The holiday season is upon us. And the signs appear everywhere. If you go to New York City, there’s the giant tree in Rockefeller Plaza. The White House has one too. If you go to Tuscaloosa it’s the Tinsel Trail. That’s a collection of trees set up by local groups and businesses to benefit charity. And, some of these trimmers take it seriously. USA Today newspaper ranked the Druid City’s Tinsel Trail number four in the nation among holiday community displays.
We’re at Government Plaza in Tuscaloosa. Holiday tunes blare from loudspeakers next to the city’s temporary ice rink, and a lot of people are here. They’re all toting boxes of ornaments to row upon row of Christmas trees.
That includes Anna White. She’s with the University of Alabama’s College of Social Work, and she’s looking for her tree. White says you don’t just pick the one you like.
“So there's different tiers to it. So we have the $500 tree,” said White. “I think it's called the spruce tree, I'm not mistaken, but yeah, so this year we're going to celebrate our 60th anniversary for the school social work. So try to make it reflect that.”
That’s why she pulling her cart. So, White’s goal with the Tuscaloosa Tinsel Trail is publicity.
Yes, I think it's seven out of the 12 years that we've done it,” said Stacy Hollingsworth is with Premiere Heating and Cooling. She referring to winning a big prize among the tree trimmers. And yes, she has a favorite among those seven previous wins.
“Um, so one of them was talk of the talk of the trail. And it we, we had a huge, ginormous toilet, and we, we had the tree in the toilet, and we had the plumber standing next to it,” said Holllingsworth.
And, there’s a game plan for win number eight. This year’s tree theme is Christmas by the lake and a nod to one of her companies product lines..
“One of the things that our company does is on the electrical perspective of it, on the lake, we have the dock lifeguard, that's a shock warning system, and so it's gonna include a dock and a boat and the dock lifeguard system,” She described.
And, not just a boat that you’d hang on a branch of your Christmas tree. Hollingsworth means a full size row boat from her backyard. It’s coming in by truck as we speak. Whether its silver ornaments or water craft, the Tinsel Trail is a charity event, and it started off small.
“It used to be on the on the river, by the river market,” said Kevin Besnoy, C-E-O- of Tuscaloosa One Place. He says the City of Tuscaloosa moved the Tinsel Tree festival to Government Plaza where more people could see it.
“We have over 200 sponsors who participate,” said Besnoy. “We have events throughout the season, five different events throughout the season, all three to the community, and it's a great way. The holiday season is so important to spend time with family, and so it's a chance for for people to get out with their family.”
Groups like Premiere Heating and The University of Alabama’s College of Social Work donate to get a tree to decorate, and the money provides family resources through Tuscaloosa One Place.
Speaking of Decorating trees… Anna White and the University of Alabama’s College of Social Work needed a rolling cart to deliver her ornaments. Remember Stacy Hollingsworth and the boat she’s using for her tree display? We were there when it arrived. “
“We'll have a Christmas tree in the boat with presents around it, with the lifeguard, the dot lifeguard system, the shop warning system, and so that's, that's what it'll look like, just, and we'll have what it'll look like water underneath it, and with lights,” she said.
We met Anna White earlier in our story. She’s with the University of Alabama’s College of Social Work. No boats or docks for White’s tree, but the decorations are coming together…
“Okay, so we have taken all of our ornaments out of our boxes by now. We cut little hooks that way we could put it on the tree. We're kind of putting the bigger ones with a lot of patterns on it in the front, and then we also are putting filler in just to tie the whole theme together,” she said.
All of the trees at The Tinsel Trail for Tuscaloosa’s One Place will stay up until New Year’s Day. If you can, you might plan a visit after sundown where all the of the displays are lit up for the holidays.
