The Imagination Library of Daviess County, which picks a local landmark to feature annually with a pewter Christmas ornament, has unveiled this year’s ornament — depicting the Moonlite Bar-B-Q Inn kettle. It is available for purchase now at select stores.
Diane Bowers, chair of the nonprofit’s board, said this year they wanted to shift away from featuring a building.
“Two years ago we did Gabe’s Tower and last year we did the Big Dipper. Those are such icons in Owensboro that, so the path we were going to think around is what’s a real icon [in Owensboro], and there are several,” Bowers said.
The ornaments are currently for sale at The Willow Tree, Crazy Me Gifts & Apparel, and the Western Kentucky Botanical Garden gift shop. They will arrive at Danhauer Drugstore and Simply Chic soon. The ornaments will continue to be restocked through the Christmas holiday and cost $18 at all locations.
Bowers said that over the years people have bought the ornaments and have plenty of treasured memories associated with them. One year she heard the story of how someone met their future spouse on the top floor of Gabe’s Tower.
Each year, the organization has topped the sales for the ornaments and they expect to do so again this year.
All of the proceeds go toward the Imagination Library’s initiative to ensure children from birth to age 5 in the county have books. Bowers said many of the children they are serving would not receive a book until they start school without the program.
“That’s a big deal to instill that love of reading that excitement about books at such an early age because the kids get so excited when they get these books in the mail,” she said.
This year, there are almost 4,000 kids in Daviess County who receive a book through the program every month.
She said that the year-long program is in Daviess and surrounding counties and families that want to sign up can do so here.
