December 9 - 16 Days until Christmas Day

The above photo was taken last year while I was in Louisiana for Christmas. Natchitoches, Louisiana, the city of my birth and upbringing, is known as the "City of Lights" because of its wonderful display of Christmas lights that line the beautiful Cane River Lake.


The first Saturday of December marks the Festival of Lights which includes food, fun, parades, crafts and much more. It is set off by a wonderful fireworks presentation above the river. I'm not sure I've been to a Christmas Festival since I got married but have wonderful memories from childhood.

My Great Uncle Willard and his family would usually come down from Bossier City to attend the festivities with us. Uncle Willard was a blast!! He always brought a gallon of milk for hot chocolate because my mom made it with skimmed milk, and it was his nice way of getting her to make it with "real" milk. Hot chocolate was always served when we'd get home on Saturday night from the fireworks.


We'd always go to the main parade which would wind through the brick-paved streets of the historical district of Natchitoches. Getting a good spot was our goal. Dad would usually put Kevin on his shoulders until he got to large for that. We would "ooh" and "ah" at all the beautiful floats carrying the beauty queens. There was always a Grand Marshall and the bands from many of the state's universitie would march. Candy was thrown to the kids and the Kiwanis Club bikers would see how close they could get to the spectators to get the greatest amount of screams.

Dad would usually buy us a cotton candy which was the only time during the years we got to savor that delicacy. The air was filled with some wonderful smells, such as meat pies and funnel cakes. There was also the stench of cigarette smoke which we tolerated just to be at the festival.

When night came, we would rush to the riverbank to find a nice spot to place our blankets. We'd get comfortable and watch the singing Christmas Tree while waiting for the first sound of exploding fireworks.

The fireworks were said to have been put on by the Great Gambini family. That always sounded so mysterious to me and wondered often if they were of Italian descent. Each burst of colors dotting the night sky was even better than the one before it. The sounds of "Ah's" could be heard rippling through the crowd like a wind through a wheat field. The Grand Finale was looked forward to with dread and anticipation. We dreaded it because we knew it would be the end of that magical time until the same time next year. Anticipation was also felt because we knew it would be the best Grand Finale ever. They seemed to get better each year.

When the last firework exploded, the adults would grab the small children and everyone else would grab the blankets. We'd hurry as quickly as possible to make it to our transportation in order to beat the crowd!! I don't know if that was possible but it seemed like the major goal of the men to be the first out.

One year Kevin, my youngest brother, got away from us. It was easy to do when there were so many people you could not walk. He let go of someone's hand and was gone. It was a scary time but fortunately someone had noticed him and taken him the Lost and Found House. We were so glad to see him and get him home.