WAITSBURG - The welcome many newcomers have received from Waitsburg residents over the years has inspired acts of gratitude in the past.

Larry and Deanne Johnson's now-famous and well-attended summer gumbo party at their home on Fifth Street is a case in point.

But this week was the first time newcomers ever lit up the entire downtown as a thank you for the way Waitsburgers brought them into their midst.

Allison Bond and Bruce Donohue, who bought the former Lybacker home on Fourth Street almost a year ago, reached back to the ancient Hispanic tradition of Luminaria as a gesture of reciprocal k...