The work of preparing the Trees of Christmas at Merrehope in Meridian has begun.

A number of contributors took part in tree decorating and other preparations on Tuesday, including people connected with Choctaw Tribal Schools, the Cultural Affairs Program of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, and the Chahta Immi Cultural Center.

“The exhibit this year we hope will exemplify some of the events and some of the people who have made Meridian, Lauderdale County and Mississippi what it is today,” said Betty Lou Jones, president of the Mississippi Restoration Foundation, the foundation that operates the Merrehope and F.W. Williams homes.

If You Go

Trees of Christmas at Merrehope 

905 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive in Meridian

Opening reception with holiday refreshments and entertainment

Sunday, Nov. 19, 1-5 p.m.

Regular Tours

Nov. 20- Dec. 30, Monday-Saturday, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. and Dec. 17 , 1-5 p.m.

Last tour begins at 4 p.m., unless prearranged. Adults $10; students $5, with children under 4 free

Senior citizens, active military and groups of 10 or more $9

Merrehope, which dates to 1858, is one of Meridian’s most famous landmarks and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

She noted items crafted and presented by the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians and a tree dedicated to African American heritage. She also noted trees and other contributions acknowledging the Key Brothers, NAS Meridian, Coca-Cola and other groups and institutions integral to the community. And this year, she said, Mississippi’s bicentennial will help to shape the activities.

“We hope people will leave here feeling ‘This is where we came from over the last 200 years,’” Jones said.

Jones noted the longstanding tradition of local visits to the two houses.

“The people of Meridian kind of view these homes as their houses,” she said. “It’s kind of like the houses of Meridian — part of our tradition, part of our history, yet usable.”

Jones said an opening reception is slated for 1 to 5 p.m. on Sunday, and it will feature traditional social dance by students in the Choctaw Tribal Schools.

Maria Hartness, who works with the Choctaw Tribal Schools’ Talented and Gifted Program, was at Merrehope on Tuesday with beaded ornaments and snowflakes created by students from that program.

“To bead a ball takes several hours,” Hartness said, noting the intricate combination of bugle beads, seed beads, thread and other material that make up the objects. The work takes deeply detailed skill, as Hartness described it, as well as patience.

Hartness lauded the students’ work.

“They are some of the most talented and creative students,” she said. “They’re just wonderful — and they have my heart 100 percent.”

She works with students, she said, on a host of projects, ranging from robotics to scrabble to chess.

Martha Ferguson, cultural liaison for the Chahta Immi Cultural Center, and Sherrill Nickey, administrative coordinator for the Chahta Immi Cultural Center, brought a timeline to Merrehope with some key historical events in the lives of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians.

Ferguson said she contributes, as part of her work at the Cultural Center, to presentations to students ranging from about 5 years old to college.

“We teach them a few Choctaw words like ‘hello’ and ‘thank you,’” she said — and she noted that students tend to ask a lot of questions when they visit, starting the most fundamental ones.

“They ask ‘How long have you been here?’” she said.

That’s the sort of learning that will also be available this year to people who come to visit the Trees of Christmas at Merrehope.