THE SPIRIT OF ST. FRANCISVILLE 200 YEARS

Some 200 years ago, John H. Johnson laid out the little village of St. Francisville on a narrow finger-ridge overlooking the Mississippi River and soon it would become the commercial and cultural center of the surrounding rich plantation country. Today this village is still the commercial and cultural Historic District and Main Street Community.

Our celebration THE SPIRIT OF ST. FRANCISVILLE 200 YEARS will debut the weekend of November 9, 10 and 11, 2007. Trying to understand particular places and their importance in particular times intrigues us to start our celebration and Main to Main event off at Old Market Hall on Friday November 9, 2007 at 6pm; built in 1819 to house vendors hawking produce and all manner of goods beneath its picturesque arches, what better venue to host the debut of a book covering St. Francisville’s history from the very beginning. The West Feliciana Historical Society invites you to the signing and exhibit featuring The Spirit of St. Francisville, a book full of superb full-color images of the area and its residents, its structure and special events. Local author and historian Anne Butler and Louisiana photographer Darrell Chitty will be on hand to talk, sign and live the book with you starting at 6:00pm. Follow your friends down Ferdinand Street to the Magnolia Café for music by A Band Named Sue ( A Tribute to Johnny Cash) at 8:00pm.

Saturday November 10, 2007 there will be Birthday Sales at the downtown shops. Visit each one and have your Birthday card stamped to win a Birthday present of your own.
Don’t forget to stop by Parker Memorial Park on Commerce Street to visit the Feliciana Stitchers Quilt Show and Sale. They will be setting up at 9am and stitching all day. Arts at the Market will host a month long showing for the Arts For All members so stop in and see how talented we are. We will host a MEET ME AT THE MOVIES in the 4H Barn on Wilcox Street at 7:00pm. Bring your lawn chair or blanket St. Francisville Main Street will feature THE REAPING as the first of our new movie series. Our new movie series will show movies at different locations where the movies were filmed in St. Francisville and West Feliciana Parish. The West Feliciana High School International Club will sell concessions. Admission is one canned good per person for the West Feliciana Parish Food Bank.

For those a little less adventurous but still looking for a great time, Dylan Sneed will be playing music at Birdman Coffee and Books on Commerce Street at 7pm, and the Cypress Grill will entertain with local musicians, too.

Sunday will be a day to remember as St. Francisville looks back over 200 years. Open for the first time in half a century, the Julius Freyhan School will host SCHOOL DAYS, an open house at 2:30pm. The West Feliciana High School ROTC Color Guard will honor our veterans, past and present. Enter the Julius Freyhan School, a sturdy brick turn- of- the- century schoolhouse, to hear first hand Oral Histories of days gone by from former students some of whom even rode horseback to school from the surrounding countryside. Upstairs in the auditorium we will be serenaded by the West Feliciana Community Choir while viewing a black-and- white photo exhibit of vintage photos celebrating two centuries of life in St. Francisville. The Freyhan Foundation plans restoration of this splendid structure into a Community Center and Museum paying tribute to the contributions of our early Jewish residents as well as the history of education in this area, so we want you to come and see what all the fuss is about.