To make it easier for locals and visitors alike to share in holiday celebrations ranging from parades and festivals to shopping extravaganzas and live music events, the Shreveport-Bossier Convention and Tourist Bureau has published The Holly Jolly Handbook (view a .PDF here). It’s a colorful, pocket-sized compendium listing every holiday event and holiday-related attraction in one brochure.
To celebrate the release of the handbook, we’re taking Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus out to lunch at Fertitta’s Deli, 12-2 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 30. As a small reward for reading 20×49.com, we’d like to let you in on a little secret: If you’re among the first 10 people to greet Santa and Mrs. Claus at Fertitta’s by saying “Fa-la-la-Louisiana,” you’ll be able to reach into Santa’s gift bag and pull out a gift certificate to an awesome local business. These gift certificates, by the way, are not small. They include a $50 gift certificate to Superior’s Steakhouse, two $25 gift certificates to The Enchanted Garden, two $25 gift certificates to Plato’s Closet, $25 in Film Center Bucks from the Robinson Film Center, as well as valuable gift certificates from Holiday Lanes, Sci-Port: Louisiana’s Science Center, Spirit of the Red River Cruise and many more. You can also pick up hot-off-the-press copies of The Holly Jolly Handbook.

As an added bonus, consider staying for lunch at Shreveport’s oldest continually-operated restaurant, Fertitta’s Delicatessen. Located at 1124 Fairfield Avenue – just on the edge of downtown Shreveport – Fertitta’s is the only family-owned restaurant in Louisiana to be listed on the National Registry of Historic Places. If you’ve never been to Fertitta’s Deli, may I suggest a Muffy (it’s a muffuletta for one) and some of Ms. Agatha’s incredible mint iced tea.
Thanks, again, for reading 20×49.com! Look for another give-away involving Santa Claus and 20×49.com as the holidays approach.