By Stephen Dawkins
MorLyn’s hopes to add a new tradition to the long-established Chilton County Peach Festival.
The jewelry and gift store on Second Avenue North in downtown Clanton is offering a unique, peach necklace and earrings leading up to Chilton County’s most famous event.
“We’re trying to make it so that getting the peach jewelry is something people look for this time of the year,” owner Ann Glasscock said.
Glasscock said she and other family members associated with the business were at a jewelry show in Atlanta when they came across a company selling fruit-themed pieces.
“We wondered out loud whether they could do a peach,” Glasscock said.
Indeed they could, it turned out.
MorLyn’s sold 250 peach necklaces last year—every single one ordered from the company, Chelsea Taylor. Earrings are available alongside the necklaces this year.
“Most everybody who bought the necklace last year is wanting the earrings now,” she said.
Glasscock said a Chelsea Taylor representative told her the peach theme belongs solely to MorLyn’s.
“He said, ‘The peach is yours—we only sell that one to you,’” Glasscock said.
The necklace and earrings are made of sterling silver with Swarovski crystals cemented in. The necklace can be purchased for $60, while a pair of earrings costs $100. Glasscock said the jewelry has been popular with local residents and with natives living elsewhere, as a way of paying tribute to their home. Also, the pieces make good gifts for graduation or Mother’s Day.
Local residents Dian and Jimmy Easterling have done their part in making the jewelry synonymous with the Peach Festival by giving a peach necklace to each of the Peach Queens as a gift. The couple plans to do so again when new queens are crowned this summer.
Of course, MorLyn’s will keep the items on the minds of residents.
“Next year, maybe we’ll add a bracelet or a ring to go with it,” Glasscock said.