Lynn Crosses among Kiwanis commemorative ornaments this year

Published 2:53 pm Thursday, November 10, 2022

By Danielle Morin

Elizabethton Star

The Kiwanis Club of Elizabethton is continuing a two-decade-long tradition this Christmas season.

The club is selling specially crafted Christmas tree ornaments commemorating well-known landmarks throughout Carter County. Included in the selection are scenes representing the Elizabethton Covered Bridge, Carter Mansion, Tweetsie Trail, and Sycamore Shoals State Historic Park. The club also has an ornament commemorating City Junior High, a historic school in Elizabethton now known as T.A. Dugger Junior High School. And, new this year, the club has released a Lynn Mountain ornament complete with the words, “Merry Christmas,” below three crosses just like those that can be seen on the mountain’s ridge.

The ornaments are sold with descriptions and history of the scene being depicted, and offer a more personable Christmas decoration for Carter County residents, allowing them to support their local Kiwanis Club while remembering important landmarks within their own community.

Kiwanis Club Treasurer Jared Tetrick said the ornament sales will go to fund various projects throughout Carter County, most notably improving the lives of children within the county. “We have one goal — working to make our community a better place for children to live.”

The Kiwanis Club has multiple outreach projects among Carter County’s schools. It sponsors K-Kids at West Side, East Side, and Harold McCormick Elementary Schools; the Builders Club at T.A. Dugger Junior High School and Keenburg Elementary School; and the Key Club at Happy Valley, Elizabethton, and Unaka High Schools. Tetrick said the clubs are designed, “to instill service leadership in children at every age.” With The Kiwanis Club sponsorships, members of the different clubs are encouraged to plan and fundraise outreach projects within their own communities. The ornament sale is just one way that the Kiwanis Club can raise funding as it continues to find avenues for empowering and improving the lives of children in Carter County.

Tetrick says the popular ornaments are selling out fast this year, a good problem to have. The Kiwanis Club ornaments can be purchased at Northeast Community Credit Union, Elizabethton Federal Savings Bank, the Elizabethton-Carter County Chamber of Commerce, and Happy Valley Memorial Park for $10 a piece, while supplies last.