For more than two decades, Owensboro Mayor Tom Watson has made it a holiday tradition to bring Christmas cheer to the Daviess County Detention Center. This year was no different, as a crowd of local faith leaders, musicians, and community members gathered inside the facility to sing carols, read scripture, and share testimonies with inmates.
“This makes my Christmas every year,” said Watson, who helped start the tradition nearly 20 years ago with a group of volunteers, including musician Bob Meythaler, who plays keyboard for the event. “I just fell in love with it a long time ago. If I’m able at 75, I’m going to keep doing it until I can’t.”
Held in the jail’s chapel — originally built during former Jailer David Osborne’s tenure and championed by Tom Turner — the event featured a mix of classic Christmas songs, including “Jingle Bells” and even a spirited version of “The 12 Days of Christmas” sung by selected inmates. Watson said they distribute lyric sheets and encourage participation, even enlisting inmates for solos based on their vocal range.
“We do it to show them we haven’t forgotten them,” Watson said. “Everybody stubs their toe in life. Some of us didn’t get caught, some did. But this reminds them someone still cares.”
Daviess County Jailer Art Maglinger, who took over in 2017, said the tradition has continued to grow, with this year marking the first time a formal service was also organized for the female inmates. That event is scheduled for Tuesday, with support from local women involved in rehabilitation ministry.
“It’s really special,” Maglinger said. “They have to be away from their families at times because of their circumstances. This is really impactful to them, very meaningful — and it wouldn’t be possible without our staff helping facilitate it.”
Maglinger said this year’s program included a Gospel message from Pastor Greg Faulls of Bellevue Baptist Church and a powerful testimony from Austin Hafele, a former inmate who now works as a barber in Evansville.
“He’s someone with a past, someone who maybe draws a few raised eyebrows — face tattoos and all — but he’s undergone a true transformation in Christ,” Maglinger said. “I wanted the inmates to hear that story. It’s real, it’s powerful.”
Watson said the group doesn’t formally organize the list of attendees.
“People just start calling. Whoever shows up, shows up,” he said. “We’ll sing, we’ll read scripture, we’ll laugh. We’ve even had women join us in the past few years. I love it.”
