The Executive Mansion, home of Virginia’s Governor and First Family, has announced that theme of the 2015 Mansion Holiday Tree is Celebrating Virginia’s Localities.”   An invitation has been extended to every county, city and town in the Commonwealth to participate by providing a handcrafted ornament for this tree.

The County of Prince Edward invites all artists and artisans, 18 years and older, to consider submitting a handcrafted ornament for judging which will be held the first week of October.  All ornaments need to comply with the 80/20 rule, in that 80% of the workmanship needs to be “touched” by the designer, and cannot be purchases or otherwise copyrighted by someone else.  Ornaments must be representative of Prince Edward County – what does this community mean to you?  A full listing of the rules can be found at: www.co.prince-edward.va.us.

The winning submission will be displayed on the Governor’s Holiday Tree, and all other entries will be displayed on the Christmas Tree at the Heartland Regional Visitor Center.   The Mansion officially opens for the holidays on the evening of December 4 for the Capital Tree Lighting with an open house for the general public immediately following.  The tree will then be available to view during tour hours throughout the holidays.

All entries need to be submitted to the Heartland Regional Visitor Center (across from Macado’s) at 121 East Third Street, and arrive no later than 4 p.m. Monday, Sept 28.   For more information, call (434) 392-1482.