I have written before about the strange time warp we operate in while producing this magazine. Sometimes, it feels like we are time travelers. Consider how quickly the seasons have moved this year. It was just yesterday we were enduring endless stretches of 90-degree heat, spending much of our spare time pointing a water hose at the summer landscape and hoping for the best.
Then, just like that, the super sultry weather ended on the first day of fall. Around came the West Side Nut Club Fall Festival and, thanks in no small part to the still sparkling weather, the crowds were enormous: The Nut Club’s publicity team told us its estimate is nearly 300,000 attendees. While thousands of people were making their way up and down Franklin Street during the first full week of October, we already were hunkered down in the holidays, putting together the issue you now hold in your hands. Don’t feel too bad for us. Right after I sent this letter to Managing Editor Jodi Keen, most of us headed out to the Fall Festival for lunch.
Though it seems like we were working on the holiday issue early, in truth we had been working on portions of it since the 2025 holiday season. Last November and December, our staff spent quite a bit of time photographing homes, decorations, and the people behind them, knowing those images would have to wait nearly a year before appearing in these pages. When we recently gathered what are referred to as “contact sheets” from those shoots to begin production on the November/December issue, we were struck by just how much great material we had amassed.
Good story ideas have a way of finding us. A neighbor of George Evans called to insist that we simply had to see his extraordinary collection of holiday collectibles. A collection of collectibles? Indeed! We took her advice, paid Evans a visit, and now you get to see his collection of holiday collectibles, too, beginning on page 21. We also visited interior designer Jennifer Scales, who faces a decorating challenge unlike most of us: preparing her geodesic home for the holidays. Her decor includes a spectacular 19-foot-9-inch tree; see it starting on page 53.
Those are just a couple of the stories we hope will help put you in the holiday spirit.
Also in this issue, you will meet eight makers. While we typically feature artists in each issue, introducing readers to a variety of creative types populating our fair city, it’s been a while since we focused on “makers.” What is a maker? To guide us, we researched what distinguishes makers and artists. In our view, an artist creates work primarily for creative expression, interpretation, or aesthetic impact. A maker creates tangible objects using specialized skills, tools, materials, and hands-on techniques. The emphasis is on craftsmanship, the creative process, and the finished product, which is functional, decorative, or both. Of course, the work of artists and makers overlaps, and beauty is in the eye of the artist, maker, and beholder. See for yourself beginning on page 42.
There is another celebration taking place as this issue arrives. Just six days before we sent these pages to press, our younger son, Account Executive Jackson Tucker, and his fiancée, Katherine Reising, were married. Katherine grew up just down the street from us, making theirs a very local love story. We congratulate the groom and offer our very best wishes to the bride. We could not be happier for them both as they begin their life together.
As always, I look forward to hearing from you. May your holidays be bright!
Kristen K. Tucker
Editor & Publisher
