Through rain, sleet, or snow, Ron and Karen Corkern’s party the eve before Natchitoches’ Christmas Festival has drawn family and friends for 26 years.

Ron and Karen are both Natchitoches natives. They bought their current home on Sibley Lake 26 years ago when they moved back from Baton Rouge where Ron attended law school.

The house came with a rotisserie fire pit area for cooking pigs and they immediately put it to use. What started as a gathering of friends has grown to include clients, Ron’s fellow Rotary Club members, community members and more.

“It’s grown each year,” said Karen. “I love doing this because I love to cook and I love people too.”

As more people were added to the party list, there was a rising need for more pig. Ron and several others engineered a double spit apparatus to cook two pigs at once.

These packed parties are fun, but they’re a lot of work, so Ron and Karen have said this year will be their last. However, several guests seemed skeptical, saying they’ve heard it before and the parties have kept coming.

“I’ve been coming to these parties for 20 years now,” said Christie Salim. “My first time coming to one of Ron and Karen’s parties I was very nervous, but they greeted me and made me feel special.”