For more than 25 years, Rev. Peggy J. Bonsell, pastor of the United Methodist Church in Warriors Mark, has been collecting ceramic figurines to add to her Christmas collection.
\nThe collection has grown so large that it can no longer be displayed in her Bellwood home. This year, the display was set up in the UM Church.
\n\u201cThree-fourths of all the items either light up, play music, sing or move in some way,\u201d said Bonsell. \u201cThere are four water fountains of one kind or another that are part of the full display, along with a train. The train wasn\u2019t put out this year for lack of room.\u201d
\nAnd the display does take up some room.
\nAccording to Bonsell, the display measures about 40 feet long. She said it took her more than 15 hours to set up the display this year.
\nThe village has been on display at the church since Nov. 29 and will continue to be on display until after the church\u2019s regular Friday night dinner scheduled for this week.
\n\u201cThis is something that people used to come to our home to see each year, but, it has grown so much it isn\u2019t possible to display the village at home anymore,\u201d she said.
\nBonsell said she began her collection when her older son Ken, who is now 29, was just a toddler. Her younger son, 24-year-old Adam, helped her set up the display for many years.
\nShe also said her husband, Gary, each year has added to her collection as one of her Christmas gifts. She said he brought her two new pieces to add this year, along with a church that the congregation gave her for her birthday this year.
\n\u201cThe children\u2019s eyes, as well as adults\u2019, light up when they see the number of pieces that are part of this set-up,\u201d she said. \u201cI have been asked many times if I had a favorite piece or two. Probably the lit church, one of the water falls and the wheel mill with the barn.
\n\u201cBut probably my favorite is the carousel that as music plays, the horses move up and down,\u201d she continued.
\n\u201cThe real joy is having a place to share the village with others.\u201d
\nIn addition to the large ceramic village, the church also opened a new program to the congregation this year, asking them to construct smaller Christmas trees to help decorate the church.
\nBonsell said this was the first year the church sponsored a program like this. She said she asked families to design their trees based on an \u201cOld Fashioned Christmas\u201d theme.
\n\u201cWe wanted the families to make trees that didn\u2019t have any lights and wanted them to incorporate ornaments with special meanings to them.
\nBonsell said there were about 15 families who participated this year and hopes that interest grows for next year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
For more than 25 years, Rev. Peggy J. Bonsell, pastor of the United Methodist Church in Warriors Mark, has been collecting ceramic figurines to add to her Christmas collection. The collection has grown so large that it can no longer be displayed in her Bellwood home. This year, the display was set up in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45187","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news-in-the-tyrone-pennsylvania-area"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45187","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=45187"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45187\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=45187"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=45187"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=45187"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}