500,000 Christmas lights ring in the season in city

This year half a million lights are blinking, twinkling and glowing along Teche Drive, Main Street, Martin Luther King Boulevard and at City Hall.
The Franklin Public Works Department has produced a light show that is worth taking the Franklin exit from US 90 to experience. Upper Main Street has more modern decorations on each light pole that lead visitors to downtown and a feeling of going back in time with the wreaths on every pole and red and green lights looped from lamppost to lamppost. Teche Drive boasts a 17-foot lighted sign proclaiming “Christmas on the Bayou.”
A lot of time and thought goes into developing the Christmas display every year, according to Assistant Public Works Director Belva Notto. “We get started on the design and the concept in June,” Notto said. “At that time, we put things together and check the bulbs.”
Much of the decorations along the Bayou Teche are produced by the public works department. Director Jeremy Smith and assistant director Belva Notto look at displays at different sites, figure out how and what they are made of and produce the displays themselves.
They begin to put the lights up during the last week in October. However, this year they didn’t start until after Nov. 15 due to the rescheduling of the Harvest Moon Festival. Still, the hardworking crew was able to put up all of the lights before the Christmas parade.
The lights along Teche Drive dance in time to the music. “We use a computer program that allows us to select the songs,” Smith said. “There are 16 songs, and a complete cycle takes about 40 minutes.” Also, drivers along Teche Drive can tune their radios to 93.5 FM to listen and watch the light show.
Children may enjoy walking on the path through the lighted arches on Teche Drive that create a tunnel. “There are 120 arches that make up the tunnel,” Smith said.
Public works crews go out every night throughout the night to check on the display to make sure it is working properly and that there are no lights that need to be replaced. They ask that visitors stay on the path and do not touch the lights to avoid repair and replacement.
“I am so proud of the way Franklin looks this time of year,” Mayor Raymond Harris Jr. said. “The Public Works Department has really knocked it out of the park! Also, we have lovely shops and places to get a tasty meal on Main Street, which runs parallel to Teche Drive. This would be a nice outing in Franklin for families, for those looking to start a new Christmas tradition or for those who need a special place to propose. I’m hoping that people will put Franklin on their list this holiday season and come to Christmas on the Bayou.”
For more information about the half a million lights in Franklin this Christmas, contact Public Works Director Jeremy Smith (337-828-6348 or jsmith@franklin-la.com) or Assistant Public Works Director Belva Notto (337-828-6348 or bnotto@franklin-la.com).