Window Painting: A family tradition

Weston Barnard, 7.

Weston Barnard and his aunt, Jennifer Lane.

Weston Barnard and his sister Aida.   (Heather, Cazz, and Luke were unavailable for the picture)

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 week before Thanksgiving on my birthday. We did it after work and it became dark before we were done. We were kind of worried if it would look okay, but we are pleased with the results. My sister, Heather Rash and her three children Aida, Cazz, and Weston painted, along my son Luke who didn’t paint, but hung out with us.
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!