Doug, Amy and Madison Bowers enjoy sending unique and fun Christmas cards during the holiday season

By Lindsey McMillan Photos by J Bunch Photography

This time of year, families are busy sending out holiday greetings to loved ones near and far. Most are a simple card, one with a family photo, or maybe even include a letter with all the goings-on over the past year. The holiday cards the Bowers family sends are unique.

***Gambling Christmas 2009 – After a few years of the “normal” cards, the Bowers family decided to take a turn off the traditional route and created the Elf getting the best of Santa and the Mrs.***

Flagpole-licking Greeting 2013 – Each holiday season, Doug, Amy and Madison watch their favorite Christmas movies. Topping the must-watch movie list each year is “A Christmas Story.” Inspired by the movie’s “triple-dog dare” scene, they created their 2013 Christmas card.

Since 2009, Doug, Amy and Madison Bowers have sent silly cards in a variety of costumes and poses sharing holiday cheer. Wanting to add a fun twist to their card, they now send approximately 200 cards each December. It has become a fun family tradition and one they look forward to planning a year in advance. Recipients eagerly await their card and are always excited to see what funny picture the Bowers have. Whether it’s a theme from “Tiger King,” “A Christmas Story,” or a reprisal of the American Gothic painting, there’s always something to bring a smile when the card is opened.

Coneheads 2017 – Growing up in the ’80s and ’90s, the Bowers were huge “Saturday Night Live” fans and vividly recalled “The Coneheads.” To recreate the signature-look of The Coneheads, they used Christmas tree skirts as capes and purchased professional, prop-quality coneheads. On picture day, they soon realized that Doug’s conehead was a little tight, and it kept collapsing into itself. To prevent this, they stuffed the tip with paper and cut vents into the conehead to allow it to keep its shape.

Making American Gothic 2019 – American Gothic, an immediately recognizable painting, served as the inspiration for the Christmas card in 2019. Yet, the Bowers family put their own unique spin on the famous portrait of the pitchfork-wielding farmer and woman. Doug thought it would be funny for the family to wear dark eyeshadow and lipstick associated with modern Gothic fashion. In addition, with no pitchfork costume available, Madison had to become a dinner fork instead.

Doug is the City Administrator for the City of Nash, and Amy is the director of human resources and legal affairs at BWI Companies. Madison is a student at Texas A&M University in College Station where she is majoring in Industrial Distribution. It is always a family affair deciding what theme to do for the cards. Now that Madison lives away, they have to plan ahead and usually take their pictures in the summer before she leaves for school. It’s always a closely guarded secret as to what the card will look like, and many friends nag them asking for a sneak peek. Madison has always been involved in the planning, even when she was younger, and her mom praises her for being such a good sport.

Joe Exotic 2020 – Watching the documentary “Tiger King” brought a bit of levity into 2020 for the family. Madison introduced Doug and Amy to the documentary, and she was the driving force in picking this as the family’s Christmas card theme that same year.

The Bowers have worked with several local photographers including April Graves, Miranda Johnson and John Bunch. Their list has continually grown through the years, with everyone wanting one, and two cards are sent to Canada and Taiwan. They hope the tradition will continue through the years to come. It helps get the Bowers family in the holiday spirit and all of those around them.

Feature Stories

Holiday Greetings Put Smiles on Faces