Mansion Christmas ornament features first lady’s favorite holiday flower

The new West Virginia Governor’s Mansion limited-edition holiday ornament was unveiled Thursday at the state Culture Center by First Lady Joanne Jaeger Tomblin.

This is the 5th ornament in the Governor’s Mansion series painted by Logan County artist Shelley Goodman. The ornament has featured symbols of West Virginia in the past, like the state bird, the cardinal and the state animal, the black bear. This year the ornament features a more traditional holiday symbol, the white poinsettia.

First Lady Tomblin said how she chose the design for this year.

“This year we decided we should make the ornament more about the holiday season,” Tomblin said. “It just so happens that my favorite holiday flower is the white poinsettia and that is what we selected.”

Goodman hand paints each of the 750 ornaments each year, starting as early as August to meet the deadline. Goodman said she is extremely proud that the ornaments are a product of the United States.

“The paint on the ornament is from the United States,” Goodman said. “It’s manufactured in the United States, and of course, I hand paint each one in the United States.”

The ornaments are on-sale at the West Virginia State Museum Shop at the Culture Center in Charleston, at Tamarack in Beckley, or online at www.tamarackwv.com.

Tomblin said that a portion of each sale goes to a great cause.

“Some of the proceeds go to the Mansion Preservation Fund, which is used to preserve the furnishings and so forth in the Governor’s Mansion for the future,” she said.