Snyder center to host seniors health fair

Senior citizens can get a host of free health screenings and find tips on leading a healthy lifestyle this week during the fourth annual Seniors Health Fair.

The event, which is sponsored by the city and Biloxi Regional and Gulf Coast medical centers, will be Thursday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Donal M. Snyder Sr. Community Center, 2520 Pass Road.

Among the free offerings: glucose testing from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. (must fast for screening); diabetic shoe fitting and information; balance screenings; depression screenings; vision screenings; blood pressure and pulse checks; oxygen saturation tests; body fat analysis; and spinal and chair massages.

Cholesterol screenings will be conducted from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. for a $15 fee.

Among the free workshops planned are “Walking for health and fitness” and “PACE Exercise workshop.”

The Swinging Starlets, a square-dance group, will perform during the fair, and door prizes will be given away.

For details, call the Synder Center at 228-436-5191.

Schooner seeks Blessing passengers

The Maritime and Seafood Industry Museum will be offering individuals the chance to ride aboard the Biloxi schooner “Glenn L. Swetman” on Sunday for the Blessing of the Fleet. Tickets are $25 per person and can be purchased at the museum office trailer at Point Cadet. The schooner will sail at 11 a.m. from the Schooner Pier and return for the 1 p.m. Blessing before docking at the pier at 2:30 p.m.

Ticketholders may bring food and refreshments aboard; ice chests and ice will be provided. Tickets sold on a first-come, first-served basis. Details: 228-435-6320.

To read more about this weekend’s Blessing of the Fleet observance, click here.

Tree sculptor begins new project on Beach Boulevard

Dayton Scoggins, the Mississippi-born chainsaw artist whom the city commissioned to create the sculptures on Beach Boulevard a couple blocks west of the Biloxi Lighthouse, began working this morning on his latest city-commissioned work: the creation of a pod of dolphins from a 15-foot tree on U.S. 90 east of St. George.

To see his progress since 8 this morning, click here.

Elsewhere on U.S. 90: Let there be light

The tree-sculpting work is a fraction of the overall work underway at the moment on U.S. 90. The city has nearly a million dollars in lighting improvements underway in two separate projects: the installation of lighting between White Avenue and St. George Street and between Rodenberg Avenue and Beauvoir Road. To see background on that work, click here.

MDOT, meantime, continues to work to restore the stretch of street lights between the Biloxi Lighthouse and Caillavet Street. Crews have been repairing underground wiring for the past several days. The state agency also hopes to restore lighting soon on the I-110 highrise.

And, finally, MDOT contractors installing the nearly 3,000 palms, oaks and other plantings on the center median are scheduled to wrap up that $1.4 million project within 30 days. The work area covers the center medians between Pass Christian to Casino Row in Biloxi.


News and notes

AJH and EPA: Mayor A.J. Holloway is in Atlanta today, meeting with regional leaders of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, in hopes of securing funding to address water and sewer issues in the Woolmarket community. The mayor returns home Thursday afternoon.

Ward 2 meeting: Councilman Bill Stallworth will host a town hall meeting for Ward 2 residents this evening at 6 at City Hall.

Cantore visit: Meteorologist Jim Cantore and The Weather Channel are scheduled to be broadcasting live from Biloxi on Monday, part of cable channel’s coverage of the 2007 hurricane season, which begins Friday.