The " A Favorite Christmas Gift" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Going through the gifts I had received this year for Christmas.  I was lucky enough to have received a few wonderful gifts and was deciding which was my favorite.  Could it be the birdhouse that my son got for me or could it be the soft winter socks my wife bought for me?  How about the gift card for a few car washes from my oldest son or maybe it was the Polarizing filter I got for my camera.  Then I picked up the small black box and opened it once again.  This was perhaps my favorite this Christmas season.  Inside the box was an ornament depicting the gate of the Hamilton Watch Company in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  It is crafted in solid brass plated in 24-karat gold and was one of a limited edition made of the Hamilton Watch Company which is the eleventh in a series of ornaments made by LEADS (Lancaster's Economic Action for Downtown's Success) which is a non-profit organization of volunteers that try to make Downtown Lancaster a more attractive place to live, work and shop.  Other ornaments had featured the Watt & Shand Department Store, J.P. McCaskey High School in Lancaster, the Fulton Theatre and Lancaster's Central Market which is the oldest farmer's market in the United States.  It was back in 2000 that LEADS began their flower basket decorations on every lamppost in the downtown area.  They also deck the lampposts during the holiday season with lighted garland, wreaths and snowflakes.  The financing for these projects comes in part from the sale of the limited edition ornaments.  

Ornament of the Lancaster Train Station made in 2017.

I only found out about the ornaments last year when I purchased one of the ornaments of the Lancaster Train Station for my friend Jere and was given one by my wife for Christmas last year.  The ornaments have been a big hit and sell out quickly.  This year's ornament of the Hamilton Watch Company is special to me since my mother worked at the factory during WWII when they produced munitions for the war effort.  

This year's ornament features the gate of Hamilton Watch Co.

The building was completed in 1875 and became the head- quarters for Hamilton Watch from 1892 to 1980.  Today it is a luxury apartment complex.  The four-story building is topped with a mansard roof trimmed with copper and a clock with four faces.  It is shaped like the letter "E" with towers on the corners.  It was built in the Art Deco-style in brick and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.  The iconic gates are depicted in the ornament that my wife bought me.  It hangs in a prominent spot on our Christmas tree.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.