Story by Jerry Sena
The Ashe County Chamber of Commerce is continuing its seasonal tradition
of offering a new Christmas ornament each year honoring local institutions
and historical sites.
This year’s offering will feature something old and something
new. The new is Ashe artist Bessie Clay’s beautiful rendering
of the Old Lansing School.
Clay has created all 17 ornaments in the 15-year series, which includes
the historic Ashe County Courthouse, the New River at Sharpe’s
Falls Dam, the Virginia Creeper, the Blue Ridge Parkway; Ashe Central
High School, Beaver Creek High School and Northwest Ashe High School,
Old Ashe Memorial Hospital, Ashe County’s Bicentennial, St. Mary’s
Episcopal Church, Todd General Store, the Arts Council Building, Ashe
Cheese Factory, the old West Jefferson Hotel and Ashe County Volunteer
Fire Departments.
Six of the 17 ornaments are no longer available: Sharpes Falls Dam,
Ashe Central High, Beaver Creek High, the Virginia Creeper, the Blue
Ridge Parkway, and the 1904 Courthouse.
And this year the Chamber is trying something different, packaging
three ornaments together as a gift set. The set of three includes
the newest ornament – featuring the Old Lansing School –
and two past editions, the Ashe Arts Council Building, and the Old
Ashe Memorial Hospital. The trio are packaged for gift giving and
priced at $22.50 for the set.
The most current ornament is $10.50, while past ornaments are $6.
Sales tax is added to each sale. Contact the Ashe Chamber of Commerce
for information, at (336) 846-9550 or, from outside the area, at (888)
343-2743.
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