As a family tradition each year Wes Meyer and his wife Shelli, along with their children Sierra and Shay, set up their “Colonial Village” holiday display which the couple began collecting when they were engaged. It is currently on display on Railroad St. in downtown St. Marys.

By Amy Cherry
Daily Press Staff

    A village complete with a town square, skating pond, churches, numerous homes, a variety of people and Santa and his reindeer flying over head may very well describe St. Marys, however all of the above are part of the Meyer family’s “Colonial Village” holiday display.

Those passing by the former Suzy’s storefront on Railroad St. in downtown St. Marys have likely seen the special Christmas village in the front window. The village belongs to Wes Meyer and his family, who have been collecting pieces for over 10 years.

    “We set it up every year at Christmas time,” according to Meyer. “It goes up just after Thanksgiving, except for this year when we wanted to have it up by Light Up Night, and comes down in January.”

    According to Meyer the village outgrew their home two years ago during which time Meyer began displaying it in downtown St. Marys. Last year the display was set-up at the new St. Marys Area Chamber of Commerce building.

    Each year Wes and his wife Shelli along with their children Shay and Sierra help set-up the village. This year Meyer’s parents, Joe and Sue also lent a helping hand.

    “Because the window was a completely different shape than any I had set up in before, the platforms had to be set up from scratch,” Meyer explained. “My dad built the wooden platforms during the day, while I was at work, and we would set them up at night.”

    Meyer added that he is especially thankful for Don Fleming for the use of the storefront window.

    The Meyer’s typically spend a week setting up the village, which was originally manufactured by the Lefton Company.

    “My favorite part of the display is the Village Square, where the big Christmas tree is located while Shelli likes the ice skating pond with the lights around it. The kids each have figures that are their own.” Meyer noted. “Everyone loves the flying Santa and reindeer.”

    The Meyer’s began collecting the village after visiting The Christmas Store as they passed through Smethport while visiting his wife’s family in Shinglehouse. The engaged couple decided to begin collecting the village collectibles and purchased two pieces during their initial visit to the store.

    “The village grew by leaps and bounds in the first 5-10 years as my family would give us new buildings or figurines as Christmas presents,” Meyer said. “We really slowed down once it got to be too big for the house, but now have window space downtown.”

    Several years ago the Lefton company stopped making new village pieces, leaving the Meyer’s searching e-Bay and other online collectible stores to find new pieces.

    Meyer said the family typically adds a new building and figurines each year to the village collection.

    As with any collector Meyer has his heart set on one particular piece entitled “Lakehurst”, which he has been researching for the past several years.

    “It was a limited edition building that is very hard to find. I may spend the rest of my life trying to track it down and buy it,” Meyer said.