INSIDE: CHRISTMAS AS IMAGINED BY THE KIDS WHO READ KTW
DE K A M L O O P S
SLEDDING 3 MILE: A Christmas story of childhood exhilaration Page A3
CHRISTMAS EVE
Monday, December 24, 2012 X Volume 25 No. 102
Kamloops, B.C., Canada X 30 cents at Newsstands
ACTS OF KINDNESS: A Christmas story to share with others Page A10
THIS WEEK
Thompson River Publications Partnership Ltd.
A Merry Dickens Christmas in Kamloops By Andrea Klassen STAFF REPORTER andrea@kamloopsthisweek.com
T
he house on the corner is, by comparison, unassuming. Two storeys, topped by a gabled roof, with a bay window in the front. A small placard hangs by the front door, announcing it as the home of “Tutbury Printer.” None of the pieces move and none of the household activity is visible through the handpainted windows. But, in Karen Chayeski’s village, Tutbury Printer holds a place of honour as the house that started it all. Without the house, there would be no harbour scene in the fireplace, no Christmas-Carol tableau in the den,
no guest book by the front door. And, certainly not the largest display of all, which occupies the Chayeskis’ own bay window from midNovember until the end of the Christmas season. Circled by a model train, the bay-window village is the grandest display of all, home to ceramic replicas of Big Ben, a horse-drawn carriage, a daily newspaper, all manner of townsfolk — and one humble printing shop. Each model is part of the Dickens’ Village Series, a line of handpainted houses and shops with a cult following of collectors across North America. The houses are famous for their detail. Peer through the windows of more recent acquisitions and you’ll see Christmas banquets laid with delicately painted china, fancy ladies and gentlemen hobnobbing in front parlours — even the Ghost of Christmas Past lurking in
an upstairs bedroom. Karen’s introduction into Dickens’ Village life arrived 18 years ago this Christmas, as a present from her daughter, Kimberley, then a “starving student” at Cariboo College. “Number one, plain Jane,” Karen says with a smile at the printing shop, during a tour of the village late one afternoon. “That’s number one in my heart still. This wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t gotten that.” From there, though, the collection spread. Another daughter, Leah, in Calgary, is lucky enough to live near a shop whose Dickens’ Village displays are the stuff of legend, Karen says. And, Kimberley has pitched in several more pieces since her student days ended. X See VILLAGE A4
Ted and Karen Chayeski relish the intricate Dickens Village in their South Kamloops home. The ever-growing village began with a gift from daughter Kimberley 18 years ago. Go online to kamloopsthisweek.com to view video of the amazing village. Dave Eagles/KTW
video-online] www.kamloopsthisweek.com
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