With co-conspirator Meredith Thomas
As the year nears its end and we are in the holiday season, I thought how appropriate it would be to go back in time here in Murfreesboro and remember some of the traditions we had as a family each year as we anticipated Christmas!
My first memory growing up here in Murfreesboro is the family outing to get our Christmas tree. Like most people, we would go to a local business like a Kroger or Roses, and in their parking lot would be a vendor selling Christmas trees. We typically got two: one for me and one for my younger brother, David. We always had one in the formal living room and one in the playroom.
Growing up on a farm, we also were fortunate from time to time in getting to cut down our own Christmas tree on my grandparents’ farm, conveniently located next door to our house on Bradyville Road.
Our second tradition, probably familiar to many reading this, was to go watch Santa land in a helicopter at Mercury Plaza. There was always a line backed up for what seemed like miles to get a glimpse at old Saint Nick getting out of his helicopter.
After that it was on to Roses department store (actually, to a big storage building to the side of Roses) to get back in line to actually get to see Santa Claus and sit on his lap, and tell him what we wanted for Christmas. Oh, what a treat that was as a kid! The big thing was to get our photos made with Santa (Jon Dinkins’ dad). And then you would have the photo shellacked on a piece of wood for future generations to cherish.
After Santa Claus, we would then make our way over to Harvey’s department store, conveniently located walking distance from Roses. There we would experience something never before seen in these parts—Harvey’s talking Christmas tree. When you entered Harvey’s, which was a really cool store with pretty neat stuff, the talking Christmas tree was to the left. Even cooler, later in life I found out that friends of mine like Beth Burgess Brown actually were the talking Christmas tree. I still don’t know how she got into the tree. Maybe she will let us all know the secret now. The talking Christmas tree was magical, comparable to the Wizard of Oz. Wow! For a 6- or 7-year-old, however, initially that talking Christmas tree was very creepy because of its eyes and mouth and the way it stared while talking to you.
Let’s move on from the talking Christmas tree to all of the Christmas decorations that the city would put up all around downtown, including the Square and surrounding shopping centers. You knew Christmas was getting close when the decorations started going up all around town.
One old Murfreesboro Christmas tradition was the Bethlehem Marketplace at Southeast Baptist Church on Minerva Drive. They went all out to present the way Christmas started in a manger in Bethlehem. The marketplace reflected the time period when Jesus came into the world, complete with shepherds, three kings, people smashing grapes for wine, street sellers, and all the cool animals like camel, sheep, goats and chickens. The highlight was getting to see baby Jesus at the end. Visitors received a woven and knitted white star and, over the years, many would decorate their own Christmas tree with those stars, which represented Jesus and the number of times you had attended the marketplace in previous years. (The Bethlehem Marketplace tradition continues this year, held Dec. 10–11.)
Lastly, Christmas meant going with family and friends to Nashville to see the nativity scene at the Parthenon in Centennial Park. It was a life-size deal, and on our way back through Murfreesboro we would go around town to look at all the Christmas tree lights and decorations. The one in particular that I remember best was the ranch house over in Haynes Haven, off of Memorial. It seemed like it always won the decorations award. You could call it the Griswold home.
We all have favorite memories of Christmas time. There are many others that I have left out. It is one of my favorite times of the year, especially being around all my loved ones and getting to go to church at night at Christmas and New Year’s Eve. We will save that story for another day.
