NEWS RELEASE

Contact: Ericca Reynolds (reynoldse@nsula.edu)
News Bureau
Northwestern State University
Natchitoches, LA 71497
(318) 357-6466

3/21/2003

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NATCHITOCHES-The first book has been written about an annual event intertwined with life in Natchitoches -- the Natchitoches Christmas Festival. The book, "A Diamond Jubilee: Celebrating 75 years of the Natchitoches Christmas Festival," was written by Main Street manager and public relations coordinator for the City of Natchitoches Courtney Hornsby and Northwestern professor of educational technology at Dr. Ron McBride.

According to Hornsby, the idea for the book came about when planning for last year's festival.

"We were looking at ways to celebrate the 75th anniversary," said Hornsby, a NSU alumnus. "Not only did we want to tell how the Natchitoches Christmas Festival got started, we wanted to show how it has shaped the community and all of the traditions that have evolved because of the festival."

"There was such little documentation about the festival other than occasional stories in the local paper, at least through the '80's and prior to the national attention," said McBride. "Furthermore, it was the 75th anniversary so the book was a natural."

Hornsby and McBride decided to do a history on the festival using information they could find but also included some interviews which they thought would provide not only legitimacy to the book but would add "color and flavor" with a personal touch.

"Many of the original planners were deceased so we relied on relatives such as Mrs. Solomon," said McBride. "She provided a wealth of first hand knowledge and has a wonderful scrapbook about the early festival years."

Mrs. Solomon's husband, Charles Solomon, was a city utility employee who was known at "Mr. Christmas Lights" for building most of the set pieces along Cane River Lake.

The Natchitoches Christmas Festival has been named as one of the top 100 events in North America by the America Bus Association.

"What makes it unique is the Natchitoches community," said McBride. "New York has its Macy's Parade, Pasadena has the Rose Parade but Natchitoches has the Christmas Festival which is on a par to those when you consider that it is not just a one day 'happening' but actually a six week celebration."

The book was made possible through a grant from the Louisiana Endowment for Humanities.

For information about obtaining a copy of the book, please call Hornsby at
(318) 357-3823.

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