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Posted by: Shannon_Lacroix on 11/16/2009 12:58 PM
Updated by: Shannon_Lacroix on 11/24/2009 11:53 AM
Expires: 01/01/2014 12:00 AM

A miniature Christmas village has a big impact on walkers-by

Jeannine Racicot makes adjustments to her Christmas village.

Jeannine Racicot is spreading the Christmas spirit - a chance she didn't have as a child - by putting a Christmas village on display for the public every year.

By Shannon Lacroix
theclaw.ca

Jeannine Racicot never celebrated Christmas because she grew up in an orphanage and went from family-to-family from the age of two to 17, but now she’s spreading the holiday joy with strangers passing her house.

The experience of growing up without Christmas made it an important part of childhood for her, so she didn’t want her children to miss out on the season. Now, she said she doesn’t just share the joy with her children, grand-children and greatgrand-child, she also shares it with as many people as she can.

She’s known to many as the ‘village lady’ because of the elaborate Christmas village she builds along with her friend Gina Labbé. The village has become a tradition every year for the two women who joined forces nine years ago to start to build a better village to share with North Bay.

The women met in ceramics class where Racicot built many of the villagers and trees for her village. They decided to work together to be able to bring the Christmas cheer to more people.

“I enjoy it, so I thought I would let other people enjoy it too,” Racicot said.

She used to make a small village in her house, but as she added more and more pieces she felt the need to expand the town, and her husband suggested using the veranda. When Labbé joined in, the village became more and more noticeable.

The response from the public has been overwhelming, she added. One year Racicot couldn’t put up the village and ’fans’ thought she might have died, but now that the village is up for the year she has people knocking on her door telling her how much they enjoy the little town on display. She’s even had pieces given to her to add to her ever-growing collection of houses, snowmen and Santa Clauses. Every year Racicot buys new pieces by saving all her Canadian Tire money for that specific purpose. This year she saved $97 to go to the Christmas cause.

“The reward is there. You know it when you hear kids and families squealing, “Look at that!” during the Santa Claus parade,” she said.

People even park at the garage in front of 1177 Fisher St. (where she lives with her husband) to cross the street and look at the display that changes every year to keep people interested. It also mixes things up for the women while they go to work for the four-hour set-up after brewing some coffee and having some lunch. Racicot thinks seeing the final product is most rewarding at night when she turns the lights on.

“The grand finale is when you push that button and all the lights turn on- that’s the joy,” she explained.

This year, Racicot and Labbé decided to change the location of the display to make it even more visible, so they placed the tables and boxes the village is placed on in the centre of the room, but they hadn’t thought of the amount of space it takes for the screen door to close, and now, it won’t shut. As soon as Racicot discovered the mistake, she called up her friend.

“We just started laughing because it was so funny since I can’t move the whole village now that it’s finished,” she said.

This year the display and its location weren’t the only things that changed. The decorating-duo set up in November as opposed to the end of October thanks to the nice weather. The town stays up until the end of January, with Santa leaving the picture after Christmas to make the village a winter scene instead.

The take-down isn’t a part Racicot relishes since it takes her two hours, sometimes more. But, she adds, it’s worth the effort so that everything is organized for the next year allowing Racicot to prepare everything more quickly before Labbé gets to her house to create the scene of the year that continues to change year after year.

“I love doing this. It’s exciting ‘cause we never know how it’s going to go,” she said.

That, unlike the scene, is one thing that won’t change.