Christmas Music
Let’s talk about why I LOVE small town living. Besides the horrific traffic of the big cities, I feel life becomes disconnected. There’s a certain comfort in a smaller, close-knit community. Sure everyone knows everyone’s business, but they also have your back when it’s needed.
Case in point, one year long ago when it was close to Christmas, I was walking down Front Street under strings of light bulbs and noticed that things seemed a bit too quiet.
Normally, during Natchitoches’ Christmas Festival, there are 45 nights of lights, fireworks every Saturday night, and cheerful holiday music blaring from one end of Front Street to the other. This particular day, there were no songs about sleighbells, roasting chestnuts, or melting snowmen. There was only the sound of cars passing by and the breeze through the trees.
As I’m coming to this realization, who passes me by but Santa himself. Well, maybe not the official Santa, but the best Santa Natchitoches has, Mr. Larry Paige. He was dressed up as his holly jolly persona and stopped to ask me if I knew why there was no holiday music blaring from the speakers that perch atop bright red poles along the sidewalk.
He stopped to ask me, because as a journalist, most people expect me to know the answer to their questions…or at least they know I can make a few calls to find the answer.
It just so happened that my boss, who also owns several radio stations, was in charge of the music so all I had to do was make a quick phone call and Santa and I were soon dancing along to holiday tunes.
On a side note, as we were waiting for the music to recommence we were joined by one of the City’s employees, who decided to wait with us. I couldn’t help but snap a photo with Santa and one of his “helpers” who makes sure the City of Lights looks festive every year.
It’s these simple interactions that make me love the area I live in. It’s about making things happen. It’s about caring for your community. It’s about that Christmas magic!
