The citizens of Hammond and the surrounding area experienced a night under the stars last Friday as the Downtown Development District sponsored Starry November Night on Nov. 15 from 6 p.m. until 10 p.m. Local businesses in downtown Hammond teamed up with the DDD to host a wine tasting inside downtown businesses and several booths set up with different shops and services. Clear weather encouraged a fantastic turn out, filling downtown Hammond with locals and tourists.
Participating businesses, such as Monty’s and the Columbia Theatre, held a station in the wine tasting and art stroll, the main event of the night, featuring wines chosen by local lounges Red, White and Brew and the Crescent Bar. While acting as a promotion for community involvement, Starry November Night provides a promotion in support of small businesses. Local organizations and independent business also set up shop along the streets of downtown to promote their businesses and sell their products.
“We sell custom bows and custom tutus. Starry November Night has made me a lot of money,” said owner of Dear Elliana Kayren McChristian. “There are a lot of people here, and it’s been great conversation. It’s a great way to get your business out there, too.”
Starry November Night also attracted numerous local non-profit organizations, and Child Advocacy Services and the Court Appointed Special Advocates set up a booth to display their fundraiser raffle on Wednesday for two children’s playhouses.
“We serve 10 parishes for children of abuse or neglect, from Ascension to St. Charles Parish, and we’re based in Hammond,” said Rob Carlisle, CAS and CASA director. “We’ve been serving children for 20 years. We provide volunteers to advocate for children navigating through the court system. Tonight we’re hosting two playhouses that we’re raffling off Wednesday, and we’re always recruiting for volunteers, and anyone over the age of 21 can be trained as a volunteer.”
Southeastern also had a large presence at the event. The Southeastern Spirit Group volunteered to sell the wine glasses for the wine tasting and art stroll, helped in Santa’s Workshop and interacted with the crowd. Led by Southeastern tuba instructor Dr. Brian Gallion, a community band featuring several Southeastern students performed Christmas carols. Local bands and artists also performed and displayed their works for the public.
Just a year shy of Starry November Night’s 10th year, the DDD has seen a steady improvement in the status of local businesses.
“Those two entities [the Downtown Development District and Louisiana Main Street Program] help us develop downtown, grow, learn all the new ideas, find new businesses and promote our small businesses,” said executive director of the DDD and manager of the Hammond chapter of the Louisiana Main Street Program, Terry Lynn Smith. “It’s a lot of fun, as well as rewarding. It’s really nice, on occasions like tonight, to see all the people enjoying our downtown, peeking in the windows and going to shop and dine. We just hope everybody remembers to come downtown, shop locally and support our local businesses. That is what makes Hammond, Hammond.”
The Downtown Development District first held Starry November Night in 2002 as a device to attract locals to their own downtown business district.
“The wine tasting is our little sneaky way of getting people to visit all of the local businesses. Economically, it’s actually the beginning of a concentration. Our retail merchants take advantage of it so they can bring in inventory, the kind of inventory that is welcomed by the majority of the people that live in Hammond. It encourages them to continue on for other seasons, go to the market and know people will come shopping,” said Smith. “It’s an engineer of prosperous purchases and a really solid way for our business owners to continue to go forward. Being a small business takes a lot of courage and a lot of determination, so they have the Downtown Development District, Louisiana Main Street, Chamber of Commerce and the City of Hammond. We all work together to develop the economic value of Hammond businesses, whether they be retail service or restaurant industry. We need to make sure they promote that.”
As a kickoff to the holiday season, Starry November Night not only benefitted the businesses, but also provided a family-friendly environment for local Hammond residents.
“I walked down the street, and so many people stopped me and said ‘thank you’,” said Smith. “Don’t just thank me because I did not do this by myself. All the merchants in downtown Hammond gather and put all their energy together to make this night very special, so thanks to them.”
More information on businesses in Downtown Hammond and a calendar of upcoming events sponsored by the Downtown Development District can be found online at www.dddhammond.com.