A township basement in downtown Tipp City has become Miami County’s newest holiday destination — and it does not cost families a thing to visit. Volunteers have transformed the basement of the Monroe Township building into “Tipp the Halls,” a decorated seasonal space offering decor, community activities and family events through the holiday season, WHIO-TV reported on Thursday, November 12. An official ribbon-cutting is scheduled for Friday, November 13.
The project was organized by the Downtown Tipp City Partnership to give residents a handicap-accessible gathering place for the holidays, according to WHIO. Tasha Weaver, the partnership’s executive director, led the effort. Weaver told WHIO the group wanted to use the downtown space, noting that it is handicap accessible and holds at least 200 people, and that visitors often describe the area as a “hallmark downtown.”
Weaver worked alongside 26 volunteers who spent hundreds of hours decorating the township building’s basement, WHIO reported. Volunteer Heidi Scribner, who helped arrange the space ahead of the opening, told WHIO she thinks the room looks gorgeous and hopes everybody enjoys it and has a great holiday.
Organizers emphasized that keeping the destination free was essential at a time of economic pressure on local families. Weaver told WHIO that parents are already wondering how they will afford the gifts their children want, with finances tight for a lot of people — one more reason to give families a place to make holiday memories at no cost. In the same WHIO report, Weaver said she wanted to bring families a place to make memories in Tipp City.
The free programming runs all season. WHIO reported that planned activities include two free music bingo sessions featuring Christmas music and Christmas movie trivia, glass ornament making classes and a cookie decorating class, and that organizers are also distributing $5,000 worth of Tipp City gift cards to visitors. The Downtown Tipp City Partnership’s own holiday newsletter adds a Town Hall Coffee Chat to the lineup and credits the Tipp City Foundation with helping make the free community programs possible.
Tipp the Halls also sits in the middle of a busy downtown holiday calendar. The partnership’s newsletter notes that Tipp City’s Holiday Parade and Tree Lighting is set for Saturday, November 21, stepping off at 6 p.m., and that Tipp the Halls will be open before the parade so families can stop in on their way downtown.
Families can visit the installation through the first Monday in January, according to WHIO. For a community project built entirely by volunteers in a borrowed basement, the goal is simple: a warm, decorated room downtown where the only price of admission is showing up.
Photo: Niagara66, CC BY-SA