Natchez the Magazine is published six times a year by Natchez Newspapers Inc.
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Copyright 2024 by Natchez Newspapers, Inc.
TThere’s something magical about Natchez during the holiday season.
From the Christmas tree in the middle of a downtown intersection to the holiday displays on the bluff, our holiday traditions are unique to Natchez and our community.
And one of the deepest of those traditions is the Santa Claus Committee. This charitable group, founded in the early 1900s by James Lambert who was the publisher of The Democrat, the committee is responsible for providing gifts and support to thousands of children and families throughout the years. Of course, the good deeds also include a generous helping of good cheer, including the traditional Santa Claus parade through town on Christmas Eve and the parties and social events that support Santa and his hardworking elves.
Jan Griffey is fond of saying that it wasn’t Christmas for her mother until the Santa Claus parade rolled through her neighborhood.
And in this edition, Jan talks with some of the women behind the man in the red suit – the wives whose tireless support allows Santa’s stand-in to enjoy the day and spread holiday cheer throughout Natchez for children and families in need,
Also celebrating the holidays, Sabrina Robertson explores the ties between music and faith as local church and music leaders share how music influences prayer and faith, especially during the holiday season.
Of course, there’s plenty of holiday fun inside this issue as well. John Grady Burns showcases and elegant and easy setting for hosting a small group of friends, leaning heavily into using local merchants for food and drink to allow the hostess to enjoy the gathering. Our shopping pages shimmer with all that glitters – from décor to dresses – to help set the stage for a festive holiday season. And we’ve got a bevy of cocktail suggestions when you’ve tired of that Natchez favorite milk punch and want to try something new and fun.
So sit back, grab an eggnog (or two) and enjoy this edition of Natchez Magazine.
And Happy Holidays, from our family to yours.
FAMILIES DESIGN AND CREATE UNIQUE WORKS OF ART SINCE
5/8 ounce Rich Demerara syrup (combine two parts demerara sugar to one part water and cook until the sugar dissolves; keep until needed)
1 ounce heavy cream, softly whipped.
STEPS TO MAKE IT
Add the Irish whiskey to a tall, heat-tolerant glass, preferably an Irish Coffee glass. If you have Irish Coffee glasses I am impressed with you. I use jars. Combine the coffee and 5/8 oz. Demerara syrup separately from the whiskey, then add it to the glass with the whiskey and stir gently. Float the whipped cream over the top and grate a bit of nutmeg over the whipped cream. Serve.
FIRESIDE CRANBERRY
CIDER MARGARITA PUNCH
PREP TIME
15minutes
TOTAL TIME
15minutes
Servings: 6 drinks
Calories Per Serving: 353 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 cups mezcal or silver tequila
1 cup orange liquor
1 cup apple cider
1 cup no-sugar cranberry juice
1/4 cup orange juice
1/4 cup lime juice
2 bottles/cans (12 ounce) ginger beer apples, cinnamon/ and or rosemary, for serving
INSTRUCTIONS
1. In a large pitcher, combine mezcal/tequila, orange liquor, apple cider, cranberry juice, lime, and orange juice. Chill until ready to serve.
2. When ready to serve, if desired, rim glasses in Gingered
Sugar (recipe above), fill with ice. Pour into your prepared glass. Top with ginger beer.
3. Garnish with apple slices, cinnamon sticks, and rosemary. If desired light the cinnamon stick (or use star anise) on fire for a smoky effect.
4. To Make a Mocktail: omit the tequila and use 1 1/2 cups apple cider with 1 - 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar.
FOOD
CHRISTMAS MARGARITA INGREDIENTS
1 (14-oz.) can unsweetened coconut milk
2 Tbsp. cream of coconut
12 oz. silver tequila
8 oz. triple sec
1/4 c. lime juice
4 c. ice
Lime wedge, for rimming glass
Sanding sugar, for rimming glass
Lime slices, for garnish
Cranberries, for garnish
STEP 1
Combine coconut milk, cream of coconut, tequila, triple sec, lime juice and ice in a blender. Blend until smooth.
STEP 2
Rim glasses with lime wedge and dip in sanding sugar. Pour into glass and garnish with lime and cranberries.
BAD SANTA WHITE RUSSIAN INGREDIENTS
Cinnamon Syrup
1/4 cup honey
2 cinnamon sticks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Russian
2 ounces (1/4 cup) vodka
2 ounces (1/4 cup) Kahlua
1 ounce espresso
1-2 ounces (2-4 tablespoons)
cinnamon syrup Instructions below
1-2 ounces (2-4 tablespoons) half and half or cream chocolate sauce and coarse vanilla sugar, for the rim
INSTRUCTIONS
1. To make the cinnamon syrup. In a medium pot, combine 1/2 cup water, the honey, and
cinnamon. Bring to a boil over high heat. Boil 3-5 minutes, then remove from the heat. Stir in the vanilla extract. Let cool. Keep in the fridge for up to 2 weeks. This makes enough for 6 drinks.
2. If desired, rim your glass with chocolate sauce and sugar.
3. To make the Russian. Fill your glass with ice. Add the vod-
ka, Kahlua, espresso, and vanilla syrup. Stir. Add the half and half and stir to combine. Garnish with cinnamon, if desired.
NOTES
Vanilla Sugar: Mix 1/4 cup granulated sugar with 1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean powder or 1/2 a vanilla bean, seeds scraped.
All That Glitters …
TASTEFUL AND FUN
These glitzy bold oval earrings by Klassy Round can easily
There’s nothing like a little sparkle to make the holidays and new year festive. And thanks to the selections right here in the Miss-Lou, we can find plenty to make you shine.
A SPARKLE FOR YOUR TREE
This pastel wreath aqua ornament from Painted Petal is perfect for a traditional or modern tree. $26
This gold Mary Square decorative tray is the perfect touch in any décor. Moreton's Flowerland, $32.99
AN OUTSTANDING OUTFIT
There’s plenty of luxe in this outfit from Silver Street Gallery. Beaded evening bag, $76
Choklate Paris Faux Fur Short Jacket, $98
Susan Shaw Gold Necklace, Handmade in the USA, $168
SMALL PACKAGES, BIG IMPACT
From keeping you ‘shine free’ to making sure your hair and skin glow, to adding a touch of festive fun, Rise and Shine has plenty to offer.
Makeup Eraser, $10.99
Kitsch Satin Pillow Cases, $29.99
Glam Christmas Tree Earrings, $34.99
Sheila Fajl Candy Cane Earrings, $65.99
Kitsch Glam Clip, $12.99
A DAZZLING TOP
WE HEAR YOU … What could be more fun for the holidays than Santa Claus earrings?
Bayou Bliss Candles & Gifts, 11.99
This Blue Range Sequin Blouson Top by Karen Kane is perfect for holiday gatherings, dressed up or dressed down. Katie’s Ladies, $188.
Simple and Elegant and easy decorations for a gathering of friends
Stunning
Afew simple touches can turn a simple gathering of friends into something stylish and festive.
That was the mission for John Grady Burns, floral designer and owner of Nest, as he helped his sister-in-law Diane Burns prepare for a holiday bridge club gathering.
“This is a simple set-up for ladies who play bridge or mahjong or who simply like to get together,” John Grady said. “A few things here and there, and treats from our local shops, and it comes together easily.”
Featuring a show-stopping golden deer
as the focal point on the kitchen island, John Grady created a simple buffet that requires minimal effort for the hostess
“Of course, we have champagne,” he said.
The flutes, which are his sister-in-law’s, are from the Historic Natchez Collection.
“And then we have a cheese ball from Mississippi State, with crackers from Natchez Olive Market,”
STORY AND PHOTOS BY STACY GRANING
Mr. and Mrs. Diane and Peter Burns Jr. are ready to host guests.
SETTING THE TABLE
Burns said, adding that the famous cheese is worth ordering early for the holidays.
Sugared and mint chocolate almonds, also from NOM, are served in Diane’s Annie Glass bowls, part of her extensive collection, and the specialty cupcakes from Wishes Sweets and Eats are showcased on another Annie Glass piece. “I really wanted to showcase our local shops,” John Grady said. “They have wonderful things that make hosting so easy.”
True to his nature, John Grady foraged for garden greens to tuck in and around the kitchen. On the island, battery-opened candles in both traditional and frosted pinecone designs create warm and glowing light.
In the bar area, greenery peeks from behind a pewter partridge while artwork collected on a family trip to Italy rests in the background.
And on an opposite counter, oversized golden pinecones and flanked with greenery and offset a waxed amaryllis bulb. The bulbs, which are sold through the Garden Lovers of Natchez (an affiliate of the Garden Clubs of America) are available for purchase at Next.
“They are wonderful,” John Grady said. “They sit out and you can enjoy them and you don’t have to water them or anything.”
Diane, who is a member of the GCA, said the bulbs can be forced to bloom indoors for the holidays or planted in the yard to bloom in the spring.
As a whole, the setting achieves John Grady’s goal: I like to make it as simple as possible,” he said. “It’s an elegant and beautiful aesthetic.”
Peter Burns Jr. and John Grady Burns taste the cookies from NOM.
What to read next?
Natchez Book Club members share some of their favorite recent reads and recommendations for the book lovers on your Christmas gift list.
CRAZY LADIES OF PEARL STREET
By Trevanian.
The place is Albany, New York. The year is 1936. Six-yearold Jean-Luc LaPointe, his little sister, and their spirited but vulnerable young mother have been abandoned — again — by his father, a charmer and a con artist. With no money and no family willing to take them in, the LaPointes manage to create a fragile nest at 238 North Pearl Street. For the next eight years, through the Great Depression and Second World War, they live in the heart of the Irish slum, with its ward heelers, unemployment, and grinding poverty. As Jean-Luc discovers, it’s a neighborhood of “crazy ladies”.
THE EXTRAORDINARY LIFE OF SAM HELL
By Robert Dugoni
Sam Hill always saw the world through different eyes. Born with red pupils, he was called “Devil Boy” or Sam “Hell” by his classmates; “God’s will” is what his mother called his ocular albinism. Her words were of little comfort, but Sam persevered, buoyed by his mother’s devout faith, his father’s practical wisdom, and his two other misfit friends.
By Jayne Ann Phillips
In 1874, 12-yearold ConaLee, the adult in her family for as long as she can remember, finds herself on a buckboard journey with her mother, Eliza, who hasn’t spoken in more than a year. They arrive at the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum in West Virginia, delivered to the hospital’s entrance by a war veteran. There, far from family, a beloved neighbor, and the mountain home they knew, they try to reclaim their lives.
THE KEEPERS OF THE HOUSE
By Shirley Ann Grau
Entrenched on the same land since the early 1800s, the Howlands have, for seven generations, been pillars of their Southern community.
Extraordinary family lore has been passed down to Abigail Howland, but not all of it. When shocking facts come to light about her late grandfather William’s relation- ship with Margaret Carmichael, a black housekeeper, the community is outraged, and quickly gathers to vent its fury on Abigail.
WISH YOU WERE HERE
By Jodi Picoult
Diana O’Toole is perfectly on track. She will be married by thirty, done having kids by thirty-five, and move out to the New York City suburbs, all while climbing the professional ladder in the cutthroat art auction world.
She’s not engaged just yet, but she knows her boyfriend, Finn, a surgical resident, is about to propose on their romantic getaway to the Galápagos. But then a virus that felt worlds away has appeared in the city, and on the eve of their departure, Finn breaks the news: It’s all hands on deck at the hospital. He has to stay behind. You should still go. And so, reluctantly, she goes.
What to read next?
THE CONFEDERACY OF DUNCES
By John Kennedy Toole
Here is Ignatius Reilly: slob extraordinary, a mad Oliver Hardy, a fat Don Quixote, a perverse Thomas Aquinas rolled into one, who is in violent revolt against the entire modern age, lying in his flannel nightshirt in a back bedroom on Constantinople Street in New Orleans, who between gigantic seizures of flatulence and eructations is filling dozens of Big Chief tablets with invective.
are some of the
each
ELEANOR OLIPHANT
By Gail Honeyman
No one’s ever told Eleanor that life should be better than fine. Meet Eleanor Oliphant: She struggles with appropriate social skills and tends to say exactly what she’s thinking. Nothing is missing in her carefully timetabled life of avoiding social interactions, where weekends are punctuated by frozen pizza, vodka, and phone chats with Mummy.
SOUTHERN MAN
By Greg Iles
In SouthernMan, Greg Iles returns to the riveting style and historic depth that made the Natchez Burning trilogy a searing masterpiece and hurls the narrative 15 years forward into our current moment— where America itself teeters on the brink of anarchy.
These books
works shared
month at the Natchez Book Club, which meets the Judge George Armstrong Public Library. Find more information on Facebook.
These books are some of the works shared each month at the Natchez Book Club, which meets at the Judge George Armstrong Public Library. Find more information on Facebook.
HOME AND GARDEN
A PERFECT MATCH
Cunningham brings new life to historic King’s Daughters home
STORY BY JAN GRIFFEY
PHOTO BY ALLEN LAIRD
NATCHEZ — Back in the days when a young woman’s reputation played a much larger role in society and in her future, the stately white house on the hill on Cemetery Road was the keeper of many secrets.
The King’s Daughters Hospital in Natchez was the place affluent families from elsewhere sent their daughters when they were carrying a secret that would take about nine months to come to fruition.
Today, Heather Cunningham and her husband, Mike Cunningham, own King’s Daughters and love to tell the stories of the house’s past life and the many lives that began there.
‘THE HOUSE NEEDED ME AND I NEEDED HER’
The Cunninghams are Ohio natives who moved to Flagstaff, Arizona, early in their marriage. They followed an opportunity to own their own business there.
The Cunninghams sold their business in January 2020 and,
LEFT: King’s Daughters Bed and Breakfast is located on Cemetery Road in Natchez.
ABOVE: Heather Cunningham on the front porch of King’s Daughters, her favorite place at the house.
HOME AND GARDEN
after staying home for a year because of COVID, struck out to see the country.
“We were done. We couldn’t take it anymore. We bought a big RV, which we called a diesel pusher, and headed for Key West, touring the country along the way,” she said.
While in Vicksburg, she commented to a woman there how much she loved the old homes and history. The woman told her, “If you like old homes, you need to visit Natchez.”
“We came to Natchez through Vicksburg. We really didn’t know anything about Mississippi, but I liked how green it is and the beautiful, rolling hills,” Cunningham said.
The couple found the Riverview RV Park in Vidalia, then made their way to Natchez to look around.
“We were also looking possibly for real estate for a second home and as an investment, but we really weren’t sure about what we wanted,” she said.
They saw a listing for a house for sale on Cemetery Road and headed there to take a look.
“We were in this giant RV on that tiny little road. We didn’t know what we were doing and had nowhere to turn around.”
They made their way to the National Cemetery and were able to turn around there. They stopped and called real estate agent Melanie Miller Downer, who immediately came out to show them the house.
“We loved, loved, loved it,” Cunningham said. “We went on to Florida but found ourselves wanting to see that house again.”
After spending a month in Key West, the couple returned to Natchez to see King’s Daughters, but looked at other historic homes for sale at the time.
“We probably saw 30 properties — including Brandon Hall and many others. But we kept coming back to this house,” she said.
Cunningham wanted to start living in the home as well as operating a bed and breakfast in it.
“With about 8,000 square feet, it had the best layout for that. But it was the view of the river that sold it,” she said. “It turns out, this house needed me and I needed her. It worked out perfectly.”
Cunningham praised real estate agent Downer and others who operate bed and breakfasts in Natchez who reached out to
An upstairs gathering room at King’s Daughters gives visitors a comfortable place to lounge.
her.
“There is a great community of people here that have bed and breakfasts who are absolutely wonderful. Jackie Wild, who has Magnolia Cottage, approached me about being part of the Bed and Breakfast association. We have all become friends.”
King’s Daughters has five full suites with private baths and one junior suite that does not have its own bathroom.
“Business has been fantastic. We have no complaints. We did work with the movie people who were here and housed them. We have had a lot of Europeans stay with us. We are very happy with it,” Cunningham said.
The couple bought the home in June 2021 and were open by that October for the Balloon Festival weekend.
“We are really known for our breakfasts,”
she said. “My mother lives here with us. She makes homemade scratch biscuits and muffins, cookies and casseroles. We serve sausage, eggs and bacon. We have a special spread for our European guests, who like tomatoes and cucumbers for breakfast, hard and soft cheeses, pepperoni and other cured meats. Others get a beautiful, big country breakfast, with a coffee and tea bar.”
King’s Daughters also has a hospitality hour in the evenings for guests.
While many of Natchez’s old homes are filled with antiques, King’s Daughters’ furnishings are an eclectic mix of old and new.
Former owners Kenny and Renee Cavin restored the home. The Cunninghams did not have to do any restoration work to the house.
King’s Daughters was built in 1911 to be a maternity house for unwed mothers.
“In the beginning, caucasian and affluent families would send their daughters here to spend nine or 10 months. They would have their babies, which were put up for adoption,” Cunningham said.
It was a standard block house with a kitchen wing.
“Eventually, they decided they needed a midwife to live here, and added on to the house sometime in the 1920s,” she said.
The house could accommodate 24 girls at any one time.
“There was one communal bathroom upstairs with three clawfoot tubs. There might have been one bathroom on the main level,” Cunningham said.
“These girls were very cloistered. They were
TOP LEFT: The sturdy staircase in the large, central foyer at King’s Daughters lead to what was dormitory-style bedrooms on the second floor. TOP RIGHT: The view of the Mississippi River at King’s Daughters is one of the best on the entire length of the Mississippi. BOTTOM LEFT: An upstairs guest room at King’s Daughters. BOTTOM RIGHT: The central dining room serves bed and breakfast guests.
HOME AND GARDEN
not allowed off the property and could only go outside at certain times a day for exercise hours. They had different chores they had to perform. Different groups of faith-based women would come in and tutor them or teach them skills, like cooking. And every Sunday, they had a faith-based service in the house. Over the years, different faith groups ran the house — Catholic, Baptist, Protestant, maybe Episcopalian,” she said.
The girls that came to King’s Daughters came from generally a 150- to 180-mile radius of Natchez. “Very few women from Natchez came here to have a baby. If they were from here and came to this house, I guess that wasn’t a secret.”
King’s Daughters operated until 1979. While most of the babies were born at King’s Daughters, when necessary, some girls were taken to the old Charity Hospital to give birth.
“We have had quite a few people come through the gate and to the door and knock. They tell us their mother had a child here and are looking for that child. One man showed up and said, ‘I have a full-blood brother who was born here.’ He said his mom and dad were together and she got ‘in trouble’ and her parents sent her here to have the baby. Then, his mom and dad later married and had him,” she said. “A year later, he showed up here with that brother. They wanted to come in and look around.”
Cunningham said she and her husband love their home and love Natchez and its people.
“I think people were really surprised that I picked Mississippi. Mississippi is such a well-kept secret. We have been impacted most by the friendships we have made here and how hospitable and friendly the people of MIssissippi are. I’m a Yankee and I can’t imagine living anywhere else. I love Mississippi. I love the history.
“We love to sit out on the patio. We have a screened in summer house that overlooks the river. But most of all, we love to sit out on our front porch. It is so quiet and peaceful and beautiful here.”
ABOVE: This buffet in the dining area is one of the antiques in the house, where decor is an eclectic mix or old and new. TOP RIGHT: A gathering space on the second floor opens up to guest rooms. MIDDLE RIGHT: Artifacts from the time the house operated as a home for unwed mothers. BOTTOM RIGHT: A comfortable seating area for guests.
The large, central foyer provides a relaxing space for bed and breakfast guests.
LIVING ART
Artist takes unique path for creations
STORY BY SABRINA ROBERTSON
PHOTOS BY BEN HILLYER & SABRINA ROBERTSON
Rose Katherine Shields Dicks, more commonly known as Kerry, has an artistic skill that ironically fits her first name.
“When I tell people my first name is Rose, they think I’m lying,” she said with a laugh. Roses, along with petals from many other flowers or organic material than can be dried and pressed flat onto a canvas, provide the medium for her mosaic art.
Dicks is a 2011 graduate of Cathedral. She studied archaeology and later started working as a journalist and screenplay writer. About two years ago, she became an unexpected artist when she started making her unique form of portraits from flowers and plants.
With her sister Kelly’s blessing, Dicks turned a room in her sister’s house into her art studio.
“The only thing I don’t love about this medium is I don’t get to have a tiny little thing of paints.”
Instead, Kerry said her “paints,” dried up leaves and petals, fill up several boxes and drawers.
She has many connections who donate their flowers from weddings and floral shops, she said.
“I get a lot from florists. My best friend Monique Renee is a florist in town and she has the Floral Anthologist and has leftover things all the time. ... I get a lot from her and a lot from John Grady Burns (at Nest). You would not believe how many thousands of dollars of flowers get thrown away the second after a wedding, so I get a lot of my flowers from that.” Some of the flowers get pressed flat between
two pieces of wood, but most get dried over a period of weeks or months.
“Because I get so many in bulk, I can’t press all of them,” she said.
In a dark room, she scatters them out on a sheet suspended so there is airflow above and beneath. She makes a sketch of what the portrait will be on canvas before applying the organic materials, but the visible portrait with all of its tiny intricate details is made entirely of those materials, she said.
It’s a difficult process, but one Dicks finds to be calming, she said.
Dicks uses dental tools and a scalpel to cut out and place small details like the eye lashes.
“There have been times where I’d just cut out 50 little eye lashes and then sneezed. All those eye lashes — gone. I just take a breath and start over,” she said.
If she gets something wrong, she either scrapes it off to redo that part or covers it up but can’t just paint over it, she said.
When the portrait is made, Dicks paints it in several layers of a protective glue that dries and helps retain the color.
But will it fade eventually?
“I’ve looked for other artists who do things similar to what I do. I don’t know if it’s a brag or not but I haven’t really found one. So, when people ask me will it fade, the honest answer is I don’t really know. But I’m not too mad at the idea either,” she said.
Dicks takes a note from artist Edward Ruscha, who also experimented with odd materials such as gunpowder, blood, red wine, fruit and vegetable juices and considers their transformation over time an integral part of his work. Ruscha is quoted saying, “Seeing
things age is a form of beauty.”
Dicks said, “I’m going to start experimenting with letting them fade instead of doing this whole process to keep the color. I like the idea of taking a piece like this and sticking it in the sun to see what happens. Because of the process I put them through, they’re not going to brown and turn disgusting, like flowers that have just been left. They’re dried, so they’re going to fade in interesting ways.”
The idea of floral mosaics, which Dicks calls “living art” developed slowly over a couple odd projects she did in the past 10 years. In high school, she made her mother a fairy portrait by squishing crepe myrtle flowers between two panes of glass and drawing the fairy sitting on top of them.
“I didn’t know anything, so I didn’t dry them,” Dicks said. “My mother still has it, but gnarly and brown. I’d left all the moisture in there.”
She didn’t try another project like it until college, when she made a portrait of a friend’s baby for her birthday with a face drawn and her
“I’ve looked for other artists who do things similar to what I do. I don’t know if it’s a brag or not but I haven’t really found one.”
hair and outfit made of flowers. She only dried them for a day, so it too faded, she said.
In her mid-20s, Dicks said she was working in New Mexico as an archeologist and made a portrait of her niece from natural elements from the desert.
“It wasn’t exactly like what I do now,” she said. She made her niece’s skin from sand and her hair from hay. It wasn’t until about two years ago that Dicks said she started doing the mosaics regularly and doing commissioned projects.
Her first portrait was a self-portrait she made two years ago with deep blue hair made of delphinium and surrounded by green clovers. When backlit, the portrait’s true colors shine through like stained glass.
“The first I made just for fun,” she said. “It was like this was the culmination of all those little art projects I did over 10 years. After I’d finished it, I thought ‘That’s kind of good,’ so I just kept making them.”
Dicks said her first portrait can be found in the Arts District Studio on North Commerce Street in Natchez. She has revisited it from time to time to see how it changes.
“Because it was my first one, I didn’t cover it in all these layers. I only did one. If you see it, now the clovers in the background are now this light, light green. When if first put it together it didn’t have a background so I got a bunch of clovers and quick dried them in the microwave and they were this beautiful green color. The lips, which I had to redo last minute with a new flower also faded. So, it’s funny to see that trial and error,” she said.
Her work has since been commissioned for weddings, anniversaries and other occasions and has been exhibited in Natchez and New Orleans and on television with an episode of HGTV’s Home Town. She’s added just a few landscape pieces to the mix of portraits she’s made through the years.
Currently, Dicks works on writing screenplays and documentaries along with other odd jobs to pay the bills, but spends a lot of her downtime making art.
One of her prized pieces is called Ozymandia, which has hidden pages from the romantic sonnet it is named for behind dried florals that shine through only with a backlight.
Dicks has an idea for her next series of mosaics modeled after oriental rugs with various patterns and colors.
“I like projects, things I can see the end date for and just trying new things,” Dicks said. “I always want to be learning how to do something. I don’t want to be boxed in.”
ABOVE: Mrs. Claus, Marjorie Feltus Hawkins, greets Santa, David Hawkins, as he arrives at Linden.
LEFT: This grouping of photos and art are important to Santa Pat Biglane’s family.
SANTA’S
Behind every Santa is a wife who makes the holiday magical
STORY BY JAN GRIFFEY
PHOTOS BY SUBMITTED
NATCHEZ — The life of Santa is a glamorous one, all sunshine and roses. He’s the hero. He gets the bright red suit and is chauffeured around, making all the world’s children — or in this case, all Natchez children — happy on Christmas Eve morning.
But what about Mrs. Claus? She has to stay in the background, planning what to many is the party of the year, decorating and handling the details while her husband gets the glory.
Such is the case for the wives of Santas of the Natchez Santa Claus Committee.
Since 1928, the Natchez Santa
Claus committee has been delighting children with a parade on Christmas Eve, throwing candy to Natchez children who run out of their homes and line the streets of Natchez neighborhoods when they hear those familiar sirens.
And Santa Claus and his helpers stop off at homes along the way and enjoy refreshments and camaraderie and delight even more children.
“One thing I learned is Santa can do no wrong,” said Johnny Byrne, who was Santa in 2000 and chaired the Santa Claus committee for many years.
Charlotte Byrne, Johnny’s Mrs. Claus, said people have no idea of how
much work goes into the Santa parade and parties each year.
“It literally takes a whole office staff,” Charlotte Byrne said. “One person can’t do it. That would be impossible. People think it’s just a party and a parade and so much more.”
Byrne joined the Santa Claus Committee the year he and Charlotte married in 1979. He became chairman of the committee in 2001, the year after serving as Santa.
Each Christmas Eve parade ends with handing out presents to hundreds of Natchez children in cooperation with the Natchez Christmas Tree Fund, coordinated by Johnny Junkin and many of his family members and friends.
“At one time, Catholic Charities vetted the families and chose the children, but sometimes people don’t get vetted in time and for many years we would be at Walmart at 10 o’clock at night on Christmas Eve buying Christmas gifts for children,” Charlotte said.
The Byrnes for many years hosted parties as part of the parade stops.
“We started out the first time with two weeks to put it together. Something happened and we threw something together that year. One time, we had a party and the power went out right before guests arrived. We had people trying to find their way to the bathroom in the dark,” she said.
The year Byrne was Santa, Charlotte said she was lucky.
“That was back in the day of the Ramada and we were well taken care of. And the chairman of the committee takes care of so much of the work, down to sending the invitations,” she said.
The best thing about the uniquely Natchez Santa Claus Committee is all it means to
children in Natchez.
“The most exciting thing, even to me, is when you hear the sirens. Santa’s there and he’s giving out quarters. It’s just magical for children,” she said. “It’s incredible how much the Santa Committee does. They give between $10,000 and $15,000 to charities every year. It’s not just a parade. It’s truly for the children and for the community. It’s amazing what all goes into it and all the good that comes out of it.”
Pat Biglane was Santa in Natchez a decade ago — 2014.
“Everybody in the family was involved,” said his Mrs. Claus, Karen Biglane. “Pat’s sisters were particularly involved and his sister, Kay Biglane Taylor, handled the decorations.”
“Kay has an eye for decorating and things, and we had many different trees, each with a theme. I think there were 13 in all in the Convention Center for the party,” she said. “Pat gave her carte blanche. She told me, ‘Karen, I may need you to do a few things, but you just be Mrs. Claus, and I’ll take care of it.’ We had Rene Adams do the catering and that was wonderful. I didn’t have to worry at all about that.”
Karen said the committee has been organizing Santa for so long, the process works like a well-oiled machine.
“Everything, down to the number of invitations we need, is organized. These men have done it for so long, it really made it kind of easy for me, but it’s hard work for them,” she said.
Being Santa was one of the best times of their lives, Karen said.
“There are like a thousand Biglanes, and that’s the immediate family. The party was just fun, seeing all of our friends and family being involved. It was really special to have our children and grandchildren and Pat’s siblings and
ABOVE: Santa Pat Biglane and Mrs. Claus Karen Biglane.
Mrs. Claus Karen Biglane said handing out gifts to children was the highlight of her husband Pat Biglane’s year as Santa.
Santa arrives at Linden.
mine and their families.”
Karen said the most important things to Pat are his faith and his family.
“He’s old fashioned when it comes to traditions,” she said. “He has such a big family. We had pictures everywhere of their childhood Christmases and of Pat as a boy.”
Pat is the son of the late Nolan Biglane and has seven siblings.
“They always had lots of children at Christmas time. It was always a large event, and it means a lot to Pat,” she said.
When it came time for The Democrat’s Ben Hillyer to take Pat’s photo as Santa for the annual newspaper story, Pat asked that the photo be taken in front of the nativity scene in their home.
“That’s who he is,” she said.
Pat asked that the Santa Committee pick him up at his father’s home.
“All of our family came from out of town. His seven brothers and sisters were there with their families. All of the children were out in the driveway waiting for candy. It was a wonderful experience.”
However, Karen said the most poignant memories were from going to Braden school, where her Santa handed out Christmas gifts to the children gathered there.
“I got to be part of that,” she said. “Just to see those mothers with those little children. It may
have been the only Christmas that they got. I felt honored to be asked and to be a part of it. Pat is all about tradition. The tradition of the Santa Claus party and involving the men who had been a part of it for so many years, that was such an honor for both of us.”
Marjorie Feltus Hawkins agreed that taking on the role of Santa’s wife was an honor.
Hawkins’ husband, David, is the only person to have served as Santa for two years, thanks to the Covid pandemic.
“It was a whirlwind, but it was really very rewarding,” she said. “What they are doing — making sure children have a Christmas and raising money for good causes — and for how long they have been doing it, it’s amazing that it has continued for so long.”
Hawkins’ father, grandfather and greatgrandfather all served as Santa for the Santa Committee.
“Mother really wanted to see David being Santa Claus. She discussed it and really wanted to see it,” she said.
Jeanette Sanders Feltus did see Hawkins as Santa in 2020. However, she passed away on Oct. 11, 2021.
“It was so special that she got to see David as Santa. She loved that.”
Because David served as Santa during the pandemic, there was no Santa parade and none of the parties the event is known for.
However, David did hand out presents to children as they drove by in vehicles at Braden School.
“When that was over, seeing as he was already dressed as Santa, I suggested that we ride around town and greet children,” Marjorie said. “We got out at Cotton Alley and when we were going inside, there was a little boy with his parents, who were visiting from out of town.
“The little boy was beside himself. They were from Illinois and his parents said he was so afraid that because they weren’t at home, Santa would miss him. David reassured him that Santa was going to visit him.”
David’s year of benign Santa in 2021 was much more hectic for Mrs. Claus.
“It was a lot of fun, but it was hectic. We were one of the Santa stops during the parade and then we had the big dinner party that night at Linden. I love to entertain and decorate, so that was fun for me,” she said. “We had a good time planning and doing. Mrs. Claus is the one who has to plan all the details. Santa walks in and says, ‘This is so easy.’ I remember thinking, ‘Yeah, right!’
“It is definitely a once in a lifetime experience. It’s an honor. You need to have a passion for helping people because it’s definitely not about yourself. It’s about the children and making it fun for everybody,” Hawkins said. “How lucky are we that it is still going on?”
Linden, home of Santa David Hawkins, is decorated to welcome Christmas guests.
MUSIC THAT INSPIRES
Choral traditions ring in holidays for churches
STORY BY SABRINA ROBERTSON
PHOTOS ARE SUBMITTED AND NATCHEZ DEMOCRAT FILE PHOTOS
Music is a large part of every holiday celebration where area churches are concerned, whether it’s caroling in the brisk night air or singing in a tight-packed church quire. Some churches with strong musical backgrounds host larger celebrations than others that draw crowds outside of the regular church members.
ZION CHAPEL
Ever since Tony Fields was a boy singing in his church choir, music has always moved him, he said.
In fact, it moved him to go to college at Alcorn State University to study and to become the choir director at his home church, Zion Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church.
“As a kid growing up in the church, watching people at church or at school directing music made something in me say, ‘I can do that, too,’” Fields said.
The best musical season, Fields said, is around the Christmas holidays when the church has a tradition of hosting a Christmas program.
Historians know it as the church where the first Black man to serve in either house of the U.S. Congress, Hiram R. Revels, was a minister. But just before the Christmas holiday, the moderately-sized church fills up with a diverse crowd of anywhere from 200 to 300 people.
A pipe organ reaches to the ceiling while the small choir lifts voices accompanied by its sound and also drums, piano, a flute, guitar and other instruments.
Unfortunately, as some members have moved to other places or have passed away, there is not enough manpower to have a concert of such caliber every year, Fields said. But when it does happen, people come. In previous years it has brought in a diverse crowd, not just traditional church members, of around 200 to 300 people.
“They’d pack the pews and the balcony too,” he said. “What I’m thankful for is how diverse the crowd is. With our music, we try to give a little something for everybody.”
The Christmas concert tradition goes back more than 30 years, since before Fields started directing the choir as a new college graduate 24 years ago, he said.
“At 48, I’m still the church baby,” he said. “I’m a homebody and started teaching and directing at the church 24 years ago when I graduated from Alcorn. I enjoy it and have built strong relationships from it. I really miss people who’ve moved away or passed on. There are a lot of people who’ve taken part in it and people who come faithfully every year and we really appreciate them.”
The best part of the Christmas program for Fields is practicing the songs in the weeks leading up to the concert, he said.
“We have so much fun, learning music and
being around each other,” he said. “Nothing moves you like holiday music. There’s nothing like it. Something about the music gets you ready for the season.”
Fields said music also has a way of bringing friends closer together. He has formed close-knit bonds with the usual concert participants, Norma West, Carlee Reed, Tony Gordon and even some who’ve retired and moved away like Billy and George F. West.
“We learn a lot but we also have a lot of laughs,” Fields said. “I get more intense about it the closer it gets to concert time. Normal rehearsals go about an hour and one-half.”
The concert typically includes anywhere from 10 to 15 music selections, including some vocals without instruments or melodies without lyrics. Some choir members will suggest new music, mostly upbeat Christmas gospel, to try out and mix up the usual selection of songs. But the favorite songs are ones “we must play every year,” he said, such as “Carol of the Bells,” “Jesus Oh What a Wonderful Child,” and “Mary Did You Know.”
“Those are some songs we can’t get away from doing,” he said.
TRINITY
At Trinity Episcopal Church, a Jamaican choir director brings students over from Alcorn State, where he teaches, as paid interns to get a real taste of choral singing.
Byron Johnson, Trinity’s choir director, leads the church choir and the half-dozen or so students in the mix.
“I came to Natchez in 2011 and recruited several students from the music program at Alcorn State as part of their training,” he said. “I thought it was necessary for them to be involved in churches with strong choirs.”
Churches will often augment their choir membership with paid student interns. Johnson said he had also worked as a “ringer” employed at several churches while he was a student at the University of Southern Mississippi.
He received a scholarship and came to the States to study music at Talladega College. After teaching for a year in Georgia, he earned his master’s and doctorate degree at USM. He moved to Natchez from Hattiesburg when he accepted a position as an assistant music professor at Alcorn State in Lorman, where he is now the Associate Professor of Voice.
Johnson’s early music studies started at his home in Jamaica.
“There’s a very strong choral tradition in Jamaica,” Johnson said. “I’m an Anglican, the closest that you might have to the episcopal denomination in the United States. I attended the St. James Cathedral, and so I was in the church choir there and was also involved with the boys’ choir at St. Jago High School. I was already immersed in that choral experience from very early on. But luckily for me, what really launched me on my musical trajectory was at the age of five, a piano came into the house. My sister and I were required to take music lessons.”
Johnson laughed as he recalled that his sister did not take to the lessons as he did.
“When she had the opportunity to jump ship,
she did. But for me, it was something that I really, really enjoyed. So, I continued, and (my family) supported me in that endeavor.”
Johnson said he took to singing more so than the piano.
“In music, the human voice is the only instrument that comes from within our souls — from within our bodies. Every other musical instrument that you can think of is fabricated. Yes, there’s a pianist playing the piano or a flutist if it’s a flute, but the physical instrument is there,” he said. “When it comes to the human voice, it’s something that’s coming from inside of us. When you become the vessel being able to deliver a message, that’s the closest — I think — that you can get to being connected to the divine. You know, the Eastern Orthodox Church never had instruments in the church to augment their services. It was always a choir because there’s something about just hearing the human voices alone. ... I think of all instruments, the human voice is greatest of all.”
His professional music career launched when he sang for the National Choir of Jamaica.
In November, they would stage choral works with an orchestra, giving Johnson the opportunity to perform with famous composers. This opened up doors for Johnson to attend the Jamaica School of Music for professional voice lessons, preparing him for a solo career.
Now as the choir director at Trinity, Johnson recommends his students from all over to come sing at the church as part of their training.
“When they’re singing as coral scholars, there’s more of the expectation of being more professional,” Johnsons said. “If they should advance, and if they should desire to be part of a professional choir, they already have a good head start because they have the experience of what is required of them.”
The students typically remain part of the church choir until they graduate and take part in Sunday morning worship and Wednesday evening rehearsals.
“You need to rehearse as a unit and interact. Over time, you become a little family within the family of congregates in the church. Our church members love them and they get along well with everyone. When they have school recitals, members of the church will often come and support them,” Johnson said.
While Trinity has strong choral performances
Tony Fields leads the choir at Zion Chapel AME Church.
year-round, the Christmas season brings out the best of its musical traditions.
A Holiday Choral Concert starts at 6 p.m. on Dec. 3 at Trinity and features the Alcorn State University Concert Choir.
Johnson said Trinity also hosts a “Festival of Lessons & Carols” service at 5:30 p.m. Dec. 8, which has “something for everyone to enjoy” with a mixture of the “modern and trendy and familial Christmas songs” with Bible readings.
“It’s a wonderful experience of bringing in the Christmas spirit to the Natchez community,” Johnson said. “Music has a way of reaching people in a way that plain words cannot.”
FIRST PRESBYTERIAN
The Rev. Joan Gandy, the pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Natchez, said several church activities at First Presbyterian around the holiday season bring the church together with the larger Natchez community. Of course, all are invited to the services whether they are church members or not, she said.
“We have carols on the steps every year. We push our grand piano outside to the front steps and have hot chocolate afterward,” she said. “That is on Dec. 20. Before that on the 15th we have our Christmas music program where we have several extra musicians who aren’t part of our regular church service to come and play.”
Children will also join in the Christmas celebration with a pageant, where they will dress
as Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, etc. to tell the Biblical Christmas story.
All aspects of the holiday celebrations, even the “colors of Christmas,” have a way of stirring up emotions, whether it’s sadness for those who are missing or the joy of everyone being together, Gandy said.
Music, however, has a way of turning the physical celebration into a spiritual one, she said.
The thanked the choir members and musicians, including Vincent Bache, who is the music director and organist at First Presbyterian, for their contributions to the Christmas celebration and to regular worship at the church.
“They help us to be lifted up to a higher place,” she said. “They lift our spirits in a way that words cannot do.”
Jay Fitch, who is a tenor singer, said “It has been a blessing to me to be in the choir and particularly the holidays are the most meaningful time of year to participate. It brings back the warmth of childhood memories and of being part of worship in a way that uplifts others.”
He joined the church choir around two years ago but sang in college years prior. His daughter, Annie Fitch, has been in Broadway musicals with a talent all her own, he said.
“This was a kid who looked at me at six years old, her first time going to a Broadway musical and said ‘I want to do that,’” he said.
For Fitch, his favorite parts of the holiday celebration are singing “Silent Night” in the darkened
church by candlelight and hearing Bache’s magnificent performance on the pipe organ.
Mary Lessley, who sings soprano, agreed, “Our organist Vincent Bache brings out the best in all of us.” Lessley said she enjoys every part of the celebrations, but most of all when the children of the church sing.
“I’ve always had a love of music since I was six years old and younger,” she said. “When I first came to Natchez (from Crosby) I belonged to Grace United Methodist where I was the choir director for 17 years. Music has been a part of my life forever. I can’t remember a time it was not a part of my life.
“I’ve been at First Presbyterian at least 20 years since I retired, and they became like family to me. ... Our church is so close and so many that come to visit, that’s the first thing they say. They feel like they’re among family. they’ll be there for you through happy times, sad times, bad times and good times. It’s a warm feeling.”
Lessley said around the Christmas season especially, everyone “is bright and cheerful and it’s an exciting time for all.” A lot of those warm happy feelings are produced through music.
“When finish that first hymn, everyone is overjoyed. At Christmas, it’s even more special. The choir members enjoy the practice, singing and have fun with it. Music is a big part of everyone’s life and life would be so dull without it. It’s a universal language that speaks in so many ways. It brings people together.”
‘A WONDERFUL CHALLENGE’ Cook restores a rare 19th Century harmonium
STORY BY STACY GRANING
PHOTOS BY BEN HILLYER
For Burnley Cook, the opportunity to restore an unusual 19th Century instrument presented a “wonderful challenge.”
The Natchez resident recently completed an extensive restoration of a mid-1800s harmonium – a small reed organ designed
to be “transportable and to move where it needed to be.”
Popular among country and rural churches, the instrument features a limited number of stops and no more than 61 notes on the keyboard. This particular harmonium had belonged to a minister at the St. James Episcopal Church in Port Gibson. “He would use it in his residence and also at the church,” Cook said. “When he left the
church, he took the harmonium with him.”
It traveled throughout the country with the minister and throughout his family before ending up with his great-great-greatgrandson in Virginia. “About a year-and-ahalf ago he decided he wanted the church (in Port Gibson) to use it,” Cook said.
And so the restoration work began.
“What makes this really unusual, actually very unusual, is to see one survive that is
This harmonium dates to the mid-1800s. It is a small reed organ designed to be portable.
Burnley Cook said restoring the intricate organ includes aligning the pins on the player reel, which is one of the most unique in-tact features of the instrument.
this old,” Cook said. “These weren’t delicate instruments and when they went into disrepair they were often thrown away.”
This particular harmonium was built in France by a father-and-son named Fourneaux and was called the “Fourneaux
Symphony Orchestra.” “I think it was an interesting name they could use to differentiate from other reed organs,” Cook said.
And this particular instrument is different in another significant way – it is
also a player organ, of sorts.
“There is a pinned organ cylinder that you slide into the instrument form one end,” Cook explained, “You would lock it into place …and then you would sit and pump the instrument with your feet and
turn the handle and it would play.”
He said the cylinder contains thousands of pins, each spaced with such accuracy that a cylinder could produce up to six different songs.
“What’s remarkable about this, besides the fact that it survived, is that it’s almost unheard of for the cylinder to survive but it did.”
Burns said he is awaiting a alignment scale, which will help him align the pins so that they play the songs intended. “It will play right now, but a lot of it is gibberish.”
Ironically, the detailed script that lists the songs found on this particular cylinder offered a Natchez connection. “One of the songs is the ‘Fannie Elssler polka,’” Burns said, referring to the famed ballerina whose work was featured for decades in the Historic Natchez Tableaux during Spring Pilgrimage.
A third distinction in this instrument is found in its operational mechanics.
“Most reed organs, when you pump the pedals, it generates a vacuum inside” which leads to the sound, Cook said. “This does. It generates pressure that it blows out …
it’s made more along the lines of the pipe organ.”
All together, the harmonium is “an interesting and intricate instrument,” Cook said.
As he embarked on the restoration process, Cook said he searched for as much history about the manufacturers as possible – with little luck. “I think of these guys as a cottage industry of sorts,” he said. “I can’t
find anything that goes into detail about these people and I don’t know how long the factory operated.”
And despite enduring a less-than-idea restoration effort several decades ago, their workmanship is solid and intact. “It really should be in a museum somewhere,” Cook said of the harmonium.
Today, the harmonium is back at St. Peter’s in Port Gibson, where is sits close by the organ which Cook plays during services. “And if I get the urge, I can just slide over and play it,” he said.
When the church hosted its bishop earlier this fall, the harmonium was showcases.
“It played beautifully; everyone was similing from ear to ear,” Cook said.
‘This is going to be a safe event’
“Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful.”
- Norman Vincent Peale
Photo by Ben Hillyer
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