Ornament sales to benefit food bank

The Key, a boutique Havre clothing store, is selling glass Christmas ornaments that have been crafted locally and all the money will go to the Havre Food Bank.

Store owner Jenna Holt said 100 hand-painted glass ornaments have been made this year and they are on track to sell all of them, as they did  wooden ornaments they sold last year.

The round ornaments were painted by employees at The Key, although Holt added that people from outside the store helped as well. Rylee Strauser of Painted Pony and Micky Haney from Montana Sign contributed to making the ornaments complete. All of the ornaments say "406" or "Montana" on them.

The idea for the ornaments, Holt said, came about two years ago when she and Strauser were discussing the shortage at the food bank they had heard about on the radio.

The two friends were all set to buy about $400 in groceries, when, instead, they thought it would be better to invest that money into making the ornaments, selling them for $15 and then giving all the money to the food bank. Sure enough, Holt said, the food bank ended up with a $1,500 check after the ornaments sold.

This year, Holt said, they plan to do the same.

"We're confident we'll sell them all - we try to do it by year's end," Holt said. "They make great gifts."