Outtakes: Parting the Curtain

The Friday meal at Baptist Hospital began as a simple idea.

• Let’s bring together the Black women who lived, worked, and raised their families with Baptist Hospital as the hub of their community for more than six decades for one last meal in its cafeteria before the hospital shut down.

Inweekly would pay for the Brownsville Seniors’ meals and listen to their stories. The gathering almost fell apart when Baptist Vice President Jen Grove told Commissioner Lumon May that the cafeteria would close permanently to the public on Thursday and most of the equipment had been removed.

• Grove didn’t have her facts straight. Baptist CEO Mark Faulkner intervened and offered to buy the ladies’ lunches.

The simple lunch became a media event with over 40 people attending, a News Journal photographer and reporter and WEAR-TV film crew swarming, and several Baptist supervisors hovering on the periphery.

Dig Deeper: The PNJ and WEAR-TV articles made it sound like it was a sweet moment when old people reminisced about the good old days. They missed the real story.

The ladies shared with Inweekly how Baptist’s departure would leave a huge hole in their neighborhood and lives.

Fellow Mississippian Eudora Welty wrote that her continued passion was:

“To part a curtain, that invisible veil of indifference that falls between us and that blinds us to each other’s presence, each other’s wonder, each other’s human plight.”

After Baptist puts its spin on the move and its supervisors post glowing pictures with Scripture quotes on their social media accounts, Inweekly will part the curtain on Oct. 5.

Stay tuned.

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Argos Win

In their most dominant performance of September, the eighth-ranked Argos blew past West Georgia in a 49-21 victory at Pen Air Field, before a near-capacity crowd of 5,048.

The Argos (3-1) led 35-7 at halftime of their Gulf South Conference opener, then increased it to 49-7 after three quarters, which enabled starters to rest in the fourth quarter and mass participation much of the second half.

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Wahoos Have Must-Win Game

The Pensacola Blue Wahoos lost the championship series opener to the Tennessee Smokies, 8-4.

It’s now a do-or-die scenario for the Blue Wahoos when the second game occurs Tuesday night at Blue Wahoos Stadium. A third game, if necessary, in the short series will be Wednesday in Pensacola.

This is a rematch of the 2022 SLCS and the Blue Wahoos do have history and home field on their side. The Blue Wahoos dropped the first game in Pensacola last year, then won twice on the road against the Smokies to claim their first outright Southern League title.

The Smokies, the Chicago Cubs affiliate, are seeking their first outright championship in 45 years as a minor league franchise. They shared the 2004 Southern League title with the Mobile BayBears when the playoffs were canceled due to Hurricane Ivan.