 "Photo: Kristina Murrill")
Visitors at the Clay Center this weekend will not only get to help celebrate West Virginia's birthday, but they will also see that home is where the art is.
Blenko Glass Company, located in Milton, has produced 142 limited edition vases to commemorate West Virginia's 142nd birthday. The pieces will go on sale at the Clay Center's BB&T Little Shop of Wonders Sunday at 10 a.m.
Blenko Glass Company was founded in 1893 in Kokomo, Ind., by William J. Blenko, who later moved the company to Milton in 1921 because of the town's natural gas price, according to the company's Web site.
The company has been making the vases for West Virginia Day for more than 20 years now, David Osbourne, production supervisor and glassblower for Blenko Glass, said.
Each year, around three to eight styles of vases are reviewed and evaluated. From those styles, one is chosen to produce as the commemorative piece.
Osbourne said choosing which style was not as difficult this time.
"We got it on the first try," he said. "We really had some unique and beautiful pieces of glass to work with this year."
Richard D. Blenko, president of Blenko Glass Company, has signed and dated each piece, according to a Clay Center news release. Osbourne said signed pieces are collectors' items and can be worth a lot of money once purchased.
The pieces are expected to sell quickly because of their popularity, especially among collectors.
While many of the visitors who show up for the event are collectors, not all are local residents.
"We get people from all over the country to come buy them," Osbourne said.
The first 142 people to arrive at the Little Shop of Wonders Sunday at 10 a.m. will receive tickets. Once inside the shop, visitors must turn in their tickets and purchase the vase, which is valued at $120. Only those with tickets are able to purchase the vases.
"We have the biggest and best selection of Blenko glass merchandise in the state, and we are so excited to be able to offer a highly collectible exclusive piece such as this," Adrian Rice, BB&T Little Shop of Wonders manager, said in the news release.
The gift shop is not accepting any holds, discounts or phone or money orders for the commemorative vases.
The shop will be serving coffee and birthday cake as part of the West Virginia Day celebration.
For more information about the event, contact the Clay Center at 561- 3550, or visit www.theclaycenter.org.
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