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THE SUN HERALD
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 1996
Grandmother’s bitterness could sour wedding event
Dear Ann Landers: My grandson is getting married in a few weeks. His grandfather (my ex-hus-band) has announced that he will attend. “Fine,” you say? Well, no one invited him.
Because of the bitterness I feel toward this man, I cannot tolerate being in the same room with him. He had two illegitimate daughters while married to me and gave me no money for child support when we divorced. One of his illegitimate daughters is collecting a huge inheritance from her husband’s grandmother. The grandmother died at 102 and owned a horse ranch in Wyoming. I have a hunch the newly rich daughter is outfitting this loser for the affair. Last I heard, he didn’t have a dime.
I wonder if I should be upfront and tell my grandson’s new family why I will not be attending the wedding or if I should lie and say I’m not well enough. Please advise. — No Name In Florida
Dear Florida: Please do your grandson as well as other family members a huge favor and restrain yourself. While it may be extremely tempting to unload the family garbage, I don’t recommend it.
I	hope you will reconsider and decide to attend your grandson’s wedding. You should not deprive yourself of the pleasure of witnessing this event simply because your former husband will be there. Get a new dress, put a smile on your face and have a great time. To have lived long enough to see a grandchild marry is a special blessing. Don’t miss it.
Dear Ann Landers: Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would ever write to you, but please settle an argument between my husband and me.
When I dated “Robbie,” I often witnessed his mother tickling his back, either under his shirt or when his shirt was off. I’m not talking about a normal back rub, I’m talking about tickling. She would very softly and sensuously tickle his back with one finger. I thought it was odd but said nothing.
Robbie and I now have two daughters, age 12 and 9, and he does the same thing to them. When the girls were verv voune. I didn’t
ADVICE
older (and developing), I told Robbie that this is inappropriate and he should stop it. He became angry and said I was accusing him of sexual abuse or something close to it.
Actually, I am not accusing him of anything. I just happen to believe that this type of contact is odd and inappropriate. What do you think, Ann? — Uneasy In Lafayette, Ind.
Dear Uneasy: You are right. Nine- and 12-year-old girls are not suitable candidates for “playful” tickling.
The erotic overtones of tickling are ever-present, whether conscious or not. If your husband refuses to listen to you, just hand him this column and put the blame on me.
Dear Readers: It’s time to get your annual flu shot. If you’re 65 or over, it’s free. Medicare began covering this important preventive measure in 1993, but too many of us still don’t get it. The flu shot can save lives, and contrary to what some people say, it cannot give you the flu. It’s best to get it by Thanksgiving, before flu season starts. Get the flu shot, NOT the flu. I know I’ll get mine.
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Depot
Continued from B-l
as an extension of our downtown area. What’s being done is such an enhancement of the property that we’re sure people will be detouring from their regular route of travel to drive by here.”
A family affair
Sam Benigno, 78, remembers the heyday of the depot neighborhood.
His family, in the grocery-deli business since 1935, once owned much of the property that fronts the train station.
“At one time, there were grocery stores all over here,” he said. “There was even a picture show and a furniture store.”
His brother operated a barbershop in the area for about 60 years.
Roy and Levema Benigno De-deaux, Benigno’s daughter and son-in-law, have run the grocery-deli for more than 2 years and are excited about the area’s revival.
Benigno’s grocery is near the middle of a large building that is sectioned into various businesses, each with its own street entrance. On one side of the grocery-deli a paint store is padlocked; on the other is a bar — Benig-no’s Bar — that does a good business.
Sam Benigno’s wife, Geraldine, remembers the depot in the 1930s, ’40s and ’50s.
“It stayed beautiful like it is now — not like it was a little while ago,” said Geraldine Benigno, 71, whose father was a railroad man with a crew of 100 workmen under him. “There was a big sign that said ‘Welcome to Bay St. Louis.’ You saw it when you stepped off the train, and you were proud to say you were from Bay St. Louis.”
There was a community spirit back then.
“Everybody got along so good,” said Geraldine Benigno. “It was like one big happy family. People liked to come back here to have a good time, to dance. It was great, if it could only come back like that.”
Benigno Bar patrons Tony Ramirez and Mike Ruf said it could be even
“While we’re attracting people here, we want them to come to think of this as an extension of our downtown area. What’s being done is such an enhancement of the property that we’re sure people will be detouring from their regular route of travel to
drive by here.”
Les Fillingame
city director of recreation and cultural affairs
“What they did with the depot is nice, ” Ruf said. “This could become a Mecca. Amtrak and Hancock County need to do something to promote it. When people get off the train, someone should be there to give them a roll of (slot machine) tokens."
All shook up
Life by the train tracks is a moving experience.
“When a train is passing, it goes through your bones,” said Gary Ponthieux, who, with wife Susan, owns Gary’s Radiator Service at the comer of Toulme and Union streets just south of the tracks.
Gary Ponthieux said you get used to the shaking after a while. Still, there are times when he prefers the sound of a train’s bell to the blast of its horn.
The Ponthieuxes have lived in Hancock County for more than 20 years.
“It’s a slow pace around here, but we like it,” said Gary Ponthieux, who sees the renovated depot as an asset not just to the community but to the whole Coast.
The city is developing a park between the Ponthieuxes’ shop and the depot and is seeking a sponsor to put in a duck pond. Plans also call for replacing the row of palms that once lined the front of the depot.
A matter of business
The Acadian Apartments and the building that houses Paul Santacruz Appliances diagonally across from the Ponthieuxes’ shop are owned by Nicholas and Wanda Haas and Sid Sandoz. They bought the properties as a business venture about five years ago from the Demoran family, who had operated an appliance and TV repair shop there before converting it to apartments.
Haas said word-of-mouth seems to keep the units full. The six aoart-
Haas.
Paul Seiler, who operates Santacruz Appliances, moved the business there from U.S. 90.
“This seemed a better location, ” Seiler said. “I like it; I wouldn’t be anywhere else.”
Making a comeback
Frances Krost and her husband, Franklin, have lived in Bay St. Louis for 24 years — first on Felicity Street near the Yacht Club, but for the past five years at 218 Bookter St.
“When we first came to town, the depot was just closing,” said Frances Krost. “It was in pretty bad shape. Now, it’s really lovely. I hope the train will keep running.”
Frances Krost and her neighbor, folk artist Alice Moseley, constantly
tell each other that their front porches offer them one of the nicest views in town — the depot.
“I’m a newcomer,” said Moseley, who moved here in 1988, “but I feel like this is the place I’ve been looking for all my life. I’m real proud of what’s going on around here.”
In May 1993, Moseley painted a commissioned work entitled, “Bay St. Louis and Amtrak Prove that You Can Go Home Again.” Because the city had welcomed her so warmly, Moseley gave the city the painting ol the depot as seen from the front porch of her 1890’s shotgun house. It depicts things important around here, including an angel on the depot’s roof.
Said Moseley: “I feel real sure there must be a guardian angel here with all that’s happening in this town.”
VENDOR DEMONSTRATIONS
Come and £eam ffom the Vm
Water Boss
(Free Water Testing)
Thurs. Oct. 24