Christmas spirit fills McFarland house

Published 12:19 am Tuesday, December 22, 2009

One thing George and Joy McFarland aren’t lacking this holiday season is Christmas spirit.

“He used to be a scrooge when it came to Christmas,” Joy said about her husband George.

But, since ‘91 when they were given a couple Dickens’ Village Series decorative houses as Christmas gifts, the McFarlands have a new found love for decorating their house for Christmas.

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Beginning Oct. 1, they take down all of their everyday decorations and begin to put up the Christmas decorations.

“It’s a memory,” Joy said about several of the little Christmas trinkets that decorate her house.

With all the Christmas decorations they have been able to decorate eight different Christmas trees in their house. The biggest tree, which is in their living room, is decorated with ornaments they have received from family members and bought themselves while on camping trips during the last 10 years of retirement.

The other seven Christmas trees each have their own theme. Sitting in their dining room is a tree decorated with ornaments illustrating the 12 Days of Christmas. In their bedroom are two trees, one decorated with cow ornaments, and the other decorated with “Joy” ornaments.

In one guest room is a Snowman tree, while another guest room has an angel tree. In their sun room there’s a Dickens’ tree, and even in her kitchen sitting on the chopping block is a tree decorated with miniature kitchen utensils.

“I do a lot of decorating, but I couldn’t do it without him,” Joy said.

Along with the trees in several of the rooms, there are several elaborate displays George made to exhibit their decorations. For their snowman village he built a snowy mountain made of styrofoam, and he made a mountain for the Dickens’ Village that has a real waterfall made with PVC pipe.

“It’s a lot of hard work, but it’s fun work,” George said.

The Dickens’ Village is the most elaborate of the decorations in their house. Sitting on a table covered with flour to resemble snow and the mountain with a waterfall, are more than 30 of the Dickens’ Village houses, a train track, an ice skating rink and a numerous figurines.

“They all have their own little story,” George said.

With all the hard work they put into decorating their house, they decided 10 years ago to share it with whoever their friends and family wanted to show it to. They’ve had groups as big as 20 people come and tour.

“People keep telling others and bringing more people,” Joy said.

And the couple likes being able to share their love for decorating and see the reactions that their house draws. But most of all they like doing it for themselves.

“It’s been something we enjoy doing together,” Joy said.