KYLE MURPHYStaff Writer

The lights and stars shined bright Thursday night as the community gathered to see this year’s grand marshals for the 68^th annual Tullahoma Christmas Parade light up the city Christmas tree.

To celebrate both the upcoming parade and this year’s grand marshals RJ and Sande Hayes, the Tullahoma Area Chamber of Commerce (TACC) held a grand reception for the long-time Tullahoma resident Thursday night, Dec. 5, sponsored and hosted at South Jackson Performing Arts Center.

Greg Gressel, Chairman of South Jackson Performing Arts Center, welcomed and thanked everyone for stopping by that evening in spite of the chilly temperatures.

“We are glad you braved this cold night tonight to light the city Christmas tree,” Gressel said. “We are super excited to be here.”

 After making some light jokes about enjoying the evening outside, Gressel encouraged everyone to enjoy the Trees of Christmas inside the performance center following the lighting of the tree, where he said a portion of the proceeds will go to Horse Play Inc. 

He turned the microphone over to TACC Executive Director Hope Nunley, where she thanked the parade’s sponsor Stan McNabb Automotive for always lending a hand

“They’re always on board with any crazy idea and fun idea to promote the parade,” Nunley said.

She added that the night was also to celebrate RJ and Sande as this year’s grand marshals, and turned it over to Trent McNabb. He thanked Gressel for serving as the chairman for the Christmas Parade Committee, and for South Jackson for hosting the night’s festivities, as well as Nunley for getting everything ready for Friday night.

McNabb then announced that a new record was set with parade entry registrations as this year’s parade has 146 entries registered, when the previous record was 119.

 “It’s going to be a beautiful night, just like tonight,” McNabb said. “A little cold but it’s going to be beautiful.”

Gressel then recognized the Hayes, calling them pillars of the community and a power couple.

“They have lots of knowledge, lots of wisdom, lots of skills and they’ve chosen to invest that back into a community, and we are grateful for that,” Gressel said. “We are appreciative of their work and their service to this community.”

After the Hayes lit up the Christmas tree, they were given a chance to say something. Sande thanked everyone for coming out and said they were surprised and honored to be named the grand marshals.

“I’m just speechless tonight,” Sande said

“The Lord works in mysterious ways,” RJ followed up. “58 years I know what she’s going to say, we can finish each other’s sentences.”

Like Sande, RJ said they were really surprised but pleased to have the opportunity, and they were looking forward to Friday night.

“Hopefully it won’t be too bad as far as the weather is concerned,” RJ said. “We lived in Alaska for 14 years so we are used to the cold, and we are going to have the heater on in whatever we are driving.”

Also on hand at the reception was Santa Claus, who attendees could go take pictures with as they made their way inside the performing arts center to enjoy some hot chocolate, cupcakes and to walk the Trees of Christmas, which features Christmas trees decorated by various local businesses and nonprofit organizations. South Jackson’s fourth annual “Trees of Christmas” was open for attendees as well from 6 – 9:30 p.m. The event will be open for the rest of the weekend from Dec. 7 from noon to 8 p.m. and Dec. 8 from 2 – 6 p.m. Admission will be $5 a ticket or $20 for a household ticket. This year’s nonprofit organization to receive a portion of the proceeds will be Horse Play Inc.

Coverage of the 68^th annual Tullahoma Christmas Parade, sponsored by Stan McNabb Automotive will be featured in an upcoming edition of The Tullahoma News.