Couple who moved from Hawaii to Laurel entertain visitors, locals most Saturdays with beloved pet goat
If you’re in the downtown Laurel area on a Saturday around noon, chances are you’ll bump into Mark and Julie Fenn walking alongside Maureen, their adorable, and friendly 7-month-old mixed nubian goat. Yes, you read that right — a goat that is leash-trained, festooned with colorful ribbons on her horns, strutting around in a diaper pad.
Maureen has become quite the celebrity since the Fenns moved to Laurel from Hawaii a little over a year ago. Pets being taken for leisure strolls are a common sight in downtown Laurel, but Maureen gets the undivided attention of locals, shop owners and tourists who are not just eager to pet Maureen but to also have pictures taken with her.
Life in Laurel has become nothing short of magical for the couple who bought their home sight unseen. The Fenns are avid HGTV “Home Town” fans and were sold on the idea of relocating because of the show.
“We love watching Ben and Erin and fell in love with Laurel!” Julie said.
Their timeless craftsman home, nestled on 10-½ acres of what has been transformed into a gentleman’s farm in the Pendorff community, is a hidden gem that boasts an interior design deserving of recognition from the Napiers themselves. The Fenns are no strangers to design and remodeling, as they own four other homes that they have been hands-on with from start to finish. Show-stopping original chandeliers complete every room of their house that is replete with sheer elegance. They have also commissioned local architect Michael McKinnon to redesign and rebuild their portico, and they are constantly envisioning how to transform their space into a comfortable retreat from their busy work schedule.
“I once bumped into Ben at the Mercantile store and told him that we moved here because of ‘Home Town,’” Mark said, recalling how Ben seemed pleasantly surprised and took the time to listen to his story.
That hospitality characterizes the Fenns’ experience of life in Laurel.
“Everyone here is genuinely friendly, and it’s not just isolated to downtown,” Julie said.
The warm smiles, pleasant greetings and the way people always say “sir” and “ma’am” is a welcome contrast to their eight years of life in Hawaii, where people tend to keep to themselves outside of the tourist areas, Julie said. “If they are in tourist spots, then it’s ‘aloha this,’ and ‘aloha that.’”
The daily commute to and from work in Hawaii was also a challenge compared to the current five-minute drive it takes Julie to get to work, and the longer drive to Meridian for Mark is nothing but a breeze, as there is little traffic to contend with. It was one of their biggest sighs of relief to not be stressed with commuting, but their No. 1 decision to leave Hawaii was to be closer to their children and grandchildren, all of whom live in the midwest area. Family is everything to the Fenns, who are grandparents to four young children, but shoveling snow however was not an option. Mississippi is a great place for everyone to enjoy family reunions, and they can easily visit one another for a fraction of the cost they were accustomed to. Having lived in Hawaii for a long time, the subtropical weather in Mississippi wasn’t much of an adjustment.
While the popularity of “Home Town” stars Ben and Erin Napier brought tourists, businesses, and more to the area, including the Fenns, the real hidden gems are people like Mark and Julie themselves. A simple photo op with Maureen will give you an idea of how vested and proud they are to call Laurel their home, and how wonderfully unassuming they are of their own empowering and visionary outlook.
They never owned a goat until they moved to Laurel, but now they have 12.
“Stormy Jack was just born just a few months ago,” Mark said.
They named him Stormy because he was born on a stormy Monday in their barn. They assisted the kidding to survive the cold spells, and they did so like doting parents. They also happily take care of two donkeys, one turkey, two ducks and an assortment of chickens that all have been given names. Julie and Mark have become attached to every one of them. If you think a leash-trained goat is a sight to behold, then it’s just as jaw dropping to discover that all their chickens sit on command.
The Fenns aren’t vegans or vegetarians, but they don’t raise their animals for food.
“We rescued Maureen’s mom Syncope from being slaughtered,” said Mark, who told Julie before their move to Laurel that he wanted to own goats.
The only animals the Fenns have ever taken care of in the past were the cats they brought with them from Hawaii.
“We’ve never even eaten our chickens’ eggs either,” said Julie, who finds the thought of doing so quite unnatural, so they end up giving away all their eggs to friends and co-workers. They have named their place Blue Barns Farm, and it has become a sanctuary for their menagerie.
There’s another reason they also regularly walk Maureen and alternate her sometimes with some of the other goats.
“We want to take them to visit nursing homes,” said Julie and, “walking them downtown helps them get socialized.”
Julie has taken Maureen to her work at Comfort Care Nursing Center, where she serves as the assistant director of nursing. Residents at the long-term care facility occasionally get visits from Maureen. Individuals get to hold, touch, interact and receive affection and compassion from their new-found furry friend.
“They don’t always get the opportunity to do something like this,” said Julie, who is new to this herself but sees the impact it has on the individuals residing at the facility. The memories they have with pets from their past, and the great stories they get to share and relay to one another is simply priceless.
The Fenns’ love and commitment to caring for all their animals and ensuring their overall wellness and safety makes these new transplants part of the heartbeat of everything beautiful Laurel has to offer. Their basic values, discipline and vision for what life could be like in Laurel has merged for them a niche that honors their family story and allows room for new experiences that create a lifetime’s worth of meaningful memories.
Mark beamed, “We definitely have no regrets moving to Mississippi!”
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