K-Stater’s holiday ornament collection is a conversation starter and foundation of her Christmas tree
Elaine Dunbar ’71 has collected nearly every holiday ornament the K-State Alumni Association has produced. Her collection includes 29 ornaments all featuring an element of K-State pride and holiday fun.
“It’s fairly complete,” she said, acknowledging that she has a few missing.
But she’s always on the hunt to complete the set.
“Every year I look for those, and I buy them for my oldest daughter too,” she said. “I'm on the lookout on eBay or various places, seeing if anyone has the two that I seem to be missing. But you know, it's not a big deal to me to have it all complete and find those two. It would just be nice to have a complete set.”
She’s missing the Van Zile Hall ornament offered in 2000 and the university seal ornament offered in 2008.
Dunbar started collecting the Association’s ornaments in 1993. She first saw them in an ad in K-Stater magazine and thought they would be a neat thing to have for her Christmas tree.
The ornaments are proudly displayed on her most prominent tree. Dunbar’s grandchildren help her set it up.
“They go on the tall tree in my dining room,” she said. “It’s decorated in silver and gold. Most of these ornaments are gold with maybe a touch of purple. So, they fit well on there with the other decorations.”
Among her favorites are the ornaments shaped after campus buildings like Anderson Hall and Hale Library, but she also enjoys the stained glass mural ornament from the K-State Alumni Center’s Tointon Great Room.
Dunbar said she often points out the ornaments on the trees to visiting friends, but her grandkids are the ones who really seem to enjoy them.
“It’s kind of a conversation starter,” she said.
The K-State connections run deep for Dunbar and her family. Her husband, Ron Dunbar, also attended K-State. They are life members of the Alumni Association and active members of the Franklin County Friends of K-State.
“It's a great way to stay connected with people at events, and getting the magazine seeing what the news is about campus and about people that are on campus now, or alumni,” she said. “It just allows us to keep in touch. And I use the calendar every year. It's got everything on it of our activities for the year, not only the K-State things, but our family activities that are going on.”
Their children, Janna Dunbar ’00, Aaron Dunbar ’02 and Ashley Dunbar Hayden ’05, all graduated from K-State and are life members of the Alumni Association.
Dunbar hopes her grandchildren will also one day attend K-State. Perhaps they’ll start an ornament collection of their own.
Purchase a K-State Alumni Association holiday ornament today.