Turning broken glass into art!
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In this issue: • In Step With Christopher Hart
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• Photos! Photos! Photos! Winners of our annual photo contest
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In Step 6 with Christopher Hart
• Artist of the Quarter
Photo Contest winners
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Julie Shepherd reinvents broken glass
• Graduation 2021! High School seniors faced challenging year
From the Publisher
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On the cover: This year’s photo contest winning entry belongs to Tina Jones of her daughter, Eden Jones splashing in a puddle from a spring rain. Cover photo by Tina Jones
Staff eciding the winners of the annual photograph contest for this magazine is one of the assignments I look forward to each year. We get a surprising number of photos, easily more than 150, from a surprising number of readers. The photos are of many different things, but the most popular categories are kids, animals and nature. It takes a little time to go
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through them all, but a lot of them are good. Matt Williamson, Vicky Deere and I chose this year’s winner, which is on the cover, for its depiction of the excitement of a little girl as she splashed through a puddle. There were plenty of other worthy entries, and about 35 of them are included in the magazine. Thanks to everyone who took the pictures and then took a moment to send them to us.
Publisher - Jack Ryan Editor - Matt Williamson Advertising Manager - Vicky Deere Advertising sales-
LeWair Foreman, Steven Sawyer & Margie Williams.
pulse is a publication of J.O. Emmerich & Associates Inc. and is produced in association with the Enterprise-Journal, 112 Oliver Emmerich Dr., McComb, Mississippi. For more copies or advertising information, call 601-6842421, write P.O. Box 2009, McComb, MS 39649 or e-mail advertising@enterprise-journal.com. Volume 13, Issue 4
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In Step With: Christopher Hart
Music director
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has many talents “I’m a man of contradictions, I’m a man of many moods I contain multitudes.” — Bob Dylan, “I Contain Multitudes” By Ernest Herndon Nobody is just one thing — certainly not Christopher Hart. Hart is minister of music, media and the arts at Centenary United Methodist Church. In Step He’s also an opera singer, jazz With: trumpeter, horseman, winter sports enthusiast, actor, movie composer and music teacher, among other things. “I’ve got the best job in the world,” Hart said of his Centenary position, which has led him and the choir to perform at Carnegie Hall twice. “I get to be in my Father’s house every day. I’ve got the keys to the building,” he said with a laugh. Hart, 60, was born in Ottumwa, Iowa, where
his mother was a church pianist. “My brother, my sister and I grew up singing and playing instruments,” said Hart, who now plays trumpet, piano, guitar, tin whistle, even a little banjo. He went to Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, where he got a bachelor’s degree in music educaChris tion and choral music, then UniHart versity of Missouri-Kansas City for a master’s in music, where he studied opera. He played jazz trumpet in college and still plays with the Counts & the Delaware Horns, a 1960s-70s horn band in McComb. He sang at the Episcopal church in Kansas City for 10 years while working at a business seminar company and other jobs as well as teaching voice
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Christopher Hart and wife Karen ride horses in the Rocky Mountains.
and French horn and directing a choir. He got his first full-time music job in Broken Arrow, Oka., in 2003, leading a church choir, contemporary band and handbell choir as well as conducting traditional worship services. In December 2008, Hart applied for the minister of music position at Centenary. Though he had never been to Mississippi, when he interviewed for the position he attended worship, sang in the choir and “felt right at home,” said Hart, who went to work at Centenary Feb. 1, 2009. “Every year we’ve done a cantata, and we
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bring in more instruments every time,” Hart said. “That has been fun, being able to conduct an orchestra.” In 2018 and 2019 he took the Centenary Choir to Carnegie Hall in New York as part of the Distinguished Concerts International program. “It was a blast. It was so much fun,” Hart said. He’s brought in many guest musicians, including members of the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra. On the side, Hart plays jazz, has direct-
ed the Natchez Opera, and for awhile got into riding horses. He trained with local horseman Hiram Sumrall and wound up winning trophies at the state horse show and the Dixie Nationals Rodeo. Hart and his wife Karen have acted in several Pike County Little Theater productions, and along the way he met movie producer Travis Mills, who makes short films with regional and historical themes. Hart wound up composing the score for a number of Mills’ movies and even acted in some. In one he played a banjo musician, even though all he knew was how to strum the instrument. For vacations he and Karen love to go to the mountains, where Hart enjoys such winter sports as skiing, tubing and sledding. He also likes to “hike and just knock around.” The COVID-19 pandemic hit Hart hard. Not only did he come down with the virus, he had to expand his skills to include technology in order to produce virtual music services at church. He’s ordered cameras and computers and learned how to use them. “It’s a new world doing all that kind of stuff,” he said. Fortunately his pastor, Dr. Jonathan Speegle, has been very helpful. “He is very tech-savvy and he’s helped move us along,” Hart said. With the virus apparently on the downswing, more and more people are returning
to church, including choir and handbell choir members. Hart is glad of it. “Recording it is not really worshipping,” he said. “When you get together and sing, you’re worshipping.” Through it all, music has remained Hart’s primary passion. While he considered studying for the Episcopal priesthood at one point, “I feel called to lead music. This is my passion,” Hart said. “Stay true to your calling. When I was growing up, my mom always said, ‘You are going to lead music in a church.’ I said, ‘No, I’m going to sing opera. I’m going to do this and I’m going to do that.’” As it turned out, they were both right: Hart leads music in a church, and he still does a whole lot of this and that. n n n “I’ll keep the path open, the path in my mind I’ll see to it that there’s no love left behind I’ll play Beethoven’s sonatas, and Chopin’s preludes I contain multitudes.” n
Hart plays the role of a banjo musician in a short movie, ‘Bastrop’s Crossing,’ by Travis Mills.
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Photo Contest Winner
Grand prize winner:
Eden Jones just enjoys life! By Mack Spe ncer Imagine, if you will, that rare summer occurrence of a dreary day, with thunderstorms from morning into afternoon. Finally, in the afternoon, the skies start to clear. Suddenly, the sun is out, and there’s a rainbow arched across the sky. Young children who had been cooped up in the house see an opportunity to escape the house and get out in the sun and the mud and the damp and enjoy themselves. That’s what happened last summer when Eden Jones, then 2 years old, was captured by her mother Tina Jones in the first place entry in this year’s Pulse Magazine photo contest. “It had been a nasty day,” Jones said. “When the sun came out, she asked to go out and play, and we let her. She had a big ol’ time.” The Jones family — Tina and Eden, dad Erik and baby sister Emery — live in Progress, where Jones said there’s plenty of country to play in and plenty of puddles to jump is, as Eden, now 3, did in her mom’s winning photo. “She’s a little country girl at heart,” Jones said. “She loves to be outside. Every time it rains, she wants to put on her raincoat and her rain boots and go jump in the puddles.” Going outside is Eden’s favorite pastime, but she does also play with her dolls as well as pay attention to her baby sister. Jones said she doesn’t own an actual camera and has little experience with photography. She took her
winning photo with her iPhone 10 on portrait mode. “It’s handy to have to take such good pictures, and I always have it with me,” she said. Though “we get some pretty sunsets out here,” she said most of her photography efforts are expended on Eden. “I just keep my phone handy,” she said. “She does cute stuff all the time. I probably have 8,000 pictures of her on my phone.” While Eden isn’t an unwilling participant in whatever photography sessions Jones decides to undertake, she’s not really willing, either. Oblivious would be closer to the truth. “Most of the time, she’s so caught up in the moment, she doesn’t even notice while I’m taking pictures,” Jones said. “She’ll give me a cheese now and then, but most of the time, she doesn’t notice. She’s just a typical three-year-old.” For her birthday in March, Eden got a swing set and a sandbox to play on and in, giving not just more fun places to play outside, but likely more opportunities for pictures. “For sure,” Jones said. “She’s going to be in photos there whether she likes it or not.” Eden’s turn as a cover girl on Pulse comes six years after her parents were on the cover of the annual bridal edition as newlyweds. “It’s neat for her to be on the cover now, after we were on the cover when we were married,” Jones said. It remains to be seen whether Emery will keep the family’s cover streak alive.
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2nd Place
Submitted by Jeannie Love
By Ca le b McCluskey Jeannie Love was driving down Highway 569 in Amite County on her way home from work one fall afternoon, when she turned the corner and witnessed something almost as rare as the pot of gold it leads to: a double rainbow. She stopped her car then and there and started snapping pictures, noting how tantalizingly close it was to her. One of the photos she took that afternoon became the second-place winning photo in Pulse Magazine’s photo contest, along with a $75 cash prize. “I was on my way home from work when I looked to my right and saw the rainbows,” the amateur photographer said. “They were so close it seemed like I could touch them. I have never seen one that close. It was outstanding. “So I got out and started taking pictures. I was surprised I didn’t get ran over,” Love said with a chuckle. She said she wasn’t the only person to see the rainbows, noting she saw pictures from people between Amite and
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Clinton, but she was the closest. Looking at the photo, one would think it was taken on a high-end camera, but Love said pulled shot of on her cell photo. “I also took a few pictures with my camera, but the ones I took on my phone turned out better,” she said. “I think it was because they were the first photos I took, so rainbows changed between the time I shot from phone and camera.” She said she was happy to be in the right place at the right time to snag the lucky photo. Love, who works in quality support services at RKM Primary Care in Clinton, La., said she drives 569 frequently in her commutes, noting the natural beauty and scenic nature of the strip of highway — especially the creek outlets. “Sometimes when I cross the creek bridges the sights are so beautiful,” she said, noting she has seen a plethora of flora and fauna, including a bald eagle relaxing on the creek edge. “My passion is nature photography. It is my favorite thing. I could sit outside for hours taking photos of birds.”
3rd Place
Submitted by Belinda Jones
By Connor Raborn The ESA Jays 10 U had just won a championship, but virus precautions kept them from shaking their opponents’ hands and saying “good game.” Instead, they and their dads waved their hats across the field. That moment on Oct. 4, 2020, at Chappapeela Sports Park in Hammond, La., reflected the way life has continued around the pandemic, a moment Belinda Jones of McComb captured in the 18-300mm lens of her Nikon D7200. “It shows how we had to isolate the boys from the other team,” Jones said. “They’re finally getting back to the point where they can play more regularly, but last spring and even fall were limited. It was just a different experience at the ballpark.” Jones’ photo shows, from left, assistant coaches Jessie Watts and Mickey Bennett, player Ethan Brown, Jones’ son
and head coach Brady Jones, players Bentley Gann and Brady’s son George Jones, assistant coach Josh Boyd, and players Snoopy McNeil and Evan Gabler. Jones has been photographing baseball since Brady played as a child and has been thrilling parents of the Jays with her up-close-and-personal shots since the team’s inception three years ago. “The parents appreciate it because most of them are limited to their cell phones,” she said. Photography was part of Jones’ career since the mid1970s when she became yearbook adviser at Natchez-Adams High School. She also served in that role at Brookhaven Academy and Southwest Mississippi Community College, where she taught English and advised the school newspaper. Retired since 2010, Jones has devoted more time to honing her technique in recent years. Birds and baseball are her favorite subjects, she said.
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Other contributions Henry Causey of McComb is pictured with an antique hay rake that once belonged to his great-great-grandfather, Wallace Henry Dunaway of Enon. Henry is the 3-year-old son of Matthew and Brianna Causey
Photo by Matthew Causey
Trees are reflected in the water of Lake Dixie Springs.
Photo by Margy Wicker
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Maggie Jones plays in her family’s pool in McComb Photo by Belinda Jones
Camellias frame a circa-late 1800s home in Osyka. Photo by Debra Alleman
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A brown thrasher flies away from a feeder.
Photo by Lisa Wells
A building facade is seen in downtown McComb.
Photo by Anthony Dickinson
Up close and personal with a deer.
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Photo by Victoria Richard
Photo by Darlene Dickerson
Micah Lea is ready to play ball.
Photo by Michelle McCullough
Blooming Bradford pears frame the former Liberty-White Railroad depot in Summit.
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Photo by Liz McDaniel
Photo by Darlene Dickerson
The beauty of a gazing ball is captured.
Above are, from left, Anna-Marie Lea, Jessa Lea and Kelsie Lea.
Photo by Bryanna Dowling
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A dragonfly magnified showing all its beauty.
Photo by Brynna Dowling
A duck lands on a pond. Recent winter storm through the panes of the window.
Photo by Liz McDaniel
Photo by Ashley Lea
Micah Lea rides in a side-by-side with his family’s miniature Australian shepherd Millie.
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Photo by Darlene Dickerson
Family pet loves playing with the ball. Photo by Jeannie Love
Abigail Lynn Love plays peek-a-boo.
Photo by Belinda Jones
A bird awaits the delivery of a worm from its mate.
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Photo by Jeannie Love
Photo by Darlene Dickerson
Photo by Lisa Wells
Above, an Amite County sunset. Below right, a cardinal perches next to holly berries. Below left, Kelsie Lea, left and Jessa Lea look through a fence in the Progress community.
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Photo by Darlene Dickerson
Above one of the family horses enjoying his hay. At right a rose is pictured after a morning rain. Photo by Jessica Pounds
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Photo by Darlene Dickerson
Anna-Marie Lea guides Sparky the mini horse over a log.
Photo by Tatyana Baker
Above, a woodland scene in Amite County’s Busy Corner community. At right, a bird house made of Amite County license plates. Photo by Terry Blake 2021 Spring Issue
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Photo by Amanda Hughey
A sunset and rainbow, at right, are seen from Amanda Hughey’s yard in Liberty.
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Photo by Ruth Cutrer
Beautiful flowers in bloom
Photo by Liz McDaniel
Fallen oak leaves with acorn
Photo by Ashley Lea
Australian shepherd puppies captured on a ring in the wagon. 2021 Spring Issue
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Photo by Lisa Wells
Bird perches on log during recent ice storm.
Photo by Darlene Dickerson
Noah Dickerson holds this whopper he caught from his grandparents pond.
Photo by Victoria Robertson
Victoria Robertson took this up-close photo of a squirrel at her home. ‘I raised her from a baby. She lives in the trees in my back yard and comes back to visit me every so often,’ Robertson said.
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Photo by Tatyana Baker
A squirrel forages for food at the home of Tatyana Baker in the Busy Corner community of Amite County.
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Artist of the Quarter
Julie Shepherd turns broken glass into beautiful art
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Vintage glass reinvented is displayed above and city landscape at right.
By Ca le b McCluskey Where one person might see a pile of broken glass, useless and a little unsafe, Julie Shepherd sees an opportunity, turning pieces of broken, often discarded glass into works of art. “It has always fascinated me how fragile glass heirlooms survive generations of a family’s use. The color and shimmer of glass is magical and has always brought me joy,” she said. “While my subject matter for inspiration varies, I am drawn to places and events in Mississippi, nature and whimsy.” Shepherd, of Good Juju Glass Art, said she loved art but believed it out of her reach until 2012 when she took a pottery class that opened her eyes to the meaning of it. She later went from pottery to stained glass, then transitioned again to broken glass art. “I always appreciated art, but I never felt that it was something I was able to do, but I enjoy this so much,” she said. City landscapes, ocean life and pastel colors make up the bulk of Shepherd’s work, which can be seen at Gulf South Art Gallery in Summit. This mixed media art technique involved painting a canvas, placing and arranging the broken glass into the image the artist desires then giving the piece a healthy coating of resin, which protects the handlers of the art while also keeping the piece snug.
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“My art is different,” she said. “I like to do the pieces to do with oysters or things I can recreate things like bicycles, guitars and common items. I also really like to use oyster shells in my art and other sea themes.” Art became Shepherd’s escape while she worked as a registered nurse. She said she learned broken glass art from a studio in New Orleans called the Shard Shop in 2019. “I had such a good time at that studio I decided to keep doing it,” she said, noting that she created a studio in her backyard from a repurposed shed. Shard Shop’s, and by extension Shepherd’s, art is inspired by award-winning artist Mary Hong, who creates surreal and abstract art using glass on canvas. Shepherd said Hong’s themes and style deeply inspire her. Shepherd said she spends much of her time in the shop and can get up to 30 pieces finished a month, depending on the size and complexity she is working on. She said she likes to do commissions for pieces in specific colors as well, which takes up some of her time. Lately she said she has been making a lot of shard outlines of Mississippi for people. Colorful pieces made with crushed glass, antique shards and colorful ornaments adorning every inch of the studio with one large canvas with a flowery sugar skull painted with glass embellishments surrounded by a plethora of colorful glass pebbles and colored glass depicting flowers.
Above the sugar skull are the words “Good Juju.” “Juju the nickname my grandson gave me,” she said, adding that she loved the nickname so much she wanted to use it for her studio, a shortening of her first name Julie, with the double meaning of good luck through magical properties. Shepherd said she wants to try glass blowing next but noted, jokingly, that her husband would not let her add molten glass to the home studio, fearing she might “burn her neighborhood down.” Her favorite piece she created is a cityscape, depicting a night in a big city filled with colorful and unique skyscrapers, topped off with a broken piece of glass representing the moon and shards peppering the horizon as stars. Shepherd said Gulf South owner Carolyn Ford Quin held an open house where local artists could display their work, so she took a chance. “Carolyn had an open art show the two Christmases ago that anyone could enter, so I entered it, and she liked it so much that she asked to put some in her gallery,” she said. “My stuff has been there ever since. She likes to ask me for seasonal pieces, so recently, I’ve been making a lot of crosses and bunnies for Easter.” Shepherd’s advice for everyone, including young artists, is to explore art and find what clicks. “I think everybody should find something they enjoy doing to express themselves and just do it. There is beauty in everything,” she said. Shepherd’s art can also be viewed on her Facebook page Good Juju Glass Art, and she can be contacted by her email at jsshep425@gmail.com for questions regarding commissions. n 2021 Spring Issue
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Challenging Year for High School Seniors By Connor Raborn High school seniors are forging ahead this year despite the pandemic laying several obstacles on the path to graduation. With more vaccines and fewer virus cases as spring begins, local schools are cautiously optimistic about having a more traditional graduation than last year’s drive-thrus and virtual ceremonies. Still, many students went “We had to make the from a shortened junior year best out of what we to an unsettled senior one. “We had to make the had. If anything, it made us better prepared best out of what we had,” for the future. I kind of said McComb senior Kharel Coney. “If anything, it made adjusted to it as the us better prepared for the year went by.” future. I kind of adjusted to it as the year went by.” McComb Senior Kharel Coney Senior traditions as well as attendance schedules were shuffled. McComb High School started on an all-virtual schedule before moving to a hybrid schedule, with two groups of students attending on alternating days. “I could count how many seniors I’ve seen this year on one hand, so that wasn’t fun,” Coney said. “Pep rallies for games, stuff like that, we never got the chance to do. It kind of put a scare on me because I never knew how much we’d get to play.” Coney is a defensive back for McComb football. He’s glad that not only was the season able to proceed but also that he helped secure the team’s first playoff win in 14 years, even if a team quarantine ultimately ended their playoff run. Kharel’s hoping for a more definite closure to his high
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school career: a traditional graduation ceremony. That, or as close as possible to a traditional ceremony, was what McComb High had planned as of late March. “That is what the senior class has asked us for. We’ve talked with some of the seniors to let them know that we will look at guidelines from the CDC and Mississippi State Health Department, and we will adhere to all those pieces,” said Superintendent Dr. Cedrick Ellis. McComb High traditionally holds graduation on the Kharel Coney, McComb High football field. The ceremony is scheduled for May 27. Other Pike County schools are planning their usual graduation ceremonies as well, depending on virus numbers and state guidance. North Pike High plans to hold graduation on Southwest Mississippi Community College football field on May 21, with possibly limited seating. South Pike High hopes to graduate a full senior class in the school auditorium on May 29, but if guidelines don’t al-
Meredith Bates, North Pike
low it, the ceremony may be split into two groups. If indoor is not an option, the whole class will graduate together on the football field, said Principal Caprice Smalley. Parklane Academy is similarly planning its usual Southwest auditorium ceremony for May 7 while keeping the Parklane football field on backup, Administrator Jack Henderson said. Among the things that Kharel’s mother, Kizzy Coney, chair of the McComb School Board, missed most in his senior year was an in-person college recruiting event. “We didn’t get to do the actual college events, where all the colleges come and you can go from table to table,” she said. Nevertheless, she’s happy that Kharel chose an option close to home. He will start training with Southwest Mississippi Community College’s football team the week after he graduates from McComb. North Pike senior Meredith Bates is keeping a sunny atti-
tude about her senior year. Bates was selected for the Mississippi All-Star softball team her junior year to play in a game that, along with its recruitment opportunities, was initially canceled. Mississippi High School Athletic Association has rescheduled that team’s games alongside this year’s junior team for June 2-5 to recognize the players. However, Bates does not feel robbed of any experiences from her senior year and actually found things she liked about North Pike’s hybrid schedule. “We don’t go on Wednesdays, and I feel like everybody can catch up on our work. If you play a sport, you can relax and take off mid-week,” she said. “I don’t really feel like we’ve had anything taken away. Our school’s done a lot to make us feel normal. All “I don’t really feel the friends and family have like we’ve had anything gone out of their way to taken away. Our make it as normal as it can school’s done a lot to be.” The senior breakfast that make us feel normal. usually starts the year and All the friends and homecoming were some of family have gone out of the senior events that their way to make it as North Pike wasn’t able to normal as it can be.” hold. North Pike Senior Bates’ mother, Jennifer Meredith Bates Bates, feels that the school year has improved for seniors. She said parents are preparing to put on prom in May. “It is more normal now than it was at the beginning of the year,” she said. “If we can finish out the year and have a normal graduation or at least somewhat normal, that will help. So hopefully they can finish on a good note.” Meredith Bates plans to attend Holmes Community College and major in biology. Going to Southwest this fall as a music major is Parklane Academy senior Alex Wroten. He has been battling through a harder year than most of this year’s graduating class. Wroten’s father died in October.
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“It’s been really weird coming into it. It’s kind of brought me and a couple other people closer together. I love seeing people getting involved, which is part of what I wanted to do this year. It showed how much we need people in our life.” Parklane Senior Alex Wroten
Alex Wroten, Parklane
“It’s been pretty devastating,” said Wroten’s mother, Jan Loyacano. “It’s been his faith that has gotten him through the loss of his dad as well as all the dysfunctions of COVID for his senior year.” In November, Wroten spent time out of school after he caught COVID-19. He somehow still managed to lead Parklane band’s drumline and be the first Parklane student ever chosen as one of 30 finalists in the Christian Leaders of the Future scholarship put on by Christian Living Magazine. “It’s been challenging, but they have been real troopers,” Loya-
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cano said of Wroten’s class. “As much as they deserve something bigger, better, they’ve all been troopers to adjust to what’s going on during this pandemic.” “The start of my senior year, everybody was spread out, and you couldn’t talk to people you wanted to. We were on block schedules; we had different lunches,” Wroten said. “It’s been really weird coming into it. It’s kind of brought me and a couple other people closer together. I love seeing people getting involved, which is part of what I wanted to do this year. It showed how much we need people in our life.” n