Well I guess if you can’t beat ’em you join ’em. Thanksgiving is getting closer but still hasn’t arrived yet the carols are winging their way over the airwaves, tree lightnings are taking place nightly, Holiday Parades are stopping traffic and one city is even celebrating the honor of having the first “Mall Santa.”
I guess unless I want to earn the reputation of being Scrooge or the Grinch or just a run of the mill curmudgeon I’d best stop my Bah Humbugging and get with the program. I don’t want the song title to change from Grandma got Run Over by a Reindeer to Dusty got Run over by a Reindeer because I couldn’t get in the spirit of the Holiday Season before Thanksgiving.
As I was mulling this decision over I heard on the news that Jordan’s Furniture of Avon, MA (Home of MOM, the Motion Odyssey Movie) had once again set up their Enchanted Village display. This is unique because it is an animated display of antique figures.
Originally commissioned by the Jordan Marsh Company in 1958 the display was a cornerstone of the holidays in the downtown crossing section of Boston right up until 1972 when Jordan Marsh closed the display.
From 1972 until 1990 the display was conspicuously absent but finally after 18 years, the figures were resurrected and the Enchanted Village was once again a part of the Boston Holiday Scene.
But a blissful happy ending was not to be. In 1998 Macy’s purchased Jordan Marsh and the display was sold to the City of Boston for use on City Hall Plaza but due to lack of funding the display was moved to the Hynes Convention Center. By 2006 the city had stopped displaying the Village altogether. It would appear that like so many small villages the Enchanted Village would be doomed to obscurity. In 2009 the Village was put on the auction block. The end was surely in sight!
But like the very best Christmas story or Fairy Tale a savior came riding to the rescue in the person of Elliot Tatelman of Jordan’s Furniture.
The Mantra of all the Jordan’s Furniture stores has always been to provide the customer with entertainment while making shopping in their stores fun.
The remainder of the Enchanted Village could not have found a better home. The 59 surviving mechanical figures have been lovingly restored and are displayed right in the store in Avon each year during the holidays. They even went so far as to install snow machines so that artificial snow drifts down as you stroll through the little Village.
Photographers greet you as you enter and at a 2nd station within the village so that you have the opportunity to purchase a memento of your visit. Traditional recipe Blueberry muffins are available for purchase near the entrance and exit of the display.
The Enchanted Village is free. Yes that’s right FREE! But if you have a little extra to spend you can take in a laser show or an abbreviated 3D experience on MOM featuring the Polar Express. Not a bad way to spend a morning or afternoon to get into the spirit of the holidays.
Ho Ho Ho!!!