Kiwanis ornament is all about the bird

The Unicoi County, Tennessee, Erwin Record
www.erwinrecord.net/Detail.php?Cat=LOCALNEWS&ID=58388

They’re here.

The next installment in a collectible ornament series by the Erwin Kiwanis club is now available. This year’s ornament features a turkey, rendered from an authentic Blue Ridge China pattern. The turkey is surrounded by a gold-flashed brass trim that bears the words, “Blue Ridge China” and “Southern Potteries Erwin Tn.” in blue lettering.

This year, the Kiwanis club has ordered more ornaments than ever before, and already the poultry-themed Christmas decoration has proven to be popular.

“They’re going like hotcakes,” said Don Dutton, a former director of the Kiwanis club and director of the ornament project.

This year, the Kiwanis club ordered 576 ornaments, which is double what the club has ordered in past years. Ornaments will be available at a number of locations, including The Erwin Record office at 218 Gay St. in historic downtown Erwin.

If all of the ornaments sell out, Dutton said, a limited number will be available at the Kiwanis club’s Apple Festival booth.

“We ordered more for this year than we did for last year because they sold out very quickly, and we had very few left to offer by the time of the Apple Festival,” Dutton said.

The ornaments’ purpose is fundraising. Beyond covering what it cost to produce the ornaments, all proceeds go towards funding Kiwanis club projects.

The club attempts to keep each ornament in theme with the season, Dutton said, such as featuring Christmas motifs, Thanksgiving motifs, or Apple Festival-themed ornaments. In previous years, the Blue Ridge China ornaments have been an apple, a poinsettia, a Christmas tree and a French Peasant girl. The frame is repeated annually.

“I’ve been told folks are already visiting the various places where they have been placed and are, in fact, getting theirs, because they know there’s such a finite number,” Dutton said.

Five years ago, the Kiwanis club decided to change the theme of the ornaments to Blue Ridge China. A previous theme featured images of the Unicoi County Courthouse, the old train depot, and Unicoi County High School. The club knew, Dutton said, that those ornaments, however, didn’t have universal appeal—unlike the highly sought-after Blue Ridge China.

“We decided to change the motif, five years back, to make them more universally attractive to people who come to the Apple Festival,” Dutton said. “We decided it would be a good thing to make the theme of the ornaments Blue Ridge China, because Blue Ridge China is known throughout the United States and is widely collected.”

The goal is to keep the ornaments both local and appealing. The ornaments are so popular, Dutton said, that a secondary market for them has been created.

“There’s an interest in a lot of people in trying to backtrack and get former editions,” he said.

The Kiwanis club does not sell former editions. The only way to find a previous year, Dutton said, is to find someone who would be willing to part with one.

The goal of the club, Dutton said, isn’t just about raising the money.

“My goal is about selling them all,” he said. “If we have leftovers, that’s something that we’re paying for that isn’t doing anybody any good.”

But the fact that this year there are more ornaments than ever is a good sign.

“We’re moving in the proper direction, every time we anticipate we can sell more,” Dutton said.

The ornaments are available for $10 at The Erwin Record, the Unicoi County Chamber of Commerce, Keesecker’s, and Clinchfield Federal Credit Union.