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18:26

Welcoming world to Meridian

Don and Mamie Nobles are relaxing at the Century House Bed and Breakfast, an establishment they own and operate on Meridian’s Ninth Street.

The couple, who’ve been married for 55 years, bought the circa 1902 home in 2000. It took 18 months to renovate.

At 6:36, the Nobles’ lone guest arrives in town from Canton to attend a wedding.

On any given day, their visitors could be a Greek Orthodox monk from Mt. Sinai whose grandmother lived in Meridian, a group of ballerinas with the Russian ballet, or a pair of motorcyclists from Mexico City traveling the globe.

“We go around the world at the breakfast table,” says Mamie Nobles, smiling.

“We have a English girl that’s come here three times. She was touring the South the first time, then she came back and brought her parents. Then she brought a friend.”

What would the Nobles do with one extra day?

“Visit my grandchildren,” says Mamie Nobles.

“Ride my motorcycle,” says her husband.

–Bill Graham 

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19:00

Inspiring a love of art

Charlie Busler, the spotlight artist for tonight’s Art for Meridian 2020, strolls around the Northwood Country Club ballroom floor, where all of the live auction works of art are displayed.

Busler moves through the room, visiting with old friends and potential bidders. He takes great care to spend time with each person. One patron, who purchased Busler’s art in the early days, reminisces about the days of Art in the Park.

“Those were fun times,” Busler says. “Those fundraisers were hard work in the blazing sun.”

He tells another art lover the story of meeting a well-renowned artist at the time and building his own collection with monthly payments. He laughs. “The artist told me, ‘Charlie, I think I am ready for someone else to buy my paintings.”

More than an hour later, Busler’s work, “Like a Moth to a Flame” will go on the auction block. The painting has been donated for this event.

“It’s all for a great cause,” Busler says. “I love what I do, what I have been doing for so very long.”

Busler and his daughter Rachel Misenar are the featured artists tonight. The duo peruse the art, stopping to take a photo together by Busler’s piece.

“I remember the early years of doing this. I studied under the greats: Alex Loeb and Lallah Perry,” Busler says. “My piece tonight is a Japanese water color. I usually take a break from oils in the winter as it’s harder for that medium to dry properly.”

The live auction begins, and soon there is a battle for Busler’s piece. He sits calmly and with pride knowing his contribution to the art auction will pay it forward to a new artist or art collector in his hometown.

–Laura Hyche

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19:51

Happy birthday, baby!

Jair Gomez Reyes, a baby boy, is born at Rush Foundation Hospital, weighing 8 pounds, 7 ounces and measuring 21 inches. 

–Bill Graham 

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20:00

A downtown Meridian mixer

Shake, stir, build and blend.

Shake, stir, build and blend.

No, the repeated aforementioned phrase is not the steps to a new dance craze. It’s actually “the moves” made by Kolton Drury as he bartends  at Harvest Grill.

“It’s been a good night; we’ve had a good turnout tonight,” affirms the 24-year-old, who has been honing his bartending skills at the downtown Meridian restaurant for the last two years.

“I’ve made about 60 cocktails since 5, which is pretty good; we still have a few hours to go. Last weekend during the Mardi Gras celebration downtown, I made over 200 cocktails.”

In between quickly mixing drinks and pouring wine — without spilling — Drury slowly peruses the room from the bar, which is across from the restaurant’s entrance.

“We’re a team here,” he says, as he grabs a cocktail set at a designated station to be served at a table. “The servers often get busy, so I sometimes will take drink orders out to the tables. You don’t want your customers to wait for their drinks or for a drink to sit too long.”

As Drury prepares a variety of cocktails — Gene Damon Old Fashioned (a local favorite named after a frequent customer), a Bloody Mary and other popular tastes — he convinces Jason Harty, who has been enjoying a glass of wine at the bar, to try an appetizer: chargrilled oysters.

“We have chargrilled, half shell … Do you want a dozen? Half dozen?” Drury asks.

The two men discuss types of oysters and Harty has a particular interest in blue points, inquiring how they differ from other oysters.

“It has to do with where and how they are harvested, different salt and temperature,” Drury explains.

An inquiry about Harty’s choice of condiment (cocktail sauce, horse radish) with his appetizer prompts an intriguing discussion between the two men: banana ketchup.

“Funny you should mention that, I’ve actually tried it,” Drury says about the popular Philippine fruit ketchup. “My sociology professor at Ole Miss was the chef at The White House during Regan’s presidency. He (chef) was their really eccentric guy, been all over the world and he let us try it. It was a little spicy.”

“It’s red, like regular ketchup, but sweet and spicy,” Harty adds.

Harty’s order arrives — a half dozen of chargrilled oysters. He tastes one then nods his approval.

A pleased Drury smiles.

–Ida Brown

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21:00

Making the good times roll

Event Zona is at a peak.

Multicolored lights flash throughout the bowling alley as college basketball plays on television monitors against the wall. Nearly every lane is occupied with bowlers, as more and more people flow in from outside.

Steven Hale, 38, of Collinsville, stands at the ready.

He touches his ear.

He’s received instructions via the bluetooth earpiece connected to his walkie talkie and hurries to the back of the venue, past the arcade and the jumping zone. He opens a non-descript door that leads behind the lanes.

Tucked away behind the wall and curtains, a cacophony of machines clatters and cranks.

Hale gets down and pushes bowling pins out amid the extremely loud clattering of dozens of machines and corrects the mechanical malfunctions.

At 9:13 p.m., Hale heads out into another door that leads outdoors, gaining a brief reprieve from the noise inside.

He has a single cigarette, before he touches his ear yet again.

Sixteen minutes later, Hale returns to the front of the lanes. Two young bowlers can’t get their bowling balls back.

Hale gets down and removes a cover from the ball return, all while various tunes play throughout the building, a mix of country and modern hip-hop.

Removing yet another cover, this time on the floor, he removes several balls.

“It overheats when too many balls get thrown down,” Hale says.

At 9:36 p.m., Hale throws a few balls down an empty lane to test whether his adjustments worked. They return smoothly.

If Hale could be anywhere in the world with no time or space restrictions, he says he’d want to “be with his girl.”

–Thomas King 

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22:00

Finding a blessing in Meridian

It’s a chilly night at the Shell Station on 22nd Ave, managed by Chever Cole for more than 18 years.

Cars are parked at the pumps as 50-year-old Nicole Hampton cleans the inside floor to a Lauryn Hill song echoing through the store.

“No matter how I think we grow, you always seem to let me know, it ain’t workin’, it ain’t workin.’”

Indeed, at one point in her life, things were not working at all.

Hampton used to live in Chicago, where she says she was repeatedly beaten by an abusive ex numerous times, causing her to blackout.

One day, after waking up from a coma, she saw a woman in her hospital room telling her about Meridian.

She’d never heard of the place before, but that night, she used what money she had to get on a bus and leave Chicago.

“I’ll never forget it. She said to me, ‘Meridian, Mississippi will be the place to start over and regain what you have lost,” Hampton says.

At 10:07 p.m., a woman comes in wanting scratch-off lottery tickets. The store is mostly out of them, but Hampton helps the woman make a selection as she carefully explains how the cards are played.

Three minutes later, Hampton steps outside. She grabs a large measuring stick that more than doubles her in size.

After opening a few small metal coverings in the ground and twisting off the respective caps, she drops the pole inside and measures the levels of each. The readings help determine whether the station needs a gasoline refill.

Hampton returns inside and continues to help the steady flow of customers, each unique, most wanting scratch-off tickets.

In each case, Hampton seems to radiate a positive energy, despite the cold, despite the late hour.

At 10:30 p.m., a man Hampton knows enters the store to buy a drink.

She says he comes in to buy $.60 of gas.

“Where can you get with 60 cents worth of gas,” Hampton asks?

Hampton sometimes adds a few dollars of her own money to help him.

“I’ve caught so many blessings being here, you can’t hold a clinched fist,” Hampton explains.

Tonight, he seemed to give her some extra change, to pay back the kindness he’s received.

At 10:37 p.m., a woman enters the store, looking for pickled peanuts.

Hampton leaves the counter and looks for the item with her.

“I love your attitude. Keep it going baby,” the customer says as she walks out of the store.

Hampton says her life is much different now than it was in 2006. Then, she had no one to go home to, much less an actual home, as she wandered the streets of Meridian, crying.

At 10:59 p.m., she closes shop and returns home to her 5-year-old daughter, Journey.

“I’m living to give back. Things can change,” Hampton says.

–Thomas King 

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23:00 

Last flight to Meridian

Gabriel Tyson is on the last hour of his evening shift at Meridian Regional Airport. 

Sometimes his shift extends into the wee hours of the next morning when the last arriving flight is late, but on this night SkyWest Flight 3112 from Chicago is on time. 

Tyson, a Butler, Alabama native, and his crew of a couple of other people check bags, load and unload bags, and do whatever is needed to ensure things run smoothly at MEI. 

“We pretty much do a little bit of everything,” Tyson says.

Tyson is on the fourth day of a five-day rotation, but this is Saturday. Instead of a traditional Monday to Friday schedule, Tyson is working Wednesday to Sunday on this stretch. His schedule often changes. He says the unorthodox schedule can be draining, but it’s part of the job.

“It’s exhausting at times, but you’ve got to do what you can to survive, and make sure passengers are always happy because happy passengers means happy employees,” he says.

If he had an extra 24 hours, Tyson says he would extend that time and visit his father in San Diego.

“I would want to go out there and see him. Spend a week or two with him, and come back and start it all over again. Get back to work.”

–Matt Case