“Chief Bowers,” Tucker yelled out. “Thanks for coming out tonight.”
The man walked forward, a slight limp on his right side. “No. I’m not the chief anymore. That’s all you now, Tucker. You make me proud.” Bowers shook Tucker’s hand.
Then, he turned to the group of people who stood shoulder-to-shoulder in front of them. “You’ve done such a great job. Every person in this room helped this kid become a great leader.” Bowers clapped and everyone joined in. “Who knew me having faith in this kid, the youngest volunteer I ever allowed to go on the front line, would someday result in him becoming the youngest captain, and then the youngest chief. Well done, boy.”
“Thank you, sir,” Tucker said.
“Hats off to all of you. You are all heroes in your own right.” A round of thank-yous came from the group. “I didn’t come to just bluster some attaboys to y’all, I have another reason to crash this party.”
Tucker had no idea what he was talking about.
Everyone got quiet.
“The food,” he said, raising his hands in the air. “This guy’s taken enough of your time. Let’s eat.”
“Grab your plates and then gather around,” Tucker said. “Iwant to go over the Christmas Tree Stroll with y’all and get a committee formed tonight. If we’re going to win this year, we have to really bring it.”
“We got robbed last year.”
“We did good, but you have to admit the winning tree was pretty awesome.” Tucker defended the winner, then went to the front of the line so he could eat first, then talk about the Christmas Tree Stroll while the others ate.
The noise climbed to a gregarious level in a hot hurry as the metal chafing dish lids clanked back and people chatted while filling their plates.
Once everyone had gotten their food and the room quieted down, Tucker took the mic again. “The Christmas Tree Stroll. Y’all listen up. I think we can just do a quick raise of hands on the type and height of the tree. I say we stake claim to the tallest short-needle tree available this year. All hands in favor?”
If every hand wasn’t in the air, he couldn’t tell whose wasn’t.
“Good. Looks like we’re all in agreement. Lessons learned from last year?” Tucker asked.
“We need to be careful with how heavy the ornaments are this year. Lighter ornaments, or wire them in place better. Last year we spent a ton of time picking up ornaments off the ground and trying to rehang them while people were coming through for the stroll. It was a nonstop effort, and it looked sloppy.”
“Good point. Others?”
“If we’re going tall again, we need to get the tree topper up first. Once everyone gets in there to decorate their trees, we can’t position a good-sized ladder to do it.”
“Good feedback. Any others? Or ideas for themes. We can go broader than fire trucks, you know.”
The ideas started blasting him from all sides.
“What if we did something with water?”
“A great big bonfire?”
“Yeah, and kids could roast marshmallows over it.”
“Sending the wrong message y’all,” Tucker said. “No way.”
“How about transportation in general?” Dixie Rogers said. “Trucks, cars, planes, and trains. I have my granddaddy’s train set in the attic. It’s too big for us to use around our tree. It’s a shame no one is putting it to good use. Even has the little steam puffs.”
“Now, that’s an idea.”
“If we do that, we could use real toy trucks, and let that be part of the gift giving at the end,” said Tommy Newton.
“And add those Breyer horses. That’s transportation too. Maybe a pink Barbie Corvette or two?”
“I like it.” If there was one thing Tucker could be confident in, it was that this group of people were never short on ideas. “I really like the idea of the ornaments doing double duty. And we definitely want to make it for boys and girls with that in mind. Maybe even somehow add a couple of scooters or bicycles into the design? Or is that too much?”
“No! I like that,” said Danny, who also owned the bike repair shop. “And I can order a case of shiny bicycle bells and streamers. They’d be festive. How’s that sound?”
