Main Street Shining Brightly

Christmas bells in oak tree and sparkly lights on a picket fence

The corner of Main and Tarleton Streets in Marks-ville came alive a couple years ago when homeowners Linda and Darrell “DD” Dunlap put up a white picket fence.
They added a gate with an arbor, plants, flowers and shrubs and even won Garden of the Month.

“We didn’t know the section on the corner outside the fence belonged to us,” Linda said, “we always thought it was city property.”
After they found out it belonged to them, Linda and DD worked their horticulture magic on that section, as well.
Being as we’re in the Christmas season, the couple used the opportunity to make their yard pop at night as well as during the day.
“There are 30 plus garlands and lights strung along the fence,” Linda said.
It took that much because there are almost 250 feet of fence.
Every year Linda and DD have added some Christmas decoration to the yard. This year it was a snowman who sits in the middle of the yard. and, Who else, but the Grinch!
The Italian cypress trees, just getting a start and showing a little bit over the fence, “have fairy lights in them.” Linda added, “they’re on a remote.”
There’s one more decoration Linda wants to put up before she calls it finished for this year.
“I want a star light in the tree.”

Linda’s Green Thumb

Linda’s green thumb and yard decorating skills come naturally.

“I was a florist for 40 years but I couldn’t stand up that long after a knee replacement. I’m not giving in and I don’t let it stop me. I just get a low chair and continue to work. It’s very rewarding to have things growing.”

Belle Oak

Down Main Street from the Dunlaps towards downtown, Keri and Thomas Bonnette have decorated their approximately 250 year old oak tree with large red Christmas bells.
The white house, that most know as the late Dan Michel’s home, also sports Christmas lights on the porch.
But it’s the red bells in the tree Keri and Thomas call ‘Belle’ that stand out and catch motorist’s eyes.
If you notice the large red bells on your way down Main Street, you might just wonder how the Bonnette’s get them up in the tree.
It’s a skill they perfected when they lived in the home they built on Hwy. 115.

“We use fishing rods to toss a line over the limbs. The line has a tennis ball which drops so we can attach an extension cord to the bell then pull it up into the tree,” Thomas explained,
Belle, with its full expanse of limbs and branches, has proven to be a challenge.
According to Thomas, “It takes about four hours to hang 10 bells.” It seems, the line “does end up on a limb, but sometimes not the one we were aiming for,” he said.
And those 10 bells need 25 extension cords, have their own dedicated power source and are on a timer.
They go on at 5 p.m. and turn off at 12 midnight.
“Except Christmas Eve,” Keri quickly said, “they’re on all night so Santa Claus can find the house.”
The bells are getting new life from Keri and Thomas, who explained that his father hung them at the Hickory Hill house in which Thomas grew up.
“They originally were Christmas decorations in Mansura,” he said.
Thomas’ Father worked for Cleco and when he put them up he had the advantage of a bucket truck.
To take them down, the process is reversed. The bells are safely stored and the expensive LED bulbs are put away inside the house.
If the oak tree is named Belle it might be because the distinctive house on the corner of Main and Laurel was named Belle Oak.
Keri said, “She displays her bells every year for the town.”
The tree and Belle’s bells are a sight to behold.