Community Clicks
September 30, 2019
September 18
Meetup at Success Women's Conference
September 27
Splash Bash
September 28
Harambee Festival
August 30-31
Booker Fest
September 20-22
Walter Anderson Weekend Block Party
September 14-15
Biloxi Seafood Festival
Faces and Places
Wise family plants 'Hope' in Pass Christian
Josh and Andrea Wise are proud to bring the all-new Hope Center to Pass Christian. The couple planted the church together last year and celebrated its official launch with the community on Sept. 22, 2019.
Story and photography by Amanda Compton-Ortiz
When Josh and Andrea Wise moved to the Mississippi Gulf Coast four years ago, they knew it wasn’t by happenstance.
In fact, today, the couple is reassured it was another significant step in the direction that led them to what God had been preparing them for all along.
On September 22, 2019, the Wise family’s Hope Center, a new spirit-filled, Bible-based church, located in Pass Christian, held its official launch worship service.
The “big day” had been in the making for some time and, now, it finally has come to pass.
An entourage of smiling faces and waving hands, proudly holding up signs that read “Welcome Home” greeted guests as they drove into the parking lot. It’s something you’ll see before every Sunday worship service at Hope Center.
“Visiting a new church can be a daunting task” said Andrea. “Meeting strangers, not knowing where to go or where things are.
“Here, we want you to always feel at home.”
At Hope Center, visitors have an opportunity to bypass all of those awkward moments through the church’s Plan Your Visit option.
Sign up for the program on the church Web site at www.hopecenter.church and you’ll receive a text message from a Hope Center team member with information and a picture of who will be ready to greet you at the door when you arrive to the church. They will show you around and even save you a seat.
More than 80 people attended the launch day services.
“The day went beautifully,” Andrea said. “The day was filled with God’s grace and His love was tangible.
“I stood there, leading service, so full of thankfulness. This was not just the launching of a new place to come together, but the launching of a movement of God’s spirit.”
Chastity Ladner of Pass Christian has been attending church at Hope Center since April and now serves on its guest services team which supports the church’s efforts in helping to make everyone feel a part of the church family.
“I’m excited about what God is doing here and in the community.” Ladner said. “Everyone who comes to Hope Center will leave feeling the same, spirit filled and led.”
Stacy Tivet, who serves in the church’s hospitality and children’s ministries, drives from Pascagoula, Miss., to attend Sunday services at Hope Center.
“I love it here,” Tivet said. “Allowing God to do what he wants to do is something many churches don’t do. But here, we interact with God and have a relationship with Him and help each other build that relationship. It’s truly amazing.”
Andrea Wise describes the couple’s journey to become church planters as “humbling beyond words.” With nearly 40 years of combined experience in ministry and service, their story begins as children.
Rebecca Hess helps cadets soar into the future
Major Rebecca L. Hess proudly describes the U.S. Air Force designations her students strive to achieve at Gulfport’s Naval Construction Training Center, where she leads a team of 29 military and civilian personnel responsible for the technical and military training of over 600 entry level and 300 advanced Journeyman level Airmen in the Structural Civil Engineer career field.
Story and photography by Amanda Compton-Ortiz
If you ask Major Rebecca L. Hess about her career in the United States military, you may not get the answer you expected.
Hess, new commander of the 366th Training Squadron Detachment 6 at Naval Construction Battalion Center-Gulfport, Miss., said as a child she grew up “not really liking the military.”
It’s a surprising statement when you look at the 36-year-old decorated officer’s extensive military background, the passionate way she talks about her duties both on and off the battlefield, and how vividly she describes her overseas missions to places like Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guam.
Not to mention her family history, with members either formerly or presently serving in nearly every branch of the U.S. military. Some including her mother and a brother-in-law.
It wasn’t until her senior year of high school that Hess started to develop an interest in the military.
She was 17 then and remembers how talking to college advisors and military recruiters really helped open her up to realizing the possibilities and
opportunities that choosing a military career would offer her just as it has so many others.
“Growing up I had always liked anything to do with math and science,” Hess said. “It just came natural to me. I also enjoyed going to space camps and studying astrology. And I loved working with my hands.
“The more I learned about the benefits of joining the military and how I would be able to use and apply all of the things I enjoyed doing, the more I felt like, this is it. This is right down my alley.”
In August 2001, following her high school graduation, Hess joined the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC), a college program offered at more than 1,700 colleges and universities across the U.S. that prepares young adults to become military officers.
She was just one month into her ROTC training when Hess recalls the instant when she knew her decision to join the military was the right one.
“I was new to the program when 9/11 happened,” she said. “Going through that kind of experience early in my training and seeing the devastation it caused strengthened my desire to serve and protect.
“The tempo of work at the time was also a fantastic experience. It was a lot of learn as you go.”
Quality Bakery celebrates 70 years
Quality Bakery owners Danielle and Gordon White are proud to represent the business that has been in their family for 70 years.
Story and photography by Andy Kanengiser
For generations, delighted customers have raved about Quality Bakery in Gulfport. From its wonderful wedding cakes to doughnuts made from scratch, there’s always plenty of delicious desserts to draw people to the family-owned business.
A Mississippi Gulf Coast fixture since August 1949, the bakery enjoys a growing customer base stretching from the USA to countries spanning the globe.
A civilian working for the U.S. Air Force in Germany, Dee Swanier has remained a faithful Quality Bakery customer for more than 25 years.
Thousands of miles from home at Ramstein Air Force Base, “I’m a huge fan. I can smell the brownies and petite fours through my computer screen,’’ Swanier says.
Soon after her plane touches down at the Gulfport airport, the Pass Christian native makes Quality Bakery her first stop. “Great customer service with a family atmosphere. I can’t wait to order my cake for Thanksgiving.’’
Diana Destry can’t get enough of this fabulous Gulfport landmark at 1623 25th Avenue. There are so many delicious treats to select from for this retired registered nurse. “My favorites are the pecan rolls. You cannot buy them at any other bakery in the city.’’
The longtime Gulfport customer doesn’t just shop for herself at the friendly bakery. “There are plenty of nieces and nephews to spoil.’’
When the Mississippi Gulf Coast bakery recently marked its 70th birthday, there was time for a ribbon cutting to cap the celebration. But then it was quickly back to work at the doughnut fryers and ovens. Besides serving crowd pleasers like brownies, cookies, bagels and banana muffins, the bakery staff cooks breakfast dishes soon after the doors open at 6 a.m.
With recipes handed down from father to son through three generations, business is booming in Fall 2019. Danielle White runs Quality Bakery. Her uncle Pat serves as the master baker.