We are approaching that magic time of the year — the time we celebrate the birth of Christ, Christmas!

Remember when Christmas was the most important holiday in the year and children believed that Santa did check his list, and they made sure they were very, very good, at least the few weeks before the special day?

Remember when toys didn’t require batteries and every little boy’s dream was a Red Ryder BB gun, but his mother was reluctant for Santa to bring it because her son would “shoot his eye out?”

Remember when families cut their own tree in the woods and decorated it with popcorn strings and paper garlands?

Remember when children spent hours making that special surprise for their parents and grandparents?

Remember when giving was more important than receiving and older brothers asked Santa not to forget presents for their younger brothers and sisters?

Remember when the birth of Christ and participating in church activities was the real meaning of Christmas?

We carry Christmas memories in our hearts and these are cherished memories that can never be taken away from us.

The Town of Ferriday invites all its neighbors to join in celebrating an Old Fashioned Christmas in downtown Ferriday Saturday.

The Christmas parade begins at 10 a.m. at Ferriday High School and will travel down E.E. Wallace Boulevard and onto Ferriday’s main street, Louisiana Avenue.

Activities downtown will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Local vendors will be offering arts and crafts for sale, music by Sylvia Johns Ritchie and her talented students will be presented on the steps of the Delta Music Museum after the parade.

Santa will arrive at the Rockabilly Plaza at noon to give out bags of goodies provided by Entergy, and children will be able to have their picture made with Santa at no cost until 2 p.m.

Ferriday Garden Club’s junior gardeners will decorate Rockabilly Plaza with an old fashioned Christmas tree and free refreshments provided by the Concordia Chamber of Commerce will be served.

Local musicians will fill the air with music and after the parade, visitors are invited to shop with downtown merchants.

The Concordia Parish Sheriff’s Office D.A.R.E. train will be taking children all around town and the movie “Elf” will be shown at the Arcade Theater. A coloring contest has been going on with the Ferriday second-grade students, and the winner will be announced Saturday.

Applications for the parade are available at Ferriday City Hall and the Delta Music Museum.

For more information, call Charles Lincecum at City Hall at 318-757-3411 or the museum at 318-757-9999.

 

Gay Guercio is a member of the Concordia Parish Tourist Commission.