TUSCUMBIA-The day is fast approaching, when approximately fifty porches of Tuscumbia’s downtown residential area will be festively decorated for the season in the town’s first-ever Parade of Holiday Porches. On December 11, the driving tour of the porches will have been established and maps will be available for people to view the garlands, Christmas trees and bright lights of homes in the town’s historic district. The “parade” route is free to enjoy anytime through New Year’s Eve.
The kick-off date is set to coincide with the town’s signature Christmas festival, “It’s a Dickens Christmas, Y’all”. The porches will be featured as part of two trolley tours offered that day departing from the corner of 5th and Main Streets at 1:00 and 4:00 p.m. In anticipation of an overflow crowd for the trolleys, maps will be available for a self-guided caravan to view the homes.
Mark Orman, organizer of the Parade of Holiday Porches has this to say: “What brings to mind a holiday welcome to family and friends more than a greeting at the front porch? The Parade of Holiday Porches is a new, fun, and exciting way to welcome folks to see how Tuscumbia celebrates Christmas. This year promises to outshine all the years in the past, as the festive porches interpret ‘the most joyful time of the year’.”
The Christmas porch parade is sponsored by the Colbert County Historical Landmarks Foundation and the Tuscumbia Historic Preservation Commission, with the support of Tuscumbia Retail Development and Colbert County Tourism. In holding this event, the groups hope to bring attention to the historic neighborhoods that were laid out as the original town of Cold Water. Boundaries of the town were at that time designated by the Tuscumbia Commons, a strip of public land reserved for use by citizens for the common good. Therefore, the “parade” route is bounded by the streets of town that are part of the Commons.
Prizes have been offered for Best Traditional/Historic Theme, Best Dickens Theme; and an award for Most Original in Undesignated Theme. Watch for the winners to be announced.
Free maps and parade guides will be available at Fiddledee D! 111 S. Main St., Tuscumbia; and at Colbert County Tourism, 719 U.S. Hwy. 72 West, Tuscumbia. For more information: 256-383-0783, 256-383-9797 or 256-710-9081. Email: colberttourism@comcast.net.
