Tusculum University will capture the joy of the holiday season with an engaging Progressive Tour on campus that will deliver a wonderful historical experience for participants at Tennessee’s oldest higher education institution.
The university is hosting the festive “Follow Me through Tusculum’s Past” Thursday, Dec. 6, starting at 5:15 p.m. and concluding at 7 p.m. It will be immediately followed by the highly anticipated annual Christmas Concert performed in the Annie Hogan Byrd Fine Arts Center by the Tusculum Band, which includes the handbell choir, the jazz band and the concert band.
All activities are free and open to Tusculum’s faculty, staff, students and alumni, as well as community members. Children are welcome.
“We’re thrilled to offer our Progressive Tour, which will enable participants to enjoy the campus in a new and exciting way,” said Jill Salyers, Tusculum’s vice president of institutional advancement and marketing & communications. “This is such a meaningful time of year as we await Christ’s birth, and our Progressive Tour will bring additional fulfillment to people’s holiday experience.”
The event begins at Annie Hogan, where guests will be greeted by carolers dressed in period costume inside and outside the building. Inside, visitors can enjoy delicious finger foods.
Guests will then proceed to Virginia Hall, where Dr. Madison Sowell, Tusculum’s provost and vice president of academic affairs, will read “Christ Comes.” This inspiring Christmas message was first read at a Christmas service Dec. 12, 1954, on the Tusculum campus.
Next, participants will move to McCormick Hall, where Dr. James Hurley, Tusculum’s president, will discuss the history of celebrating Christmas at Tusculum. Afterward, guests will head to the Thomas J. Garland Library, where they can view decorations and see displays of gingerbread houses created by Tusculum students.
The final stop on the Progressive Tour will be the President Andrew Johnson Museum and Library, otherwise known as the Old College. Along the way, students will provide popcorn to guests. Once participants arrive, they will be able to visit and take pictures with Santa Claus and receive a treat.
Guests will conclude the Progressive Tour by returning to Annie Hogan, where they can have hot chocolate and hot cider before the concert begins.
The concert, directed by David Price, will include a large selection of songs, split among performances by the concert band, handbell choir and jazz band. Songs include “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen,” “Good Christian Friends Rejoice,” “A Child is Born,” “Deck the Halls with All Kinds of Funky,” “So They Say It’s Christmas” and “The Bells of Christmas.”
In addition to music, the concert will include narrations from the book “The Year of The Perfect Christmas Tree.”
For more information about the Progressive Tour, please call Nicole Rader, Tusculum’s director of alumni engagement, at 423-636-7303 or email nrader@tusculum.edu. To learn more about the concert, please call David Price, Tusculum’s director of music programs, at 423-636-0550 or email daprice@tusculum.edu.