We Love Lucy: Mom celebrates 30th birthday with fundraiser for orphans in Ethiopia

Before they even began dating, Tupelo residents Anna and Russ Polsgrove talked about their desire to adopt. 

In 2008, several years after they wed, conversation turned to action. After reading blogs from families who had adopted children from Ethiopia, Anna Polsgrove felt a sense of urgency. 

“Every time I saw a picture of an Ethiopian child, I felt as though I could be looking at my own,” she said. “For some reason, our hearts were drawn there. After seeing the first picture of our sweet Lucy, we knew why.” 

Trashing the Dress: Brides leaving veil of tradition take the plunge into the latest photography trend

Newlywed Kimberly Brook Hubler of Brandon stands on the edge of a fountain perched over the swimming pool at Jackson’s Camp, a popular Ridgeland wedding site. 

Wrapped in a satin bustier with ruffles of tulle, she gathers the layers, pulling them above her knees so she won’t trip. Then she holds her breath and takes the plunge. 

The wedding dress muffles the sound of the splash. A cloud of white fabric surrounds her underwater. Then, she momentarily emerges with wet hair and makeup intact. 

Her Boyfriend’s Back: Teenage sweethearts reunited in nursing home

The scent of pine dilutes the smell of sterility and humanity that hovers about the nursing home. Patients ease their way down the corridor in wheelchairs, but one sits in her room, content and covered in red. 

Nails painted red, class ring with a ruby stone, crimson heart hanging above her bed. 

Her boyfriend gave it to her. His name is William Coker, and for the past four months, he’s been driving from Tupelo at least once a week to spend time with Kattath Hallmark, 81. It is a way to make up for the years they spent apart. 

Bottled-up Emotions: Bottle tree may be symbol of the new South

As a kid, Rick Griffin often saw bottle trees while traveling between Ocean Springs and Vicksburg to visit his grandparents. Fascinated by them, he later erected a 10-foot bottle tree in his yard. 

“It’s about being a nonconformist,” said Griffin, a landscape architect who owns the Jackson furniture and design store Latitudes. “When you want to be a little different, and you like to loosen up and have fun things, you have a bottle tree.”

Vowing to be Different: Personalized themes latest icing on the cake

lways a bridesmaid, never a bride, with 27 dresses to prove it. Grey’s Anatomy star Katherine Heigl plays that character in her latest film “27 Dresses” that opens in theaters Friday. 

But in real life, Heigl is a newlywed who recently married former University of Mississippi student Josh Kelley, a nationally recognized singer-songwriter, whose new album Special Company will be released in February. The couple tied the knot Dec. 23 during a Christmas-themed wedding in Utah.

Mississippians can’t cut those apron strings

As one of only two women employed full-time for the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, Brookhaven deputy Krysten Butler carries a gun and badge, and with versatility, works an array of cases, from narcotics investigations to child abuse and sexual assault crimes. 

It’s a job that only someone tough could do – someone who must stay in control in any situation. “I can hold my own,” Butler said. “I’m not a girly-girl. I never have been.” 

Beauty and the Bargain: Looking good doesn’t have to cost a fortune

Edwards resident Sabrina Cagle once bought a house because it was near the mall and spent $800 a month on clothing, but that went out of style when she discovered how much money she could save shopping at discount stores, thrift shops, consignment boutiques and garage sales. 

Bargain hunting has become a passion for Cagle and friends Brenda Allred and Cathy Ambrose, who spend their weekends scavenger hunting for fashion finds.

Totes: A stylish way to go green

Many college students are familiar with the acronym BYOB, but the phrase has an entirely different meaning for 19-year-old Kimberly Ragsdale.

Nope, we’re not talking about booze or beer. Today BYOB also means Bring Your Own Bag, a campaign sparked by the environmentally conscious followers of the “going green” movement that encourages citizens to bring a cloth bag while shopping to carry purchases instead of using paper or plastic bags offered at most stores. 

Cloaks of Many Causes: ‘Little green dress’ makes statement

Jackson native Meredith Walker Sullivan, 28, earned a degree in marketing from Mississippi State University and later enrolled in New York City’s Fashion Institute of Technology. 

She studied fashion merchandising and management, eventually meeting Stephanie Doucette, one of the lead designers behind the Doucette Duvall clothing line. 

Cowboy Up: Western gear finds a home on the urban frontier

In many ways, Ridgeland resident Leigh Ann Harvey is your typical suburbanite. The accounting manager for the Ridgeland-based McAlister’s Corp. loves power suits, pencil skirts and Blondie frappes from Cups. 

But when she isn’t city-dwelling, Harvey, 38, heads to the country about 10 miles east of Canton to ride horses. She broke her first, a wild mustang, at 14 and now owns two that she trained to herd. 

Crazy yard art

Deep in the concrete jungles of Ridgeland, right off Old Canton Road in an urban shopping center, is a foliage-filled sanctuary of wild animals so brightly colored that passersby can’t help but turn their heads, startled by giant giraffes, zebras and butterflies. 

You may hear a monkey squeal, a frog ribbit, birds caw and sheep bleat if your imagination runs as wild as the yard art on display at Freshway Produce. 

Dogs Rule the Catwalk: Pet clothing sales soar

Petey McLean knows he’s the man, with an extensive wardrobe and confident swagger reminiscent of John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever. 

Yes, you can tell by the way he uses his walk, he’s a woman’s dog, no time to talk. And like Travolta, he’s no stranger to disco. Confident in his manhood, he once donned a sequined gown to become song diva Petey LaBelle for a ’70s-themed costume contest. 

Don’t call me grandma

Envision the traditional grandma, and you may see a demure gray-haired lady with spectacles and ball-pinned hair who bakes cookies from scratch and knits in an antique rocker.

She was probably called Grandmother, Granny or maybe even Mamaw, a moniker 51-year-old Molly Chandler of Jackson just couldn’t imagine adopting.

Dorm Decor: Students use color schemes to turn rooms into top-of-the-class living quarters

Shelbi Bobo said goodbye to Clinton High School in May and will start anew Aug. 27 at Mississippi College as a chemical and medical science major. 

There will be books to buy and a new college wardrobe, but right now, Bobo is focused on decorating her dorm – a place where she’ll learn independence.

Dream Dresses: Prom season punctuated with color

It’s that time of year again, when young girls are on a quest for the perfect prom dress, and we’ve spoken to several experts who can give teens and moms the heads-up on what will be trendy for Prom 2013. 

Susan Nash, owner of Susan’s Shoppe Formals in Brookhaven, Madison, Hattiesburg and Mobile, said expect high-low dresses, jersey styles with cut-outs and volcano stone embellishments. She explains: 

Chula Homa Fox Hunt returns

Like a living portrait of regal English aristocracy, riders in scarlet coats and black hats atop horses with braided mane elegantly jump an obstacle and disappear into the wooded fall acreage of Gulf Haven Farms with their hounds. 

Moments before their departure, they are blessed by the Rev. Bill Martin. 

Interest in paranormal raises profile of Mississippi groups

Travis Romberger spent the summer of 1993 on his uncle’s Kentucky farm, and every morning, he and his cousin, Tim, lifted weights inside a rickety old house where gym equipment was stored. One night, Romberger went alone to the house, walking over the dirt floor and creaky steps to the weight room. 

Squinting and straining to meet his fitness goal, he soon opened his eyes, shocked to discover he was in an entirely different room.

Mississippi tales of the supernatural get top billing on Halloween

Mississippi is filled with legends, and some involve the supernatural. Ghosts are rumored to inhabit several of the state’s historic homes, some toured annually by Halloween thrill-seekers. 

While no one can prove the existence of ghosts, these tales are often designed to convey lessons about morality, despair, danger and undying love. Here are a few: 

Grave Secrets: Religious iconography reveals lives past

Skulls, skeletons and coffins sound like spooky Halloween imagery, but to inhabitants of 17th- and 18th-century America, they were symbols of mortality. 

Frequently carved on tombstones, they represented the imminence of death and the uncertain nature of life. The cemeteries are filled with iconographic stones and statues that paint a historic picture of America’s spiritual and religious evolution. 

MSU grad’s chic jewelry line leads to book deal: Express your inner nerd with Kilobyte Couture

In the 1980s, it was lame, even downright bogus, to be a nerd. Nerds and geeks were a persecuted segment of society who sought revenge in a popular movie of the day, but thankfully times have changed. 

Now, a quarter of a century later, the intelligently elite traditionally known for having more brain than brawn have embraced their nerdiness, and it’s chic to be geek. 

Lifecasting: Canton attorney creates unique art form

Bodies hang on the walls in the back room of attorney Bentley Conner’s Center Street law office. 

Twisting trunks, arching waists, snakelike spines and curling chests bend with the classical contour of the female physique, revealing the outer shell of life. 

Tiny feet, praying hands and sometimes round bellies bulging with life are replicated in an immortalization process called life-casting. 

Pet Paradise: Volunteers creating a fetching pet cemetery

Raymond resident Gary Wagley has never had to look for a new pet; they always find him, perhaps sensing that he will keep them safe. 

Gypsy Doll discovered him in the garage. She was playing with a shoe beside his Corvette. Wagley rescued Lucky from the parking lot of a hardware store; and Taylor, a yellow lab, decided to live with him instead of the neighbor to whom he originally belonged. Wagley bought Taylor for $1,000, and the pup became his companion for the next five years before dying in 2006 at age 11. 

The Dawning of a New Age: Women embrace turning fifty

It’s popular these days to take an age, subtract a decade or so, and say something like, “50 is the new 40.” But what exactly does that mean?

It means one minute Madonna is Like a Virgin and the next she celebrates her 50th birthday looking, arguably, better than she did in her 20s and 30s. It means Kim Cattrall, who’s 52, is one of four iconic sex symbols in Sex & the City. And it means men no longer have the monopoly on growing older gracefully.

So, what’s buggin’ you?

Lovebugs, those amorous insects that make fatal love connections, have been hitching a deadly ride on highways this summer, pestering drivers who are sick of cleaning them off their vehicles. But in a few weeks, their lovebug sonnets will become eulogies, and they’ll fade away until warm weather resumes. 

Experts say when lovebugs disappear, there’s another insect that may start bugging you. Mississippians should prepare for the potential winter home invasion of the lady beetle.

Brave, bold world: Floral prints, geometric designs, primary colors come on strong

As Mississippians eagerly await a steady stream of sunny, playful days, the fashionably conscious will “get happy” this season with bright colors, make a definite statement in black and white, and fantasize about upcoming vacations in tropical and floral prints.

The three themes emerged at a recent Jackson fashion show, and local style experts say adopting one or all is sure to put a spring in your step.

Ron Shapiro: Serendipitous Oxford bohemian

Ron “Ronzo” Shapiro, a nickname chosen by Shapiro himself because it rhymes with gonzo journalism and sounds a little silly, has just arrived at Bottle Tree Bakery in Oxford.

Wearing Big Ben overalls with copper buttons, a yellow button-down shirt over a black T-shirt with a pair of eyeglasses tucked in the pocket, and a gray fisherman’s cap, he parks his bicycle beside the business and retrieves a cup of coffee before finding a seat outside in the warm sun. 

Ronzo Shapiro is a lucky SOB and, in Oxford, that stands for Serendipitous Oxford Bohemian. 

Proflie: Paul White: Everyone in Oxford knows him simply as ‘Paul’ 

If you’ve lived in Oxford for very long, chances are you’ve met Paul White. 

White, 56, is known throughout the Oxford community for his ability to make friends wherever he goes. He often does this by getting a cup of tea, meeting new people, and asking them to sign their name on his cup.

White grew up in the Oxford community. 

He said some of his earliest memories are the cicadas of 1963. As a 4-year-old, he would go outside, pick them up and play with them. They made whirling noises. 

Maud Falkner: The other old lady painter

When Grandma Moses was discovered in 1938, Maud Falkner, mother of William, had already been an artist for 30 years and wanted the world to know Grandma Moses “wasn’t the only old lady painter in the world.”

A one-day exhibit of Falkner’s paintings, believed to be the second exhibition of its kind, was held at the Union County Heritage Museum last week. 

New Albany attorney Rodney Shands, who owns the paintings, remembers going to “Miss Maud’s” house as a child. Shands gave a presentation of Falkner’s work to those touring the museum with the annual University of Mississippi Faulkner and Yoknapawtapha conference. 

Blueberries: Mississippi’s research efforts bear fruit

The Fourth of July is a month away, but Mississippi is already going red, white and blueberry. July has been designated National Blueberry Month, but two Mississippi festivals will honor the fruit this month. 

Along with Concord grapes and cranberries, blueberries are the only fruits native to North America, according to the U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council. 

But blueberries weren’t commercially grown in Mississippi until the 1970s. 

Babalu: ‘I Love Lucy’ themed restaurant opens in Fondren

I Love Lucy fans are familiar with the word “Babalu.” Ricky Ricardo frequently belted out his signature song, a Cuban standard, at his Tropicana nightclub before it was renamed Club Babalu.

The song references Babalu-Aye, a deity of Afro-Caribbean origin in the Santeria religion – a faith that blends African religion with some aspects of Christianity. The singer cries out to Babalu to bring his lost love back. 

It’s also a word that Jackson restaurant owner Al Roberts tucked away in his mind, thinking it would be a great restaurant name. 

The Sauce Boss: Madison man markets bottled-up dream

Say you’ve found a new cookin’ sauce with a rootin’ tootin’ kick that may just have the absolute most bodacious flavor you’ve ever tasted in your whole, entire, little ole bitty, Mississippi-livin’ life? 

Madison resident David Wilson will tell you that’s just plain HogWash. 

You could ask his one-armed uncle Fig Newton (yes, that was his name) about it … if he weren’t dearly departed. But since that particular situation makes inquiring a bit difficult, Wilson, who has dubbed himself “keeper of the sauce,” is proud to holler about the history of his creation that’s being distributed throughout the state and a few others in grocery and gourmet food stores. 

Everyone’s cup of tea: Sales expected to exceed 10 billion in U.S. by 2010

The practice of drinking tea started about 5,000 years ago in China, but today, it’s a defining characteristic of the American South. There’s nothing like a tall, sweet, iced glass of tea on a warm day. 

And while some like it refreshingly cold, industry statistics show that tea is also hot — a popular product consumed by health-conscious hipsters searching for modern ways to make the traditional trendy.

Yes, something’s brewing in the tea industry, as Americans pursue healthier lifestyles.

Sugar’s Place

 As a child of the 1960s, Glenda Barner and her siblings often waited late to eat dinner inside their Revels Avenue home. Their mother, Velma Cage, was a maid for the Jackson elite, who spent her days cooking for other families. And when her workday ended, she returned home to create a meal for her own.

It was a responsibility from which she never wavered. And when 17-year-old Glenda gave birth to her first son, Donovan, Velma was there to help care for the child until her daughter, a high school senior, could finish her education and secure a stable job.

The Crawdad’s crowd: Hundreds hunt out Delta eatery

Volunteer firefighter Reed Abraham had just finished extinguishing a house fire on Jan. 2, 2002, and was loading up hoses around 1 a.m. when he was dispatched to another blaze.

The Delta State University student soon realized Crawdad’s, a popular Merigold restaurant in which he often ate, was burning to the ground.

It seemed a small piece of charcoal that had fallen on the wooden floor sparked a blaze. The building, at the time, had no sprinkler system.

Walker’s restaurant births 463

California native Derek Emerson grew up in a family of foodies.

“We based vacations on the hot restaurant of the time,” he said.

That meant having breakfast at Brennan’s, sampling the French Creole cuisine of Galatoire’s, and dining in The Grill Room of The Windsor Court Hotel in New Orleans.

His family also took food excursions to New York City and frequented Wolfgang Puck’s Spago in Beverly Hills.

Inspired by a friend who graduated from the Culinary Institute of America, Emerson attended the Memphis Culinary Academy.

Entertaining angels: Mississippi man donates kidney to man he met while hunting

The hunter spent his spare time chasing deer in Mississippi when he wasn’t chasing fires. Starkville firefighter Rob Robinson, 44, had been stalking bucks in his home state for years, but when he learned that Kansas, the state where his sister resided, was one of the best places to turkey hunt, Robinson made several trips there throughout the years until he scored a record-breaking kill in 2007 that ranked seventh in the world.

Motivated by success, Robinson decided to go for the “Grand Slam of Turkeys” in 2008, and wandered upon 1,600 acres of farmland owned by Gillan Alexander in Nicodemus, Kan.

Taylor’s Oil: New Mississippi law could lead to experimental marijuana cannabis oil treatment for children plagued with seizure disorders

 t has been three years since Taylor Goode has spoken to his mother — three years since she’s heard the sound of his voice. And sometimes she cannot bear to look at photos of her children when they were young and thriving. “I usually get upset, so I don’t get them out a lot,” she said. “I miss it and want it back for them so bad.”

But Jennifer Potts is thankful that both of her boys are still alive and with her.

“I know things can get worse,” she said. “These two kids have every right to be whiny, complaining and ill, but they are never down. So I try to stay positive and in a good mood, because they are.”

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