Welcome to Living St.

Louis.

I'm Brooke Butler, and this week we're on Main Street in St.

Charles, a place that fully leans into the holiday spirit.

What started as a small community celebration over 50 years ago has grown into the St.

Charles Christmas traditions.

It transforms historic Main Street into a nostalgic storybook style holiday destination, drawing over 250,000 visitors each season.

And it's a great place to start our holiday edition of Living St.

Louis.

From neighbors who turn an ordinary street into a holiday destination, to a caroling tradition spanning generations, ♪♪ to foods that carry our memories, to the footprint this season leaves behind, and the beloved holiday dance group that kicked off right here in our city.

It's all next on Living St.

Louis.

[theme music] ♪♪♪ ♪♪ Often Christmas traditions start off as something small and turn into something families show up for year after year.

Take Main Street St.

Charles, for example.

They shine this time of year.

In South St.

Louis City, there is a street that for decades draws people from across the region, spreading the wonderment of Christmas under twinkling lights.

♪♪ On this stretch of Murdoch Avenue, just a block away from Francis Park, neighbors don't just decorate for the season, they go all out.

Lights, tunnels, inflatables transform Murdoch into Candy Cane Lane.

What do you love about Candy Cane Lane?

Candy Cane is the best for Christmas.

Do you just love being out here?

Yeah!

The exact year Candy Cane Lane began spreading this much joy is a little hazy with the neighbors.

It was 2003 or 2004, depending on who you talk to.

But how it started is undisputed.

This now must-see holiday destination is the result of a little friendly competition.

We had these block lighting contests and we were hell-bent on winning the block lighting contests, right?

We weren't going to let Neosho win, right?

And so one of the neighbors here had the idea, I'm going to wrap every oak tree like a candy cane all the way up and down Murdoch Avenue.

And that's how, hence, Candy Cane Lane was born.

And it is not a requirement of the neighborhood?

No, no, not a requirement.

Highly suggested.

Yes, I think that's a good way to put it.

Resident participation doesn't seem to be a problem.

The design plan is left up to each household.

Some offer a classic Christmas design, while others have a more overstated glow-up.

The transformation from Murdoch Avenue to Candy Cane Lane begins as soon as the porch light goes out on Halloween.

"I think it's going to look kind of goofy, but people love it."

Matt Mauschbaugh and his family have lived on Candy Cane Lane for six years.

He starts lighting up his house early so he can spread the workout between Halloween and Thanksgiving.

"Collectively, probably a total of 10 hours.

That's over time, you know, like 30, 40 minutes here, you know, kind of try to do one little thing when I get time.

Then we kind of collectively take care of the common stuff, the easements, we'll put Christmas trees up or various Candy Cane Lane or blow-ups type stuff.

What about the cost?

I mean your electric bills up?

Aren't all our electric bills up right now?

No, but honestly with a lot of the LED lights, it's a very nominal expense.

I think my bill might go up 30, 40 bucks if that, but we don't take any of that money to support our electrical bills at all.

That's just kind of the cost of doing business.

Merry Christmas, have fun.

The money Mauschbaugh is referring to is the no-requirement donations made by those soaking up the Christmas spirit on Candy Cane Lane.

Each weekend night between Thanksgiving and New Year's, families take an evening to collect for their favorite causes.

On this night, Jamie Dunphy's family is collecting for cancer research.

People just started giving us money saying, "Oh, this is great.

You guys did such a wonderful job.

This is great."

And so we started donating it to charity.

I'm just a South City lifer and this is part of my annual holiday tradition to come down here and just feel the magic.

I think this time of year some people can struggle and I think if they come down Candy Cane Lane and it gives them a little bit of joy then then I think it's all worth it.

Candy Cane Lane is a holiday staple for many St.

Louisans today but this next story is about a St.

Louis tradition that is over a century old.

Since 1911 one group of carolers has been turning Christmas songs into donations for those in need.

[singing] This group may look like regular carolers, but for over 100 years the St.

Louis Christmas Carols Association has been spreading more than just cheer.

Historically, over our tenure, we've given over, we've raised and distributed over $3 million.

So, it may not sound like a lot.

I like to say we are a very small nonprofit, but we are very mighty.

Executive Director, Seana Beard, explains how the funds collected from their caroling go to various children's charities around the region.

Places like Central Institute of the Deaf, Youth in Need, Almost Home.

You know, some of them just need help with basic needs.

Some of them provide educational support, testing, things like that, some medical support.

The story of the organization begins in 1911, when William H. Danforth, the founder of Ralston Purina, went caroling with some friends.

As he went from door to door, people were kind of giving him money, and at that point he turned around and gave it to a charity.

In the 1930s, we actually became our own organization, deploying carolers out into the neighborhood.

And the Danforth family is still involved in the St.

Louis Christmas Carols Association, but the organization has evolved since 1911.

The biggest change, I think, is adding our Kingsbury Place Singers, which is an organization of semi-professional volunteer carolers that you can kind of request to come to parties or events.

They can read music.

They can carry a tune.

The group sang at Winterfest at Kiener Plaza on Nov.

22.

We love when kids join us and ring bells along with our songs.

It's just a really heartwarming thing to see because there's not many things more pure than a kid's joy at Christmas time.

It's just a really wonderful thing to see.

Chris Boemler is the artistic director for the Kingsbury Place Singers.

There's not many caroling groups left.

It's not something that people really come across as much as they used to, and so we're providing a great service in that way, but then also the fundraising element and benefiting charities is the other really important thing.

I think both to me personally are equal.

And you don't have to be a good singer to join the organization.

Our volunteer carolers, really that can be anyone.

That can be a family, that can be a group of friends who are part of a book club.

We have a lot of kids that will carol for us.

Really, we just want anyone with a giving heart.

Anyone that wants to go out and do something to spread joy and spread cheer.

You don't have to sound good.

Maybe your neighbors want you to sound good, but it's not required.

Just anybody that wants to go out, be festive, get people together.

It's really about building community.

The holidays look different for everyone, but for most, sitting around the table to enjoy a good meal is what many of us look forward to.

I know in my household, we enjoy dishes that have been passed down for many generations.

Operation Food Search welcomed the Listen St.

Louis with Carol Daniel podcast to talk about a few dishes that have become tradition in African-American households during the holiday season.

♪♪ - We are outside, my friends.

We are at Operation Food Search, and we are so happy that they allowed us to tape this holiday episode in their kitchen.

I read a beautiful sentiment on a Chicago food blog recently that I have to read to you.

"Food is a way to bring people together.

When we sit down to a meal together, we're not just nourishing our bodies, we are nourishing our souls.

Sharing a meal is a way to connect with others and to build relationships.

Well, we're doing some building today.

Yes, we are.

We're going to talk about four, well really two, but food staples for the holiday meal.

There is the pie, and we have sweet potato pie and pumpkin pie.

And we're going to talk about dressing and stuffing.

And this is my cornbread dressing that I am terrified for them to taste.

And this is stovetop turkey flavored stuffing that I made straight from the box.

And of course you know I doctored it up a little bit.

Well she did.

Had to hook it up.

Had to hook it up because that's what we do.

And we're going to talk about your sweet potato pie.

She brought the sweet potato pie made from scratch, which she volunteered to make.

All right, Dr.

Taylor, can we start with a little history, food practitioner and food historian?

We haven't even always eaten pies in this country, in the world, really.

So a sweet potato pie and a pumpkin pie, they are things that are still, I would say, really new to the diet.

So when you say we haven't always eaten these things, you mean black folks?

Yes.

OK.

So yes.

So now that we've clarified, dessert is typically not in traditional African culinary world.

That's not a core staple in the African diet.

Of course, we didn't come here as Americans or African-Americans.

We became African-Americans.

And so one of the things that we brought with us were our memory and food traditions.

And so the sweet potato pie, I would say, emerged as a favorite of ours over time and lived experience.

And as culturally we made changes through enslavement, through Jim Crow, and now it's like, oh, this is ours.

It didn't always start that way.

Now we're going to move on to the dressing.

This is stuffing, and it is stovetop turkey stuffing, flavored stuffing, and this is my mother's, and I say that, I've changed it up a little bit.

I used to make the cornbread from scratch.

That was my job as a 10-year-old, was to make the cornbread from scratch in a cast iron skillet, right?

And so I made this, not in cast iron, but I made the cornbread dressing.

What is the, is the difference just the ingredient, 'cause this is bread?

- Stuffing, they took white seasoned bread, herbs and spices, and they stuffed it inside of these.

- Inside the turkey, right.

- You know, in turn there you see the name stuffing.

When you got to the South and African Americans, we were poor, we could not afford white bread.

Cornmeal was readily available.

And so we made cornbread.

And henceforth, their dressing, we started mixing it together and we felt like, oh, how about we dress the pan instead of stuffing it inside of the turkey?

And so that became the dressing around the dish, the cornbread mixed into what we call today dressing.

And it was just extremely flavorful.

We used all the drippings from the turkey.

- Right, right, right.

- And you know, sage.

- Amen, amen.

So we're gonna taste these dressings, but as I am spooning these up, what is the story of, 'cause there's a reason there's fried chicken here today.

- My mom, she just really could fry chicken very, very well.

And she just always felt like we needed to have something with more texture at the meal, other than just turkey and ham, that it should be something that we could bite into.

So every year we always made fried chicken, and that recipe got passed on.

- That is so good.

- It's what happens when I'm trying to use a fork for fried chicken.

I know better.

- Yeah, but it's still crispy.

It's long.

- Oh, it's so good.

It's so good.

Thank you, Dr.

Taylor.

Thank you so much.

It was a joy to have you, always, expanding our understanding of the history of the food that we eat, because there is history.

- Without question.

- Without question to the food that we eat.

And so thank you and happy holidays to you.

- Thank you, same.

And I'll get you that pie.

- Yes, today, no, I'm just kidding.

Cathy, it's so good to have you.

- Thank you for having me.

- Thank you for coming.

- I'm just honored to be here.

And it's such a pleasure to meet you as well.

- Likewise.

- I'm just happy that we all met today.

- Absolutely.

- 'Twas the holiday season and all through the city, dumpsters were overflowing.

Honestly, it wasn't pretty.

From gifts and gadgets to food and decor, it seems like we're throwing out more and more.

But it's tradition, you say, and fair enough, true.

But when tradition becomes clutter, what do I do?

I'm Brooke Butler, and this is What Do I Do With This, Holiday Edition.

In this episode, we're unwrapping the Yuletide mess the holiday season creates.

Traditionally, holidays are centered around abundance.

First, piles of gifts, lights that stay on for weeks and food and food and more food.

Thanksgiving alone generates 316 million pounds of wasted food, mainly turkey and dairy, along with second helpings and leftovers.

It's also tradition to show our love through giving gifts.

The average American spends $1,400 on gifts each year, but by summertime, only 1% of those gifts are still being used.

It's easy to feel like we're the problem, the gift givers, the shoppers, the decorators, but our choices only exist within the options available to us.

So before we get all grinchy about it, let's talk about why this happens and what's actually within our control.

Because it's never about the guilt.

It's about awareness and making choices.

Okay, so we're talking holiday waste.

Before we talk about why, let's talk about the what.

What goes into that 23 to 25 percent more waste?

Cassie Hage helps oversee the wide range of Washington University's sustainability efforts, which includes the Circularity Center, essentially a thrift store for students and faculty.

The parties, the meals, the traditions, the gift exchanges, and there's a lot of expectations I think around the holidays.

It's certainly on the consumer to weigh the benefits and the downsides to over-consuming over the holidays.

Yeah, I mean, it's on the consumer to weigh the benefits.

But then what's what's on the manufacturer?

What's what's on the people who are making and selling these things?

What's their responsibility?

It should be more like so there is this extended producer responsibility.

There are policies that would require companies to take more ownership of the collection, recycling and disposing of materials, particularly packaging materials.

And when the cost of that process is put back on the manufacturers, it tends to provoke more sustainable practices.

And we have seen evolution over time, but there is a lot of opportunity to build that out across the board.

♪♪ And then there's, you know, I mean, gosh, there's so many Christmas decor hacks that I've seen.

Gift-giving, however, may be a little more tricky.

- I think that there are a lot of ways to get around that.

So trying to ease up expectations around kind of the reciprocity with gift-giving in a way that you can still get the spirit of the holidays without all the stuff.

And even being explicit about, you know, no gifts, just your gift is, your presence is a gift.

- And then there's the generational differences.

- Yeah, I think it's hard to talk in generalities because sometimes, you know, my grandma is still alive.

She lived through the depression.

There are some things that she does that's like very environmentally friendly.

And there's a whole host of other things that are just shocking to me that she does for convenience or just 'cause it's a shift.

So with my family growing up, wrapping paper was always something, we would always save our wrapping paper.

And so we have some wrapping paper that has been around since I was a child.

We roll it up every year.

Some of my favorite ornaments have come from my parents and from my mother-in-law, and they're ones that we've had growing up.

So asking, "Can I have some of these?"

It would be really meaningful if I could have one of these ornaments this year to add to my collection.

Look for those opportunities that are more meaningful.

And another big thing is also just like treating the supplies like it matters.

So when you're taking down your Christmas lights at the end of the holiday, wrap them up carefully.

Don't leave them in a knot.

Make them, even if you're going to go donate something, package it up in a way that it can easily be used by the next person, whether that's you or someone else.

But just treating it as something that has value and will continue to have value.

What is more environmentally friendly, getting a real Christmas tree or a fake Christmas tree?

I think it's like many consumption choices.

It's probably more complicated than what many people... And there are a lot of factors.

So here are some of the factors Cassie explains.

Artificial trees are made from various plastics, which aren't environmentally friendly.

But if you do choose one, buying secondhand is best.

Trees without built-in lights are easier to recycle, and keeping an artificial tree for 12 or so more years can offset the carbon footprint of buying a real tree annually.

For real trees, locally grown and smaller options are typically cheaper, have lower harvesting impacts, and are easier to dispose of.

After the season, many communities collect real trees for reuse as wood chips or, in places like Spanish Lake, place them in waterways to create wildlife habitats.

There is, for Christmas, the tradition component.

I think having some sort of representation of a Christmas tree can really feel like home or provide a lot of happiness and so I don't want to discount that at all.

Right.

But I do think taking some time to really think about, you know, what is it that brings that feeling but have a reduced impact on the environment.

I'm Veronica Mohesky and I'm here with Jody Sowell, president of the Missouri Historical Society, and today we're gonna do a special dance number for you.

Just kidding, we're not gonna do that, you don't wanna see that.

But we are gonna talk about some very talented dancers.

- I don't know what you're saying about my dancing abilities, but if St.

Louis could introduce itself, it would tell you I'm the place where the Rockettes first started kicking.

And if you went to the Missouri Theater in 1925, you would see a troupe of long-legged, high-kicking dancers named the Missouri Rockets.

Well, the Rockets were so popular that they traveled the country.

When they got to New York and got to the Roxy Theater, the owner of that theater loved them so much he said, "Don't go back to St.

Louis.

Stay here and be our troop."

And the manager said, "We can't do that, but we can create a troop just like this for you."

They would be known as the Roxyettes, and later when they moved to Radio City Music Hall would be called the Rockettes.

But they got their start right here in St.

Louis.

That's such a cool story.

And you know what?

I take back what I said.

I think we could give the Rockettes a run for their money.

One high kick?

Yeah, one high kick.

All right, thank you, Jody.

Let's take a look at the story.

Before the Radio City Rockettes, there were the Missouri Rockettes.

Their story begins on Grand Avenue in St.

Louis.

- So in the early 20th century, as movie houses are growing in popularity and we see Grand Avenue start to look the way it does now with these big, like the Fox Theater, the St.

Louis Theater, Missouri Theater, right?

All these big theaters pop up all close to one another and they have to compete.

- Amanda Clark is a public historian at the Missouri Historical Society.

- They don't all have the same movie like our theaters do now.

And so to differentiate themselves, they do different things.

And for the Missouri Theater, which is now where the Hotel En Garde is, what they did to differentiate themselves was kind of a vaudeville act before the movie.

So you would go to see the movie, but before it, you might see singers, dancers of different types, even animals sometimes, circus shows.

- In 1925, a local World War I veteran named Russell Markert started his own dance group to perform before films.

- He used dance as physical therapy for an injury that he had.

And so he starts teaching, he has this group of dancers, and they become the Missouri Rockets.

And the Missouri Rockets perform before movies at the Missouri Theater.

So that's where that kick, that high kick that we know, it comes from military.

It comes from Russell Markert's military background, is why he's teaching this precision dancing style, and that's what they've become known for.

The Missouri Rockets were a huge success and a draw for the Missouri theater, so Russell Markert decided to take his dancers on the road.

When he gets to New York, they perform for a guy named Samuel "Roxy" Rothafel.

It's a great name.

And Mr.

Rothafel sees the dancers, loves the act, and decides, you know, works with Markert to actually purchase the act.

And they take up residency in New York City.

They became the Roxiettes.

They were at the Roxy Theater.

And once Radio City was built and ready to open, they moved over to Radio City, and that's when they became the Radio City Rockettes, and it has remained that ever since.

Julie Branham is the director/choreographer of the Christmas Spectacular.

She was also once a Rockette herself, joining the dancers in 1988.

Knowing all the ins and outs of Parade of the Wooden Soldiers, for instance, or how to put a number together, really helped mold me on how to become a choreographer and how to direct the show and how to teach people to do all of this.

Some of Russell Markert's original style still lives on in the Rockettes.

I think the camaraderie and how the Rockettes work and move as one is something that comes from the very beginning, or something like the parade of the wooden soldiers.

Also the kickline, those are all things that have remained very solidly in the repertoire of a Rockette.

But I think, as with anything, things evolve and you're constantly trying to push the bar, make them better, show them off more.

It's a natural evolution of dance for the Rockettes.

After their move to New York, the Rockettes' success continued to grow.

And even though the women were incredible dancers, they still faced societal expectations of the time.

A 1940 St.

Louis Globe Democrat article makes sure to mention that the women would end their dancing career once they got married.

The Rockettes are still associated with certain beauty standards, like being tall or having long legs.

But actual requirements for those traits have loosened in recent years.

The dance company is also often linked to the holiday season.

In 1933, their Christmas Spectacular show debuted.

And since 1957, the women have danced in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, which could be seen in homes nationwide.

In the 70s or early 80s is when they really developed a full 90-minute Christmas show.

2025 is the 100th anniversary of the Rockettes.

And even after a century, Branham says it's still important to remember their St.

Louis roots.

You have to remember where you came from, always, right?

And I think I had a very great growing up in Iowa experience, and I like the Midwest.

I think I brought values with me that I carry on to what I do today, which is working hard, be nice, keep positive, and remembering that there might be kids in the audience looking up to you saying, "Oh, I could maybe do this one day."

And that's Living St.

Louis.

Where are your favorite places to go during the holiday season?

We love hearing from you.

Let us know at ninepbs.org/lsl.

I'm Brooke Butler.

Thanks for joining us.

♪♪ Living St.

Louis is funded in part by the Betsy and Thomas Patterson Foundation and the members of Nine PBS.

♪♪