Family collects donations for the homeless shelter
The original waving Santa that started it all in the mid 1970s can be seen at the center of the display.
There is much work that goes into the Page family Christmas display, not only at the holidays but all year round, including traveling out of state to pick up decorations.
Shane Page is always checking sites online for items to add to the display. He recalled an eight-hour trip each way that once went deep into Michigan to pick up some decorations he had purchased. He pointed to some of the lantern decorations adorning trees on the hillside of the family home. The lanterns once served as commercial displays that were replaced by the cities they once decorated.
Once again, the annual Christmas display has grown.
“We’ve probably added another 20 to 30 blow molds. Everything is switched to LED now and I’ve added several wireframe sculptures, I guess you would call them, there are some lollipops and some candles. We also have a swamp monster,” Page said. “He looks like a Loch Ness monster with a Santa hat on.”
The swamp monster sits at the top of the hillside display. Also added to this year’s display is an Elf on the Shelf. The display is getting so large that it has expanded to the other side of Goshen Valley Road.
“I put a little bit there, we were trying to clean up over there, but ran out of time. I want to clean it up more next year, and add some stuff over there too,” Page said.
A huge windstorm last year took its toll on the display, so Page hasn’t had the time to make any new wooden cutout decorations. The family makes them by using a projector to trace patterns onto a sheet of wood and then cut them out. Marilyn Page does the painting.
“All that snow and the wind messed some things up and I’ve been trying to repair stuff and get it going,” Page said.
The holiday decorating tradition dates back about a half century, and the Page family has been using the display to collect nonperishable food donations for the Tuscarawas County Friends of the Homeless Shelter since 2012 for anyone wishing to donate. Cash donations and toys are accepted too. The box is emptied each night.
The home is located south of New Philadelphia just off state Route 416 at 2200 Goshen Valley Road SE, New Philadelphia. Goshen Valley loops around back to state Route 416 so visitors can easily drive back to the highway without having to turn around.
Donations were slow to come in last year, but, overall, the family still is able to donate a pickup truck load of food to the Friends of the Homeless shelter each year that they have been collecting.
If you haven’t been by to see the display this year, now is a good time to grab a few nonperishable food items and stop. Donations can be dropped off at the large Snoopy doghouse at the end of the driveway.
The display will be lit Sunday through Friday from 6-9 p.m. and Saturday from 6-10 p.m. through New Year’s Eve.
The display grows each year with the entire family including Marilyn Page; Shane, Trisha, Brayden (Troyer) and Lucas Page; Tim, Katie, Mattie and Brooke Page; and Matt, Tara and Seth Page all pitching in to help.
The display has thousands of lights and other festive items. Christmas carols are played and good wishes for a Merry Christmas announced.
The display takes a couple of weeks to set up beginning on Thanksgiving Day each year.
The Christmas display is a labor of love for the family of Marilyn Page and her late husband, Jim, who began the display in the mid-1970s. They overcame a fire in 1984 that destroyed the family home and most of their Christmas decorations. The home was rebuilt, and the display was revived in 1987. It has been a yearly event ever since.
Setting up the display is a holiday family tradition and a way to remember Jim. The original waving Santa cutout that started it all still has a prominent place in the display.
Visitors will enjoy the new swamp monster and other figures, and a giant nativity set, two choirs, a penguin snow slide, giant lighted holiday candies, large candles, a gingerbread house, reindeer, many Santas and much more.
For more information on the Friends of the Homeless Shelter or to learn how to receive help, visit www.fothtusc.org. The Friends of the Homeless organization believes in treating people with the respect and dignity they deserve and giving them a hand up when needed.