Community Clicks
July 31, 2019
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Hob Knob
July 13
Martini Shakedown
June 20
Taste, Rattle and Roll
July 13
Frida Fest
Faces and Places
Randy Ponder named to MPA Hall of Fame
One of the unsung heroes of Hurricane Katrina, Randy Ponder kept his Mississippi Gulf Coast newspaper in print and in new racks following the catastrophic Hurricane Katrina in August 2005. Retiring in December after a half-century in the newspaper business, Ponder was inducted into the Mississippi Press Association Hall of Fame in June 2019 in Biloxi.
Story and photography by Andy Kanengiser
James “Randy’’ Ponder made sure his Mississippi Gulf Coast newspaper stayed in print following Hurricane Katrina.
People call “The Sea Coast Echo’’ publisher one of the unsung heroes of that deadly disaster slamming the region in August 2005.
The Bay St. Louis newspaper office was destroyed by the storm, but Ponder and his staff worked long hours elsewhere in town. They made sure the paper stayed in news racks and continued to serve the area they love.
Retiring in December after a half-century in the newspaper business, Randy Ponder was saluted in June as a new member of the Mississippi Press Association Hall of Fame.
“I am so humbled by this honor when I know there are so many great newspaper more deserving than myself. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.’’
His selection to the Hall of Fame was well-deserved, say scores of admirers attending the MPA’s 153rd annual convention. Family members, including his wife, Sherry, joined him for the June 21 ceremony at a Biloxi hotel.
“To be recognized by my peers and inducted into the MPA Hall of Fame is a crowning achievement of my newspaper career,’’ said the 66-year-old Georgia native. “This is the best retirement sendoff anyone could ask for. I have been blessed to have so many great mentors and role models throughout my life and career.’’
Lisa Vickery has 'Found' Long Beach
Story and photography by Susan Weller
Have you discovered Found?
Look for a little shotgun building set back from the road at the corner of Daugherty and Commission roads in Long Beach. The building sat vacant for years. In past lives it housed a barber/beauty parlor, motorcycle repair shop, a church and a bookstore. What Found has brought to that corner is very appropriately the epicenter of a business in transformation. Repurpose, renew and reuse are the 3 R’s used by the creative personality and owner Lisa Vickery.
Vickery started her interesting journey toward Long Beach four years ago at the Darter Festival sponsored by the Southern Environmental Center. The festival was on the grounds of the old Railroad Depot in Birmingham, Ala. The Depot had been renovated using all old repurposed building materials by a very creative builder. There, the seed was planted. Vickery and her husband, Kenny, were offered an old house in Hammond, La., that had to be moved. They spent several months taking the house apart and numbering the boards for reassembly elsewhere. Then, the seed was nourished. The house is currently in a container in Waveland, awaiting the right time to be reassembled.
Meanwhile, the couple moved on to Laredo, Texas, Baton Rouge, La., and Jackson, Miss. They continue to walk their path into the future. The Waveland project was put on the shelf when Lisa discovered and fell in love with Long Beach, while Kenny had construction jobs in Jackson and elsewhere.
Lisa decided she wanted to live in Long Beach and develop a life here, feeling that Long Beach had suffered from Katrina and not fully recovered. The couple rented a home and the Found building, which required extensive cleanup and renovation. Immediately after taking over the building, Lisa hosted an event called Free Christmas, which is very much like a yard sale, only all items are free “as long as they are to be given as gifts,” Lisa says.
Two months passed as the shop was cleaned, shored up and painted, with plans to open mid-March.
In March, the family went on a ski trip. Lisa does not ski but slipped on the ice and had a horrible break in her arm, disabling her right arm and hand completely. The plan to open Found fully in March gave way to surgery and physical therapy. It was time to take care of herself and to brainstorm about Found and life in Long Beach.