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Magical Christmas display keeps Timmins man young at heart

'It keeps my kid inside alive, wild and kicking,' says Sylvin Lacroix

Sylvin Lacroix is bringing the Christmas spirit to life with a magical Christmas Village display set up inside his house.

It has been a hobby of Lacroix and his wife Darla Fiset for 30 years now.

What started with five trees, three houses, a cottage, a grocery store and a hardware store, carolers and a few little Bonhommes has since expanded into a large village display with more than 73 houses, 12 rides, 250 Bonhommes, 100 cars, and animals.

For Lacroix, seeing the Christmas village reminds him of his childhood, spent in Rouyn-Noranda, Qué., and it keeps his inner child alive.

“It keeps me young,” Lacroix said. “It keeps my kid inside alive, wild and kicking.”

Christmas has always been an important holiday for Lacroix, which, according to him, goes with his faith.

This year, the display went up earlier because of COVID-19 and will stay up for as long as possible, Lacroix said. It took eight days to set the figurines up. The work started Nov. 1.

“Usually, we start a lot later than we did this year but with COVID and me being on sick leave for mental health issues, we decided to do this earlier, so we can enjoy it and really take COVID and everything out of the way,” Lacroix explained.

Adorned with tinsel and LED lights, the village features a town centre with a church and a train, a farm, a school, a fire department, a circus with rides and the North Pole. A figurine of a fishing boat separates the town centre from the circus. Miniature figurines are spread out across the village: some are watching the carnival rides, some are skating or riding, others look as if they’re buying Christmas trees.

This year, Lacroix added two new rides to the display: The Spinning Snowflake and The Lost Rafters, bought from Lemax.

He said he buys figurines online, from other people or from stores. Othe figurines he bought while travelling. A polar bear figurine, for example, was purchased at the Cochrane Polar Bear Habitat, while a giraffe comes from Lacroix’s trip to the African Lion Safari in Hamilton. There is also a German ornament bought at Santa’s Village in Bracebridge.

Lacroix pointed at a sand truck, a police car and a fire truck from A Christmas Story movie before proceeding to show a shelf full of Christmas DVD collections.

“I’m a big, big fan of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. I have don’t know how many copies and I watch, and to me, that represents what Christmas is,” he said. “No matter if it’s faith or not, it should represent a new beginning, the end of the year and hope you have a better year. I watch Christmas movies, (listen) to Christmas music.”

Last year, Lacroix and Fiset discussed opening their home to the public for one evening but this year they decided not to take any chances due to the pandemic, he said.

Throughout the years, the village has cost Lacroix more than $10,000, so he had to put special insurance on it, he said.

Lacroix likes to sit down and look at the village for hours.

“I see my youth. I'm what people call a Christmas freak because to me Christmas, until my death, will be a very important part of the season,” he said. “I remember when I was young living in Rouyn-Noranda, there was a little Italian store and a guy was putting his Christmas lights in front of his store on the last Saturday of November. And I knew that, I was grabbing a chair, sitting in a corner and I could look at people putting Christmas lights for hours. That’s what it brings me.”


Dariya Baiguzhiyeva

About the Author: Dariya Baiguzhiyeva

Dariya Baiguzhiyeva is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter covering diversity issues for TimminsToday. The LJI is funded by the Government of Canada
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