Judge delivers Christmas tidings of good cheer

Second District Judge Thomas Kay spent part of his afternoon on Thursday as he does every Christmas, delivering a special holiday message filled with original poetry and traditional carols.

But Kay's audience was not his family or friends. Instead, Kay and his wife, Kathy Kay, drove through the falling snow to spend a portion of their holiday with inmates at the Davis County Jail.

A group of 29 women, clad in their orange- and blue-striped uniforms, participated in the program, which was held in the jail's chapel.

They listened as Kathy Kay read from the book "A Christmas Dress for Ellen," they laughed at Thomas Kay's jokes and they sang along to "Jingle Bells," "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" and "Silent Night."

"If this makes their day a little nice it's a good thing to do," Thomas Kay said.

Thomas Kay's annual Christmas visits to the jail started 16 years ago. He said he was moved to act after reading Matthew chapter 25, verse 36 in the Bible, which reads "Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me."

He said he contacted the jail to see what, if any, holiday program was offered to inmates on Christmas. When he discovered there was none, he decided to offer one himself.

"I don't believe this is going to change their lives, but I think it might help their day," he said.

The bulk of the Christmas program consisted of Thomas Kay's original poems, which he writes each year during the holiday season.

He said he has written 46 poems, dating back to December 1993, and the most difficult part is always choosing the first words.

"Usually if I can get the first line of a poem, I can get the poem," he said.

He read more than a dozen poems on Thursday, most of which were inspired by Bible and Book of Mormon accounts of the birth of Jesus Christ.

"I like to call the night that Jesus was born as the greatest night on Earth," he said.

Kathy Kay said Thursday was only her third or fourth time accompanying her husband to the jail. She said when their children were younger, she would stay home with the kids while Thomas Kay visited the inmates.

"These people here are just like the rest of us," she said. "They just made some bad choices and they need to have something for their Christmas to brighten the day. We're glad to be able to do that for them."

Shaylee Cutler, an inmate, said it was nice to be able to commemorate the holiday.

"I thought, 'I'm going to get to do something for Christmas,' " she said. "And I got pumpkin pie today."

Another inmate, Whitney Waters, said she enjoyed the holiday program.

"I thought I was going to be stuck back there (in the jail) all day so I'm glad I got to come out," she said.

Kathy Kay said her family waits until after the jail visit to open presents. She said her son and his family were back at the house, but they didn't mind losing their parents for an hour in the afternoon.

"They'll be sleeping on the couch waiting for us," she said. "It's no big deal."

bwood@sltrib.com