CHARLESTON, W.Va. — First Lady Cathy Justice’s 2023 Limited Edition Christmas Ornament depicts the joyful spirit that children bring.
The ornament was unveiled Tuesday during a celebration at the West Virginia Culture Center, and Cathy Justice was joined by Governor Jim Justice and Department of Arts, Culture, and History Curator Randall Reid-Smith to reveal its design.
Two West Virginia artists responsible for creating and designing the 500 ornaments were also there at Tuesday’s unveiling, Tamarack’s glass blowing artist John DesMeules, and local painter Christie Saunders. 
The event also featured a sneak-peak of the Children’s Theater of Charleston’s new holiday show performance of “Mr. Scrooge.”
Cathy Justice said the ornament was somewhat inspired by her involvement with the state’s Communities In Schools drop-out prevention program which helps motivate kids to stay in school, but she said ultimately, the inspiration comes from the children themselves.
“There are so many children here, which represents what the ornament is really about and how proud of them we are,” Cathy Justice said. “We want their success to never end and they just go on to do whatever they want to do.”
She said the ornament also continues to represent the art, culture, and history of the state, with this year being designed from hand blown glass, reflecting the state’s rich tradition of glassmaking. In the past, the ornament has been made using steel, coal, and wood.
The image on the ornament depicts two children with a teddy bear standing around a Christmas tree. Saunders was charged with painting the 500 ornaments, and she said she was inspired by a sense of nostalgia from her own childhood.
“I instantly thought back to when I was a little girl and decorating the Christmas tree at my house, and then one of my favorite toys I got as a small child was a teddy bear,” Saunders said.
Saunders said DesMeules created the ornaments at his glassblowing workshop at Tamarack in Beckley, and they would be picked up and brought to her to paint.
She said she started out with a silhouette of the image depicted on the ornament and from there began adding color.
Saunders said it took her about 160 hours to paint all 500 of them, but it was well worth the task.
“It was exciting, each one of them, to hand paint,” she said. “I set up an assembly line and put the trees on, and then worked through just each little segment.”
Saunders said she hopes those who purchase the ornament to hang on their trees this year can also look back on their childhood’s fondly, as well. 
“I hope that it takes them back to their childhood and it reminds them of being young and what Christmas was back then, it was so simple back then, and you know, we were happy if we got a teddy bear,” Saunders said.
Cathy Justice said she believes children have the potential to do anything they put their minds to, and she was happy the ornament could represent that this year.
“We want children to feel good about themselves, we want them to feel like they can do anything in life they want to do and they have the support to do it, so we just wanted to honor the children of West Virginia this year,” she said.
She said to call the Culture Center at (304)-558-0220 immediately to reserve an ornament as it’s the only place in the state to buy them and they will be going fast.