Monica Crowe, Reporter
11-19-2009
It’s time for cool-weather strolling under Christmas lights in downtown Ruston when the city’s Main Street Association hosts the Spirit of the Holidays Celebration. Today through Saturday 50 downtown merchants will welcome the community to enjoy sales and refreshments in their shops, which will be open until 7 p.m. today only. Friday and Saturday, shops will resume business hours from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. and all will continue to offer special sales. Thursday evening and on Saturday, beginning at 10 a.m., recordings of Christmas music will be played in Railroad Park while shoppers stroll from one shop to the next.
“It’s a real neat time,” said Judy Burt, manager of the Main Street Commission. “It’s nice to see people walking in the streets. It’s a social occasion.”
This event is part of Louisiana’s Main to Main: A Cultural Roadshow, a month-long extravaganza of festivals and events that highlight the state’s culture.
Today, stores that are participating in a Christmas-themed, downtown wide window-decorating contest will unveil their displays to the public. Burt said judges will be faculty members from Louisiana Tech University’s art and architecture departments. The winner will receive a ribbon, she said.
Spirit of the Holidays is being held in place of Winter Wonderland this year, and Burt said there are more merchants participating than ever.
“We want everyone to be open, not just retail,” she said. “This is an opportunity for people who don’t know what we have downtown to see the offerings.”
Aside from shopping, downtown will offer other attractions. From 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday, people can have their photos taken with Santa in Railroad Park. And from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. there will be carriage rides that begin at the park.
“We had (carriage rides) a couple years ago,” Burt said. “It was so popular. We had people standing past the railroad tracks. We couldn’t believe the response we got.”
Also, Spirit of the Holidays marks the transformation of the kiosk at Railroad Park into Santa’s letter depository. It will remain St. Nick’s mailbox through Christmas Eve.
Burt said downtown is decked out this year with lots of new and refurbished decorations at City Hall, Railroad Park and the Ruston Historic Firehouse, among other locations. And all elementary schools, she said, will display 4x8 painted Christmas cards in their yards.
“We have a very special community and we ought to celebrate it every day,” Burt said.”
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