By Seva May

Shreveport’s Les Boutique de Noel is a highly anticipated annual event that attracts visitors from all over the region. This event, now in its 48th season, features an impressive array of vendors selling unique, high-quality products. But Les Boutique de Noel is much more than just a shopping experience. As a fundraiser for the Shreveport Opera, it has become an integral part of the community, with a rich history and a significant impact on the local economy.

This year, the event will be held at the Shreveport Convention Center from November 30 through December 2. The perfect kick-off to the holiday shopping season, you’ll marvel at how 95,000 square feet is transformed into a winter wonderland for the occasion. The layout of the event is carefully planned to create a festive and inviting atmosphere. Vendors sell a wide variety of products, including jewelry, clothing, home decor, and gourmet food items. The quality of the products sold at Les Boutique de Noel is exceptional. Vendors are accepted through a juried process and are curated based on the quality and uniqueness of merchandise as well as on the style of booth decoration. With vendors from all over the south offering one-of-a-kind items that cannot be found elsewhere, the event has become a destination for shoppers looking for exclusive, high-quality gifts.

New this year is the Santa Land Kids area. The Grinch will visit on Friday for the kids, and Santa himself will arrive on Saturday with his best Elf and her “naughty or nice” meter. Children can have their picture made with Santa from 12:00 to 2:30 on Saturday. Along with Santa, the little ones will enjoy art projects and have book signings and readings by local children’s authors.
Shoppers will enjoy pop-up demonstrations and classes throughout the day. Style shows, dance performances, and singing will be provided for the lunch crowd, who will be feasting on catered dishes by local restaurants. Les Boutique de Noel will sweep you away to a winter wonderland without the actual snow.

SB Magazine’s Student of the Month is a middle schooler named Travius Taylor.  Travius is in the eighth grade at Turner Elementary-Middle School in Shreveport.  Travius’ English Language Arts (ELA) teacher, Elizabeth Pruitt, nominated him for this month’s student focus.  Ms. Pruitt is quite proud of Travius, stating that he has good grades, is shy and quiet, and works hard.  Ms. Pruitt said this about her student: “He has a good, strong, work ethic and good manners.  He is everything you would want in a student.”

Travius is a basketball-loving student; he enjoys playing basketball video games, as well as playing live basketball.  His position is small forward, which puts him in the company of basketball greats Julius Erving, LeBron James, and Larry Bird.  His plan is to continue playing basketball in high school and beyond; his immediate goal is attending Huntington High School and making their team.  Travius is looking forward to high school and plans to play basketball for the NBA eventually.

A quiet, shy student, Travius is the older brother of several sisters, 2 of whom live in the home with him, and one brother, who lives with their father.  Travius’ favorite food is spaghetti, and he likes to work math problems; he says that Math and Social Studies are his favorite subjects in school.  He gave a “shout-out” to his ELA teacher, Ms. Pruitt, and his Math teacher, Ms. Murray. While he is thinking of using his math skills for banking or other financial activities, his one true love remains basketball.  Travius comes alive when asked about basketball. 

Pysanky, the traditional Ukrainian art of decorating eggs, is an enchanting form of expression that elevates the egg into a canvas for intricate designs and deep symbolism. The practice of pysanky dates back centuries, with roots embedded in Ukrainian culture.

The process of creating pysanky is meticulous, involving the use of beeswax and a specialized tool called a ‘kistka.’ The artist applies layers of wax to the eggshell, with each layer covering the parts that should retain the egg’s original color. Between each wax application, the egg is dipped in dyes, progressing from light to dark shades. After the final dye bath, the wax is melted to reveal the intricate design, and the egg becomes a masterpiece.

In the vibrant realm of pysanky artistry, our very own Bossier City resident, Shelley Masog, owner of The Pysanky Nest, shines as a pysanky artist known for her exceptional talent and unwavering dedication to preserving this age-old tradition. In 2022, her commitment earned her top honors at the Louisiana State Fair, where she claimed the first place and grand champion titles for her captivating Christmas ornaments. Shelley’s interest in the art of pysanky was sparked by her uncle in Minnesota, a seasoned pysanky artist of many years.

“The fact that it’s done on real eggshells is fascinating,” said Masog. “In 2011, he showed me how to create my first pysanka, and I have been writing Pysanky ever since.”

“I also fill tiny eggshells, such as finch and parakeet eggs, with resin to make jewelry.”

Shelley Masog’s unique combination of Pysanky and jewelry-making serves as a captivating bridge between tradition and innovation. When asked about the message or emotions she hopes to convey through her art, Shelley passionately expresses, “I love creating Pysanky and sharing this art with others. I enjoy learning about other cultures, so I hope others enjoy learning about this unique art form.”

By blending the ancient with the contemporary, Shelley’s creations offer a vibrant, living connection to a rich artistic tradition and contribute to the local artistic community. You can find Shelley’s Pysanky art by visiting her artist shop on Etsy, located at www.etsy.com/shop/PysankyNest.

Men’s and women’s basketball players and coaches distributed presents and sang “Jingle Bells” as they visited nearly 20 rooms in the pediatric wing. 

Players competed with each other to see which gifts they’d give – Playdoh, Legos and Hot Wheels were all first-round draft picks. 

“It’s heartwarming to give back to children who can’t be home for the holidays,” said LSUS forward Destanee Roblow, who visited a two-week-old infant among other children. “Giving back in this way makes me feel more connected to my teammates and helps us be more successful.” 

Seven-year-old Derriyah smiled and sang along from her bed with the women’s basketball team. 

“I’m sure it helps lift her spirits,” Derriyah’s mother chimed in. Derriyah said she was ready to visit the play area after the team’s visit. 

Men’s basketball coach Kyle Blankenship relishes the role of Santa, making sure he knew the name and age of each child he visited, found an age-appropriate present in his “sleigh” (a storage cart) and selected which players would conduct the visit. 

The sleigh made trips down wings named “Sugar Street,” “Rocky Road” and “Lollipop Lane.” 

It’s an event in which he’s participated since his days as an LSUS player back in the mid-2000s. 

“This is always something the players and I look forward to,” Blankenship said. “We’ve visited a children’s hospital every year since I’ve been here, even during (the first year of) COVID-19.  

“We FaceTimed kids from the lobby that year.” 

Many investing options.

Complicating the situation is the variety of investment opportunities available. Most people participate in the market through retirement plans provided by their employer, which typically offer the chance to direct funds into stock and bond investments. Beyond that, the advent of online brokerages and electronic trading has opened the door for many people to construct their own investment portfolios ranging from individual stocks and bonds to commodities and real estate.  

And there are additional opportunities with private equity funds and online funding ventures like Kickstarter.

In addition, investment vehicles have become varied as well. There is a wide spectrum of ETFs and mutual funds available beyond the world of stocks and bonds. And more and more exotic mechanisms, like digital currency and derivative investments, are entering the market.

The investment world is broad and varied. But through it all, are some basic principles and stock market basics all investors should understand and keep in mind.

So, a good step for any investor, is to understand how much risk they are willing to accept.  

Additionally, all investors should recognize that their risk profile may change over time and so they may want to periodically reevaluate their position.

Diversification: Here’s a common bit of advice: “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.” The same advice applies to investment portfolios. If all your investments are in the same type of asset class, say stocks, and that investment area suffers a setback, a market correction for example, then your portfolio will suffer likewise. If your investments are spread out over different investment categories, say a mix of stocks, bonds, and mutual funds, then the damage from a particular downturn will be limited.

For that reason, many investors divide their holdings among different types of investments. And some carry the strategy further, divvying up stock holdings between large companies and small companies, for example. Others still look to vehicles like insurance and annuities to vary their investment mix even more.  

Asset allocation: How does one diversify? Typically, the choices you make will depend on your age and risk tolerance. Generally, when you’re older, you want to have less risk in your investments, since you will have less time to make up for a loss. As a result, older investors tend to want a greater proportion of bond holdings in their portfolio than younger investors, because bonds are considered less risky than stocks for the most part. On the other hand, younger investors may be willing to accept more portfolio risk in exchange for the possibility of higher returns, since they have a longer investment horizon to make up possible losses.

Dollar-Cost Averaging: Buying stocks and other investments at regular intervals in fixed dollar amounts is a strategy followed by many investors. This system reduces the average purchase price of the stocks in a portfolio, regardless of which direction the market is moving. That’s because as the prices of securities being purchased rise, fewer units are bought, and vice versa.