Just in time for decorating your holiday Christmas tree — or if you need a special gift to share — St. Joseph's Home in Springfield is offering its 20th annual city ornament for sale.
This year's ornament was unveiled earlier this autumn and features an Illinois U.S. Route 66 sign, two classic cars, the words "Springfield, IL," and an outline of St. Joseph's Home.
"We are excited to announce that we have partnered with the International Route 66 Mother Road Festival and the Illinois Route 66 Scenic Byway to celebrate the 20th ornament," says Shantel Rotherham, director of development and communications for St. Joseph's Home. This is also the first year St. Joseph's Home can be seen on the ornament, she adds.
"We have collectors who have purchased ornaments every year since the project began in 1993," Rotherham says. "Family and friends purchase (them) for one another every year. They are shipped all over the country. I start receiving calls around August from individuals wanting to know what the ornament will be for the current year and when it will be unveiled.
"There are individuals who have a separate tree in their homes solely for the SJH city ornaments," she says. "We also have collectors who group the ornaments and frame them in sets to hang on their walls in lieu of hanging them on a tree."
In 1948, St. Joseph's Home founder Mother Mary Pacifica Forrestal, OSF, made a statement that sparked the inspiration for this year's ornament, says Rotherham: "Beside throbbing Highway 66, near the junction where life flows to, from, and around our city, stands St. Joseph's Home, haven for the aged."
Each year St. Joseph's Home chooses a local artist to create the ornament. This year's artist was Thomas D. Whalen, a professor at Lincoln Land Community College since 2001. He is also a studio artist and freelance graphic designer. Whalen has designed signage, exhibits and promotions for the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum in Springfield, and clients such as Planet Hollywood, Hard Rock Hotel, and other places.
The ornaments are 24K gold-plated. Each ornament comes in a velvet-lined collector's box and is accompanied by a signed and numbered certificate with a brief historical description of the city landmark or event featured. Only 5,000 are made per design.
The ornament costs $27 at the St. Joseph's Home office at 3306 S. Sixth St. Road in Springfield, or it is available on-line ($32 per ornament) at www.saintjosephshome.org. Or for more information, call (217) 529-5596.
Additionally, the following places have this year's ornament for sale at $29: Bank of Springfield (three locations), Heartland Credit Union, Illinois State Museum, Pease's Candy Shops (three locations), Pleasant Nursery, St. John's Hospital Gift Shop, Tinsley Dry Goods, Vono Medical Supplies, and Wild Bird's Unlimited.
Although some years of ornaments (1993-1998 and a few others) have been retired or have all been sold, several years of ornaments are still available: 1999, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010 and 2011.
To date, the ornament sales have raised nearly $800,000, benefitting the mission and ministries of St. Joseph's Home.