Christmas Comes to the Coast

When December rolls around it always feels like Christmas is on the way. Tonight in the City of Biloxi it definitely looks that way. News 25’s Hank Davis has more from the city’s annual lighthouse Christmas kick off.
As each year passes, more and more Biloxi residents look forward to kicking off the Christmas season at the city’s iconic light house. The Biloxi Lighthouse is one of the most recognizable landmarks and now it’s become a holiday tradition for all to see. Cecilia Dobbs Walton with the City of Biloxi said, “This is the fourth year for this event, the lighting of the Biloxi Lighthouse to take place. It started in 2013. The idea came from a 1963 photo that was taken by Joe Moran of the lighthouse. The manager, Bill Raymond, actually took the photograph to a place and asked if they could replicate some of the decorations that they had on the lighthouse then and they said yeah, so they did it. Every year it’s been a hit, started with I think 10 people in 2013 and it continues to grow each year.”
What started as a celebration of the lighting of the lighthouse has grown into much more. Mayor Andrew ‘FoFo’ Gilich says it’s a celebration of the families that make up Biloxi. “The many families that make up the fabric, the gumbo, of Biloxi. That’s the main thing so here we are ready to stir the pot again for another Christmas season.”
In honor of the Christmas spirit, the city dishes out hot chocolate for those in attendance, commemorative shirts are sold and after the countdown to the lighting, onlookers have a chance to meet up with Santa as he takes a break from his busy schedule to talk to the kids. “It’s the perfect place to light off a great Christmas season. You see the kids and you see the hot chocolate and it’s just the perfect place to do this and again, Christmas is always special. It’s special for me even at my age,” said Mayor Gilich.