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Kirsch Dentistry wins downtown decorating award
At Kirsch Dentistry, the Greencastle community has come to expect meticulous work, great attention to detail and always a deft touch.
And that’s just in the storefront windows.
Besides the work of Dr. Elizabeth Kirsch on the inside of the building at 18 E. Washington St., the practice is becoming well known for the decorated storefronts put together by husband David Kirsch.
The effort of decorating for Christmas was rewarded Tuesday afternoon with Kirsch Dentistry declared the winner of the second annual Main Street Greencastle Holiday Window Decorating Contest.
Tammy Van Rensselaer made the surprise presentation for Main Street, praising the Christmas spirit (as well as that of other holidays and seasons) the Kirsches bring to downtown.
“You bring a lot of joy to downtown,” Van Rensselaer said.
“We are happy to,” Dr. Kirsch replied.
For David, who is in just his second year decorating the storefront, it has been a learning process. He seems to be a quick study.
He described his displays in 2017 as makeshift, but things have quickly grown more sophisticated with LED lighting, adjustable-height stages under the displays and racks mounted from the ceiling to suspend certain elements.
“I keep going a little further and further with this,” David said. “Last year I had to do a lot of adjustments. This year it’s running pretty smoothly.”
The smooth runnings aren’t happenstance. David said he spent a couple of weeks working on the display on the second floor of the office before moving things downstairs.
“And then it takes the better part of three days to install all of this,” he said. “It takes a lot of tedious, meticulous work on the timing.”
The major example of this is in the large main display that takes up the entire eastern half of the office’s double storefront. Activated by an outside button pushed by passersby, it features a dancing Santa Claus and dozens of “Elf on the Shelf” dolls. Most amusingly, it features the Miley Cyrus song “Wrecking Ball,” complete with an elf riding a “wrecking ball” Christmas ornament, albeit more warmly clad than Cyrus was in her 2013 music video.
The problem is, if the ball collides with Santa Claus, or if Santa knocks one of the elves riding a train, plane or candy cane off course, the whole thing goes into disarray.
However, this is where David’s tedious, meticulous work pays off.
“Everything with about an inch or two to spare,” he said.
While the decorating seems like a tradition that could quickly overwhelm some, David seems intent on keeping it up.
“It’s a lot of work, but a lot of fun,” he said. “It seems like some of the best marketing we can do.”
He also praised Black Lumber for transforming the empty storefront west of Kirsch into a Christmas display of its own.
Perhaps such neighborly cooperation can turn into a friendly competition in the future.
“We’ll see what next year brings,” David said.