Kiwanis Club now taking orders for ornaments

Erwin, Tennessee, Valley Beautiful Beacon
http://www.vbbeacon.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2009/07/15/4a5e2743b165c

The Erwin Kiwanis Club is now taking orders for the sixth ornament in the Blue Ridge Heritage Series. The limited edition ornaments, always-popular keepsakes among locals and visitors alike, are sold by the Kiwanis Club to raise funds for its various charitable and civic programs.

Kiwanis President Sarah Bailey told The Beacon the funds raised from the ornaments would go toward the club’s service fund. The service fund is used to support programs such as the Christmas Shopping Tour and to provide shoes and clothing for children throughout the year.
The new park the club plans to build near the Linear Trail in Erwin and many other projects will also benefit from these funds.

“This is a good project because I think it helps a lot with community spirit,” Bailey said about the ornaments.

Kiwanian Don Dutton told The Beacon that the Blue Ridge theme for the ornaments was selected because Blue Ridge appeals to visitors to Unicoi County and to residents.

“We wanted the interest in the ornaments to be broad and we wanted everyone, especially visitors, to see something in the ornament that would be memorable and collectable to them,” Dutton commented. “Blue Ridge is something that people recognize when they think of Unicoi County.”

The wide variety of Blue Ridge patterns also allows the Kiwanis Club to feature a variety of different patterns for their ornaments. The sixth ornament will feature the “Weathervane” pattern, which is one of the many popular Blue Ridge Pottery patterns. Previous ornaments have featured Blue Ridge patterns of apples, poinsettias, Christmas trees, French peasants, and a Thanksgiving turkey.

“Each year we have tried to select something in terms of an image that relates to the season, the area, or the Apple Festival,” Dutton also said.

The ornaments can be purchased for $10 each and all proceeds will benefit Kiwanis Club’s projects. Only 516 ornaments will be available, so reserve yours today before they are all gone.

For many years, ornaments could be purchased at the Apple Festival, however last year very few ornaments were left by the time of the festival during the first week of October. With this in mind, Bailey and Dutton encourage everyone to order their ornaments in advance.

To order, contact Mr. Dutton at 743-4510. The ornaments should arrive in Unicoi County by the end of September. Please remember that by placing an order you commit to buying an ornament.