It’s the most wonderful time of the year in the Chattanooga area yet again. As it gets closer and closer to that beloved 25th day of December, you’re sure to see Christmas lights and holiday displays galore. You’ll have the chance to take a train ride that will remind you of the Polar Express or you can ice skate to your heart’s content at First Horizon Pavilion. There’s no shortage of things to do during the holidays in the Scenic City.
In such a festive atmosphere, you’ve no doubt started to put up your own decorations and gotten out your ugly Christmas sweaters, but you might also be wondering what your fellow Chattanoogans are doing to ring in the holiday. Here, you’ll meet some festive folks in the region who have a special connection to the season.
Contributed photos / Juel brings a little holiday cheer to Forrest in the hospital, including this Christmas tree she created out of string lights on the wall.A Christmas Miracle
Ringgold residents Juel and Forrest Gardner met and dated at Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School, a private boarding school in Rabun Gap, Georgia, in 1975.
When Juel called her high school sweetheart on Christmas Eve in 2017, after they’d been out of touch for 41 years, she couldn’t have known that they’d soon be getting married — and that one of their first holidays as a newly married couple would be spent in the hospital.