Brazeau residents prepare for Christmas

WANT TO GO?

What: Brazeau Christmas Walk

When: From 3-8 p.m. Dec. 1

Cost: $5 for adults, $2.50 for children, snacks will be available for a donation.

Directions: Highway 61 north to Route D, turn right, follow road to Brazeau.

BRAZEAU, Mo. -- The residents of Brazeau want to share their country Christmas with everyone this year.

All 23 residents came out Sunday to decorate the small town in Perry County for Christmas and get it ready for their second annual candlelit Christmas Walk on Dec. 1.

Last year nearly 200 people, from all around Perry and Cape Girardeau counties, took part in the Christmas Walk through the Brazeau Presbyterian Church, museum, bank and houses.

Bonnie Hemman, a resident of neighboring Frohna whose in-laws live in Brazeau, said the town started the walk last year as a way to raise money for the restoration of some of the town's oldest buildings.

Hemman said the Brazeau Historic Preservation Society purchased a couple of run-down, vacant properties in town two years ago, but didn't have the money to restore them. That is when they came up with the idea for the walk.

"They just wanted a way to restore the buildings and share the history at the same time," she said.

The museum, which used to be a two-room schoolhouse, dates back to 1879. Hemman said it is one of the more popular sites on the walk because it contains so much history.

Just inside the front door a large brown rope hangs through a hole in the ceiling and connects to the school bell at the top of the house. Hemman said during the walk last year the bell rang every few minutes.

Further inside, memorabilia from the town's residents hang on the walls and line the floors. The small house contains everything from World War I Army uniforms of Brazeau veterans, to a newspaper clipping of the New York Herald from April 15, 1865, with a picture of Abraham Lincoln and a headline that reads, "Lincoln's Assassination. 8:10 a.m. Death of a President."

Hemman said a current resident of the town will be in each of the buildings during the walk to share the stories and memories of the buildings and the people who lived and worked in them.

JoAnn Lane, who was born and raised in Brazeau, thinks the walk is a great idea and decorating for it each year brings the close-knit community together even more.

"It just makes it more Christmas," said Lane, 65. "It gets everyone in the spirit and keeps us together."

This year the walkers will tour the church, museum, bank and two houses, all decorated with old-fashioned Christmas decorations. Both walkers and guides will carry candles through the tour as they follow a path lined in Christmas lights. The tour will wind up at Carrie's Tea House, where walkers will enjoy hot cocoa and snacks.

hkronmueller@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 128