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REPRINT FROM THE SEA COAST ECHO, BAY ST. LOUIS, MISS. THURSDAY, NOV. 9, 1972
Episcopal W men Planning Bazaar
by Adoree Shortle Echo staff writer
Renovation of a more than 75-year-old carriage house to be used as a church school is the object of a fund raising Bazaar, sponsored by the Women of Christ Episcopal Church In Bay St. Ixrnls.
The carriage house will be the setting for the Bazaar, scheduled for November 15, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Proceeds from the Bazaar and the dinner following have been designated for renovation of the historic structure, situated between the church on the beach and the I)dy School, for use as a much needed Sunday School for the church.
Such use of the carriage house for children is in keeping with a tradition set by John Wisner, former owner of the estate at 912 South Beach Blvd., whose philanthropic gifts to the children of the community through 16 years of residence there are still fondly recalled by many Bay Si. I/mis natives.
Wisner, a prominent and wealthy cotton broker in New Orleans, first acquired the estate in 1913 from George Clay, another prominent New Orleans businessman who had owned the property prior to the turn of the century.
When Mr. Wisner bought the estate the property consisted of a 210 feet wide strip of land extending from the beach to the railroad. A beautiful anti-bellum home faced the waters of the Bay and some distance behind the main house was the carriage house.
The estate was filled with beautiful formal gardens and on several acres of the rear section of the property was a large citrus orchard, filled with orange, lemon and grapefruit trees which bore “tremendous delicious fruit”, one native recalls. Apparently a very generous man, Mr. Wisner was quick to give away quantities of the 'fruit to friends and neighbors. One of the many recipients as a child, George Heitzmann said, “I think he grew them just for the pleasure of giving them away.”
According to Mrs. Samuel Buckland Keen, nee Cora Wisner, her father improved the carriage house by adding a kitchen, bath and two large
rooms in the loft. Furnished with chairs, tables and dishes, the carriage house then became the scene of gala Christmas parties which Mr. Wisner hosted each year for the children of the community as well as those of the Episcopal Church, to which the Wteners belonged.
Mrs. Alice Dupaquler, a childhood and lifelong friend of Mrs. Keen recalls the parties as being much anticipated by all the children who attended.
There was always a “tremendous Christmas tree”, she remembers, laden with decorations and as well as many gifts under the tree for everybody, each child was given one special gift of his choice.
On numerous other occasions through the years the carriage house was the setting for youthful social events, typical of a bygone era of graceful living. Mrs. Keen described one such evening, when she gave a dance for young friends and a local belle “danced holes in her ballet slippers on the concrete floor".
In January of 1930, the Wisners sold the estate and moved away. Cora Wisner was married and living In New Orleans. Twenty years passed and the properly changed hands twice before 1951, when Christ Episcopal Church purchased the land from Dr. Thomas Sellers, to be used as a church-school complex.
The main house and the carriage house had survived three major storms, numerous lesser tornadoes and tropical disturbances as well as the ravages of time. The carriage house at that lime, although in need of repair, was still sturdy and protected by massive, old oaks.
Fr. Charles Johnson, rector of Christ Episcopal, used the carriage house for Christ Episcopal Day School classes which then consisted of kindergarten and first grade. Once again, the building rang with the sounds of childish voices.
Five years later when a new brick school building was constructed farther to the rear of ihe property, the carriage house became the kindergarten building. In 1969, when hurricane Camille wiped out the newly-built high school In Pass Christian and the church in Bay St. Louis, the carriage house, supplemented by trailers, was again filled with young people as temporary high school.
In the fall of 1972, Coast Episcopal High School students moved to a large new complex In Pass Christian and the carriage house stood empty - tired, and looking somewhat the worse for wear.
THE CARRIAGE HOUSE on the Wisner estate in Bay St. Louis, is pictured as it looked when John Wisner bought the property in 1913. Now a part of the Christ Episcopal Church and Day School complex, the carriage house will be the scene of a church sponsored Bazaar November 15, Through the Bazaar, the Women of the Church hope to raise funds to convert the building Into a church school.
CHRIST EPISCOPAL BAZAAR plans are discussed by Chairman Mrs. Hilaire Ogden, right, and Mrs. Pauline Charping, both members of the Women of the Church, sponsoring group for the annual event. Proceeds from the bazaar will be used to renovate the carriage house, pictured in the background, to provide a school building for Sunday school classes. The bazaar Is scheduled for November 15, from 10 a.m. until 8 p.m.
(Echo staff photo by Adoree Shortle)
It was only fitting, after all Its history of youth, that the carriage house should be now turned into a church school. And especially appropriate that it Is Christ Episcopal church school, as the Wisners were early and active members of that same church during their 16-year residence In Bay St. Louis.
Mrs Paul Vegas is
chairman of the carriage house renovation project and Mrs. Dixie Ogden and Mrs. Pauline Charpin co-chairmen of the upcoming Bazaar, through which the church hopes to raise the money to prepare the building for many future years of being filled with children, as it has been in the past.