Davis' Christmas Village Grows With Every Season

BRASHER FALLS - In 1998, Philip F. Davis built a small Christmas village in his home on a desk next to the TV in his living room.

Now 13 years later the village, which this year included 45 pieces and literally took up nearly half of his living room, is nearing completion.

"When I started it was on that desk right over there," he said. "I had six pieces. I have 45 up now and six downstairs that I didn't have room for."

A seventh piece, a donut shop, sat on his dining room table and may work its way into the village next year.

"I bought it at Kohl's in Watertown. It was 75 percent off," he said, adding that the bulk of his collection came from post-holiday sales. Several other pieces were gifts from friends and family members.

As for his original six, "I got my first pieces at Ames in Massena," he said.

Mr. Davis said he decided to build a village of his own, after seeing a piece "in the paper" about someone's Christmas village, acknowledging that when he first started collecting village pieces he had no idea what his collection would one day become.

"I used to buy four, five or six pieces at a time," he said, adding he's now down to one or two pieces per year, "I think we're pretty close to maxing out."

Putting together a village of this size is no easy task, he said, noting that construction begins "sometime around Thanksgiving."

"It takes me two weeks to put it up," he said. "I would like to leave it up year-round, but my wife won't let me," he joked.

As for what other people think of the village, he said, "They're always really impressed. A lot of people come and see it every year and they always find something they didn't see before."

Mr. Davis said he typically leaves the village up until Feb. 1, but this year, he's not quite ready to take it down. "It will probably be up for a couple more weeks. There's still some people who haven't seen it yet."

This year marked a return of sorts for the village, as Mr. Davis said he hadn't been able to put it up the past two years.

Two years ago, Mr. Davis said he had rotator cuff surgery and last year he and his wife spent several weeks in Oswego with their daughter who had been injured in an accident.

"I said, 'This year it's going up one way or another.'"

Mr. Davis has also shared his love of Christmas villages with a friend, who expressed some interest to him in starting a village of his own.

"I had six churches, so I have him one," he said.

And while Mr. Davis' wife won't let him leave the village up all year, he said she really does enjoy it.

"She likes it. She doesn't get involved in setting it up, but she really does enjoy it," he said.