BIG Holiday Greetings from Glade Spring Town Square

By Joe Tennis
Features Writer / Bristol Herald Courier
Published: December 4, 2008

GLADE SPRING, Va. – Up and town the Town Square, folks are saying “Seasons Greetings” in a big way.
Businesses and individuals are lining the sidewalks and streets of this railroad town with 20 giant Christmas cards – hand-painted on boards measuring four feet by two feet.
“It’s just to represent the different ways we all observe Christmas,” said Tammy Smith, who co-owns the Cornerstone Restaurant with her husband, Terry Smith.
Dirk Moore, the president of Project Glade, a community organization, invented the idea to line Glade Spring with giant Christmas cards.
All are the same size. But the designs vary.
“It was open to anything from children doing them to adults doing them to as creative as you want to be to as pulled-back as you want to be,” said Melissa Dickenson, co-owner of Glade Spring’s Salon on the Square.
Artistry is not really an issue, Dickenson added.
“You can have your own design. You can copy something off an old Christmas card,” Dickenson said. “It was not as much about the art as it was about the community participation. So we encourage people who are not really artists but who just wanted to do something to participate.”
‘IT’S HEARTWARMING’
Carolyn Gentry of Glade Spring painted a nativity scene.
“That’s what Christmas is all about,” Gentry said. “Christmas is about small towns, cities, people coming together to celebrate Christ’s birth from all walks of life ... And it’s heartwarming to see the community come together and revive our town.”
Aside from the new Christmas card promotion, Project Glade focuses on several other projects to help the community, said Dickenson, the club’s secretary.
“Our goal is just anything that anyone in the club kind of dreams up that they want to do that betters the community, that’s what we’re all about,” said Dickenson, 36. “So, in the future, we’re wanting to do, like, a welcome wagon, so when someone comes in the community, someone will bake them brownies and take some information about the area.”

‘COOL CARDS’
Recently, Project Glade members have helped maintain plants in the medians at the Town Square.
“People have dug up plants out of their yard,” Dickenson said. “And that takes a lot of work to do that, so that kind of brings a personal touch.”
Peggy Robinson, a resident of the Glade Spring area for 50 years, sings praises of such beautification projects. “It brings the community together. And I want the town to come alive, which it is. It really is.”
Dickenson, who grew up in Castlewood, Va., said she wants to see the Christmas cards expand beyond the Town Square.
“Next year, we want more and more people to put cards in their yard,” Dickenson said. “We want cards all over Glade. So that, in years to come, you know, it will be a destination. So that people will go, ‘Oh, we need to go to Glade Spring, because that’s where they do all the cool cards.’”

| (276) 791-0704

YOU SHOULD KNOW
What: Christmas in the Square
Where: Glade Spring Town Square
When: Saturday, Dec. 6, 6-9 p.m.
Details: Features tree lighting, luminaries, caroling, extended business hours and visit by Santa Claus
Info: (276) 429-2111

THERE’S MORE
Hear an exclusive interview with Melissa Dickenson, secretary of Project Glade.