Page 16 - South Mississippi Living - January, 2022

COAST NOTE
story by Lynn Lofton photo courtesy of Holley Hill Pottery
The Peter Anderson Festival is very special to the Stokes family of Holley Hill Pottery
in the Florida panhandle. Last November was their 41st time to display and sell their
pottery there.
Potter Brenda Stokes says the Ocean Springs
event is the only festival they attend. “We like the town and the enthusiasm of the people
in that area; they’re already art educated. This festival and the town of Ocean Springs are very
special to us.”
Those are the reasons the Stokeses created a folk
art-rendition festival tribute vase. “It contains clays from Mississippi, Alabama and Florida to celebrate
the connections potters have to the festival,” Stokes said. “My mom was more into folk art and we did the festival together for many years, so the tribute vase is a folk art design. And my son, Jason, who’s been going to the festival since age eight, glazed it.”
Referring to the pottery piece as “a labor of love,” Stokes says it’s a one-time pot that belongs to the Stokes family. However, they are happy to display it in Ocean Springs.
By her maiden name, Brenda Van Deventer,
she fondly remembers her days at Bayou View Elementary School in Gulfport where she was first inspired in art classes.
16 | January 2022
www.smliving.net | SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living
story by Lynn Lofton photo courtesy of Steve Johnson
The Sons of Allen gospel group
was started 38 years ago through the Greater St. John African Methodist Episcopal church in Biloxi. They’ve not only performed for church services, but also for birthday parties, funerals, and do community service by visiting
the sick and working with the Kroc Center and Seashore Mission. They sang at the opening ceremony of the
Biloxi Civic Center and are the only local gospel group to sing at the Beau Rivage Casino Resort.
Now the group is branching out with a gospel brunch at One Thirty One
Lameuse restaurant in Biloxi where they will sing every second Sunday beginning this month. The kick off date is January 9.
Steve Johnson, spokesman for the group, says, “We gladly carry God’s message through song. We don’t charge, but if someone wants to show us love, it goes to the church.”
Vocalists with the group include
Joe Matthews, James W. Palmer, Jr., Melvin Bethea, J.C. Wilkerson, Sandy Brumfield, Gary Soublet and Johnson. The musicians are Anthony Hale, Marcus Walker and Eugene Flowers.
A Tribute in Clay
Commemorative Peter Anderson Festival Vase
at One Thirty One Lameuse
One Thirty One Lameuse
One Thirty One Lameuse St., Biloxi 228.207.1689
Facebook @OneThirtyOneLameuse