Mississippi
Meet the Mississippi artists behind the Governor’s Mansion Christmas decorations
Each holiday season, the Mississippi Governor’s Mansion in downtown Jackson comes alive with twinkling Christmas lights and festive decorations. All of these magical touches are made possible by Mississippi artists.
This year’s theme is “Made in Mississippi,” and honors the state’s many industries including small businesses, agriculture and tourism. Back in July, Gov. Tate Reeves and First Lady Elee Reeves’ team chose the theme to honor the local businesses, big and small, that have shaped the state.
April Hunter of Quitman was chosen as this year’s guest decorator. Hunter took over Fantasy Cottage Flowers and Gifts in 2008, eight years after its opening. In the 16 years since, Fantasy Cottage has flourished and become a community staple. Hunter provides flowers for weddings, funerals and everything in between, not just for Clarke County, but for all of Mississippi and even for some surrounding states.
Hunter’s work within the Governor’s Mansion began when she was chosen as a featured florist in Nov. 2022. Shortly after moving in to the Governor’s Mansion, the First Lady began the featured florist initiative as a way to support Mississippi artists. Each florist chosen provides floral arrangements for the mansion for the duration of their month. Hunter served as featured florist four more times in March and November of 2023 and in July and September of 2024.
Fantasy Cottage was set to serve as featured florist once again in November 2024. However, once Hunter and her team were chosen for the Christmas decorations, November was swapped out for December.
Guest decorators for Christmas in the Governor’s mansion are chosen each year out of a pool of applicants. Hunter’s application was one of seven proposals submitted to the First Lady in July. Hunter and her son Cody Hunter worked on the proposal, which outlined in detail her vision for the “Made in Mississippi” theme if Fantasy Cottage were to get chosen.
“We didn’t want to just scatter (the decorations) completely all over and it just be hodgepodge everywhere,” Hunter said. “We kind of wanted each room to have its own thing. For example, one of the bedrooms is the tourism room. Another bedroom we kind of geared more to mom-and-pop shops in Mississippi. Another one we geared towards Mississippi artists — your basket weavers, your potters. There’s a lot of Walter Anderson, McCarty’s (Pottery), Peter’s Pottery and Wolfe Studio.”
On Sept. 5, the Mississippi First Lady called Hunter and told her Fantasy Cottage had been chosen to decorate the Governor’s Mansion. Hunter and her team spent the next two months preparing. On Sunday, Dec. 1, Hunter and eight team members got to work bringing in the decorations. Everything had to be set up by the following Wednesday for a gathering in the mansion.
By 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 3, Hunter’s work was complete. Hunter’s decorations fill several bedrooms, the entry way, a conference room and two parlors in the mansion.
“I believe that sometimes big things come in small packages,” Hunter said. “You don’t necessarily need a team of 50 to get a job done. Sometimes it’s better to have a small number of hardworking individuals, and each person plays an essential role.”
Gov. Reeves provided Hunter with a list of more than 300 Mississippi-owned businesses that have been established or that he felt have flourished during his tenure as governor. In order to incorporate all of the businesses, Hunter made a gold star with the name of each printed on the front. The gold stars hang on the only live Christmas tree in the mansion, a 14-foot tree in the Rose Parlor.
The talk of the season, Hunter said, is the stuffed deer standing in front of a Christmas tree in the Gold Parlor, the room decorated to honor Mississippi’s agriculture industry. The deer, harvested by Danny Joe Jones in 2008, previously spent the better part of a decade greeting diners in Long’s Fish Camp, a restaurant in Enterprise, MS.
After long-time owner Rep. Troy Smith sold Long’s Fish Camp a few years ago, the new owners sent the deer back to Jones. While brainstorming about which decorations to put in the agriculture room, Hunter suddenly thought about that deer. She called up Rep. Smith who told Hunter the deer had been returned to Jones, who happened to be a frequent customer of Fantasy Cottage. Jones then lent the deer, who’s mount had since broken, to Hunter’s team. Hunter got the mount fixed up, and the deer traveled from Enterprise to Jackson.
“Apparently nobody’s ever brought in a deer to the mansion,” Hunter joked. “We did it… If I could have bottled up the reaction of the mansion staff when we showed up that day to start decorating and we literally came in with a real deer… we went pretty heavy.”
The deer is joined in the Gold Parlor by alligator head replicas and a turkey fan contrasted with some more traditional, festive Christmas decorations like the gold pine cones dotted throughout the room.
Among the extravagant Christmas decorations in the entrance, a gingerbread replica of the Governor’s Mansion sits greeting guests. The replica was made entirely by hand by Madison-based baker Beth Hennington.
Hennington has nearly a decade of experience under her belt with her cookie company The Vanillan. In 2022, Hennington’s career took an unexpected turn when she won Food Network’s “Christmas Cookie Challenge”. Since her Food Network victory, Hennington’s business has grown in ways she never thought possible. Hennington sold her first dozen cookies for $35. Now, a dozen of Hennington’s cookies go for $125, and as of December, she is booked until next August.
Looking at the detailed work on the gingerbread replica of the Governor’s Mansion, you may think Hennington has a long career of making gingerbread houses. In actuality, Hennington had never made anything like the replica in her life. Previously, the only gingerbread houses she made were the simple, four-walls-and-a-roof kind that come in pre-cut kits. In the summer, Hennington reached out to the Governor’s Mansion and asked if she could provide the replica for Christmas.
“I’ve made several different structures, but I’d never made a really big structure,” Hennington said. “So, why not? Let’s do a replica of the Governor’s Mansion as the first one. I mean, what was I thinking?”
Armed with cookie cutters and piping bags, from Saturday, Nov. 30 to Wednesday, Dec. 4, Hennington said she spent around 80 hours in her own kitchen constructing the gingerbread replica, leaving only a few hours for sleep. She used her own pictures of the mansion and some provided aerial photos as a guide. The process, Hennington said, consisted of a lot of trial and error.
“I debated on putting it together at the mansion, and then I thought, if I have calamities, problems, issues in the mansion kitchen where I’m not comfortable, where I don’t know where everything is, it might make it worse,” Hennington said.
In total, Hennington crafted 56 royal icing wreaths placed on the replica’s front door and 55 windows, all made individually by hand. She indented every single brick with a paintbrush before putting the walls into the oven. The completed structure is four feet long, two and a half feet tall and three feet wide at its widest point. The house is completely hollow inside, and the only non-edible features are the little decorations on the replica’s lawn and some paper on the inside of the windows.
The replica is held together solely by icing, and no glue was involved in the building process. Hennington used isomalt as an adherent, a sugar substitute that the baker called “hot glue for bakers.” Some of the structure’s walls are made from classic, soft gingerbread dough, and some are made from what’s known as “construction gingerbread,” which doesn’t contain eggs so the final product is stronger and studier.
After she had finished the replica, which was built on a piece of plywood, Hennington and her husband, Jackson Fire Department Captain Kenneth Hennington, laid down the seats of her Nissan Rouge and loaded up the structure. She then drove the replica from her home with her husband holding it steady from the front seat and delivered it straight to the Governor’s Mansion.
Despite the hard work and long hours, Hennington said she had a great time recreating the Governor’s Mansion out of gingerbread.
“I’m playing with icing and gingerbread,” Hennington said. “My house smells good. I got Christmas music playing… my house has been the North Pole. I have always wanted to be an architect. I just didn’t know my medium was going to be gingerbread.”
All of the decorations will come down Jan. 2. Hennington said if the Governor doesn’t want to keep the gingerbread replica, she will take it back and preserve it with resin.
As for Hunter’s decorations, the Quitman florist said Jan. 2 will be a bittersweet day. Hunter called her decorations a “work of heart,” emphasizing what an honor the whole experience has been, especially for a small-town florist. Fantasy Cottage sits right across from the Quitman post office in a town with only two red lights, Hunter quipped.
“It takes my breath away sometimes when I think about the magnitude of it, but I’m so thankful and so proud that we were chosen,” Hunter said. “I hope that we have made Clarke County proud and Mississippi. This has been a Christmas to remember.”
Got a news tip? Contact Mary Boyte at mboyte@jackson.gannett.com
Several more attempts were made to blow a hole in the peninsula, but only succeeded in causing a few divots and angering local residents because of the late-night noise and disruptions.
In an April 1909 interview with The Vicksburg Post, former Herald reporter Andy Conklin said landowners south of the city wanted to create the cut-off to increase their property values. Conklin was also a deputy sheriff in 1876.
“Time and again I have heard that powder was being used on the peninsula to blow up the earth and aid the water in tearing through the shorter way,” Conklin said. “Many times pieces of cane, filled with powder, found along the route which the water eventually tore through, were brought to me.”
Whether the explosives sped up the process is debatable, but either way the river continued to eat away at the peninsula. By mid-April the Herald reported that low-draft boats could make it through without trouble.
“Another large slice of the peninsula opposite this city dropped into the river last night,” the Herald reported on April 12. “As the auctioneer says, it is going, going.”
On April 21, The Herald reported that the sound of rushing water had become so loud it was “like the noise of a cataract, and can be distinctly heard in any part of the city during the stillness of night.”
The inevitable finally happened on Wednesday, April 26. In the late morning hours, the river started to move through DeSoto Point. Just after 2 p.m., it cut through the last bit of dry land with a rush and swallowed more than 150 feet of ground. After months of gradual erosion, the final stage of the process took only a few hours.
“In the morning the river was about stationary, and would probably have remained so, but 10 minutes past two o’clock, the last link that held the peninsula, opposite the city, gave way, and the water came rushing through in a torrent,” the Herald reported. “The little cross levee, about 50 yards long, dropped into the river all at once, and opened up a passage for the water through the peninsula, and left an island on the upper side.”
The change happened so suddenly and efficiently that, by the next day, the new channel was calm and could be safely navigated. The coal tug John Bigley was the first to make it through, and pilot Mike Maguire blew the ship’s whistle in triumph before returning the way he came.
According to The Herald a half-dozen riverboats made their way through on April 27, with one reporting a depth in the new channel of at least 28 feet. By the end of the week every captain coming up and down the river was taking the new route.
“The boats don’t pretend to go any other way now except through the cut-off,” The Herald wrote on April 29. “It will soon be as great a novelty to see a steamboat go around the bend as it was a few days ago to see one go across the point.”
After a decade of debate about the creation of the cut-off and its effects on Vicksburg, the Herald reported that the event itself was largely greeted by residents with some curiosity and a sigh of relief that it was done.
“We heard a good deal of speculation concerning the effect of the cut-off on the business of this city, but the subject having been worn thread bare already, there was a silent expression of pleasure that the end had finally come,” The Herald wrote.
In fact, the end was only the beginning of the next chapter in Vicksburg’s history. For the next 27 years the River City was without a river. The old river bed remained navigable for a few months but was soon filled with silt and sediment that prevented boats from reaching the downtown waterfront.
A private landing at Kleinston, on the city’s southern edge at the foot of Mattingly Street, was only usable during high water periods, and it was apparent that the city’s future depended on coming up with a radical solution.
That came in the form of the Yazoo Diversion Canal, which took nearly three decades and an act of Congress to complete. The 9.2-mile canal follows the lower part of the old Mississippi River channel, past downtown Vicksburg, and connects to the Yazoo River. The northern part of the old channel became known as Centennial Lake.
The Yazoo Diversion Canal opened on Jan. 28, 1903, which was a day of celebration in Vicksburg. A dedication ceremony was held at the Walnut Street Theatre, followed by a steamboat parade up and down the newly christened waterway. The festivities were wrapped up by an hour-long fireworks show that night as the River City reclaimed its name.
“Today marks another epoch,” Vicksburg judge Pat Henry said during a speech at the dedication ceremony. “That of having our harbor restored and once more announcing to the world that we have a river at our front.”
LSU baseball found itself Saturday night in almost an identical situation to the night before at Dudy Noble Field.
The Tigers held a multi-run lead over No. 11 Mississippi State. In the series opener Friday night, LSU led the Bulldogs 7-3 before giving it up and ultimately losing in extra innings.
During game two Saturday, the Tigers jumped out to a 7-2 lead over MSU by the fourth inning. LSU’s top bullpen arms couldn’t hold the lead against Mississippi State in game one. One night later, the Tigers’ bullpen gave up another big lead to the home team.
It was déjà vu for LSU as it lost to the Bulldogs, 9-8, to lose its third straight league series.
The Tigers (24-20, 6-14 SEC) have now lost eight straight SEC games, the longest conference losing streak in program history.
Sophomore reliever Cooper Williams gave up a grand slam to Mississippi State’s Jacob Parker in the seven inning that tied the game 7-7. Parker was the only batter he faced.
In the eighth, senior Tiger pitcher Grant Fontenot gave up multiple hits and the Bulldogs scored two runs to take the lead.
LSU chased Mississippi State starter Duke Stone early but reliever Jack Bauers proved to be unbreakable as he gave up just one run on three hits while striking out eight across 3⅔ innings into the ninth.
Sophomore designated hitter Cade Arrambide jumpstarted the Tigers with a two-run home run in the first. He also had an RBI double in the fifth and finished the game 2 for 4 with three RBIs and two runs. Freshmen Omar Serna Jr. had three hits, including the solo homer in the ninth to pull the Tigers within a run. Freshman Mason Braun reached base each of his first three plate appearances.
Grant Fontenot gives up the lead for LSU. Tigers are now three outs away from losing the series.
MSU’s Bauers is mowing LSU hitters down now, up to seven strikeouts.
Mississippi State’s Jacob Parker just hit a grand slam to tie this game up. It’s deja vu for Tiger fans.
Two reach but LSU can’t bring them home. Some insurance runs would be nice for the Tigers.
That’s the most emotion I’ve ever seen from Lachenmayer. MSU gets a runner to second but he got the big strikeout to end the threat.
Braun got a two-out but nothing else for the Tigers.
Danny Lachenmayer masterfully worked around a jam to get out of the fifth inning, preserving LSU’s 5-run lead.
Tigers have blown this game wide open. Arrambide with an RBI double before Eddie Yamin cranked a three-run home run. The question is still being begged though: Can LSU hold onto the lead?
Schmidt is doing a decent job of getting himself out of sticky situations. He gives a up run in the fourth but he limited the damage.
Jack Ruckert ripped a one-out double down the line left field line but William Patrick and Tanner Reaves flied out to end the threat.
Schmidt strikes out a pair and he’s up to 4 Ks so far tonight.
Nothing doing for the Tigers on offense.
Schmidt has looked good through the first couple of innings tonight. One mistake that led to the homer and the walk wasn’t really on him.
More baserunning blunders for the Tigers. I would say that can’t happen but it’s who this LSU team is this year.
William Schmidt gives up a solo home run to Ace Reese. But that was his only mistake in an otherwise good opening frame.
Another hot start for the Tigers in Starkville. They plate three runs in the first, highlighted by a two-run blast from Cade Arrambide. Now the question is can LSU hold a lead?
LSU baseball vs Mississippi State probable pitchers
- LSU – William Schmidt, RHP (4-4, 4.14 ERA)
- Mississippi State – Duke Stone, LHP (6-1, 3.78 ERA)
What time does LSU baseball vs Mississippi State start?
- Date: Saturday, April 24
- Time: 6:30 p.m. CT
- Where: Dudy Noble Field in Starkville, Mississippi
What TV channel is LSU baseball vs Mississippi State on today?
- TV: ESPN2
- Streaming: Fubo
- How to watch online: Watch ESPN
LSU baseball 2026 schedule
| Date | Opponent |
| Feb. 13 | Milwaukee (W 15-5) |
| Feb. 14 | Milwaukee (W 5-3) |
| Feb. 15 | Milwaukee (W 21-7) |
| Feb. 16 | Kent State (W 10-7) |
| Feb. 18 | Nicholls State (W 12-1) |
| Feb. 20 | Indiana (Jacksonville, Florida) (W 14-7) |
| Feb. 21 | Notre Dame (Jacksonville, Florida) (W 9-4) |
| Feb. 22 | UCF (Jacksonville, Florida) (W 11-0) |
| Feb. 24 | McNeese State (L 7-6) |
| Feb. 27 | Dartmouth (W 5-2) |
| Feb. 28 | Northeastern (W 3-1) |
| March 1 | Dartmouth (W 3-0) |
| March 2 | Northeastern (L 13-10) |
| March 4 | at Louisiana (L 7-2) |
| March 6 | Sacramento State (W 15-4) |
| March 7 | Sacramento State (L 5-4) |
| March 8 | Sacramento State (L 6-1) |
| March 10 | Creighton (W 8-4) |
| March 13 | Vanderbilt* (L 13-12) |
| March 14 | at Vanderbilt* (L 11-3) |
| March 15 | at Vanderbilt* (W 16-9) |
| March 17 | at Grambling State (W 7-1) |
| March 19 | Oklahoma* (W 7-1) |
| March 20 | Oklahoma* (L 4-2) |
| March 21 | Oklahoma* (L 4-3) |
| March 24 | Louisiana Tech (W 15-5) |
| March 27 | Kentucky* (L 7-4) |
| March 28 | Kentucky* (W 7-0) |
| March 29 | Kentucky* (W 17-10) |
| March 31 | Southern (W 16-6) |
| April 3 | at Tennessee* (W 7-5) |
| April 4 | at Tennessee* (L 4-1) |
| April 5 | at Tennessee* (W 16-6) |
| April 7 | Bethune-Cookman (L 10-7) |
| April 10 | at Ole Miss* (L 6-3) |
| April 11 | at Ole Miss* (L 12-2) |
| April 12 | at Ole Miss* (L 8-7) |
| April 14 | Northwestern State (W 4-2) |
| April 17 | Texas A&M* (L 10-4_ |
| April 18 | Texas A&M* (L 7-2) |
| April 19 | Texas A&M* (L 5-2) |
| April 21 | New Orleans (W 10-4) |
| April 24 | at Mississippi State* (L 10-8) |
| April 25 | at Mississippi State* (L 9-8) |
| April 26 | at Mississippi State* |
| April 28 | Southeastern Louisiana |
| May 1 | South Carolina* |
| May 2 | South Carolina* |
| May 3 | South Carolina* |
| May 5 | Tulane |
| May 8 | at Georgia* |
| May 9 | at Georgia* |
| May 10 | at Georgia* |
| May 14 | Florida* |
| May 15 | Florida* |
| May 16 | Florida* |
Cory Diaz covers the LSU Tigers for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his Tigers coverage on Twitter: @ByCoryDiaz. Got questions regarding LSU athletics? Send them to Cory Diaz at bdiaz@gannett.com.
EL SEGUNDO — The Chargers used the first of their three fourth-round draft picks to take Mississippi State wide receiver Brenen Thompson 105th overall in the NFL draft Saturday morning. General Manager Joe Hortiz then traded up to take Memphis tackle Travis Burke at No. 117 with the second of his three fourth-round picks.
Hortiz sent the Houston Texans picks in the fourth (123rd) and sixth rounds (204th) to select Burke in the fourth round (117th), his third trade in two days. The Chargers began the day with seven picks in the final four rounds of the three-day draft in Pittsburgh.
In addition, the Chargers have one pick in the fifth round (145th) and two in the sixth (202nd and 206th). They didn’t have a seventh-round selection, however. They entered the draft with only five picks, but trades with the New England Patriots and Cleveland Browns netted an additional four.
The Chargers had only picks on the final day, but ended up with seven.
Thompson clocked a 4.26-second time in the 40-yard dash at the draft combine in Indianapolis in February, said to be the third-fastest time recorded by a wide receiver. Burke was officially listed at 6-foot-8¾ and 325 pounds at the combine.
“It’s God-given,” Thompson said of his speed. “I’ve always been fast my whole life. I’m so excited. It’s a perfect fit I’m excited to get with (Chargers offensive coordinator Mike) McDaniel and get to work. I’d say I’m explosive as a route runner. I think I’m going to fit in perfectly.”
The Chargers completed their fourth-round selections by taking University of Arizona safety Genesis Smith with the 131st overall pick. They used their lone pick in the fifth round to pick South Carolina defensive tackle Nick Barrett (145th), ending a run of four consecutive offensive players.
More to come on this story.
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