Last week, five area businesses were the targets of a local patrol — the TTU and Cookeville Clear Channel Pride Patrol.

A featured promotion of this year’s TTU Pride Days, the Pride Patrol teamed the university with Magic 98.5 FM to award prize baskets to local businesses that were noticeably decked out in our purple and gold.

First National Bank of Tennessee employees, left, Julie Massa and Thomas Lynn, are awarded a prize package from, right, TTU Marketing Director Tracy Black and Magic 98.5 radio personality Gilley.

Those businesses were Kroger, Toot’s, Community Bank of the Cumberlands 10th Street branch, First National Bank of Tennessee Jefferson Avenue branch and the Chop Shop.

“The purpose of the Pride Patrol is to recognize some of the local businesses that are really showing their TTU Pride in creative ways,” says Tracy Black, marketing director. “We want to encourage an even greater level of community involvement, and we anticipate even more friendly competition for next year’s prize packages.”

Black says she was impressed with the level of creativity shown by the winning businesses.

“Each one was unique, but they were all equally impressive."

Kroger manager Donnie Powell, center, accepts a prize basket from Black and Gilley

Kroger, for instance, built a large, eye-catching display of the TTU logo from soft drink cartons, and Toot’s made an effort to include university memorabilia — such as flags, jerseys and pennants — throughout the restaurant.

Both banks decorated their lobbies in TTU colors. Decorations at Community Bank of the Cumberlands featured columns wrapped in purple and gold, while First National Bank of Tennessee used window paint to draw a cartoon replica of a TTU football player and other university symbols.

The Chop Shop, a new hair salon located near the university, decorated its front window in purple and gold, and stylists even wore TTU T-shirts and purple and gold bead necklaces.

Each prize package included four tickets to the TTU-UT Chattanooga football season opener, as well as TTU pompoms, plastic mugs, letter openers, key chains, luggage tags, decals and stickers, pens and notepads, combination locks and more.