Volunteer floral arranger Claire Griesinger puts final touches on Christmas tree in Signal town hall lobby
photo by Judy Frank
Years ago, when she still lived in Louisiana, Claire Griesinger learned how to arrange flowers when she joined a garden club where members decorated – among other things – Christmas trees festooned with birds and flowers and ribbons along with more traditional ornaments.
Over the years, as she and her Delta Airlines pilot husband raised their children and moved from place to place, she continued working with flowers and with Christmas trees.
Some years, the family had as many as five trees scattered throughout their home.
In addition, as a special education teacher, she began to make arrangements for school and school board events. Soon, she had branched out and also was creating arrangements for parties, weddings, town functions and a variety of other special occasions.
She and her husband are retired now and live in Signal Mountain – where, for the sixth year in a row, the lobby in Signal’s town hall boasts a lush Christmas tree she created.
“She’s done it for several years now,” Town Council member Bill Lusk said. “I don’t know how the tradition got started, but everybody enjoys it.”
The tradition started, Mrs. Griesinger said, when she stopped by town hall one December day several years ago while employees were in the process of decorating a tree.
“They didn’t have too many ornaments,” she recalled. “I had quit putting up so many Christmas trees at the house but I had saved all those ornaments, and I offered to bring them over for the tree in town hall.”
One thing led to another and soon she was using her expertise to help create a brightly decorated, cheerful tree that greeted visitors whenever they stopped by the municipal building for one reason or another.
She’s kept it up over the years, she said, and thoroughly enjoys doing it.
“The only council member who has been at town hall the days I was working was Mayor (Dan) Landrum,” she said, “but the staff usually come by some time during the day. They help with anything I might need . . . I’m happy to help them decorate.”
This year, she said, for the first time in decades, she didn’t put up a Christmas tree in her home.
As dog lovers and trainers, she and her husband socialize dogs to prepare them for future homes. Their current canine guest, she said, is a rambunctious three-month-old puppy that could demolish a decorated tree in no time flat.
She didn’t feel bereft about not having a tree at home, she said, because she could work on the one at town hall.
“They called me early in December,” Mrs. Griesinger said, “and let me know that the tree was up in the lobby and ready to be decorated. That’s my cue.”
Much of the trim on this year’s tree is being used for the first time, she said. Last year, town officials gave her a little money to buy some decorations. She haunted after-Christmas sales at Ace Hardware and the Barn Nursery and other retailers, waiting till everything was about 90 percent off, and then stocked up.
Early in January, after the holidays are over, Mrs. Griesinger said she’ll return to town hall to dismantle the tree, put away the decorations and pack everything up until it’s needed again for the town’s 2020 tree.
All those ornaments will be stored in municipal closets, available for the town to use for years to come, she said.