The magic of holiday time comes alive again in the Christmas town of Natchitoches

Natchitoches, Louisiana Christmas

Carol Forsloff--Do you believe in the wholesome magic that comes with the awe of lights that rival heaven's stars and people at their best?  Then Natchitoches, Louisiana is the place where all that centers, to usher in the holidays for everyone all over the world.

Natchitoches has long been known for its festival at Christmas.  Nothing can compare with the first Saturday in December, when people come from everywhere to join together in the formal opening of the Christmas holidays.  The lights and fireworks of Natchitoches are like nowhere else in this season.  Big cities with major crowds cannot rival this small town's presentation.  People have been known to weep in wonder, to cry with the splendor of the lights, the Christmas carols and the wonderful life that seems to be reflected in everything around.

The evening comes; the fireworks end.  The music is heard echoing off the riverbank as the lights sparkle in the distance, as some folks wearily, but happily, cross from the bridge from the center of town, back into their cars and homes with the memories of holiday best.

Natchitoches is the town of the Steel Magnolias, the location of Uncle Tom's Cabin and the centerpiece of the nation's expansion, as it is the oldest settlement in the Louisiana Purchase that led to the expansion of the United States from a collection of colonies to a nation of states.  It also brings many thousands of people from around the globe to enjoy the magnificent fireworks displays that begin in November and continue through the first week of January every year.

The town has that homey, small-town feel and appearance, as it gets all decked out every year for the holiday season.  This is the time when people of all political persuasions and social dictates gather together to celebrate the birth of Jesus.  People of Natchitoches may have their differences, but in towns like this folks tend to keep those differences manageable, as they live and work together and plan their celebrations in a fashion that keeps the community unified in a single purpose: offering the Christmas magic to one another and to visitors that come from everywhere.

Reflecting on the magic of Christmas in Natchitoches from Hawaii,  the State most distant from it, offers a journalist good memories of a different life experience, of what it is like to live in a small Southern town and enjoy its hospitality.  And for all those who believe in the best in all of us, that type of hospitality is a fitting manner with which to enter the New Year in the coming weeks.