St. Jude Catholic Church Christmas Ornaments already sold out, 100 more to be cast

Havre/Hill County Preservation Commission has already sold out their supply of St. Jude Thaddeus Catholic Church Christmas Ornament, making it among the fastest selling ornaments ever.

"We knew they'd be popular, but we had no idea there would be such high demand," Preservation Officer Becki Miller said.

The first of this year's ornaments was presented to the Rev. Daniel Wathen last week, the afternoon of Sept. 16, and they wnet on sale for $20 each after that.

The ornaments raise funds for Havre/Hill County Preservation Commission projects, like mounting the photomurals on Holden's Hot Wheels and Eagles buildings.

Other projects have included getting the chapel at Camp Kiwanis in Beaver Creek Park listed on the National Register and spearheading work to restore that chapel; getting Havre's historic Masonic Temple Building, now restored as the 305 Building, listed by the Montana Preservation Alliance most endangered list; continueing work to preserve and restore Fort Assinniboine south of Havre along with working with the Fort Assinniboine Preservation Association; and erecting a plaque to show the site of the first building used on the Montana State University-Northern, then Northern Montana College, campus. 

Miller said the funds help with the commission's efforts.

"It's something that we started about 10 years ago, because we wanted to have some fundraising money to be able to do preservation projects here in Havre and Hill County," she said.

She said the artist who made this year's ornaments is casting another 100 of them and she's hoping they will be available by the end of the week. 

She said people interested should watch the Havre Area Chamber of Commerce and St. Jude's Facebook pages to get the latest information.