Since moving to Mississippi I have realized one thing locals here like to do is gather in their downtowns for various random events. Mississippians in small towns love their downtowns. Hattiesburg and Laurel are both involved in an organization called Mississippi Main Street and both put a lot of care into their downtown activities.
This past week Laurel held two events that brought out a majority of the town. Last Thursday, the 29th of November, Laurel had a tree lighting event to light the large pine tree that was erected in Pinehurst for the holidays. Large crowds gathered to see the lighting of the tree followed by an outdoor performance by the Laurel Ballet academy. The whole event rivaled the lighting of the tree in Rockefeller Center on a small town scale and this wonderful local writer covered the whole event.
On top of the tree lighting, Laurel also held it's anual Christmas parade the following Saturday morning. Droves of people crowded the streets to see area high school bands, homemade floats and local service people parade down the street. This years theme was "Cajun Christmas" and two of the men from "Swamp People" participated as honorary grand marshals. Add on top of that Kiwanis' annual all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast and you have a holiday tradition most Laurel residents would never miss.
Hattiesburg also had a tree lighting ceremony in their downtown that brought out many members of the community as well as a Christmas parade of their own Saturday morning. Upcoming events in hattiesburg include the Downtown Art Walk Saturday the 8th and the Hattiesburg Zoo Lights the 8th, 15th and 22nd of December.
Mississippi is a great place to be for Christmas because Mississippians are proud of their state and they love their downtowns, and it makes me love this place all the more!
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