Christmas display collects items for homeless shelter
Lucas Page, 6, and his cousins, Brooke, 7, and Mattie, 10, helped set up the annual Page family Christmas display.
When the Page family learned in 2012 that some children will spend their Christmas holiday with their families in the Tuscarawas County Friends of the Homeless Shelter, they wanted to do something to help. The family decided to use their annual Christmas display to help, and they set out a donation box to collect nonperishable food, toys and hygiene items to benefit those at the shelter. Their efforts will continue this year.
The family has found other ways to be involved too. When a family member volunteered recently at the homeless shelter, she found it a humbling experience. While many are lucky to have enjoyed a stable home, some people find their lives spiraling downward due to circumstances out of their control. The shelter is there to help.
The Friends of the Homeless Shelter was founded in 2005. Its mission is to assist families and individuals in a faith-based environment to achieve stability, sobriety and permanent housing.
Services at the shelter, which offers a 90-day program to help people get back on their feet, are constantly improving. The staff can link residents to a variety of services including educational services and skill training to help them better their lives. The shelter has a maximum capacity of 36 people with separate quarters for men, women and five family rooms.
In 2013 the Friends of the Homeless opened a men’s recovery house, Pathway to Wellness, to house up to five men who are recovering from long-term substance abuse and addiction.
The FOTH organization believes in treating people with the respect and dignity they deserve and giving them a hand-up when needed. For more information on the FOTH shelter or how to receive help, visit www.fothtusc.org.
The family of Marilyn Page and her late husband, Jim, had been charming children and adults alike since the mid-1970s with their outdoor Christmas display. Then in 1984 a fire destroyed the family home and most of their Christmas decorations. The display was revived in 1987 and has been a yearly event ever since.
People who see the display, even in its unfinished state, are already in the Christmas spirit.
“I was working on the display last night, and I couldn’t believe the people coming by already and stopping,” Shane Page said. He had turned the lights on to see how parts of the display would look.
In addition to turning the display into an opportunity to help the homeless shelter, the Page family does it for the children who enjoy visiting the display. The display consists of more than 80 cartoon character cutouts, more than 300 blow molds and more than 30,000 lights.
“The kids like it; I do it for the kids,” Shane Page said.
Also helping set up the display is Shane Page’s sons Brayden and Lucas, Tim Page and his children Mattie and Brooke, and Matt Page and his son Seth.
In addition to collecting needed items for the homeless shelter, setting up the display is a holiday family tradition and a way to remember their father, Jim. The family is constantly adding new items to the display through purchasing them at garage sales or making them.
“Mom and I do all the cutouts,” Shane Page said. “I have a projector to trace patterns onto a sheet of wood, and then I cut them out. Mom’s the one who paints them. She has more time.”
This year the family finished changing out some of the blow molds to LED lighting, making the display now 99% LED, saving energy and eliminating the need for any special system to power the display.
The display is an example of something that is more than the sum of its parts. It creates a winter fantasy scene that radiates the peace of the season. Visitors can enjoy a giant nativity set, two choirs, a penguin snow slide, giant lighted holiday candies and a gingerbread house, and reindeer and many Santa figures. The display also contains the original cutout wooden Santa made by Jim Page that was in the original display.
Even with the snowy weather that hit the area earlier this week, Shane Page planned to have the display finished and lit by Friday, Dec. 4. The display will be lit Sunday through Thursday from 6-9 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 6-10 p.m. through New Year’s Eve.
The home is located just off state Route 416 at 2200 Goshen Valley Road SE, New Philadelphia, in Goshen. Goshen Valley loops back to state Route 416, so visitors can easily drive back to the highway without having to turn around.
Those wishing to donate items to the homeless shelter should look for a small red house near the driveway to place their donations. The donations are removed nightly.
The Page family light display is one tradition everyone in the community enjoys. Although many things have changed this year due to COVID-19, the annual Page Christmas display will stay the same, and for that we can all be thankful.