KYLE MURPHYStaff Writer

Residents and visitors who stopped by Tullahoma during the holiday season got to see a showcase of the Christmas spirits as businesses took part in the Christmas Window Showcase.

The initiative was started by the Tullahoma Arts Council, where members went to various businesses in downtown Tullahoma to get them involved in both making the area a destination location for both out-of-town visitors and local families, and creating a new tradition for the community.

“We had a tremendous response to it,” Greg Gressel, member of the Tullahoma Arts Council said. “The whole thing was to beautify the downtown area during the holidays, to give families something to come and start creating and making a new tradition going downtown and looking at downtown displays.”

He added there were Christmas window displays many years ago, but it stopped after a while.

“It’s not happened for a long time now, and it was something we wanted to revive and focus on,” Gressel said. “As part of art and everything with the arts council we thought it went hand in hand.”

Gressel said for the first Christmas Window Showcase, it was more of an effort to get everyone onboard. For the next showcase, Gressel said the council is working on plans that could include a contest in various areas and categories, as each business in the downtown area has different types of windows and displays, and a possible scavenger hunt for residents, something the council tried to get up and running for the first showcase.

“We weren’t able to get that done this year, but we got the groundwork laid to be able to do that next year,” Gressel said.

Another idea for the showcase was to have a focus on the “12 Days of Christmas” starting on Christmas Day and go on until Jan. 6, the 12^th day of Christmas.

“There’s some great things to look forward to in the future,” Gressel said. “I really wanted us to bring attention to all the businesses that really stepped it up this year to get a good start on what we are trying to accomplish.”

Gressel said over 20 businesses participated in the Christmas Window Showcase. He added the showcase didn’t really have a focus on a specific theme, and will be the same as businesses have already began gathering materials for next year’s showcase.   

“In not setting a theme it opens it to allow people to really embrace these different aspects in the holidays, and give some appreciation to what is close and near to them,” he said.

Gressel added in the future, certain aspects from the showcase, like the scavenger hunt, might have a focus, like tying in to the theme of the annual Christmas parade, yet nothing is set in place. 

“We really want to embrace those in the community that have a tremendous impact on the city’s holiday season,” he said.

The Tullahoma Arts Council holds public meetings on the third Thursday each month at Tullahoma City Hall beginning at 3:15 p.m. Members of the council include Gressel, David Bethea, Jennie Kuebitz, Patti Mantooth, Coleen Saunders, Melissa Shuran, Kelly Orr, Ginger Di Vincenzo, Tony Patterson Noel Clements, Josh Cole, JP Kraft, Lyle Russell and Matthew Bird.

Residents can engage with the Tullahoma Arts Council by either visiting the council’s website at www.tullahomaartscouncil.com, following the Tullahoma Arts Council’s Facebook page at or by email at tullahomaartscouncil@gmail.com. 

All photos courtesy of Greg Gressel.