Christmas in the Country Dec. 1-3, 2017

St. Francisville’s Christmas in the Country December 1-3
By Anne Butler
The 1700 residents of the little Mississippi River town of St. Francisville sure know how to throw a party. Flags flying for every special occasion, they host fun festivals throughout the year, but the holiday weekend called Christmas in the Country, this year December 1 through 3, is the most enjoyable. Spectacular decorations, with millions of white lights gracing gallery posts and tracing soaring Victorian trimwork, turn the downtown Historic District into a winter wonderland, and carefully planned activities provide fun for the entire family.

The theme of the Sunday afternoon Christmas parade, Don’t Stop Believing, sets the tone for the whole weekend and is highly appropriate for a safe, small-town celebration of its bedrock beliefs---in the goodness of people, the beauty of nature, and the strength of community and faith. Plus it’s just plain fun!

Friday evening, December 1st, Christmas in the Country is kicked off around St. Francisville’s Town Hall as the children’s choir Voices in Motion sings at 5:30, followed by jovial longtime mayor Billy D’Aquilla lighting the town tree and hosting a reception complete with fireworks. Twilight Shopping is offered until 7 p.m. by a variety of unique little shops throughout the downtown area and spreading out into the outlying district, offering seasonal decorations, great gift items and extended hours. Visitors should not miss a single shop, and vendors in Parker Park will also observe late shopping hours.

Saturday, December 2nd, begins with 7:30 a.m. Prayer Breakfast at the Methodist Church Fellowship Hall, followed by Christmas on the Run for the Relay for Life supporting the American Cancer Society, with a one-mile fun run beginning at 8 a.m. and the 5-K run at 8:30 a.m., both starting at Parker Park. Little ones can enjoy Breakfast with St. Nick at Grace Episcopal Church’s Jackson Hall; sponsored by the Women’s Service League, three seatings are available at 8, 9:15 and 10:30, with reservations encouraged and tickets available online. The Women’s Service League also offers fresh wreaths and cookbook sales on Ferdinand St. daily all weekend.

In Parker Park from 10 to 4, vendors offer everything from food and music to jewelry, photos, honey, paintings, t-shirts, calendars, hair bows and more. Main Street Band plays in the park gazebo from noon to 2.

The Polar Express train transports visitors through the downtown area from 10 to 2, with a Polar Express movie and fun in the Town Hall meeting room.

St. Francisville’s shops and art galleries are the enthusiastic sponsors of this special weekend, offering a wide variety of inventory, from antiques and art (both original and prints), decorative items, one-of-a-kind handmade crafts, custom jewelry, housewares, artisanal foodstuffs, clothing for every member of the family. Plus there’s something new this year called the Candy Cane Shopping Card, featuring discounts and “I Shopped St. Francisville” t-shirts for purchases over $100.

From 10 to 4 on Saturday, the Friends of the Library sponsor the popular annual Tour of Homes benefitting library programs, showcasing four homes showcasing innovative architecture and eclectic décor. Abby and Doug Cochran’s downtown Ferdinand St. home is a farmhouse-style cottage built in the early 1900s from salvaged lumber, with cypress cabinets and a broad front porch. The Plantation Drive home of Chuck and Heather Walters is in the architectural style called Mediterranean Transitional, with soaring ceilings, old cypress beams, three fireplaces, even a glass staircase. Located on LA 421, the Acadian-style home of Greg Ferris and Wendy Phillips overlooks a 10-acre lake and replicates the understated elegance of area historic homes with exposed beams, old brick, heart-pine floors and old New Orleans accents. Justin and Charlotte Peno’s home in downtown St. Francisville on Fidelity St. began as a simple cottage, later renovated to its current Acadian appearance; it was the 1940s townhouse of Peno’s great-grandfather, widely respected LA senator W.D.Folkes.

Saturday evening entertainment begins at 5:30 at Oakley Plantation’s Colonial Christmas at Audubon State Historic Site, with candlelight tours, period music and wassail until 8:30 p.m. From 6 to 7 United Methodist Church hosts a Community Sing-Along. First Baptist Church (LA 10 at US 61) has a Living Nativity of seven scenes inside the church from 6 to 8, a real Christmas journey—travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem and rediscover the miracle of the birth of Jesus; children love the petting stable, crafts, and hot chocolate and cookies. Participating homes in St. Francisville’s National Register Historic District along Ferdinand and Royal Streets permit visitors to Peep Into Our Holiday Homes from 6 to 8 p.m.

On Sunday, December 3rd, Candy Cane Shopping Card opportunities continue from 10 to closing. Vendors are in Parker Park from 10 to 4, with music noon to 4 by Angola Travelling Band. Sunday’s highlight is the Women’s Service League Christmas Parade beginning at 2 p.m., travelling along Ferdinand and Commerce Streets, with floats, bands, marching groups, dignitaries and lots of throws, all under the theme of Don’t Stop Believing.

Located on US Highway 61 on the Mississippi River between Baton Rouge, LA, and Natchez, MS, the St. Francisville area is a year-round tourist destination. A number of splendidly restored plantation homes are open for tours: The Cottage Plantation (weekends), Myrtles Plantation, Greenwood Plantation, plus Catalpa Plantation by reservation; Afton Villa Gardens and Imahara’s Botanical Garden are open in season and are both spectacular. Particularly important to tourism in the area are its two significant state historic sites, Rosedown Plantation and Oakley Plantation in the Audubon state site, which offer periodic living-history demonstrations to allow visitors to experience 19th-century plantation life and customs.

The nearby Tunica Hills region offers unmatched recreational activities in its unspoiled wilderness areas—hiking, biking and especially bicycle racing due to the challenging terrain, birding, photography, hunting, and kayaking on Bayou Sara. There are unique art galleries plus specialty and antiques shops, many in restored historic structures and many offering extended evening shopping during the holiday period, and some nice restaurants throughout the St. Francisville area serving everything from ethnic cuisine to seafood and classic Louisiana favorites. For overnight stays, the area offers some of the state’s most popular Bed & Breakfasts, including historic plantations, lakeside clubhouses and beautiful townhouses right in the middle of St. Francisville’s extensive National Register-listed historic district, and there are also modern motel accommodations for large bus groups.

For visitor information, call West Feliciana Tourist Commission and West Feliciana Historical Society at 225-6330 or 225-635-4224, or St. Francisville Main Street at 225-635-3873; online visit www.stfrancisvillefestivals.com, www.stfrancisville.net or www.stfrancisville.us (the events calendar gives dates and information on special activities).

Fruitcake Weather in St. Francisville

Fruitcake Weather in St. Francisville

By Anne Butler

            Fruitcake Weather. That’s what beloved southern author Truman Capote called it in his wonderful Christmas Memory, when the first wintry winds blew down pecans to be shelled and when annual visits to the local bootlegger surrepticiously supplied the secret kick to the dozens of fruitcakes made by Capote, then an orphaned child, with an elderly relative whom he described as “still a child.”  The Christmas memories may have come from their home in rural Alabama, but all across the South and especially in St. Francisville, Louisiana, holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas were always special, and every old home’s gleaming mahogany sideboard groaned with the weight of homemade fruitcakes to which, every time anyone passed by, another little dash of brandy was added.

            So as the holidays approach, it is only natural that our thoughts turn to…food, desserts especially, rich holiday traditions gleaned from old family receipt books and tattered treasured clippings. Back in the era of Capote’s childhood, recipes were like antiques…they had to have provenance, so you could tell whose they were, where they came from, where they were served, who cooked them and who enjoyed the consumption. They were like old friends or family with familiar backgrounds, and you could tell by the name of the contributor whether the recipes would be any good or not.

In Plantation Recipes and Recollections compiled by Violet Pate, elderly keeper of the history of the oldest established black Baptist church in the St. Francisville area, she records the details for Oyster Dressing, noting that it was cooked for 30 years for Mrs. Lois Lester of Waverly Plantation at Bains by Violet Glover, who happened to be the charming grandmother of Baton Rouge mayor Kip Holden from whom he obviously inherited his brilliant smile. Even in the early days, its location right along the Mississippi River assured St. Francisville a bountiful supply of fresh holiday oysters shipped upriver by prosperous merchants as Christmas/New Year’s rewards for loyal patrons.

Early cookbooks came in all sizes and shapes. That whirlwind master marketer Marcelle Reese Couhig, familiarly known as Nootsie, hit the jackpot with beloved recipes like the internationally appreciated Asphodel Bread, on index cards in actual boxes, still sold today by descendants at their local bookstore. Her typically casual recipe for French 75 is below, reprinted from the Women’s Service League Feliciana Favourites cookbook, treasured compendium of offerings from all the good cooks of the area, first printed in 1981; an updated version, with all new recipes (but no contributor names), has just been released to fund worthy community projects undertaken by this volunteer group.

            Every local church and charity had its fundraising cookbook over the years. St. Francisville’s earliest residents being mostly English, the holiday recipes were heavy on Anglo influences…Charlotte Russe, Floating Island, Plum Pudding brought to table flamed by such liberal doses of brandy that wide-eyed children feared their grandmother would go up in smoke, mincemeat pie with plenty of hard sauce (see recipe below) to make it palatable, fruitcake so frequently doused over preceding weeks that visible fumes arose, much to the delight of tipsy great-uncles (didn’t every family have one?). The vintage cookbook published by Grace Episcopal Church, whose congregation first came together in the 1820s, included a recipe for “Old English Plum Pudding” said to have been brought from Liverpool “more than a century ago and age has not lessened its popularity.”

And eggnog. Lots and lots of eggnog. At Catalpa Plantation, as described in Audubon Plantation Country Cookbook with wonderful vintage images and lots of history accompanying the actual recipes, the late grande dame and gracious hostess Mamie Fort Thompson was quoted as insisting that in making the eggnog served at Catalpa’s famous Christmas parties, you could use half an eggshell as your jigger to measure the bourbon. She strongly recommended using the larger half!

Of course today our kitchen shelves groan under the weight of contemporary cookbooks from all over the world, from notable chefs (especially our wonderful Louisiana ones) and famous restaurants. And in St. Francisville itself we even have restaurants lending new influences to our holiday menus…Oriental, Middle Eastern, Mexican, Cajun. But there’s just something about those old cookbooks full of recipes as warm and welcoming as treasured old friends, and holiday visits to the St. Francisville area impart the same feeling.

Still, there’s  lots to do in St. Francisville besides eat. Located on US Highway 61 on the Mississippi River between Baton Rouge, LA, and Natchez, MS, the St. Francisville area is a year-round tourist destination.  A number of splendidly restored plantation homes are open for tours: The Cottage Plantation (weekends), Myrtles Plantation, Greenwood Plantation (check locally; it has new owners), plus Catalpa Plantation by reservation; Afton Villa Gardens and Imahara’s Botanical Garden are open in season and are both spectacular. Particularly important to tourism in the area are its two significant state historic sites, Rosedown Plantation and Oakley Plantation in the Audubon state site, which offer periodic living-history demonstrations to allow visitors to experience 19^th-century plantation life and customs (state budget constraints have unfortunately shuttered Oakley Monday and Tuesday).  

In November Oakley features programs called “Forgotten Lives” (a quarters tour with emphasis on experiences of plantation slaves) November 6 from 12 to 4, and “Deck the Halls” on November 26 from 10 to 3, allowing visitors to “adopt a mantle” to decorate with period greens for Christmas. And as decorations go up throughout the historic downtown area of St. Francisville in preparation for Christmas in the Country the first weekend in December, the little rivertown becomes a sparkling winter wonderland.

The nearby Tunica Hills region offers unmatched recreational activities in its unspoiled wilderness areas—hiking, biking and especially bicycle racing due to the challenging terrain, birding, photography, hunting, and kayaking on Bayou Sara. There are unique art galleries plus specialty and antiques shops, many in restored historic structures, and some nice restaurants throughout the St. Francisville area serving everything from ethnic cuisine to seafood and classic Louisiana favorites. For overnight stays, the area offers some of the state’s most popular Bed & Breakfasts, including historic plantations, lakeside clubhouses and beautiful townhouses right in the middle of St. Francisville’s extensive National Register-listed historic district, and there are also modern motel accommodations for large bus groups.

For visitor information, call West Feliciana Tourist Commission and West Feliciana Historical Society at 225-6330 or 225-635-4224, or St. Francisville Main Street at 225-635-3873; online visit www.westfeliciana.us, www.stfrancisvillefestivals.com, www.stfrancisville.net or www.stfrancisville.us (the events calendar gives dates and information on special activities).

MAMIE THOMPSON’S FAMOUS CATALPA EGGNOG

6 eggs, separated; 6 tbsp. sugar; 6 jiggers bourbon; 1 half-pint whipping cream, whipped; 3/4 cup milk (optional); nutmeg.

Beat egg yolks until very light. Add sugar. Beat. Beat egg whites, then gently fold into yolk mixture a little at a time. Pour bourbon over, to sort of cook the egg whites. Mix. Add whipped cream, folding in gently. If too thick, add up to ¾ cup milk. Refrigerate until very cold. Top with sprinkling of nutmeg.

VIOLET GLOVER’S OYSTER DRESSING

6 jars oysters, chopped; 10 slices bread, toasted and softened with milk; 1 stick butter; ½ cup onion; ½ cup celery; ½ cup bell peppers; salt and black pepper; 1 teaspoon Tabasco.

Drain oysters and save juice. Cook onions, celery and bell peppers in butter until tender (about 10 minutes of stirring so they won’t burn); add chopped oysters and toasted bread, then salt, pepper and Tabasco sauce. Pour ingredients into baking dish and cook in oven for about 20 minutes at 350 degrees.

GRANDMA’S HARD SAUCE (from Oil & GAStronomy)

1 stick real butter, softened; 2 cups confectioners sugar; brandy.

Beat butter, gradually adding sugar until creamy. Add brandy one tablespoon at a time to taste. Taste brandy. Add brandy to taste. Taste brandy. Add brandy to taste. Goes well on hot apple pie, mincemeat pie, or on a spoon. Grandma is always in a wonderful mood after making this recipe.

FRENCH 75

1 quart gin; 3 bottles champagne; 1 pint lemon juice; 1 cup sugar.

Chill gin and champagne for a couple of days in the fridge. Use one large chunk of ice in the bowl. Make it yourself in a plastic something in your freezer. Pour sugar over ice, then all the rest of the liquids. If you like it sweeter, make a simple syrup, but watch you don’t spoil your dinner. Serves approximately 25.

DECK THE HILLS AT ST. FRANCISVILLE’S CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION

By Anne Butler

Local Shop

Christmas, as customarily celebrated in the country, was marked by beloved rituals and time-honored traditions. Houses were decked with woodland greenery, cedar trees cut and strung with cherished decorations, mistletoe hung in anticipation of stolen kisses, nativities assembled and church services attended, even a few cups of creamy eggnog downed. And then 19^th-century country folk piled into horsedrawn wagons and headed into the area’s commercial and cultural center, St. Francisville, where wide-eyed children pressed cold noses against frosted storefront windows and dreamed of china dolls or wooden rocking horses.
The dry-goods emporiums and specialty shops of St. Francisville in the early days carried everything from farm implements and buggies to ladies’ fine millinery and gents’ furnishings, everything from cradles to coffins. They still do today, and the merchants of historic downtown St. Francisville take pleasure and pride in hosting a Christmas celebration that still draws celebrants of the season to a safe, family-oriented weekend of fun and festivities and fabulous shopping called Christmas in the Country, always the first full weekend of December, this year December 6, 7 and 8. There may not be any coffins for sale, but Santa still arrives in a horse-drawn vehicle.

White Cottage & Market Hall

Millions of white lights trace soaring Victorian trimwork and grace gallery posts to transform the entire town into a veritable winter wonderland as St. Nick arrives to kick off the Lighting Ceremony of the Town Christmas Tree beginning at 5:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 6, followed by a public reception at Town Hall hosted by jovial longtime St. Francisville Mayor Billy D'Aquilla and featuring fireworks and a performance by the First Baptist Church Children’s Choir.  The Baton Rouge Symphony presents its annual concert of seasonal selections and dessert reception beginning at 7 p.m. at Hemingbough; tickets are available at the Bank of St. Francisville.
Saturday, Dec. 7, begins with a 7:30 a.m. Community Prayer Breakfast at United Methodist Church Fellowship Hall just off Royal St., followed by Breakfast with St. Nick for children at Jackson Hall next to Grace Church at 8 and 9:30 a.m., sponsored by the Women’s Service League (reservations recommended; $6 tickets may be purchased online at www.womensserviceleague.com ).   The Women’s Service League also sells fresh wreaths and pre-wrapped Plantation Country Cookbooks all weekend on Ferdinand St. next to the library, with proceeds benefiting local civic and charitable activities.
From 10 to 4 Saturday there will be children’s activities plus the Main Street Band (noon to 2), handmade crafts and food vendors in oak-shaded Parker Park.  There will also be entertainment in various locations throughout the downtown historic district, featuring choirs, dancers, musicians, and other performers. 

Children meet Santa

The angelic voices of the Bains Elementary 2^nd Grade Choir are raised at the West Feliciana Historical Society Museum on Ferdinand St. at 10 a.m. From 9:45 to 10:45 the West Feliciana High School Mixed Performance Choir sings at the United Methodist Church Fellowship Hall, followed from 11 to 11:45 by the school’s Beginning, Advanced, Performance and Soloist Choirs. The front porch of Town Hall is gospel headquarters with stirring performances from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. by the Sherobee Missionary Baptist Church Combined Choir, Mount Bethel Baptist Church Choir, recording artist Minister TEHA, and from New Roads Arthur & Friends Community Choir. From 10 to 2 the Sweet Adelines’ Lyrical Quartet strolls and sings along Ferdinand and Royal Sts., while the Angola Inmate Traveling Band from Louisiana State Penitentiary performs across from Garden Symposium Park from noon to 4.

Christmas Parade

Saturday’s highlight, of course, is the colorful 2 p.m. Christmas parade sponsored by the Women’s Service League with the theme “Deck the Hills with Lights and Holly.” Participants include everyone from local dignitaries and Mike the Tiger to Angola’s enormous Percheron work horses, their sleigh bells jingling and their burnished coats gleaming. Dozens of gaily decorated parade floats vie for coveted prizes, accompanied by cheerleaders, bands, bagpipes, vintage cars, marching ROTC units and dancers. Grand Marshall is the newly elected Parish President. The parade lines up on Royal St. and traverses Ferdinand and Commerce Streets, so don’t plan on driving through downtown St. Francisville mid-afternoon.
From 6 to 7 p.m. on Saturday, the United Methodist Church on Royal St. hosts a Community Sing-a-long, while the First Baptist Church (US 61 at LA 10) sponsors its very popular Live Nativity from 6 to 8 p.m., reminding of the reason for the season.  Also from 6 to 8 p.m., visitors can “Peep into our Holiday Homes,” peeking through handblown windowpanes and lace curtains into participating homes all decorated for the holidays in St. Francisville’s downtown National Register Historic District.

Santa Rides

In addition, Saturday evening from 5:30 to 8:30, visitors are welcomed for candlelight tours, period music and wassail at Oakley Plantation, Audubon State Historic Site on LA Hwy. 965, where artist-naturalist John James Audubon tutored the daughter of plantation owners and painted many of his famous bird studies in the early 1820's. This historic home never looks lovelier than in the soft romantic glow of the candles that were its only illumination for its early years. During the day from 10 to 4, the historic site observes its annual Colonial Christmas holiday festival, including cooking demonstrations.
Christmas in the Country activities continue on Sunday, December 8, with in-town activities and an afternoon Friends of the Library Tour of Homes from noon to 5 p.m. ($20 fee benefits the new parish library and advance tickets are available online at wftourofhomes.bpt.me or from the West Feliciana Parish Library; on the day of the tour, tickets may be purchased at The Bluffs clubhouse or participating homes). Four diverse homes are featured, two on LA 965 and two on Ferdinand St.; at The Bluffs, a jazz brunch (extra fee) precedes the tour and boutique shopping with refreshments follows.

Local Shop

The enthusiastic sponsors of Christmas in the Country are the downtown merchants, and the real focus of the weekend remains St. Francisville’s marvelous shops, which go all out, hosting Open Houses with refreshments and entertainment for shoppers while offering spectacular seasonal decorations, great gift items, and extended hours.  A variety of quaint little shops occupy historic structures throughout the downtown area and spread into the outlying district, each unique in its own way; visitors should not miss a single one. 
From the rich Victoriana of The Shanty Too, for thirty years the anchor of the downtown business community complete with old-time candy shoppe, to the jewelry beautifully crafted from vintage buttons at nationally known Grandmother's Buttons, and the incredibly extensive selections of carefully chosen gift and decorative items at Hillcrest Gardens and Sage Hill Gifts, downtown St. Francisville is filled with fine shopping opportunities.  Artists Herschel Harrington and Joe Savell (Backwoods Gallery) have studios displaying their own works, while St. Francisville Art & Antiques and Bohemianville Antiques feature vintage collectibles and furnishings. Femme Fatale specializes in fine fashions; Trends Boutique and Ma Milles Gifts also have stylish clothing, game-day gear and jewelry.

Singing along Main Street

St. Francisville Inn’s Wine Parlor has gift bottles of fine wines, and Birdman Books & Coffee has an eclectic selection of books. Ins-N-Outs and Coyote Creek nurseries carry live seasonal plants to complement any decorating scheme; St. Francis Christmas Trees also has fresh-cut trees, and Mia Sophia Florist features floral arrangements, wreaths and plants as well. The tourist information center/museum in the West Feliciana Historical Society headquarters on Ferdinand St. has a great selection of books, notecards and prints, plus free maps showing locations of all of the other retail outlets, local plantations, restaurants and accommodations.
On the outskirts of town, intrepid shoppers won't want to miss the exquisite custom-designed creations at Patrick’s Fine Jewelry and the fleur-de-lis decorative pieces in the expanded Elliott’s Pharmacy in Spring Creek Shopping Center, as well as Border Imports with huge selections of Mexican pottery, eyecatching ironwork and concrete statuary on US 61 north.  Most of the plantations around St. Francisville have gift shops, and a visit to those would permit enjoyment of spectacular seasonal decorations as well. Restaurants and B&Bs in the area offer gift certificates to extend the giving throughout the year.

Located on US Highway 61 on the Mississippi River between Baton Rouge, LA, and

Christmas Parade Trolley

Natchez, MS, the St. Francisville area is a year-round tourist destination.  A number of splendidly restored plantation homes are open for tours daily: the Cottage Plantation, Butler Greenwood Plantation, the Myrtles Plantation, Greenwood Plantation, plus Catalpa Plantation by reservation; Afton Villa Gardens and Imahara’s Botanical Garden are open in season. Particularly important to tourism in the area are its two significant state historic sites, Rosedown Plantation and Oakley Plantation in the Audubon state site, which offer fascinating living-history demonstrations most weekends to allow visitors to experience 19^th-century plantation life and customs (state budget constraints have unfortunately shuttered Oakley Sunday and Monday).
The nearby Tunica Hills region offers unmatched recreational activities in its unspoiled wilderness areas—hiking, biking, birding, photography, hunting. There are unique art galleries plus specialty and antiques shops, many in restored historic structures, and some nice restaurants throughout the St. Francisville area serving everything from ethnic cuisine to seafood and classic Louisiana favorites. For overnight stays, the area offers some of the state’s most popular Bed & Breakfasts, including historic plantations, lakeside clubhouses and beautiful townhouses right in the middle of St. Francisville’s extensive National Register-listed historic district, and there are also modern motel accommodations for large bus groups.
For visitor information, call St. Francisville Main Street at 225-635-3873 or West Feliciana Tourist Commission at 225-6330 or 225-635-4224; online visit www.stfrancisvillefestivals.com, www.stfrancisville.net or www.stfrancisville.us (the events calendar gives dates and information on special activities).

Hollywood in the Hills

St. Francisville: Hollywood in the Hills

By Anne Butler

As Louisiana has become the country’s third busiest state for movie and television production, just behind California and New York according to figures cited by writer Timothy Boone, so St. Francisville has become one of the film industry’s most popular locations. Hollywood, in other words, has discovered what residents have known for a long time: the St. Francisville area has something for everyone.
From the Mississippi River to the sandy creeks and unspoiled wilderness areas of the rugged Tunica Hills, from sand pits that look like desserts and deeply sunken roadbeds to architectural treasures like antebellum plantations and rude rustic cabins, from country lanes overhung with moss-draped trees and weathered barns to the quaint little rivertown of St. Francisville and even the state’s enormous maximum security penitentiary, location scouts excited about the area’s potential have directed a number of productions to West Feliciana in recent years---Jonah Hex, GI Joe II, Oblivion starring Tom Cruise and Morgan Freeman, Beautiful Creatures, Whiskey Bay, Maze Runner, Battle Los Angeles, Everybody’s All American, Dead Man Walking, Out Of Sight, North & South. Filming for The Reaping, with Hilary Swank, was interrupted by Hurricane Katrina.
For the just completed docudrama Bonnie and Clyde, a large number of locations in St.Francisville were used in the filming, including the courthouse, recently restored Temple Sinai for funeral scene, Magnolia Café, and Birdman Books and Coffee, plus other locales in the surrounding countryside. The town of St. Francisville was perfect for this production, according to tourist director Laurie Walsh, because “it steps back in time so naturally.” Cover the streets around the courthouse square with sand, bring in some vintage cars and actors in period costumes, and St. Francisville is transformed into an ideal 1930s setting, especially with still-used structures like the 3-V Tourist Courts, tiny overnight cabins with attached garages that were so typical of the era.
Productions like Bonnie and Clyde, so visible and accessible, involve the entire community, according to Walsh, and townsfolk are very supportive, with lots of locals experiencing the excitement of working as extras, not to mention the thrill of sharing a latte with the likes of William Hurt in the local coffeehouse. The exposure for St. Francisville and West Feliciana is great, Walsh explains, and the productions generate income for all segments of the community, not only for tourist services like accommodations and restaurants but also for cleaners (costumes often need cleaning), gas stations, hardware stores, locations for base camps, law enforcement agencies for providing extra security, crowd control and traffic diversions. Thanks to Walsh and an active local location scout, owners of properties used in filming are paid, often quite well.
In addition to serving as the Main Street Manager and Tourist Commission Director, Walsh is also the Film and Video Liaison for both town and parish, charged with overseeing film productions. A required no-fee permit includes practicalities like insurance indemnity and providing advance notification to local authorities on filming sites and shooting schedules, and Walsh very capably assists production crews locating whatever they need.
The town works closely with the Baton Rouge Film Commission, which has just launched a new website, www.filmbatonrouge.com, with St. Francisville area settings like Tunica Hills and Cat Island prominently displayed on the very first page of suggested filming locations. Additional information is available on St. Francisville town and tourist commission websites. According to figures from Louisiana Entertainment, statewide economic impact from the film industry in 2012 was $1.7 billion, generating 14,000 jobs, thanks in part to the state’s film tax credit program. With industry productions having such a huge impact on the state economy, St. Francisville is well positioned to take advantage of continuing interest in movie and television productions that can be enormously beneficial to the entire area.
But it’s not necessary to be a movie star to enjoy the area. Summertime special events in St. Francisville include the popular annual Feliciana Hummingbird Celebration, sponsored by the Feliciana Nature Society in this area where the artist Audubon found inspiration for many of his famous bird studies in the 1820s. It will be held Friday and Saturday, July 26 and 27. The Friday evening kick-off event begins at 6 p.m. at Rosedown State Historic Site, with a wine and cheese reception featuring LSU professor Catherine Fontenot speaking on hummingbirds and the plants that attract them to landscapes. Saturday the banding of birds by biologists Nancy Newfield and Linda Beale gives visitors the opportunity to observe the hummingbirds being captured, weighed and banded from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. at two locations, Murrell Butler’s home and artist’s studio at 9485 Oak Hill Road, and Carlyle Rogillio’s home at 15736 Tunica Trace. Online visit www.audubonbirdfest.com.
Also on Saturday, July 27, from 6 to 9 p.m. at Grace Episcopal Church’s Jackson Hall on Ferdinand Street in St. Francisville, the West Feliciana Animal Humane Society celebrates its first successful year of operations with a “Take a Chance on Me” Anniversary Gala, featuring food and drink, wine bar, live music by the popular local group Delta Drifters, fashion show and silent auction. Tickets of $25 benefit the WFAHS and the James L. “Bo” Bryant Animal Shelter, and they may be purchased in advance by mailing checks (payable to WFAHS) to Box 2032, St. Francisville, LA. For additional information online see http://wfahs.thebonnieblue.net. Thanks to the dedication of hardworking volunteers, this animal shelter has an incredibly high adoption rate; donations and volunteers are always welcome.
Located on US Highway 61 on the Mississippi River between Baton Rouge, LA, and Natchez, MS, the St. Francisville area is a year-round tourist destination.  A number of splendidly restored plantation homes are open for tours daily: the Cottage Plantation, Butler Greenwood Plantation, the Myrtles Plantation, Greenwood Plantation, plus Catalpa Plantation by reservation; Afton Villa Gardens and Imahara’s Botanical Garden are spectacular. Particularly important to tourism in the area are its two significant state historic sites, Rosedown Plantation and Oakley Plantation in the Audubon state site, which offer fascinating living-history demonstrations most weekends to allow visitors to experience 19^th-century plantation life and customs.
The nearby Tunica Hills region offers unmatched recreational activities in its unspoiled wilderness areas—hiking, biking, birding, photography, hunting. There are unique art galleries plus specialty and antiques shops, many in restored historic structures, and some fine little restaurants throughout the St. Francisville area serving everything from ethnic cuisine to seafood and classic Louisiana favorites. For overnight stays, the area offers some of the state’s most popular Bed & Breakfasts, including historic plantations, lakeside clubhouses and beautiful townhouses right in the middle of St. Francisville’s extensive National Register-listed historic district, and there are also modern motel accommodations for large bus groups.
For visitor information, call St. Francisville Main Street at 225-635-3873 or West Feliciana Tourist Commission at 225-6330 or 225-635-4224; online visit www.stfrancisvillefestivals.com, www.stfrancisville.net or www.stfrancisville.us (the events calendar gives dates and information on special activities, including the lively monthly third Saturday morning Community Market Day in Parker Park and the twice-weekend Farmers Markets on Thursdays and Saturdays).

ST. FRANCISVILLE CELEBRATES ITS GLORIOUS GARDENS AND GROWING ART SCENE
By Anne Butler

The floral design workshop on Friday morning will take place on the picturesque grounds of Afton Villa Gardens. (Photo credit: Dr. Neil Odenwald)

In 1831 the Encyclopaedia Americana called St. Francisville and the surrounding District of Nueva Feliciana “the garden of Louisiana,” and always it was so. Across the verdant hills and well-watered forests Mother Nature spared no effort in strewing a wonderful wealth of wildflowers to brighten this garden spot long before the earliest settlers arrived. The first cultivated gardens were practical affairs of vegetables and herbs, with greenhouses to extend growing seasons to feed the early families as well as their livestock. Once these planter families prospered from cash crops of indigo, cotton and sugarcane, they could turn their attention from the pragmatic to the merely pleasing, clearing and terracing the rolling lawns, transplanting from the woodlands wild oak-leaf hydrangea and snowy dogwood, and importing from fledgling East Coast nurseries the azaleas and camellias to plant in patterned parterres of formal gardens inspired by foreign travels.



The annual Southern Garden Symposium in St. Francisville celebrates that great gardening tradition and fosters its continuation by convening horticulture enthusiasts for a weekend of demonstrations, lectures and tours through the area’s glorious antebellum gardens. This year’s 24th annual event, which planners promise will be one of the most informative and entertaining ever in its combination of prestigious speakers, historic surroundings and engaging social events, takes place Friday, October 12, and Saturday, October 13. Proceeds fund such projects as scholarships to LSU’s School of Landscape Architecture and garden enhancements at state historic sites.

The Speakers' Gala is an elegant highlight to the Symposium weekend.(Photo credit: Tracey Banowetz)

Subjects of Friday morning workshops include a demonstration of floral design presented in the ruins garden of Afton Villa by Lynette McDougald who was named Mississippi’s Floral Designer of the Year 2000; rain gardens and other sustainable landscaping presented at Rosedown Plantation State Historic Site by LSU landscape architecture professor D.G. “Buck” Abbey; the incorporation of edible plants into today’s landscape, presented at the United Methodist Church Fellowship Hall by Kyle Huffstickler, landscape coordinator for LSU’s LaHouse Home and Landscape Resource Center; and tree care presented at Wyoming Plantation by arborist Jim Culpeper. In the afternoon on Friday, several of those workshops will be repeated, plus a presentation at Grace Episcopal Church’s Jackson Hall by flower magazine editor Margot Shaw on the fearless use of color in gardens.



On Saturday Southern Garden Symposium programs at Hemingbough, feature lectures on “Time-Tested Treasures for Sophisticated Southern Spaces” by Heidi Sheesley, owner of wholesaler Treesearch Farms; “Martha Turnbull’s Rosedown Diaries” by Suzanne Turner, landscape architect and author who edited the diaries; “Integrating Art and Science in Landscape Design” by award-winning landscape architect Jeffrey Carbo; and “Welcome Home George Washington” by J. Dean Norton, historic Mount Vernon’s Director of Horticulture. Participants will be welcomed by Master of Proceedings Dr. Neil Odenwald, and social gatherings are the Friday evening Speakers’ Gala at Rosebank Plantation and the Saturday afternoon tea at Evergreenzine. For registration information, see www.southerngardensymposium.org.

Guests enjoy a workshop at Rosedown Plantation. (Photo credit: Tracey Banowetz)

The sheer beauty of the cultivated landscapes and the verdant wild woodlands in the St. Francisville area have inspired creative artists ever since John James Audubon painted a number of his famous bird studies while tutoring the young daughter of Oakley Plantation in 1821, and the arts scene is growing just as prolifically as the glorious gardens. The annual Yellow Leaf Arts Festival, this year Saturday and Sunday, October 27 and 28th from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., celebrates that rich tradition of artistic inspiration by filling St. Francisville’s downtown oak-shaded Parker Park with an incredible selection of music and artwork, with some 60 artists presenting, plus plenty of good food. To mark both the tenth anniversary of Yellow Leaf and the bicentennial of Louisiana statehood, there will be a special tribute to the area’s past artists both sung and unsung, and on Sunday author Danny Heitman discusses research for his book A Summer of Birds: John James Aubudon at Oakley House from 11 to 12:45, followed by New Orleans poet Mona Lisa Saloy hosting a poetry workshop and readings from her book Red Beans and Ricely Yours from 1 to 3 p.m. Music on Saturday includes The Acoustic Playboys at noon, the popular local group called The Fugitive Poets at 2, and a Songbird Reunion Jam at 4; at 7 just around the corner at Birdman Coffee and Books, Mark Raborn and Outside Passage perform. Sunday’s live music includes Burke Ingraffia at 3, and at 4 the debut of an exciting new girl band featuring Heather Feierabend, Jodi James and Becca Babin. Yellow Leaf Arts Festival is sponsored by Arts For All.

Wyoming Plantation will be the site for a workshop on caring for trees in the landscape. (Photo credit: Tracey Banowetz)

Fall also brings two of the St. Francisville area’s most popular events, the Halloween extravaganza and eerie ghost tours at The Myrtles Plantation, called America’s most haunted house (www.myrtlesplantation.com), and the Angola Rodeo at Louisiana State Penitentiary every Sunday in October. The arena grounds open at 9 a.m. for the inmate hobbycraft sales, inmate band performances and plenty of concession stands; rodeo starts at 2 with hair-raising events like the Grand Entry with mounted black-clad Angola Rough Riders circling the arena at breakneck speed, Bust Out, Bareback Riding, Wild Horse Race, Women’s Barrel Racing, Bull-Dogging, Buddy Pick-Up, Wild Cow Milking, Bull Riding, Convict Poker, and Guts and Glory culminating with inmates on foot trying to snag a chit tied between the horns of a rampaging Brahma bull. All contestants are inmates except the barrel racers, and an ambulance stands by to haul off the wounded. Tickets should be purchased in advance at www.angolaroadeo.com or by calling 225-655-2030, and visitors are cautioned to remember that this is a penal institution with very strict regulations that must be followed to the letter.



St. Francisville is a year-round tourist destination featuring a number of splendidly restored plantation homes open for tours daily: The Cottage Plantation, Butler Greenwood Plantation, The Myrtles Plantation, Greenwood Plantation, plus Catalpa Plantation by reservation. Afton Villa Gardens and Imahara’s Botanical Gardens are open seasonally. Particularly important to tourism in the area are its two significant state historic sites, Rosedown Plantation and Oakley Plantation in the Audubon state site, offering periodic fascinating living-history demonstrations so visitors can experience 19th-century plantation life and customs.

Shoppers browse the plant offerings on Saturday morning.(Photo credit: Tracey Banowetz)

The nearby Tunica Hills offer unmatched recreational activities in unspoiled wilderness areas—hiking, biking, birding, photography, all especially enjoyable in the cool fall weather. There are unique art galleries plus specialty and antiques shops, many in restored historic structures, and some fine little restaurants throughout the St. Francisville area serving everything from Chinese and Mexican cuisine to seafood and classic Louisiana favorites. For overnight stays, the area offers some of the state’s most popular Bed & Breakfasts, including historic plantations, lakeside clubhouses and beautiful townhouses right in the middle of St. Francisville’s extensive National Register-listed historic district, and there are also modern motel accommodations for large bus groups. The local Farmers’ Market is open mornings Thursdays and Saturdays, and a third-Saturday community marketplace fills Parker Park with homegrown arts and crafts as well.

For visitor information, call St. Francisville Main Street at 225-635-3873 or West Feliciana Tourist Commission at 225-635-4224; online visit www.stfrancisville.us or www.stfrancisvillefestivals.com (the events calendar gives dates and information on special activities, including St. Francisville Main Street’s fun functions for children around Halloween in the National Register-listed downtown historic district).

Mustard Green Festival

MUSTARD GREEN QUEEN’S MEALS MARK THE MILESTONES OF LIFE IN ST. FRANCISVILLE, LA
By Anne Butler
Photos by Henry Cancienne 

Every little town has one, that dependably generous soul who never says no and thus may be found laboring behind the scenes over a hot stove or flaming grill at every fundraiser, every church dinner, every charitable event. St. Francisville has over the years been fortunate enough to have had a number of these unsung heroes, and one of them is finally getting her due.

For nearly half a century, St. Francisvillians have marked the milestones of life---the summer vacation Bible schools and high school graduations, the engagements and weddings, the baby showers and births, the illnesses and finally the inevitable deaths---over Sue Powell’s delectable dishes. The fundraisers and church socials, the pilgrimage luncheons and potluck suppers, the celebrations of life and the mourning of passings could hardly be observed without Miss Sue’s cakes or casseroles to enhance the joy and ease the pain. Somehow the whole world looked a little better over a heaping bowl of Miss Sue’s famous gumbo or her incredible Italian cream cake, her roast with rice and gravy or her homemade jellies or her lemon icebox pie.

The effervescent Sue Powell spent years working in the guidance counselors’ office at the local high school. Longtime counselor Ms. Dianne Williams recalls that Miss Sue knew all the students and parents, and she treated each one with love and respect. “She was the life of the party,” said Ms. Williams, “and she could help a child, work with office materials and talk on the phone all at the same time. She loved to cook and coordinate school social activities. She had more recipes than anyone I knew and she’s one of the best cooks I’ve ever seen. The faculty loved her and she loved them. She brought laughter, compassion and a genuine sense of love to West Feliciana High School. Mrs. Sue was ‘Mama’ to all of us. A thousand words are not enough to describe one of the most humble and friendliest human beings I’ve ever know.”

If the bounties of her kitchen spread a little cheer, that was enough for Sue Powell; she never asked for more, never coveted recognition. But when a new festival came to town, another one of those homegrown frolics celebrating the things St. Francisville is famous for, like its birds or its historic plantations and gardens or its local artists, and when there was a contest to see who was the best mustard green cook of them all, well, Miss Sue could hardly be expected to pass up the challenge. After all, she was an old Mississippi country girl who’d spent her entire married life in St. Francisville, where cold-resistant hardy mustard greens graced many a dinner table throughout the winter months, usually accompanied by a baked sweet potato and pone of iron-skillet cornbread to soak up that good ol’ pot likker.

Miss Sue knew you didn’t need any fancy recipe to cook mustard greens to perfection, just a slab of salt pork and a long, slow simmer. “Put ‘em on and let ‘em go; you gotta cook ‘em for a long time,” as her daughter Tootie describes her mama’s secret method. There was plenty of competition, including a couple of upstart wannabees like the regional magazine publisher and one local realtor decked out in real greens, plus some stiff judging by the likes of C.C. Lockwood and Smiley Anders, but not only did Miss Sue win the World Champion Mustard Green Cooking Contest, she was also crowned Mustard Green Queen for having raised the most contributions for the local food bank, over $1000. The only male contestant (in the cooking contest, not the queen’s) was gracious enough to retire from the field. And so, resplendent in denim overalls and a sparkling tiara, Sue Powell, with a mischievous twinkle in her eye and looking far younger than her 75 years, reigned supreme over the first official Feliciana Green Festival sponsored by the local Rotary Club.

At last one of St. Francisville’s unsung heroes finally got her due. While Sue Powell loves to travel and has been all over the world, from Saudi Arabia to Hong Kong, from Hawaii to Belgium, her happiest moments are when she is stirring that pot and cooking something soothing to the soul for her friends and neighbors in St. Francisville, Louisiana. Of course she knows everybody in town; on her last birthday Miss Sue received a grand total of 207 cards! Daughter Tootie says, “Anytime anybody wants anything cooked, she can’t say no.” What a blessing she is to the community, she and all the others like her in every little community, whose culinary contributions mark the milestones of life and make the living and dying more bearable.

St. Francisville is a year-round tourist destination featuring a number of splendidly restored plantation homes open for tours daily: The Cottage Plantation, Butler Greenwood Plantation, The Myrtles Plantation, Greenwood Plantation, plus Catalpa Plantation by reservation. Afton Villa Gardens is open seasonally; Imahara’s Botanical Garden offers spring tours weekends March through May. Particularly important to tourism in the area are its two significant state historic sites, Rosedown Plantation and Oakley Plantation in the Audubon state site, offering periodic fascinating living-history demonstrations so visitors can experience 19th-century plantation life and customs.

The nearby Tunica Hills offer unmatched recreational activities in unspoiled wilderness areas—hiking, biking, birding, photography. There are unique art galleries plus specialty and antiques shops, many in restored historic structures, and some fine little restaurants throughout the St. Francisville area serving everything from Chinese and Mexican cuisine to seafood and classic Louisiana favorites. For overnight stays, the area offers some of the state’s most popular Bed & Breakfasts, including historic plantations, lakeside clubhouses and beautiful townhouses right in the middle of St. Francisville’s extensive National Register-listed historic district, and there are also modern motel accommodations for large bus groups. And those looking for mustard greens and other fresh produce can visit the local Farmers’ Market Thursday and Saturdays.

For visitor information, call St. Francisville Main Street at 225-635-3873 or West Feliciana Tourist Commission at 225-635-4224; online visit www.stfrancisville.us (the events calendar gives dates and information on special activities) or www.stfrancisvillefestivals.com.

Generals and Bridge

APPROACH TO NEW AUDUBON BRIDGE BETWEEN ST. FRANCISVILLE AND NEW ROADS SALUTES TWO GENERALS
by Anne Butler

John J. Auduburn Bridge

The historic little towns of St. Francisville and New Roads have been separated over the years by many factors: cultural and linguistic differences, landscape and crop differences, and even by the mighty Mississippi River. New Roads was French, flat, sugarcane fields. St. Francisville was traditionally Anglo, hilly, with cotton the main cash crop of the 19th century.
And yet, over the years, the two communities have been inextricably bound together as well, beginning in the late 1800s when Capuchin monks from flood-prone Catholic Pointe Coupee had to cross the river to the high bluffs of St. Francisville to bury their dead. Now a beautiful new bridge, the country’s longest cable-stayed structure, connects the two communities across the waters of the Mississippi, and the bridge approach avenues have been named in commemoration of something else the two towns have in common---native sons who valiantly served their country in the wars of different generations and rose to the highest rank of their chosen branch of service as Commandants of the US Marine Corps.
The west approach to the bridge has been named by the state Department of Transportation and Development the General John A. LeJeune Memorial Approach. Born in 1867 in Pointe Coupee, LeJeune graduated from LSU and the US Naval Academy. During the Spanish-American War he commanded the Marine Guard on the USS Cincinnati and USS Massachusetts. As he rose through the ranks, he served all over the world, from Norfolk to Panama, from Washington DC to the Philippines, from Guantanamo Bay to Vera Cruz in Mexico.

General John A. LeJeune

By the outbreak of World War I, LeJeune was a brigadier general, in command of Marine divisions overseas. He would be the first Marine officer to hold an army divisional command when he led the famous Second Division (Army); after the armistice, he led his division in the march into Germany. In 1919 he was appointed commanding general of the Marine barracks in Quantico, Virginia, and became the 13th Commandant of the Marine Corps in 1920. After two terms he retired to serve as superintendent of Virginia Military Institute. General LeJeune, an active-duty Marine for more than forty years, was called “the greatest of all Leathernecks,” and when he died in 1942, he was buried in Arlington National Cemetery. He was the recipient of many military honors recognizing his distinguished service to his country, and Camp LeJeune in North Carolina bears his name.
The bridge approach on the St. Francisville (east) side of the river salutes native son General Robert Hilliard Barrow, 27th Commandant of the Marine Corps, who served in World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. When General Barrow died at age 86 in 2008, the New York Times said he “combined Southern courtliness, fierce devotion to Marine tradition and courage reflected in dozens of wars.” During the course of his military career, he received the Navy Cross for service in Korea and the Army Distinguished Service Cross in Vietnam, both second only to the Medal of Honor.
Born in 1922, Barrow was raised on his family plantation, historic Rosale, in West Feliciana Parish, and attended LSU, enlisting in the Marine Corps in March 1942. After attending OCS and being commissioned a second lieutenant in 1943, he was deployed to China and led an American team fighting with Chinese guerrillas operating extensively in enemy-occupied territory behind Japanese lines. As a rifle company commander in the Korean War he was called the most outstanding company commander of the war, and during Vietnam he commanded the Ninth Marine Regiment, Third Marine Division, again being recognized as the war’s finest regimental commander.

General Robert H. Barrow

After seven tours of duty in the Far East, in 1979 General Barrow became Commandant of the Marine Corps, and he was instrumental in implementing much-needed reforms in recruiting and training. He also expanded the Marine role in the military’s new rapid response strategy. When he retired from the service in 1983, Barrow returned to his beloved home near St. Francisville, and when he died, he opted for burial not in Arlington National Cemetery but in the peaceful oak-shaded cemetery surrounding historic Grace Episcopal Church, which his family had attended for some five generations.
And today as the new Audubon Bridge links the two historic communities on either side of the Mississippi River, so the bridge approach avenues mark yet another commonality between the two towns in recognizing the tradition of distinguished military service in the careers of two native sons, one from the east side of the river and one from the west, who rose to the same high rank and post in serving their country across the generations.
Having taken the place of a longtime ferry that was becoming increasingly unreliable, the bridge expedites traffic flow across the river and provides faster access to popular special events like the Angola Prison Rodeo, an annual event that always draws big crowds of visitors to the St. Francisville area in April; this year’s spring edition is April 21 and 22nd. From the time the mounted black-clad Angola Rough Riders race at break-neck speed into the arena, flags streaming and hooves flying, visitors are on the edges of their seats through events pitting inmates against pro-stock Brahma bulls and wild-eyed bucking broncos. Ladies’ barrel racing is the only non-inmate event in what is called the longest running prison rodeo, begin in the 1960s.

On top of Audubon Bridge

Crowd favorites are the events unique to Angola, including the crowd-pleasing "Guts and Glory", an arena full of inmates on foot trying to remove a $100 chit tied between the horns of the meanest Brahma bull around. Rodeo events begin at 2 p.m., but the grounds open at 9 a.m. for a huge arts and crafts sale showcasing inmate talent in hobbycraft like jewelry, hand-tooled leather, paintings and woodwork both large and small. Inmate bands perform throughout the day, and a large number of concession stands offer a variety of food and drink, with the stands providing shaded seating for more than 10,000 cheering spectators. Tickets should be purchased in advance (online at www.angolarodeo.com).
Visitors should allow time to tour the fascinating prison museum just outside the front entrance gates to learn more about the history of this enormous maximum-security penitentiary. It should be noted that there are specific regulations with which visitors must comply when entering prison grounds; no food, drink, cell phones or cameras are allowed through the rodeo entrance gate, and on prison property no weapons, ammunition, alcohol or drugs are permitted; purses and bags will be searched and all vehicles must be locked when unoccupied.
St. Francisville is a year-round tourist destination featuring a number of splendidly restored plantation homes open for tours daily: The Cottage Plantation, Butler Greenwood Plantation, The Myrtles Plantation, Greenwood Plantation, plus Catalpa Plantation by reservation. Afton Villa Gardens is open seasonally; Imahara’s Botanical Garden offers spring tours weekends March through May. Particularly important to tourism in the area are its two significant state historic sites, Rosedown Plantation and Oakley Plantation in the Audubon state site, offering periodic fascinating living-history demonstrations so visitors can experience 19th-century plantation life and customs.

Audubon Bridge Tower

The nearby Tunica Hills region offers unmatched recreational activities in its unspoiled wilderness areas—hiking, biking, birding, photography. There are unique art galleries plus specialty and antiques shops, many in restored historic structures, and some fine little restaurants throughout the St. Francisville area serving everything from Chinese and Mexican cuisine to seafood and classic Louisiana favorites. For overnight stays, the area offers some of the state’s most popular Bed & Breakfasts, including historic plantations, lakeside clubhouses and beautiful townhouses right in the middle of St. Francisville’s extensive National Register-listed historic district, and there are also modern motel accommodations for large bus groups.
For visitor information, call St. Francisville Main Street at 225-635-3873 or West Feliciana Tourist Commission at 225-635-4224; online visit www.stfrancisville.us (the events calendar gives dates and information on special activities) or www.stfrancisvillefestivals.com.

Smithsonian Show

St. Francisville, LA, Anticipates
Sharing its Journey Stories
by Anne Butler
The Thanksgiving season is often a time of homecoming---going back to Grandma’s, where the roast turkey is stuffed with nostalgia and seasoned with stories---a time of sharing family histories and tall tales of the often treacherous travels our ancestors undertook to claim lands and establish new lives in a new country. How appropriate, then, for St. Francisville to now be making preparations to host the travelling Smithsonian Institution exhibit called Journey Stories, which opens the first week in February in the West Feliciana Historical Society’s museum/visitor center on Ferdinand Street right in the heart of St. Francisville’s National Register Historic District.
This fascinating exhibition has been designed to encourage small towns across the country to examine in depth just who we are and how we got here, revealing nationwide migration patterns as early pioneers braved the perils of travel in the days of dangerous ocean shipwrecks and riverboat sinkings, runaway teams and overturned wagons on rude rutted dirt tracks, plus pirates and outlaws, wild animals and wild Indians.
As compelling as these national records are, the localized ones are even more so. St. Francisville certainly had some unique settlement routes, from the Mississippi River bringing early Anglo pioneers to an area that reminded them of the rolling hills of the Old Country, to the sunken traces worn deep into the loessial soils by horse-drawn coaches and covered wagons, to the country’s earliest standard-gauge railroad line. The entire community has enthusiastically participated in the programs augmenting this exhibit, from young school children to the elderly discussing their memories, so residents and visitors alike stand to gain greater understanding of the builders and shapers of this community—the Native Americans and the immigrants from Europe and Africa and the Eastern Seaboard, some arriving of their own free will and others arriving in chains--and the pathways they took to get here.
Leading up to the opening will be related events to build anticipation, including the Rollin’ on the River-themed parade during St. Francisville’s immensely popular Christmas in the Country the first weekend in December; a Walking Tour of Jewish History on Saturday, February 11, led by Rebecca Kastil to highlight significant structures and contributions of St. Francisville’s early Jewish immigrants, beginning at 11 a.m. at Julius Freyhan School; and at 3:30 on Saturday, February 11, at the Oakley Plantation House in the Audubon State Historic Site, a one-woman play entitled “Rachel O’Connor’s World” featuring talented local thespian Kathryn Ward portraying a determined female Feliciana plantation owner and planter. CD guides available at the museum/visitor center for the duration of the exhibit offer an interesting self-guided driving tour through West Feliciana Parish history, and a map overlay by artist David Norwood contrasts the present roadways with the original ones by which the earliest settlers arrived.
On Sunday, February 12, a grand opening reception kicks off the Journey Stories exhibit at the West Feliciana Historical Society Museum at 2 p.m., hosted by the Women’s Service League. The exhibit stays up until March 19, and every weekend is filled with special activities and programs, all free and open to the public. On Saturday, Feb. 18, the museum hosts a presentation by Feliciana Filmmakers of Student Oral History Projects from 10 a.m. until noon. On Saturday, February 25, Friends of the Library hosts its Celebration of Writers and Readers, bringing together recognized authors and their fans at Hemingbough Convention Center beginning at 8:30 a.m., while Margo Soule will present a program on Louisiana’s Native Americans at 2 p.m. in Audubon Market Hall on Royal St. On Sunday, February 26, the featured program is Dr. Irene S. DiMaio Gerstacker’s Louisiana: Fiction and Travel Sketches from Antebellum Times through Reconstruction, at 2 p.m. in Audubon Market Hall, followed by a reception hosted by the St. Francisville United Methodist Church in the church fellowship hall.
Saturday, March 3, a Gospel Music Fest with local church choirs will be sponsored by the Rotary Club in oak-shaded downtown Parker Park from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. as tribute to the St. Francisville area’s only really original indigenous music, the soulful songs of the early black religious congregations. Tribute will also be paid to the country’s earliest standard gauge rail line, the West Feliciana Railroad that connected the cotton plantations of the St. Francisville/Woodville area with the riverport at Bayou Sara, in a 2 p.m. program presented by widely respected local historian Elisabeth K. Dart in the old courtroom of the West Feliciana Courthouse, followed by a reception sponsored by historic Grace Episcopal Church.

The following Sunday, March 11, Louisiana’s Lieutenant Governor Jay Dardenne, a wonderful speaker, extols the virtues of the Bayou State in his entertaining presentation “Why Louisiana Ain’t Mississippi,” in the old courtroom at 2 p.m., followed by a reception sponsored by the Julius Freyhan Foundation. The weekend of March 16 through 18th St. Francisville hosts the annual Audubon Pilgrimage sponsored for four decades by the West Feliciana Historical Society, commemorating the 1821 stay of John James Audubon by opening the doors to significant antebellum homes plus glorious 19th-century formal gardens, historic churches and a rural homestead where the rustic skills of early life are demonstrated. The evening of Friday, March 16, at 7 p.m., costumed re-creators rise from the graves in Grace Church’s beautiful cemetery to tell their own stories.
St. Francisville is the last Louisiana community to host Journey Stories; the exhibit comes down on March 19. But St. Francisville is a year-round tourist destination featuring a number of splendidly restored plantation homes open for tours daily: The Cottage Plantation, Butler Greenwood Plantation, The Myrtles Plantation, Greenwood Plantation, plus Catalpa Plantation by reservation and Afton Villa Gardens seasonally. Particularly important to tourism in the area are its two significant state historic sites, Rosedown Plantation and Oakley Plantation in the Audubon state site, offering periodic fascinating living-history demonstrations so visitors can experience 19th-century plantation life and customs.
The nearby Tunica Hills region offers unmatched recreational activities in its unspoiled wilderness areas—hiking, biking, birding, photography. There are unique art galleries plus specialty and antiques shops, many in restored historic structures, and some fine little restaurants throughout the St. Francisville area serving everything from Chinese and Mexican cuisine to seafood and classic Louisiana favorites. For overnight stays, the area offers some of the state’s most popular Bed & Breakfasts, including historic plantations, lakeside clubhouses and beautiful townhouses right in the middle of St. Francisville’s extensive National Register-listed historic district, and there are also modern motel accommodations for large bus groups.
For visitor information, call St. Francisville Main Street at 225-635-3873 or West Feliciana Tourist Commission at 225-635-4224; online visit www.stfrancisville.us (the events calendar gives dates and information on special activities) or www.stfrancisvillefestivals.com.


Photographs provided by the Smithsonian Institution.

A Civil War Event

DAY THE WAR STOPPED IN ST. FRANCISVILLE, LA

By Anne Butler
Up the steep hill they trudged, sweating in the sticky June heat, staggering under the weight of the coffin, the white flag of truce flying before them in the hot summer sun. The guns of their federal gunboat, the USS Albatross, anchored in the Mississippi off Bayou Sara, were silent behind them as a small party of officers struggled toward St. Francisville atop the hill.
The procession was not an impressive one, certainly not an unusual event in the midst of a bloody war, and it would no doubt have escaped all notice but for one fact--this was the day the war stopped, if only for a few mournful moments. This touching moment will be marked the weekend of June 10, 11 and 12, in St. Francisville, Louisiana, where it all took place.
In June 1863, the bloody Siege of Port Hudson was pitting 30,000 Union troops under Major General Nathaniel P. Banks against 6,800 weary Confederates under Major General Franklin Gardner, fighting over the all-important control of traffic on the Mississippi River. Port Hudson and Vicksburg were the only rebel strongholds left along the Mississippi, and if the Union forces could wrest from them control of the river traffic, they could cut off supplies from the west and completely surround the Confederacy. Admiral David Farragut had attempted to destroy Confederate cannons atop the bluffs from the river, but of his seven ships, four were turned back, one was completely destroyed, and only his flagship and the USS Albatross passed upriver safely, leaving ground troops to fight it out for nearly another month.
The commemorative events begin on Friday, June 10, at 7 p.m. in St. Francisville, with graveside histories in the peaceful oak-shaded cemetery at historic Grace Episcopal Church, where several participants in the original event lie buried---the grave of the Albatross’ commander John E. Hart, whose burial stopped the war and united fellow Masons in both blue and grey, is marked by a marble slab and monument “in loving tribute to the universality of Free Masonry,” while nearby lies W.W. Leake, local Masonic leader and Confederate cavalry officer who expedited Hart’s burial. An Open House and presentation of lodge history at the double-galleried Masonic Lodge just across Ferdinand St. from the graveyard follows at 8 p.m. Friday evening.
On Saturday, June 11, a lively parade travels along St. Francisville’s historic main street beginning at 11 a.m., followed by lunch at the Masonic Lodge from 11:30 to 12:30. Visitors will be pleasantly transported back in time during the afternoon at the nearby United Methodist Church hall by a graceful demonstration of vintage dancing from 12:30 to 1:30. At 1:30 commences the moving dramatic presentation showing Commander Hart’s young wife in New York as she reads his last letter to their small son and then receives the terrible news of his death. This is followed by the burial of Hart in Grace Church cemetery, with re-enactors in the dignified rites clad in Union and Confederate Civil War uniforms accurate down to the last button and worn brogan.
On Saturday evening from 6 to 8:30 PM, at Oakley Plantation (Audubon State Historic Site), brilliantly costumed vintage dancers will perform stylish dances popular during the Civil War period in the museum theater, encouraging participants to join in and learn the steps. Oakley House, which is never lovelier than by candlelight, opens for special evening tours from 6 to 8 p.m. This year all three floors of Oakley will be filled with costumed living historians demonstrating what life was like during the Civil War years for civilians and soldiers on both sides of the conflict. A picket will greet guests at the entrance in full military uniform. In the dining room the discussion will be about wartime shortages of foodstuffs as ladies converse over their ersatz coffee made from okra, and other ladies will be attending to their mending in the hallway as they make sure the solders’ uniforms have all the buttons sewed on. Convalescent soldiers are attended to in the office, and the little drummer boy waits anxiously in the bedroom to go off to war. In another bedroom, as his anxious wife looks on, a gentleman dons his uniform and packs his gear into a haversack. Confederate headquarters in the library will be the scene of discussions of the nearby bloody Siege of Port Hudson, while in Audubon’s room foraging soldiers confiscate civilian goods for the military, candles, for example, and much-needed food.
On Sunday, June 12, Rosedown Plantation State Historic Site from 1 to 3 presents a program on Civil War medical techniques and their all-too-often conclusion, period burial customs.
All of these activities are free and open to the public. Among sponsors are St. Francisville Overnight! (Bed & Breakfasts of the area), the Feliciana Lodge No. 31 F and AM, Grace Episcopal Church, United Methodist Church, and St. Francisville Main Street.
Located on US Highway 61 on the Mississippi River between Baton Rouge, LA, and Natchez, MS, the St. Francisville area is a year-round tourist destination.  A number of splendidly restored plantation homes are open for tours daily: the Cottage Plantation, Butler Greenwood Plantation, the Myrtles Plantation, Greenwood Plantation, plus Catalpa Plantation by reservation and Afton Villa Gardens seasonally. Particularly important to tourism in the area are its two significant state historic sites, Rosedown Plantation and Oakley Plantation in the Audubon state site, which offer fascinating living-history demonstrations most weekends to allow visitors to experience 19^th-century plantation life and customs.
The nearby Tunica Hills region offers unmatched recreational activities in its unspoiled wilderness areas—hiking, biking, birding, photography, hunting. There are unique art galleries plus specialty and antiques shops, many in restored historic structures, and some fine little restaurants throughout the St. Francisville area serving everything from soul food to Chinese and Mexican cuisine, seafood and classic Louisiana favorites. For overnight stays, the area offers some of the state’s most popular Bed & Breakfasts, including historic plantations, lakeside clubhouses and beautiful townhouses right in the middle of St. Francisville’s extensive National Register-listed historic district, and there are also modern motel accommodations for large bus groups.
For visitor information, call St. Francisville Main Street at 225-635-3873 or West Feliciana Tourist Commission at 225-635-4224; online visit www.stfrancisville.us (the events calendar gives dates and information on special activities, including the lively monthly third Saturday morning Community Market Day in Parker Park) or www.stfrancisvillefestivals.com.