Click here to listen to
the "Hallelujah Chorus".
In the summer of 1969 my grandfather had
the idea of embellishing his annual Christmas lawn display with a church and village after
the manner of those Christmas cards which often depict quaint villages. His first request
was the church, which he wanted to be "about the size of a dining room table."
As I was only 14 years of age at the time, I considered his request an interesting
challenge. The result was a "church" that was 3' wide and 5' deep. The top of
the roof was 5' high and the steeple made the total height about nine and a half feet. The
church was first displayed on December 14, 1969 and it appeared in the local paper.
In the next few years, I gradually built a "village" of
12 houses. I built 5 in 1970, 2 in 1971, and so on. Some of the houses were designed in
certain historical styles, which included the colonial "saltbox" and a 2 story
house with a protruding upper story. Other styles included the: Mansard roof, Greek
revival, and Gothic revival. The church was also improved, with a bell in the steeple,
loudspeakers for music, and a somewhat realistic interior.
This village was displayed each Christmas season on my
grandparent's front lawn in a small town just outside of Newburgh, New York. It attracted
a lot of visitors, but no vandalism. It appeared again in the local papers in 1971 and in
1972. The last year it was displayed was 1973. The village is gone but the memories
remain. I hope that you enjoy viewing these pictures and drawings.
Click here to listen to
the "Hallelujah Chorus".
Click here to return to Greeting Page.
December 25, 1998