One grandfather has taken tradition to the next level. Every year Ewen Cameron sets up his Christmas village at his house with his grandchildren helping him set it up, as the grandchildren grew up there was less excitement each year and Ewen wanted to change that. Ewen and his daughter, Kim Chenard the owner of Crazy Beautiful Dresses in downtown Pembroke decided to move the village to her store.
Ewen’s village has been growing every year for over 15 years and this year marks the first that the village is in the store front window. To make it more interactive for by passers, they created a ‘look and see’ game. They have a list of items to search for in the village, “so many young children are coming up to the window to find all the items. It is truly magical to see how our family tradition can bring joy to the rest of the community now,” said Chenard.
Kim Chenard explains why they chose to put the village in the storefront window, allowing the community to view the village and enjoy it as much as their family does.
Ewen Cameron tells myFM that his village grows every year with more buildings, his favourite piece from his collection would be the train station.
It took roughly a couple hours to set up, Kim stated that with a lot of helping hands and a bribe of pizza it got finished in time for the Santa Clause Parade. Their main display this year was the train, which was on a track and went around the village, it made a good fit with the theme of this years parade “The Pembroke Express: A Voyage to the North Pole!”
Kim explains that with having a day care upstairs, she knows that they look forward to her front window displays. “When I new I was moving into this location and it had a front window I new I had to make it count,” said Chenard.
Make sure to check out the Pops Christmas Village located in the Crazy Beautiful Dresses front window. If you end up missing it don’t worry, this is their new tradition, so get ready for next year!
(Written by: Emma Butler)