The heart of a community, struck down but not destroyed

By Kelsie Bond
After Katrina Newswire

BIG LEVEL, MS — Big Level Grocery has been at the center of Big Level, Mississippi for many years. Under the ownership and management of Jean Williams, it stands as not only the center of the community geographically, but it is also the heart of the community. 

Williams first started managing the store in 1980 with her husband and purchased it the following year.  Over the years, it has become a common place for coffee drinkers to congregate throughout the day and is the first place most people in the Big Level community go for local news. 

When Katrina swept over the Gulf Coast, the store, like so many others in the region, sustained heavy damage.

The most noticeable damage was in the form of the canopy over the gas tanks being ripped down.  That was only upstaged by the huge Oak tree in the front parking lot landing directly on top of the building.  This of course destroyed all electric wiring, including the alarm system.  The hole in the roof allowed water and debris into the building, destroying equipment and merchandise.

Williams, who lives in George County, did not see the damage until the day after the storm.  “When I got over there they had gotten the tree out of the store,” said Williams.  Her daughter and son-in-law Holly and Ernie Bond, who live less than two miles away, contacted a neighbor, Joel Bond, to remove the tree.  “He came right over, before he did any of the stuff in his yard,” said Williams.

Bond’s help was not the only immediate help that came from members of the community.  “Law officers stayed on duty all night long to watch over (the store) because there was a hole in the roof and no alarm,” said Williams.  “We did not lose a penny to looters.”

Within a few days, Williams came to the decision with the help of her daughter and two sons, Pete and Heath Williams, to open the store for people to get out the food left in it and to pump the remaining gas out of the tanks.  “We did it for the people, not for the money,” said Williams.  The store had a supply of meat used in the deli which was sold to the people in the community for way less than what was paid for them, and toward the end of the day, were even given away.  Ice and other perishables were also given away just so that they wouldn’t go to waste.  “We didn’t put a lot in the garbage,” said Williams. 

Dr. Roger Loose offered his generator to pump gas to people and when the pumps burned up, he brought out his hand pump to get out the last of the gas.  Her son-in-law, two sons, and friend Benford Bond helped pump and regulate the gas.  A limit of 10 gallons per person was established so that everyone had an opportunity to get some.

When the store opened that Friday after the storm, people from all over came to buy food and other items and most importantly, gas.  People began arriving at 4 a.m. that morning and by 10 a.m. there was a line at least a mile long to get to the pumps.  There were similar gas lines all across the region and many of them produced fights and other violent outbursts.  “I didn’t feel like it was unsafe…I knew everybody coming through,” said Williams.  “I saw some ugly sides of people, but I was never worried.”

After the store closed that day, there were still many decisions left to be made.  When thoughts of defeat and failure would have overcome most people in the same situation, Williams had only one thought: “How long is it going to take me to get this back going?” As unlikely as it may seem, that was the attitude of most people in the community.  “There was never a question that we would reopen,” said Williams.  “It was just: we’re going to get back in there somehow.”

Once again, the help she received from the community members was astonishing.  Her son-in-law pulled a lot of strings to get carpentry work done.  Other members of the community brought her and the workers dinner occasionally.  Larry Roberston, a friend of Williams’, painted for $5 an hour.  “It wasn’t really for the money, he was just helping to get me back in there,” said Williams.  A lot of the support she received was little more than a comforting word, gesture, or sometimes just the presence of her friends.  Her grocery man offered her a line of credit until she got back on her feet, but she refused.  Three or four of her friends came and sat with her one day on the front porch of the store as she waited to give her grocery man the check for the order delivered right before the storm.

After almost two years, Williams still finds it difficult to talk about the store.  “It’s almost like reliving a death,” she said.  Five hard weeks after the storm hit, Big Level Grocery reopened.  Though the spirit of the place is the same and it is still run and frequented by the same people, it’s not the place it was before August 29, 2005.  Williams never expects it to be quite the same.  “I wish for it and long for it,” said Williams.  “(But) that storm took something out of me that hasn’t ever come back.”

 
Kelsie Bond is a senior at Stone High School in Wiggins, Mississippi. She intends to enroll as a journalism major at the University of Southern Mississippi in the fall of 2007. The After Katrina Newswire is a project of the School of Mass Communication and Journalism at USM (www.usm.edu/afterkatrina). This story can be reprinted with this credit included.

http://www.usm.edu/afterkatrina/Bond.html