John Coffelt, Editor

Peoples Bank and Trust will hold its third annual Festival of Lights from 5-7 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 5 at 1203 Hillsboro Boulevard.

Peoples’ President/CEO Philip Calahan said that the event is a way to give back to the community for the Christmas season.

“We want to give back to the community and make it a little brighter at Christmastime,” Calahan said. “We love to see the smiles on the kids’ faces seeing Santa and drinking hot chocolate. It’s something that we enjoy doing for our town.”

Each year Peoples adds to the event. This year, in addition to Santa and kids’ games, there will be a family selfie station with a decorated old truck.

The truck belonged to the late Rob Clutter, Peoples’ marking director, who first suggested the Festival of Lights as a way to give back for the holidays. 

“We started out five years ago putting out some small displays,” Calahan said. “Each year we keep adding to the display and trying to come up with new ways to add additional elements.

And with each year the turnout for the event has grown. This year’s expected turnout is expected to be about 1600 people, up from last year’s 800-900 in attendance.

“Each year it just gets bigger and bigger,” Calahan said. 

John has been with the Manchester Times since May 2011. John has won Tennessee Press Association awards for Best News Photo and placed in numerous other categories. John is a 1994 graduate of Tullahoma High School, a graduate of Motlow State Community College and earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from Middle Tennessee State University. He lives in Tullahoma, enjoys painting, dancing and exploring the outdoors.