Celebratedecoratingfamilyholidaysreal estate November 29, 2017

How to Create Lasting Holiday Memories

It’s the most wonderful time of the year, and we can’t think of a better season to make some special holiday memories with your loved ones! Knoxville, Tennessee, offers lots of holiday cheer for residents, and we all look forward to the annual traditions. Here are a few ideas for making holiday memories with your loved ones that will last a lifetime.

Ice Skating, Shopping, and Dining on Market Square

Market Square in Downtown Knoxville has always been a hub of activity, ever since its early days as a market where farmers could bring their produce to sell and trade. These days, it’s a great spot for dining, shopping, and people watching. During the winter holidays, Market Square is transformed with a giant ice-skating rink in the center. The rink, part of Knoxville’s Holidays on Ice festivities, opens November 24 and runs through January 7, 2018.

This is a great spot to create some special holiday memories! Maybe enjoy a little skating to work up an appetite for one of the great local eateries around the square. Or perhaps you’d like to cap off a day of holiday shopping with some ice-skating fun. Many shop windows around downtown Knoxville will be decorated in a peppermint theme as part of the Window Wonderland. There’s plenty to do and something for folks of all ages.

Holiday Lights Auto Tour

Many neighborhoods around Knoxville get all decked out for the holiday season, and this is a great opportunity to create some special holiday memories with your family and friends. Plan an evening for you and your loved ones to hop in the car and cruise around town to see all the outdoor holiday lighting and decorations.

Knoxville’s historic Sequoyah Hills neighborhood is always a great option for those really special decorations on a grand scale. West Hills is another neighborhood to visit for lovely light shows, and don’t forget Founders’ Park in Farragut for a truly magical twinkling light display.

Want to get an even closer look at some of the beautiful lights around the city? Take part in Knoxville’s Tour de Lights event on December 15. Decorate your bike with lights and tinsel and meet at Market Square for a ride through the historic 4th & Gill neighborhood.

Love Your Neighborhood

Another special way to create lasting holiday memories is by showing your neighborhood some love. Deliver baked goods to neighbors and maybe sing a carol or two. Or perhaps you could host a holiday drop-in and invite neighbors over for cookies and cocoa.

This is a wonderful way to get to know the folks in your community and introduce yourself to neighbors you haven’t met yet. It’s also a worthwhile opportunity to just get out of the house and explore the neighborhood as a family.

Give Back to the Community

The holiday season is a great time to give back to those folks in your community who might need a little help. Plus, taking the opportunity to give back as a family is a wonderful way to create some lasting holiday memories. Knoxville has a variety of nonprofit organizations that are always looking for volunteers. Consider volunteering at a local food pantry or maybe buying gifts for a family experiencing financial trouble. You can also help out at a local animal shelter.

These are just a few ideas for this season in Knoxville. Get together with your loved ones and see what you can come up with.

CelebrateCharitycommunityDogsneighborhoodpetsreal estate August 29, 2017

Helping Find Homes for Dogs in East Tennessee

Coldwell Banker Wallace & Wallace, Realtors® is participating in the National Pet Adoption Weekend and the Homes for Dogs Project during September by promoting adoptable dogs and holding a special “Homes for Dogs” Open House event on Sept. 10th.

Coldwell Banker Wallace & Wallace, Realtors® has been showing East Tennessee the way home for more than 80 years, and we’re excited to once again extend our mission to help find homes for dogs in our area.

Dogs Make House a Home

Since 2015, the Homes for Dogs partnership with Adopt-a-Pet.com has helped find homes for thousands of deserving shelter dogs.

But it’s not just the dogs who benefit from being part of a loving home. There is research that shows how dogs can positively impact our psychological as well as physical health. It isn’t a coincidence that you feel better coming home to your dog after a long stressful day. Studies have found that during heart rate and blood pressure testing, patients were calmer and had better test results when a dog was present.

Plus the exuberance dogs show when you start to put on a pair of sneakers is a great motivator for enjoying more active time spent together outdoors.

Helping Dogs in East Tennessee

Coldwell Banker’s Homes for Dogs project is now in its third year, and at Coldwell Banker Wallace & Wallace, Realtors® in East Tennessee, we are ‘doggone’ happy to be taking part again.

All across the nation, real estate agents are doing their part to participate in the National Pet Adoption Weekend September 9th and 10th, 2017.

In Knoxville, we will be working with our local Adopt-a-Pet partner, the Humane Society of the Tennessee Valley. First, we’ll be promoting adoptable shelter dogs with our “10 Days of Dogs” campaign on social media. Beginning September 1st, a different shelter dog will be featured each day across all the company’s social media platforms. We hope that by helping to showcase some of these amazing furry friends, they will be that much closer to finding their forever homes.

We’re collecting items from the shelter’s wish list at each of our six area office locations. We have placed special donation containers in our office lobbies where consumers can drop off greatly appreciate items that we will deliver to the shelter. Click here to find a list of items needed by the shelter.

Finding Homes for All

Since we’re also in the business of finding homes for people, real estate agents at Coldwell Banker Wallace & Wallace, Realtors® will be holding a number of properties open on September 10th as part of this special event. We invite the public to visit any of our open houses that day and register to win one of six GPS pet trackers being given away. We’re hoping to help a few beloved pets make sure they always find their way back home. Consumers may also bring donated items for the shelter to any of our open houses on Sept. 10th.

Our company has been fortunate to be part of the community in East Tennessee since 1936. It has been our great honor to help thousands of our neighbors find their Knoxville home for more than 80 years. Many of our more than 350 sales professionals are passionate pet owners, and they look forward to taking part in this campaign to help find homes for dogs, our favorite four-legged friends.

Source: Coldwell Banker Blue MatterBlog