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Zealous Holiday Decorator Tells City Skeletons Will Never Go Back in Her Closet

By Kit Yona, M.A. | Last updated on

What makes decorations Christmas-themed? Do they need to include a beloved character like Santa? Will a Christmas tree with a star on top qualify? Are the traditional colors of red and green enough?

If you've answered "yes" to these queries, consider one more: Is it okay to add a couple of skeletons into the mix? That's the question in Germantown, Tennessee, as resident Alexis Luttrell squares off against what she views as overzealous enforcement of a town ordinance. The court will decide who's playing the Grinch in this tale.

Getting Under the Skin of Germantown

For Halloween, Luttrell placed decorations that included an eight-foot-tall free-standing human skeleton and a skeleton dog in her yard. They remained there through the November elections, toting flags supporting her choice of candidates.

Leaving them up for Christmas seemed a logical progression. Luttrell outfitted the human skeleton with a green and red tutu, while the dog got a Christmas tree hat and garland as a leash. Inflatables, in the forms of a Santa and a Christmas tree, served as ornamental bookends.

According to Germantown, her display wasn't the right kind of Christmas cheer. In early December, while some were just getting started on their advent calendars, Luttrell received a different kind of present — a warning about her decorations.

According to Germantown city ordinance 11-33, Luttrell was in violation for failing to abide by the city's fairly stringent rules about holiday decorations. Among other restrictions, the city does not allow Christmas lights to remain up year-round and requires the removal of all decorations within 30 days of the holiday's end.

Cameron Ross, the director of the Economic and Community Development Department in Germantown, said that eight others served with the same warning complied with the ordinance by taking down their Halloween decorations. When Luttrel refused to follow suit, a summons was issued.

Luttrell, who has a law degree, reasoned that her decorations had changed to fit the season and thus were within the dictates of the ordinance. Rather than giving in, she chose to double (or triple) down. Luttrell announced plans to redecorate the duo for Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, and Pride Month.

You Can't Spell Halloween Without Ho-Ho-Ho

After posting requests for legal assistance, Luttrell claims to have several offers of representation. Whether or not she will represent herself is unknown, but Luttrell has vowed to fight for her right to make her duo year-round ornaments.

Her pending legal battle poses the interesting question of who gets to decide what defines a Christmas decoration. While she can argue that a skeleton dog in a Christmas tree hat is just as Christmas-y as a polar bear and penguins wearing Santa hats, whether or not she's liable for fines will come down to a judge to decide if her decorations have gone tutu far.

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