Grandson joins tiny village tradition
The buildings might be miniature, but the holiday spirit is timeless as it spans three generations.
Picture this: a frigid sea shore, water lapping onto the boardwalk connected to the old-fashioned downtown littered with small shops and restaurants, hand-holding children running along the sidewalk singing carols and smoke rising from the brick chimney on top of a snow-covered house.
One’s first instinct might be to picture one’s own hometown during the holiday season, a place filled with warmth, comfort and love. And although this particular village might be inanimate, it is definitely not a far cry from what is real.
Anita Stewart’s mother, Mary McKenzie, started her collection of small holiday-inspired buildings in the 1970s. What began with collecting a few at a time eventually grew into the sizeable Christmas Village it is today. Due to the costly accessories and houses sold by Department 56, who at the time had a monopoly on Christmas Villages, McKenzie’s collection began gradually.
Yet as more companies began to produce and sell similar items, she was able to add to her set at a much faster and cheaper pace. Stewart and her family moved in with McKenzie in 1996 to help her as she grew older. At that point the collection became a joint effort.
Despite her best efforts, Stewart began to find it difficult to maintain the village and, after her mother’s death in 2012, showing the prized collection came to a halt.
Fast-forward to a couple of years ago when her grandson approached her with his pitch to rebuild the village but Stewart was just recovering from surgery.
“I just could not put the village out,” said Stewart.
So that following Christmas her grandson came back to Rome from college to help her restore it to its former glory. After three days the Christmas Village was finally finished. With stores, shops, farms and greenhouses, it also bears an uncanny similarity to Rome, including a city clock and library and even a Romulus and Remus statue.
And to truly embody the holiday spirit, is the plethora of people. There’s “a one-man-band, women pushing baby carts,” said Stewart, “There’s definitely a big variety.”
The collection entails a wide assortment of different figures that make this specific village so unique.
Some of her family’s favorites include the train, the seashore and even a Christmas dog parade.
The Christmas Village has become a focal point in Stewart’s living room during the holiday season, and she holds open houses for friends and neighbors to come see.
“We’ve had about 100 already this year, and expect more,” Stewart said.
Due to size and sentimental value of the Christmas Village, the question of extending it wasn’t considered seriously until now. While at the vet recently, a couple of pet-related miniature buildings caught her eye. Although Stewart hadn’t planned on adding more to her collection she remarked with a laugh that, “One more wouldn’t hurt.”
Rome News-Tribune Night Editor Amy Knowles contributed to this report.