From one of the upstairs bedrooms, we could take the materials out the window and onto the porch roof. Gary helped us hang the garlands and got us started hanging the red Christmas balls on it. Periodically, he would come out to the sidewalk in front of the house to tell us where more balls were needed, and we kept hanging them until he was satisfied. You can see an example of one of the completed windows here.

Our next objective was to do basically the same thing for the front door. Gary helped us hang the garland and then Fred and I attached red balls at various intervals, again continuing until Gary thought the look was just right. You can see the result of our work if you click on the thumbnail images at left.

When we were finished with the door, Gary took us over to the south end of the front porch to show us the new brick border that he had put around the fountain that he and Justin had put in last year. It was a really good job, and we helped get the fountain filled with water. Fred also took a nice picture of some of the camellias growing on the bushes nearby.

Meanwhile, Justin and Buddy Williamson, a 25-year friend of Gary's who had been the manager of their store downtown, were hanging garland in the living room- amid a plethora of decorations that will have to be set out by tomorrow's tour. You can see some of the beautiful ribbons and bows at right.

One decoration that was already up (or down, as might be more accurate) was the upside‑down Christmas tree hanging from the ceiling near the living-room stairs. According to legend, the original Christmas tree was used as a symbol of religious devotion by Christian missionaries who used the evergreen to explain a basic religious tenet of the Trinity - God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. They were originally hung upside down to make sure anyone who saw a tree in the house knew it was not just a floral decoration. As the original religious meaning was lost, the trees began to be displayed upright with candles and other ornaments as a Christmas decoration. Justin and Gary are thus returning to an old tradition, not trying to establish a new one. Their tree is very simple, decorated only with hanging crystals- apparently from an old chandelier.

Noontime Decorating Tasks

Fred and I took a short rest before Gary put us onto our next task- decorating the front door and the windows along the front of the house. In the picture at left, you can see the results of our efforts- although you might want to compare the result with this picture of part of the porch before decorating. Gary already had the wreaths prepared, but Fred and I had to adorn them with more of the red balls from the big boxes that we brought downstairs. I think that restricting the decorations to just red and green was much more impactful than if the balls had been multicolored. Gary did help us hang the garland around the door frame, and Justin helped get the wreaths anchored from the top of each window before we put the balls on them. If you are interested, you can see a close-up of a finished wreath here.

The end result was pretty good, I think; Gary only told us to add more balls maybe five or six times, I think. We are getting the hang of this decorating stuff. The porch looks much better than in the earlier picture. Shown here testing the front door decorations is Gary's aunt, Barbara Cathey.

Trying to get a good picture of both the finished porch decorations and the decorations above the second-story windows was difficult; if you got far enough away from the front of the house to get them all in, your flash wouldn't illuminate the shaded porch. The best picture was one that Fred took, and you can see it here.

Entering Soldini House This movie was just for a bit of lighthearted fun. I begin out by the fountain, and then simulate a guest who is entering Soldini House from the front. As I walked up the steps, I was wondering how I would open the door and film at the same time. I hadn't noticed Gary's Aunt, Barbara Cathey on the porch- she opened the door for me right on cue.

By late morning, we were ready for a rest, so we went back out to the patio behind the house where we could sit and have a drink and a snack. Gary joined us and Fred snapped a picture. From left to right (in the picture at right) are Gary, Marty McCain (the wife of Gary's 1st cousin), myself and Gary's aunt, Nobie Makar.

Afternoon Decorating

This afternoon, Fred and I have just tried to be helpful where we could. Gary and Justin had their ideas of what everything should look like, and they and three or four other folks busily put things just where they should be. They certainly kept Gary's aunt, Nobie Makar, busy putting together floral arrangements! As examples of some of the decorating they did this afternoon, click on the two thumbnails below to see some views of the north end of the living room:

No room was left without copious amounts of flowers and antique Christmas decorations- including the stairs. If you click on the thumbnails below I'll show you three views of the stairway:

Friday Night at Soldini House

By early evening, a large part of the decorating had been done, although we were to find out later that Gary stayed up most of the night getting things just the way he wanted them. From the front porch, visitors would be entering the living room, and probably the first thing they would see would be the Christmas tree hanging from the ceiling. The tree has now been decorated with lights and some other decorations in addition to the crystal chandelier pieces that had been put on earlier in the day. All these decorations were done standing on ladders.

The living room to the right and the parlor to the left of the front door has been nicely arranged, although by tomorrow morning, there would be additional finishing touches. Aunt Nobie has done wonders with the floral pieces and there is a second Christmas tree all set up and decorated just inside the dining room. To us, everything seemed ready- at least downstairs.

The Natchitoches "Festival of Lights"

By mid-evening, most everyone had finished up and either gone home or, in Justin and Gary's case, gone to get some additional materials. We were encouraged to go out and explore the Festival of Lights downtown, as we could be of little additional help. So we decided to do just that, and have some dinner while we were out.

The Natchitoches Christmas Festival of Lights is one of the most famous holiday events in the country- and certainly the most talked about in Louisiana. If you saw the 1989 movie "Steel Magnolias," you saw some scenes filmed during that year's festival.

The Natchitoches Festival of Lights (From the Movie "Steel Magnolias") There was actually quite a long scene in the movie that was filmed during the 1989 Festival; I have created a clip that just shows the Christmas Lights themselves.

The Christmas Festival had humble beginnings when, in 1926, Max Burgdof, who had come to Natchitoches five years earlier to the city's electrician, had the idea to string Christmas lights along Front Street. Local businessmen contributed over $100, and the money was used to buy a small supply of the 10-watt light bulbs that had just become available. Some residents thought that using Power & Light employees to string the lights was a waste of public money, but the proponents won out and the lights were gradually extended to more streets. Originally, the colors of the inexpensive bulbs faded, and each year they had to be dipped in dye, but soon bulbs with interior frosting became available and made this job obsolete.

To complement the lights, Burgdof built the first set piece, an 8 foot tall Christmas Star, which has since been remodeled into a piece 21 feet across. Burgdof eventually became the local ice-manufacturing baron; his successor, Charles Solomon, continued to expand the lights and, with the help of his friend and co-worker Charles Maggio, built over 40 set pieces (like the one at right) from either their own or submitted designs. One of the oldest is the now-40-foot-tall Christmas tree, which is a fixture every year.

The Festival itself actually began when people in Natchitoches and the surrounding communities began to gather downtown on the first night the lights were turned on. Eventually, the informal event turned into a planned one, the Festival of Lights, which was a big hit. People from all over the region started coming to Natchitoches on the first Saturday in December.

Along with the lights and the fireworks (which we'll talk about tomorrow night), one of the biggest crowd pleasers of the modern Festival are the parades. The “adult” parade, held in the early afternoon, came about as a way to attract people to town earlier in the day so that the merchants could benefit from their patronage. The afternoon parade became so popular, that the Festival quickly added a lighted-barge parade on the Cane. The children’s parade made its debut in 1971. It was started in response to criticisms that there wasn’t much for children to do at the Festival. Traditionally held earlier in the day, it has a shorter route so as not to tire the children too much.

The parades accomplished their purpose and people began to gather for the Festival early in the day. There has always been a desire not to “commercialize” the Festival, but the crowds got to the point that the existing merchants couldn’t feed them. The Festival committee decided to allow food booths and local churches and charities began to set them up. Most of these booths, then and now, featured the highly popular Natchitoches Meat Pie. Other types of food also became available, or as one Festival-goer put it, “if it swims, flies, hops, or crawls, you can find it there, deep-fried and on a stick”.

The Festival went on break in 1941, when Natchitoches turned its attention to more serious matters. After the war, though, the town clamored for its return. In an effort to cut costs for the first revived Festival, the Committee had to drop the barge parade. In protest, several residents floated decorated war-surplus rubber rafts down the Cane. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, the Festival really began to grow. Along with the growth, though, came increased expenses. Just like now, various ways of coping with the expense have been proposed, ranging from admissions fees to door to door solicitations. One of the long term fund raisers that developed in the late 40's was the sale of programs, but income from them waxed and waned until they were eventually discontinued.

In the 1950s, two important additions to the Festival came about. Prior to 1957, the event had always centered around the theme of “Christmas in Song and Story”. In 1957, a contest was held to determine a new theme and the winner was “Joy to the World”. The contest has existed in various forms ever since. The other tradition with its roots in the 1950s was the selection of Miss Merry Christmas and the Christmas Belles. All the Miss Merry Christmases and the Christmas Belles have added immeasurably to the Festival, making numerous public appearances and caroling the tourists on Front Street. Despite Bobby Harling’s little joke in Steel Magnolias, none were ever caught with a Natchitoches mayor in a local motel room. They’ve all been young ladies of upstanding character as well as beauty.

Many of our pictures of the Christmas lights did not turn out well, but some did, and I have put thumbnails for them below. Click on the thumbnails to see some views of the Festival of Lights:

I think the movies will give you a better experience, and we took quite a few good ones.

Natchitoches Festival of Lights In this first movie, I am looking north at the Cane River to the light displays.

The Festival Christmas Tree and Lights We have walked north along the Cane River to the bridge you saw in the first movie, and have come to the main Christmas tree set piece. You'll get a good view of the lighted bridge as well.

Natchitoches Christmas Lights Going a bit further north, here is Fred's first movie, in which he uses his incredible zoom to take a look at the multitude of Christmas lights on the other side of the river.

Natchitoches Christmas Lights From the northernmost point we reached, here is my movie of the Christmas light displays across the Cane River.

From here, we walked up the hill to Front Street to find a place to get some dinner. We found a pub-type place a block or so back south, so we stopped in there to eat.

While we were waiting for our food to arrive, we took a couple of pictures of each other; Fred took one of me, and I returned the favor by taking a picture of him.

After dinner, we continued walking south, and as we passed one of the stores, we saw, in the window, the placard at left publicizing the Tour of Homes- and the picture was of Soldini House (the decoration of which seemed to be the same this year as in whatever year the picture was taken.

The Area of Our Walk (as shown in the movie "Steel Magnolias")

This clip from "Steel Magnolias" begins when Daryl Hannah's husband hitches a ride on a motorcycle to follow her to the hospital for the birth of their baby. As you watch the motorcycle following the truck, you will see the area where we walked tonight. The clip begins at approximately our farthest point, follows an access road up to Front Street, and then eventually turns to cross the bridge whose pillars you have seen in these movies lit up in blue vertical lights. When we went to dinner, we walked along the row of stores you'll see in the clip. The clip ends looking back south towards Soldini House (on the west side of the river).

Then we came back to the south end of the park area along the river where we had seen the lighted walkway to Santa.

The Walkway to Santa's House When we first arrived here by the river, we could see that the sidewalk leading to Santa's house had these arched lights over it, and the lights were controlled by computer to put on various shows. I wanted to take a movie walking down the sidewalk under the lights as the show was going on, and this movie is the result.

Fred's Movie of Me Making the Previous Movie Unbeknownst to me, while I was making my movie walking under the arched lights, Fred was making a movie of me doing so.

When we got back from our dinner and walk to see the Christmas lights, we gave Justin and Gary a bit more help before walking back to the Steel Magnolia House Bed & Breakfast. We had checked in there just after lunch, and this would be our first night there.

You can use the links below to continue to the album page for different day.

	December 11, 2010: The Soldini House Tour
	December 9, 2010: Getting to Natchitoches
	Return to the Index for Our Natchitoches Trip