In a long-standing tradition, the Texas House of Representatives puts up a Christmas tree in the middle of the House chamber at the state Capitol building in Austin. And each year, representatives are invited to take a blank ornament back to their respective districts to be painted in such a way that is reflective of those districts.

“It’s a nice tradition,” Rep. Mike Schofield, who represents the Harris County portion of Katy, said. “But a lot of them give you generic stuff.”

Not so with Katy’s ornament this year, painted by Katy ISD teacher Kimberly Glasgow. She painted the ornament to include three Katy icons: the railroad caboose, rice dryers and painted water tower.

“For us, Kimberly Glasgow created a beautiful ornament that reflects the spirit of Katy,” Schofield said. “It’s a great honor for us to be able to come to the House and hang it.”

Schofield said every year brings a different ornament. Each ornament is the same size, he said, and representatives can have them done however they want. The House publishes an album that enables readers to see the ornaments from each district.

“Every year, we try to get somebody in the district to paint the ornament,” Schofield said. “We try to get an ornament that reflects Katy, and not just Texas. This is a really beautiful ornament and we’ve got a lot of compliments on it already. I was really impressed with her ornament. You can’t get much more Katy than that.”