2020 wasn’t all bad. Here’s a list of good news that happened on the Mississippi Coast.
2020 has been a year like no other.
It changed everything from the way we work and learn, to how we spend time with our loved ones.
Although Mississippians are now seeing the worst of the pandemic so far, there is a light at the end of the tunnel as vaccines roll out across the country.
Here is some of the good news that lifted our spirits in 2020.
Neighbors helping neighbors
Even in times of hardship, we saw people doing their best to help others.
As state shutdowns began in March, some Mississippians contributed to their community making homemade cloth masks as they stayed in their homes.
Brides who planned on big weddings suddenly found themselves eloping and donating flowers to bring smiles to nursing home residents who couldn’t leave their rooms.
Groups of friends came together to bring children smiles during Christmas and paraded down streets dressed as Santa and his elves, knowing their Mardi Gras krewe may not roll in February.
A popular brewery that had planned a new hard seltzer started making hand sanitizer after a worldwide shortage.
As Hurricane Sally threatened the Gulf Coast, an Army veteran who had lost his brother to COVID-19 just hours beforehand helped another Coast resident fill sandbags in Gulfport.
Light in the dark
We saw messages of hope when all seemed dark.
While closed for the shutdown, casinos lit up messages across the Coast to remind Mississippians that this too shall pass.
Singing River Health System lit thousands of lumanaria in honor of front-line workers in hospitals fighting to save lives as cases rise in the state.
Air Force planes did fly-overs of Coast hospitals as “our way of saying thank you to our community’s medical professionals,” said said Col. Jeffrey A. Van Dootingh, 403rd Wing commander.
Nursing home and rehabilitation workers taught their residents how to use technology like iPads to stay connected to loved ones they couldn’t see in person.
A new chapter in state history
After over 100 years of a state flag with a Confederate emblem, it came down in 2020.
Many of the state’s biggest companies and business groups lobbied for a new flag this year, and the NCAA, SEC and Conference USA banned postseason play in Mississippi as long as that flag flew. The Legislature removed it, and voters approved a new design in the Nov. 3 election.
Celebrities, sports stars and lawmakers from across Mississippi tweeted their support after the vote was final.
The new flag was designed by a Mississippian that displays the state flower, a Magnolia.
Standout students and others
Two schools were named 2020 National Blue Ribbon Schools: Popp’s Ferry Elementary School in Biloxi and D’Iberville Elementary in the Harrison County School District.
“This is what happens when we work together,” said Popp’s Ferry Principal Vivian Malone.
A vocational-technical teacher at Gulfport High was surprised with a $50,000 prize from the Harbor Freight Tools for Schools Prize for Teaching Excellence. “We really believe skilled teachers are unsung heroes,” said Erin Walsh, a spokesperson for the national award program.
Southern Miss students volunteered with the new Mississippi Gulf Coast Mutual Aid Network, which connects fresh produce from Mississippi farms to those in need, including international students at USM who struggled financially during the shutdown.
USM researchers also discovered a 975-acre coral reef hidden deep underwater off the Coast.
Bay St. Louis chef baked her way into the finals of Food Network Halloween championship.
Famous astronaut and Biloxi native Fred Haise marked 50 years since he blasted into space on the Apollo 13.
Workers stepped up
From nurses to teachers to hairdressers and more, essential workers doubled down to try to make their workplaces and the community safer.
From virtual learning to socially distant graduations, Mississippi schools and teachers found innovative ways to keep kids learning, fed and recognized for their accomplishments.
Classrooms looked different in August, but educators continued to work through the challenges that came with teaching Mississippi’s future through the pandemic.
Nurses explained how hard they’ve had to work to help the patients flooding the emergency rooms and intensive care units. “This is a team effort even more so than before,” one said.
One hairdresser shared all of the new things she’s done to help keep people safe, from asking customers to wait outside until their appointment to taking their temperatures.
Marching together for equality
This year also saw calls for racial equity and social justice after the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.
Unity marches and peaceful protests took place across the Coast calling for equality and an end to police brutality.
Community members, church leaders, police chiefs and city officials marched in unison in both Biloxi and in Gulfport to show unity and solidarity as the Coast addressed the issues that face the relationships between the Black community and police.
Diversity shines
Thanks to a Coast engineer, the state hurricane guide was translated into Vietnamese for the first time.
The Bay St. Louis community rallied around Mariah Dedeaux, a 12-year-old Black girl who was handed a doll that looked like a slave at a Mardi Gras parade. She rode as a queen in another parade and was gifted beautiful dolls, including a Rosa Parks doll.
“I want everyone in the world to know what I’m going through and what I am going to overcome, especially other kids — of all races,” Mariah Dedeaux told her father.
Parishioners at Vietnamese Martyrs Church in Biloxi celebrated the church’s 20th anniversary of bringing the Vietnamese community together.
Poplarville saw its first openly gay candidate to run for local government.
A Coast native opened the first health-care clinic dedicated to transgender people and their needs in Mississippi.
The Sun Herald compiled a list of Black-owned businesses on the Coast and highlighted small business owners like Alexis Williams at Aloha Glamour and LaToya Bass-Barnes at The Soular Yogi.
Business
Despite some businesses closing across the Coast, development was still booming in 2020.
Universal Music announced plans for the priciest casino resort ever built on the Coast at $1.2 billion, one of three new UMUSIC Hotels also in Atlanta and Orlando.
The Mississippi Aquarium opened right across from the harbor in Gulfport. The grand opening on August 29, 2020, marked 15 years since Hurricane Katrina devastated the Coast.
Hotel Legends opened in the former senior living high-rise across from the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.
The long-awaited Keg & Barrel opened, Scranton’s got a glow-up and Desporte’s Seafood got new life on Caillavet Street.
A new and trendy “tiny hotel” in Ocean Springs was popular with online readers.
The real estate market also took off across the country and the Coast as people spent more time at home, and it’s a seller’s market with prices at an all-time high in 2020.
Celebrity Elon Musk’s SpaceX was one of two companies granted government contracts to help bring faster broadband internet to rural parts of South Mississippi.
During the summer shutdown, the state also offered a new way to buy meat and produce directly from Mississippi producers.
Sports stars
“He elevates everyone around him.” Keilon Parnell, an SEC-bound freshman for Pascagoula High’s baseball team, showed unlimited potential.
Frank Gore Jr. is the son of an NFL legend. The Southern Miss running back has his own “instincts you can’t coach.”
“I feel like a celebrity now.” Major offers rolled in for young Moss Point football star Larry Simmons.
“That boy is something serious.” D’Iberville senior Justin Walley topped 300 yards vs. Ocean Springs.
“He’s incredible.” Former George County baseball star Logan Tanner showed “rare” skills as a Mississippi State freshman.
Sports reporter Patrick Magee also explained how Poplarville became the preeminent football program in South Mississippi.
Looking ahead
Like the loss and destruction of a hurricane, COVID-19 has brought a lot of pain to the Coast.
But like the aftermath of a hurricane, people are always what get South Mississippi back on its feet.
In the days, months and years to come, people and the ways they help others will carry us through.
This story was originally published December 31, 2020 at 5:50 AM.
