Newspaper family paints to spread Christmas cheer
By Jennifer Lane
Editor
The Christmas tradition of painting the Hardin County Independent windows began long ago with the late Betty Hurford. She was the former and late editor Noel E. Hurford’s wife, and mother of Julie (Hurford) Farley and Susie (Hurford) Williams.
Not only was Betty one of the greatest grandmothers there ever was, she was a very creative person who loved to paint, sew, craft, and arrange flowers. Painting the windows was a wonderful way to make their business look perfect for the holidays.
Betty included her grandkids in many of her activities. She shared this tradition, creating many good memories with them. She has painted a variety of things at Christmas but one year she painted a huge turkey along with a message on the window at Thanksgiving.
My sister Heather and I want to keep the tradition going, so we continue to paint. Hopefully someday our kids will continue it, along with putting out a weekly newspaper.
The kids love to paint the windows and always feel good about how it looks. They get lots of honks and waves from people driving by, probably excited seeing kids doing a great thing in the community and sharing Christmas Spirit.
This year we painted the windows the day after Thanksgiving. My sister, Heather Rash and her three children Aida, Cazz, and Weston painted, along with our Aunt Susie Hurford Williams. My 16 year old son, Sean, dropped in for a while (probably to make me happy) to help 5 year old Weston, but then he was off to celebrate a belated Thanksgiving with his girlfriend Alexandria. My youngest son Luke didn’t have an interest in painting this year, so he stayed home. Hopefully he will be back next year. I missed him. My husband, Tony Lane, was there to provide moral support and take pictures of the action.
What we hope to gain from this experience is to share tradition, make good memories, create beautiful art, and inspire others to get out and do something that makes others feel good. We hope you enjoy seeing the paintings. Merry Christmas!
