 6—Love in the Layover, a Christmas-season play set in the most unlikely of places: an airport full of strangers.

When Lynn Martin talks about sewing, her voice softens—not out of nostalgia, but out of a deep, steady respect for a skill that shaped her life. She grew up moving around the Southwest and the Deep South, the daughter of an ironworker whose union jobs carried the family from Mississippi to Arizona, Texas, and Louisiana. Her father helped build landmarks like the New Orleans Superdome, but it was her mother who built something just as lasting: the family’s clothes, and Lynn’s love for sewing.

MOSS POINT—After being thankful for family, friends and food on Thanksgiving, the whirlwind of Black Friday, Shop Small Saturday and Cyber Monday all focus on getting the best deals on gifts or other purchases. But there is one more, less promoted, day on the calendar that is not about buying, but instead, it is about giving.

PASCAGOULA—Repurpose it and they will come! That is where David Boland’s brain has been lingering for the past 25 years as he was handed hit after hit in trying to keep Pavco Wood Products in operation on River Road in Pascagoula.

Local shops, good food, and a relaxed way to tackle your gift list.

Downtown Summit has become an unexpectedly great spot for holiday shopping. The stretch along Robb Street mixes vintage finds, local art, cozy cafés, and independent shops in a way that makes wandering from place to place actually enjoyable. If you want to keep your shopping local — or just avoid the chaos of bigger towns — Summit is an easy win.

If you’ve ever walked into Sugaree’s Bakery in New Albany, then you already know this truth: some places don’t just smell good — they feel good. And Sugaree’s is one of those places where the air is thick with butter, sugar, and just enough nostalgia to stop you in your tracks before you make it all the way to the counter. It hits you right in the childhood.

There is something special about ringing a Salvation Army Bell during the holidays. As a volunteer Bell-Ringer, I am always inspired by the thoughtfulness of those that make their way to the kettle to deposit whatever they have to give. Whether it is a folded bill or a handful of change, the spirit of giving is apparent in her or his own way.

When I first moved to Summit in December of 2024, one of the very first places people told me about was The Happy Easel. As a mom, I was immediately intrigued — my kids have always loved art. And as an artist myself, I thought, how perfect! But here’s the funny thing: my kids don’t really want to learn from me. They’d much rather go somewhere fun, get their hands messy, and hear instructions from someone new — someone like Beth Shepard, the owner of The Happy Easel.

PASCAGOULA—From the armed services to the civilian world, Veteran Richard Jeffery Barnes has spent his entire career leading a life of service to the Country and others, something that he inherited from his father.

The Alcorn State University Sounds of Dyn-O-Mite was selected to perform in the 2025 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, representing the state of Mississippi. This monumental opportunity will provide unparalleled national exposure to the historically Black, land-grant University and is a life-changing moment for the student musicians. It all started with Dr. Everson Martin, the director of bands at Alcorn State University, who had a vision to put Alcorn on the national stage.

When I was a kid growing up in Pascagoula, adventure started in my backyard. My best friend and I would lug an old aluminum boat down to the water, haul out a car battery to hook up the trolling motor, and pack snacks, Cokes, and whatever else we could scrounge out of the cabinets into a bag. The plan—at least at first—was always to make it all the way to Round Island, that mysterious speck on the horizon that seemed impossibly far away to two kids in a twelve-foot boat

MISSISSIPPI GULF COAST—It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas along the 44-mile stretch of the Mississippi Gulf Coast with festivals and parades from state line to state line.