St. Jude Catholic Church Christmas ornaments, most popular in a decade, still available

Havre/Hill County Preservation Commission's St. Jude Thaddeus Catholic Church Christmas ornament, is now their most popular ornament ever, having sold more than 200 since it went on sale in September.

Preservation Officer Becki Miller said they ordered another batch of 50 in November and there are still some available at the Havre Chamber of Commerce as well as St. Jude's offices.

The commission has made ornaments like this annually for the last 10 years, but this one is by far their most popular.

The first of this year's ornaments was presented to the Rev. Daniel Wathen the afternoon of Sept. 16, and they went 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; continuing 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 has 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 in September.