The 28th Riverfront Mural, which depicts Koestler’s Bakery’s Christmas Tree Lane, will be unveiled Saturday night amid a flurry of holiday activity.

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The unveiling of the 28th Riverfront Mural will be at 5 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 13, at the floodwall at City Front. Warren Central High School’s Madrigal Singers will perform, and Santa Claus will appear.

Koestler’s Bakery, was located on Clay Street at what is now Mission 66. Before the family-owned business closed in the early 1970s, Koestler’s was known for its Christmas spirit equally as much as its bread, Riverfront Murals Committee chairman Nellie Caldwell said.

“When they were open you could smell the bread baking all through town,” said Caldwell. “Going to the bakery after school was kind of a tradition among school children; they would take turns buying the bread and bringing butter and would eat a loaf as an after-school snack.”

The tan-brick, one-story building was removed after Koestler’s closed. An Exxon station and convenience store are on the site now.

“The bakery itself was a tradition just as much as its Christmas decorations were,” Caldwell said. “They started with Christmas trees out front and then every year they added stuff, like giant snowmen. They even got a real live Santa Claus to come sit out front. Santa would hand out stockings to all the kids and they would have lines two blocks long waiting to see him.”

The terrace along Clay featured one of the city’s largest Christmas displays — Santa, his sleigh and eight motorized prancing reindeer. After the bakery closed, the display was moved to City Hall.

In honor of the holiday-themed mural, the unveiling will feature Christmas music by Warren Central High School’s Madrigal Choir and an appearance by the big man himself, Santa Claus.

The event begins at 5 p.m. The mural depicts a night scene, and committee members wanted the unveiling to match, Caldwell said.

In case of rain, festivities will be moved to the Vicksburg Convention Center.

The mural, painted by artist Robert Dafford, begins a “last 5” countdown for the Riverfront project. The four remaining, one that will depict Jitney Jungle, the first supermarket in both Vicksburg and Mississippi, one that will depict the 1927 flood, one that will depict LeTourneau and one that will depict Pat and Kirk Fordice, are expected to be finished by May. Funding is complete for all except the Fordice mural, which lacks $10,000, Caldwell said.

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Contact Megan Holland at mholland@vicksburgpost.com.