After Nikolai Hill, the only son of Hiram and Melissa Kelly-Hill of Petal, passed away of a sudden pulmonary embolism in early January 2021, the couple felt a desire to gift the community with an opportunity to speak with their loved ones who have passed away.
Thus was recently unveiled the Wind Phone, which is located along the walking path of Lake Terrace Convention Center in Hattiesburg. The device, while not connected to a regular phone line or WiFi Internet, allows users the privacy to make a call, deliver a message or vent frustration while in solitude.
“We’ve known the Hills a little bit over the years, and I know that Nikolai was their only child, and they have been really, really devastated – have really had a tough time,” said Rick Taylor, executive director of the Hattiesburg Convention Commission, which manages the convention center. “I know that he was a favorite employee of the folks down at The Lucky Rabbit, just a great person, and Melissa had called upon that concept, and she had talked to (my wife) Vicki a little bit.
“We talked about it, and we have a lot of people that come and walk, sometimes just for the peaceful walk around the lake, and we have that nature preserve that’s in the back. So we thought that was a great spot.”
The decision to install the Wind Phone near the convention center was made by the Hills after hearing about other similar phones around the United States. At that point, the couple talked to the Taylors to create a wooden cabinet base for the phone, which is embossed with the message “Whispers in the Wind.”
“We knew it was certainly something that could help (the family),” Rick said. “It actually caused us to reflect on this.
“In times past, prior to the (COVID-19) pandemic, every December we would do a special kind of memorial with Forrest General Hospital where they had lost children, and we would do a candlelight vigil and that sort of thing. So it sort of fit with an opportunity that we had in the past, to create something that people could come and be at peace.”
The original Wind Phone was created by Itaru Sasaki in the Iwate Prefecture of northeast Japan. That original design has received more than 30,000 visitors and has inspired wind phones to be created all over the world.
“Melissa and her husband had brought us the phone booth and the phone back a month or so,” Taylor said. “We wanted to just tie it to a time of year when people think about loved ones who they are no longer able to share the holiday with.
“So now seemed like (to install) it. We get a lot of people come out and see the ducks, and I’m just real pleased with the care that people of the site – they generally don’t leave a lot of trash, they don’t harass the birds. So we look forward to people being able to enjoy it.”
Nikolai Hill played trumpet in the Petal High Schools’ marching and jazz band, and graduated in 2020. He completed one semester at The University of Southern Mississippi, where he was a cadet in the Air Force ROTC and created the concept design for the Detachment 432’s current uniform patch.
Nikolai was employed at The Lucky Rabbit for almost two years, where he shared his love and passion for all things vintage. He would often stop and speak to anyone about antiques, a bygone era or his prized possession, a 1964 Chevy Corvair.
