b'T here could be no Ebenezer Scrooge among us whenTrusting the evergreen talent ofthe calendar turns to the holiday season at CCL. The remarkable team of Hillis & Company has undertaken, over two years, to create a magical design vision that simply wont make room for him. We caught up with Founder/Owner Mike Hillis and our own Sara Keene, who has worked alongside Hillis since 1988, to unspool as many details as we could about what to expect. Enjoy the conversation here.What opened the door to the CCL holiday design opportunity?Mike: From our start in business 42 years ago weve handled both private member and Club events like the Western buffet for The Tradition ladies member-guest tournament. Several years ago, we were asked to present a proposal for holiday styling. At the time, we were completely booked and while it would have been a dream to do it, we knew it wasnt possible. We approached the Club two years ago to say wed fine-tuned our schedule and would love to be considered. Serendipitously, the Clubs three-year holiday design contract had ended, and we had our first meeting spring of 2024. We walked through the Club with Kim Williamson and Tom McKitterick to discuss how it has traditionally been decorated and what they might like to see. They gave us a budget and free rein with design.What was the starting point of creating a vision?Sara: We took measurements for each area, made notes about the colors and feel of each room, and began to anticipate how many yards of ribbon and feet of garland we would need. We went to market in January this year with ideas in our minds for each room and began pulling elements together there. Mike creates very beautiful, detailed proposals. We knew our early vision of trees flanking the ballroom stage, wreaths in every window, and decorations over every sconce and inch of the Club had to be, lets say, trimmed.ONCE UPON A8'