Christmas Ornaments

About the Bankhead Tunnel

The opening of the Bankhead Tunnel in February 1941 aided the flow of traffic to and from Mobile and the eastern shore of Mobile Bay. Extending from Government Street under the Mobile River to Blakeley Island, the tunnel was a technological marvel and unique in the South at that time: a highway inside a 30-feet-wide steel-tube positioned 45 feet below the river’s surface. The tunnel is 3,109 feet long, with just under one-third of its length positioned beneath the river. Construction of the project was a boost to the local economy, providing business to shipyards, iron foundries, and steel-fabrication shops as well as employment for about one thousand men, who completed the project in just 22 months.

Since 1941, however, trucks have become taller, often exceeding the tunnel’s 12 feet height clearance. Each year, dozens of trucks become lodged in the tunnel’s mouth, after their drivers miss the warning signs with disastrous results, often causing severe damage to their truck and sometimes to the tunnel’s entry. To help keep this from happening, the State of Alabama posts humorous messages on overhead electronic billboards including “Hey Truck – Don’t Try Your Luck” and “Bankhead – Undefeated since 1941.” Last year, they posted a Christmas version: “Kevin! It’s 12 Ft, Ya Filthy Animal!” (a tribute to the film Home Alone).

About the Blue Angels - Fat Albert

Every time the Pensacola-based Blue Angels perform as the U.S. Navy’s precision aerobatic team, their support plane – a U.S. Marine Corps C-130J Super Hercules nicknamed “Fat Albert” – begins the show. Following a high-performance take-off, Fat Albert does a “parade pass” (banking around the front of the crowd), then a “flat pass” and a “head-on pass,” followed by a “short-field assault landing.” Only then do the Blue Angels fire up their FA-18 engines and taxi onto the runway. In addition to being their opening attraction, Fat Albert’s primary mission is to transport 35,000 pounds of cargo and roughly 60 Blue Angels team members to every show. In 1970, Fat Albert joined the Blue Angels team as their support aircraft. In 2014, Marine Corps pilot Capt. Katie Higgins, 27, became the first female pilot to join the Blue Angels, flying Fat Albert for the 2015-16 seasons. Today, they perform at least 60 shows annually at 30 locations in the U.S.

About Mitzi Holt
Mitzi Holt was born and raised in Pensacola and began drawing by the age of five. She has continued to draw, paint and develop her own self-taught style ever since and earned a degree in Graphic Design from Pensacola State College. Growing up in such a scenic environment as Pensacola, Mitzi was constantly inspired by the unlimited and exceptional beauty of the area.

Besides her love of drawing portraits in graphite pencil and painting murals, she began a series of drawings of many beloved Pensacola landmarks, including the Pensacola Beach Sign, Old Christ Church and Fort Pickens, each of which have previously been featured as Christmas on the Coast ornaments.

Alabama Ornament Vendors

MOBILE:


• Cammie’s Old Dutch Ice Cream Shoppe

• Carpe Diem Coffee & Tea Company

• The Holiday

• The Karat Patch Jewelers

• Robert Moore Christmas Town

• Southern Art & Framing
• 
SpringHill Ace Hardware

• Zundel’s Jewelry

• Goodwill Gulf Coast (Azalea Road Store)

• Goodwill Gulf Coast (Moffett Road Store)

• Goodwill Gulf Coast (Schillinger Road Store)



SARALAND:


• Smith Hardware
• 
Goodwill Gulf Coast (Saraland Store)

EASTERN SHORE:


• Christmas Round the Corner

• Goodwill Gulf Coast (Spanish Fort Store)

• Goodwill Gulf Coast (Fairhope Store)

Florida Ornament Vendors

PENSACOLA:


• Bere’ Jewelers

• J. W. Renfroe Pecan Company

• Members First Credit Union branches
• Goodwill Gulf Coast (Ensley Store)

• Goodwill Gulf Coast (Olive Road Store)


PACE:


• Goodwill Gulf Coast (Pace Store)

FORT WALTON BEACH:


• Goodwill Gulf Coast (Fort Walton Beach)