Feature:Bonfires a Cajun holiday tradition

GRAMERCY, La., Dec. 18 (UPI) -- In the Cajun country of southern Louisiana, bonfires are being prepared for a spectacular Christmas Eve display that lights up the sky along the Mississippi River and keeps alive a family tradition passed from generation to generation.

More than 100 bonfires are being built on the levees near Gramercy, most of them by men and women who can remember building the fires as children. At 7 p.m. on Christmas Eve, the fires will be ignited as the families dine on gumbo and riverboats steam by on the river.

"You just come as a family," says Laurie Bourgeois. "You bring your drinks, bring whatever you want, and enjoy Christmas Eve."

Her family is one of many involved in the annual Christmas Eve rite that has been carried on since the 1800s in the river parishes between New Orleans and Baton Rouge. It isn't Christmas Eve in Cajun country without good food, family, friends and the glow of the bonfires.

The Bourgeois bonfire, which is typical of most, will be teepee-shaped with six, 20-foot-tall logs, standing about 10 feet wide at the bottom. The structure is then stuffed with other wood and wrapped in cane reeds and firecrackers for an explosive volley when the fires begin.

Although the history of bonfires can be traced to France and Germany, the reason the custom surfaced in the river parishes is a mystery. Cajuns are descendants of exiles from the French colony of Acadia, present-day Nova Scotia, but Germans also settled in southern Louisiana.

Many like to believe that bonfires were started to light the way for PaPa Noel, the Cajun version of Santa Claus, as he paddled his pirogue, or dugout canoe, on his appointed rounds. Others think they were to light the way for Catholics headed to midnight mass. Still others believe Marist priests who took over a nearby boy's college in 1864 began the tradition to entertain the students.

In recent years, the size of the bonfires and the content of the fires has been more restricted due to environmental and fire safety precautions. Most of the bonfires are built from willow trees and most are teepee shaped, but the Gramercy Fire Department is more innovative.

In the past, the firefighters have build log houses, plantation houses, ships, airplanes and even a tank. They are hoping to complete a battleship in time for this Christmas Eve's event.

Because of Sept. 11, American flags are seen more around the bonfire sites this year. A giant American flag was painted on the levee in one location along the string of bonfires.

Although the families look forward to the Christmas Eve celebration, the construction of the bonfire is also part of the tradition and everyone is expected to do his or her share.

"I think it's kind of a law that if you're healthy, you better be out there," says Harry Vicknair, who has worked on the fires for 40 years. "You got to have a good excuse not to be out there. All the brothers and sisters, and now the sons and daughters of the brothers and sisters, and their girlfriends and boyfriends are all there."

At times during construction of the Vicknair fire, one of the largest, as many as 30 family members and friends worked to erect their structure. Sometimes it takes weeks to complete the stack of logs for a fire, but the Vicknair family put their bonfire up in a single day last weekend.

Vicknair said his brothers would erect a tent at the site of their fire Christmas Eve and serve gumbo, bean soup, hot dogs, hamburgers and sweets. In the past, they have had visitors from as far away as Germany and Australia during the holiday celebration.

"The riverboats run up and down that night," he says. "They have special cruises with the paddle wheelers and all, and they play their calliopes. It's a pretty big to-do."

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(Written and reported by Phil Magers in Dallas)