Dr. Carroll Brown of Columbia, center, helps patients in Haiti.

By Josh Mitchell/Informer Publisher

 Many people have seen the death and destruction of the Haiti earthquake on TV, but a Columbia physical therapist saw the catastrophe in person when he traveled to the country to render aid to the victims.

Dr. Carroll Brown, owner of 1^stPlace Physical Therapy on Broad Street, said the “overwhelming sprit” of the Haitians and how they stayed positive and hopeful stood out to him the most.

Earthquake victims stand with the help of crutches.

He was stationed at one of the few hospitals still standing in the capital of Port-au-Prince and saw some 400-500 patients during his time there. Patients that could not fit in the hospital stayed in tents outside.

Some of his patients had amputated limbs, and he helped them get mobile again with the use of crutches, canes and splints. Some of them had damaged nerves from being trapped under the rubble, and the majority of them had broken femurs and tibias.

A challenge to working in Haiti is that the country had 1980s medical technology, said Brown, who was connected with an international humanitarian relief organization called Humedica. He stayed at a compound with other medical professionals from places like Oregon and Maryland, and at night the group would relax and sing.

A patient has a bandage replaced.

When he arrived in Haiti, the earthquake had been over for a few weeks, so he did not see dead bodies, but he does recall mass graves and mountains of rubble filled the landscape. When he was there, the country was in the middle of three days of national prayer, and the churches were filled with people singing.

Many of the patients were in a great amount of pain because they were not given narcotics, he said, adding that surgeries were done without general anesthesia. He recalls that one patient he saw lost one of her arms and will probably lose one of her legs.

Despite the great amount of pain, Brown said, “There was no crying. They were happy to get the help. They were very courageous and brave.”

All of the patients he saw had lost at least one family member and some had lost all of their family. “They were scared to be discharged from the hospital, because they had nothing to go back to,” he said.

Each morning there would be a long line of people outside the hospital trying to get in for treatment, he said. Brown said he stayed so busy that he did not have time to think about how the experience made him feel. His time was spent problem solving and trying to be effective.

The capital building in Port-au-Prince was reduced to rubble.

Looking back he feels optimistic about the future of Haiti, saying, “I believe the spirit of recovery is going strong.”

The government of Haiti may be corrupt, but there are many people around the world that are helping the country get back to normal. Brown said he wants to share his story to let people know that they can make a big difference.

“It’s good for the people of Marion County to know that everything they do can make a difference in Haiti,” he said.

He recalls a 19-year-old woman who sustained a broken femur, multiple fractures in her fingers and a shattered wrist that he helped by getting her a cushion to lie on. Prior to her getting the cushion she was on a tin mat and had developed bed sores.

“This was a humbling experience,” he said. “It will strip away any pride you have.”

Brown took the trip as a result of a connection he had as a member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Doctors were needed desperately in the country, so he was on a plane headed to Haiti within 48 hours of getting the call for help.

Brown’s faith in the Lord motivates him, and he felt like God’s hand was on the trip and his wife, Melanie, supported him going. Brown wrote an article about his experience in the country. Click here to read it: The Beacons Are Lit

Columbia resident Paula Oatis, center, is presented with a check for being the statewide Medicaid Meltdown winner. From left, Mississippi Division of Medicaid Director Rachel Shinard, Medicaid Auditor Andrea McNeal, Oatis, Personnel Officer Tracy Brewster and Lead Systems Analyst Alice Stewart.

By Josh Mitchell/Informer Publisher

 A Columbia woman has won a statewide weight loss contest sponsored by the Mississippi Division of Medicaid.

Paula Oatis was one of 218 participants in the Medicaid Meltdown, and she came out on top, losing 63 pounds or 28.5 percent of her body mass.

The contest involved Medicaid employees from across the state competing against each other to see who could lose the most weight in 24 weeks.

Oatis, who has worked for the Division of Medicaid in Columbia for 10 years as a specialist, lost the weight by “eating smart.”  Cutting down on her portion sizes was critical to losing the weight, she said, adding, “I’m a junk food person.”

While losing the weight she still ate French fries but instead of ordering a large she would get a small. She used to consume a lot of soft drinks, which made her body retain fluid, but now she only drinks water and green tea.

Her husband, Josea, who is a school resource officer for the Columbia Police Department, supported her through the contest. “He was backing me, but he was still eating though,” she laughed.

Their daughter, Kyla, 11, would also help by hiding the potato chips, she said. Paula recalls that her daughter was always asking, ‘“Mama, Is that on your diet?”’

During the diet, Oatis did not exercise much, because she thought that would add muscle and therefore body weight.

Now that she has lost the weight, Oatis feels more energetic and less stressed. Prior to the diet, she would be tired after work and come home and lay in the bed, but now she walks.

In recognition of Oatis winning the contest, Medicaid officials from Jackson came to Columbia on Tuesday to present her with a $500 check. The award money came from the $5 entry fee that contestants paid when they signed up for the contest.

Darrick McGowan and Patricia Brister act out a skit portraying absent fathers in the black household. In the skit, McGowan's character is going out on the town rather than being home with his family.

The crowd fills the sanctuary of John the Baptist Church for the MLK service.

By Josh Mitchell/Informer Publisher

The Marion County branch of the NAACP held its Martin Luther King Jr. celebration last night at John the Baptist Church in Columbia.

The service included expressive singing and dancing, dramatic skits that depicted the lives of blacks now and during periods of slavery, and a sermon from guest speaker, the Rev. Lionel Roberts, pastor of St. Bernard Mission Baptist Church in New Orleans.

Just as the Israelites were led out of Egypt by God in the exodus, God led blacks out of slavery, said Master of Ceremonies Sharon James, who is the third vice president of the Marion County NAACP. Blacks should always remember their past struggles or history will repeat itself, James added.

Xavier Shelby performs an expressive dance.

Martin Luther King taught that it is morally right to disobey unjust laws, similar to how Rosa Parks “made a stand by sitting down,” which led to the Montgomery bus boycott, James noted.

Columbia Mayor Reed Houston told the audience that he wants to be judged by his character and not the color of his skin.

A series of dramatic acts put on at the service highlighted how things have changed for blacks through the years. One of the skits showed that during slavery the man of the house was taken from his family because he was sold by his master. Now, some black men of the house are absent because they are going out and partying.

Marion County NAACP First Vice President Melinda S. Cloud said she was disappointed with South Carolina Congressman Joe Wilson’s outburst in the fall when he exclaimed “You Lie!” during a speech by President Barack Obama. But what was worse was that the “elder lawmakers did not have the strength of character to demand an apology.” In regards to Wilson, Cloud added, “When you deliberately stir up strife, the Lord will deal with it.” Click to continue »

Johnnie Stringer, left, and wife Peggie, sitting, are presented with flowers from state Bluegrass Association Treasurer Doris Broom.

 By Josh Mitchell/Informer Publisher

 The Magnolia State Bluegrass Association honored Johnnie and Peggie Stringer today for making Columbia a destination for the mountain music.

The Stringers were recognized at the Magnolia State Bluegrass Association’s Winter Show at the Columbia Expo Center.

Johnnie Stringer started promoting bluegrass shows in Columbia in the early 1990s after seeing a concert in Laurel. Throughout the years his bluegrass concerts have grown and now draw about 3,000 people.

Each year, Stringer’s concerts bring around 20 bluegrass bands from across the country and world. Bands from England and Czechoslovakia have played Stringer’s shows, and many come from Arkansas, Tennessee and Kentucky.

Bluegrass has a nice beat and draws good, honest people, he said, adding “You can leave your wallet in your chair, and it will be there when you get back.”

At the concert today, people sitting in lawn chairs filled the Expo Center to see the bluegrass bands grace the stage. Today’s concert was put on by the Magnolia State Bluegrass Association, not Stringer, whose concerts are in October and March.

A group plays bluegrass music at the Expo Center today.

Magnolia State Bluegrass Association officials said that the Stringers have been an asset to bluegrass and the state. It was fitting that today was Johnnie and Peggie Stringer day at the event.

The bluegrass concerts that Stringer brings to Columbia have a positive financial impact on the city because the hotel rooms in town get filled up as well as the camper slots at the Expo Center.

Columbia Mayor Reed Houston, who has known the Stringers for 37 years, thanked them for making Columbia a bluegrass destination.

Stringer, a Columbia native and owner of Stringer Oil Field Services, met his wife while doing construction work in Chicago. They have now been married for 56 years and work together to put on the shows. He does the booking and she greets the bands and makes sure they have food.

The crowd fills the Expo Center to hear the bluegrass bands.

It was an honor to be recognized by the state Bluegrass Association, Stringer said, adding, “A lot more people deserve it more than me.”

Peggie Stringer said when they first started promoting the shows she did not like bluegrass music, but it grew on her. “I love it because I love the people,” she said. “The musicianship it takes to play good bluegrass music is unbelievable.”

Marta Szlubowska, right, poses wither mom and dad, Danuta and Janusz Szlubowski.

A family of accomplished Polish musicians will put on a concert at the Backdoor Café in Columbia next Tuesday, Jan. 26, at 6 p.m.

The evening of special music will include a dinner of Polish inspired dishes.

Marta Szlubowska, a concertmaster with the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra in Jackson and a native of Warsaw, will perform with her mom, dad and daughter. Szlubowska’s parents, Daunta and Janusz Szlubowska, are professional pianists and perform as a duo, and her dad also plays the accordion.

Szlubowska and her daughter Julia, who plays piano and violin, toured three European countries last summer singing in the Mississippi Chorus and performing violin duets. Marta Szlubowska and her mom also play together as a violin/piano duo. Click to continue »

By Christi Mitchell/Informer Contributor

This Saturday, Jan. 16, the Columbia-Marion County Public Library invites the community to meet two local female authors, Brandi Perry and Tammy Ryals, whose writing ambitions offer hope, intrigue and the initiative for action. Both writers have things in common besides their ambitions to write: First-time writers, surgeries, USM degrees, former teachers, warm personalities, and a vested interest in their community.

Brandi Perry, author of "Wayward Justice"

Brandi Perry

Leukemia does not stop Brooklyn McCraw, 6, from laughing it up with her parents, Damion and Jamie McCraw.

The family of a 6-year-old Columbia girl who is battling leukemia received some help through a gospel singing fundraiser on Sunday in the East Marion High School gymnasium.

Brooklyn McCraw was diagnosed with the cancer last March and is on the road to recovery, said her parents, Damion and Jamie McCraw.

The family still has to travel to Jackson three to five times a week so Brooklyn can receive 12 different kinds of chemotherapy treatments that sometimes make her sick. Click to continue »

Dr. Sammie Barnes celebrated 31 years of preaching at Antioch Missionary Baptist Church.

Dr. Sammie Barnes on Sunday celebrated 31 years of being pastor of Antioch Missionary Baptist Church.

Barnes, 71, has led many people to Christ through the years, but  some in his 110-member congregation are yet to be saved. Click to continue »

Salvation Army bell ringer Shelly Collins, who suffers from a seizure disorder, says volunteering helps her forget about her own problems.

By Josh Mitchell/Informer Publisher 

Salvation Army bell ringer Shelly Collins of Columbia said she has literally died and gone to heaven and come back to life again. 

Collins, who suffers from a life-threatening seizure disorder, said in 1995 she died for 20 minutes and “Jesus held me in his hands.” She was in the hospital when she died and came back to life.  Click to continue »