Mississippi

John, Paul, Ringo and George are coming to Hattiesburg. No, not The Beatles. What to know

Published

1 year ago

June 27, 2024

John, Paul, Ringo and George are coming to Hattiesburg. No, not The Beatles. What to know

Ed Inman
| Special to the Hattiesburg American

Electric vehicle enthusiasts from throughout south Mississippi will gather Sunday, June 30, at Hattiesburg’s Mahogany Bar and Crescent City Grill to celebrate the installation of four new on-site chargers for patrons to use while enjoying their food and beverages.

Called “Charge Together,” the event is being promoted as a “charge and chat” and is co-sponsored by EV Mississippi, a non-profit group that seeks to promote the use of electric vehicles through education and outreach.

The event will kick off at 2 p.m. and continue until 5 p.m. Sunday.

On display will be several new Tesla Cybertrucks as well as other recently unveiled electric vehicles. There will also be food and themed cocktail and mocktails available for purchase.

Crescent City owner Robert St. John said the installation will mark the first time a full-service restaurant and bar in the Hattiesburg area has offered an electric vehicle charging service.

“It is said that businesses can’t be all things to all people, and I guess that’s true. But we can be as many things to as many people as makes sense within our concept and dynamic,” St. John said.

As electric vehicles have increased in popularity, he said he believes it makes “perfect sense” to have EV charging stations at restaurants in 2024.

Simeon Williford, who serves as St. John’s executive assistant, said the units are “Level 2” chargers, which will allow motorists to travel between 30 and 40 miles following a one-hour charge. The decision to install them followed discussions with EV Mississippi co-founder Josh Hazel who noted that there was an increasing need for such a station in that area of town.

Mary-Frances Garner, a publicist for New South Restaurant Group, said the event will be set up like an outdoor block party.

“It is free to attend and there will be lots of EV enthusiasts on hand from throughout the area to share their knowledge and answer questions,” she said.

In a region where there are currently only a limited number of chargers available, the installation is expected to bring potential growth to the Hattiesburg community and economy, Garner said.

As a side note, the four chargers are being named after the four Beatles: John, Paul, Ringo and George, and there will be recorded music on hand by the Beatles and other classic rock artists at the event.

“Robert is a huge Beatles fan,” Williford said.

In addition to promoting knowledge about electric vehicles, EV Mississippi seeks to advance initiatives that positively affect the environment and works to assist in the development of infrastructure and resources by addressing public policy issues, which impact the future of the EV community.

The fast-growing group currently has 549 members on their Facebook page and is currently offering $50 raffle tickets to win a new electric vehicle of your choice.

“We will have a limited number of 1,500 tickets sold and the winner will be announced at 2 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 28, at the EV Mississippi fall event,” Hazel said.

That drawing will be held in front of the PetSmart at 6143 U.S. 98.

A Hattiesburg staple since 1990, Crescent City Grill is a Creole-inspired eatery serving fresh gulf fish, oysters and shrimp with other New Orleans-inspired fare including seafood gumbo, shrimp po-boys, and crawfish etouffee. The Mahogany Bar is an elevated cocktail spot offering an extensive whiskey list with over 200 bourbons and over 100 beers, including those from all nine Mississippi breweries.

The establishments are conveniently located between U.S. 49 and Interstate 59 at 3810 Hardy St., Hattiesburg.

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Mississippi

Mississippi barn where Emmett Till was killed to open as memorial site

Published

2 hours ago

November 27, 2025

Press Room

Mississippi barn where Emmett Till was killed to open as memorial site

The Mississippi Delta barn where 14-year-old Emmett Till was brutally beaten and killed will be open to the public as a “sacred” memorial site by 2030, the Emmett Till Interpretive Center announced.

The barn, located in a rural area outside the city of Drew, was purchased Nov. 18. The Emmett Till Interpretive Center announced the purchase Sunday, Nov. 23 — the birthday of Till’s mother, Mamie Till-Mobley.

The acquisition was aided by a $1.5 million donation from television producer and writer Shonda Rhimes.

The center will reportedly have the barn under 24-hour surveillance, and the property will be equipped with floodlights and security cameras for precautionary measures.

The center plans to open the barn as a memorial by the 75th anniversary of Till’s lynching.

“(The barn) will be preserved not merely as a structure, but as sacred ground — a place where truth can live without fear of being forgotten,” the center wrote in news release. “We did not save this place to dwell in grief. We saved it so that truth could keep shaping us.”

What happened to Emmett Till

Till was 14 when he traveled from his hometown of Chicago to Mississippi to visit relatives in 1955. Till was accused of flirting or whistling at Carolyn Bryant, a white woman working at a grocery store in rural Mississippi. In the overnight hours of Aug. 28, 1955, Till was taken from his uncle’s home at gunpoint and beaten by two vengeful white men, one of whom was the husband of Bryant.

Three days later, a fisherman on the Tallahatchie River discovered the teenager’s bloated and disfigured corpse. Till’s mother, Mamie, demanded that her son’s mutilated remains be taken back to Chicago for a public, open casket funeral that was attended by tens of thousands of people.

Graphic images taken of Till’s remains, sanctioned by his mother, were published by Jet magazine. Since then, Till’s name has become synonymous with the Civil Rights Movement and how the United States has dealt with race relations.

Till’s mother was a civil rights activist in the aftermath of her son’s death and died in 2003.

“To walk through the barn’s doors, one might think of Emmett’s voice calling for his mother in the dark — and of Mamie, hundreds of miles away in Chicago, transforming that cry into a call the world could hear. Her decision to open her son’s casket was not an act of despair but of fierce faith — faith that seeing would lead to understanding, and understanding to change,” the center said.

“That faith still calls to us. The barn carries her same charge: to help the world see.”

Pam Dankins is the breaking news reporter for the Clarion Ledger. Have a tip? Email her at pdankins@gannett.com.

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