{"id":282,"date":"2013-12-13T10:58:14","date_gmt":"2013-12-13T15:58:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/?p=282"},"modified":"2013-12-13T10:24:33","modified_gmt":"2013-12-13T15:24:33","slug":"ornamental-flair-produces-lasting-holiday-tribute","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/?p=282","title":{"rendered":"Ornamental flair produces lasting holiday tribute"},"content":{"rendered":"

Artistry of chief deputy sheriff’s late mother finds appreciative home<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

By Kathleen Brady Shea<\/strong>, Managing Editor, The Times<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\"Chester<\/a>

Chester County Sheriff Carolyn \u201cBunny\u201d Welsh and Chief Deputy Sheriff George P. March scan the tree for their favorite ornaments from a collection handcrafted by March\u2019s mother, Alice March, who died in September.<\/p><\/div>\n

The \u201caha” moment came around Halloween when the newest employee of the Chester County Sheriff\u2019s Office commented on the decorations.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s nothing; wait till you see this place at Christmas,\u201d Chief Deputy Sheriff George P. March said he was told. The passing remark would set up a dramatic holiday d\u00e9cor change for the office.<\/p>\n

March, who had lost his mother a month earlier, was in the throes of helping to divide her possessions among family members, including a voluminous collection of handmade Christmas ornaments that had taken decades to create. For years, March said his mother annually crafted three or four for each of her five children, a network that later expanded to include nephews, nieces and grandchildren. Alice March also kept some for herself, he said.\"\"<\/p>\n

\"Chester<\/a>

Chester County Sheriff Carolyn “Bunny” Welsh shows off the detail on the bottom of one of the ornaments.<\/p><\/div>\n

Anyone who has ever walked through the Sheriff\u2019s Office in close proximity to any holiday knows that Welsh would not turn down such an offer. However, it did present a challenge: the glittery, elaborately beaded creations represented a design departure from the red, white and blue-themed tree that had always anchored the sheriff\u2019s front-door display.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>

The Chester County Sheriff’s Office patriotic holiday door display is now anchored by a new box, where residents can deposit U.S. flags they want to retire.<\/p><\/div>\n

Never a proponent of the \u201cless is more\u201d school of holiday decor, Welsh crafted a solution that added March\u2019s sparkling embellishments without sacrificing the patriotic theme. The tree was moved to the inside lobby of the Sheriff\u2019s Office, where it serves as \u201ca tribute to the entire March family,\u201d Welsh said.<\/p>\n

Outside the office door, a recently acquired box for residents to deposit worn U.S. flags sets the tone in bold red, white and blue, enhanced by a flag-festooned garland, wreath and Santa.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn my view, Christmas should be about family as well as patriotism,\u201d Welsh said. \u201cI\u2019m delighted that this worked out the way it did. These ornaments are spectacular. The time they must have taken for that kind of detail is amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Carefully cradling a small, beaded boot, Welsh turned it over to show the intricate work on the bottom. Then she demonstrated how an oil lamp replica was built so that it revolves. \u201cWhen we first unwrapped these, I couldn\u2019t believe it,\u201d she said, explaining that she lined them up on a table so she could photograph them.<\/p>\n

March said the opportunity to see other people react his mother\u2019s handiwork has given him a new appreciation for the ornaments\u2019 artistry. \u201cI\u2019m definitely looking at them differently now,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Artistry of chief deputy sheriff’s late mother finds appreciative home By Kathleen Brady Shea, Managing Editor, The Times The \u201caha” moment came around Halloween when the newest employee of the Chester County Sheriff\u2019s Office commented on the decorations. \u201cThat\u2019s nothing; wait till you see this place at Christmas,\u201d Chief Deputy Sheriff George P. March said […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":293,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,8],"tags":[235,236],"class_list":["post-282","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-featured","tag-chester-county-sheriff-carolyn-bunny-welsh","tag-chief-deputy-sheriff-george-p-march"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=282"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/293"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=282"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=282"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/downingtowntimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=282"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}