Christmas mania has officially made it to Brookhaven, andKatrina Hines and Theresa Humphreys are the poster children.

“We were up at the Wal-Mart in the line at 12:30 this morning,”Hines said Friday. “We’re just looking for a deal. Nothing inparticular.”

The two women were in Walgreens seven hours later, sortingthrough a bin of watches that were marked at 75 percent off.

“We kept saying last night, ‘We’re going to bed, we’re going tobed,’ then we’d call each other,” Humphreys said.

The two women were among thousands of shoppers all over town whoturned out at unheard-of hours in search of Black Friday deals.Brookhaven’s Chris Jones said he was looking to take advantage ofthe markdowns because money is tight everywhere.

“I got a 32-inch TV and a 19-inch at real good prices,” he said.”We’re just Christmas shopping because the economy’s so bad andeveryone’s having real big sales. We’re looking for sales.”

Rhonda Smith braved the crowd at Wal-Mart and said it was muchworse than last year.

“It’s at least twice as bad,” she said. “You couldn’t walk inhere. There were buggies and people everywhere, and everyone wasalmost standing still.”

Sorting through some tool kits at Sears, Barbara Pepper ofBrookhaven said she was surprised by the number of people who wereout and about in spite of the economy.

“I didn’t expect to see as many as last year, but it’s about thesame,” she said. “And when we were in Home Depot, I was reallysurprised. I had no idea the men would turn out to shop like thewomen do.”

And Dexter Holloway said he doesn’t miss the Black Fridayshopping every year because that’s where he sees all his friendswho are in town for the holiday.

“It’s like a reunion,” he said. “I see people out here everyyear. If you don’t come to this you don’t see people. You can evensee the same people in the same places they were last year,sometimes.”

But for many, it wasn’t a social outing; it was a quest.

Smith said she was on a specific mission to find globalpositioning systems, not just for herself but for some co-workers.Hines and Humphreys were looking for laptops. And Delores Cameronwas looking for something to spruce up her living room for theholiday season at Home Depot.

“I came here for the poinsettias,” she said. “They just look sobeautiful around the fireplace.”

Some shoppers got up hours before dawn to go to other retaildestinations as well. However, Edwin Faye Smith, who said she shopson Black Friday just for the excitement of it, said she ended upcoming home to do her shopping.

“We got out at 3:30 a.m. and went to McComb, but we came back toBrookhaven,” she said. “The Wal-Mart in McComb was terrible, so wecame back to our favorite one here in Brookhaven.”

Steve Boone was a first-time Black Friday shopper. He said he’dfound a lot of what he was looking for.

“It was kinda interesting,” he said of the crowds and shoppingmania.

Some shoppers plan to take advantage of the sales all day, butsome said they were headed home to catch up on the sleep theymissed waiting in the lines.

“The crowds were much better this year,” said Terry Patterson,an early shopper at Wal-Mart. “But now I’m going home to get in thebed. My knees hurt!”