COOKEVILLE, Tenn. (Sept. 6, 2007) — Tennessee Tech University and Cookeville Clear Channel radio recently went on Purple Pride Patrol to recognize several local businesses for their outstanding displays of TTU Pride.

Those businesses include the Jefferson Avenue branch of First National Bank, Hills IGA, Premiere Diagnostic Imaging, W.D. Stone and Associates and the Jackson Avenue branch of US Bank.

“It’s really gratifying to get out and see the different creative ways the community is showing its TTU Pride because our annual TTU Pride Days celebration is all about ways we can get the community involved in welcoming our students back to campus each fall,” said Tracy Black, TTU’s marketing director.

First National Bank employees accomplished that goal by wearing matching purple shirts, painting “TTU Pride” on entrance windows, decorating their lobby with flowers in TTU’s traditional purple and gold and displaying a large sign in the lobby that read “Golden Eagle Spirit Day.”

That sign complemented a huge metal statue of an eagle with its wings spread and decorated with purple and gold ribbons, Black said.

Hill’s IGA, a locally-owned grocery store on North Washington Avenue, showed its TTU Pride with purple and gold painted storefront windows and an impressive display of soft drinks arranged in a TTU logo.

“US Bank had a tree outside that had been decorated with purple ribbons, and inside, the lobby had been decorated with a gorgeous TTU print and purple and gold flowers,” she said.

Premiere Diagnostic Imaging included information about TTU Pride Days on its scrolling sign, located on the corner of Stevens Street and Lowe Avenue. “That’s a high traffic intersection, so that service meant a lot in helping us get the word out to the community about the event,” Black said.

At W.D. Stone and Associates, employees dressed in purple and gold polo shirts, decorated with purple and gold flowers and displayed on the walls an impressive array of TTU ads the agency has designed.

“This was the second consecutive year Cookeville Clear Channel radio employees have partnered with the university to offer the Purple Pride Patrol,” Black said.

“Clear Channel’s partnership in the Purple Pride Patrol, as well as the public service announcements about TTU Pride Days they broadcast during the event, helped to make it the success that it was,” she continued. “Clear Channel’s support for the university — not just during Pride Days, but year-round — is outstanding.”

This year’s TTU Pride Days celebration ran from Aug. 19 through Sept. 1, and provided a great segue for the university’s first home football game, set for 7 p.m. on Sept. 6, with TTU taking on Cumberland University.

--Tracey Hackett
This information posted 6 September 2007