Historical Society to host old-fashioned Christmas

DEMOPOLIS-The Marengo County Historical Society invites everyone to experience Christmas the old fashioned way at Christmas in the Canebrake 2005.

Bluff Hall and Lyon Hall will be filled with food, friends and songs of the season. Celebrate Alabama's Year of Food with scrumptious homemade cookies and hot apple cider at Bluff Hall, and more homemade sweets and savories at Lyon Hall. Marengo County Historical Society members have baked up delicious holiday treats for you to enjoy. The antebellum halls will also be decked in fresh greenery and boughs of holly. Local clubs have decorated each room in period decorations. In addition, local talent will perform throughout the night, filling the halls with the sound of Christmas.

Featured entertainment at Bluff Hall includes Marengo County Junior Miss Rachel Tucker on the piano, flutists Wanda Dunklin and Dana Lana, vocalist Carolyn Bell, and pianist Skylar Sawyer. Lyon Hall entertainment includes the First Baptist Church Handbell Choir, Henry Baxley and friends on stringed instruments, and choirs from Fairhaven Baptist Church.

Christmas in the Canebrake at Bluff Hall, Lyon Hall, and Gaineswood is Thursday, Dec. 1 from 5:30 until 8 p.m. Admission is $3 per house, 12 and under admitted free. For more information please contact the Marengo County Historical Society at 334 289 9644.

What are people saying about mortgages today:

Rates on 30-year mortgages edged down last week to a seven-month low. Mortgage-giant Freddie Mac reported Thursday that 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages fell to 6.3 percent, down slightly from 6.31 percent two weeks ago. It put rates at the lowest level since they were at 6.24 percent the first week of March.

Bank of Hawaii, Central Pacific Bank, Territorial Savings Bank and Wells Fargo Home Mortgages all cut their 30-year mortgage rates to 5.75 percent this week.

Most people think of a mortgage as a means to an end. After all, you buy a house, not a home loan. But a mortgage is much more than the path to homeownership. It is a financial instrument that must be managed, just like any other financial investment.