Happy Holidays!!

 

Ho! Ho! Ho!

 

Tomorrow (Nov. 26, 2023) will be the annual Santa Claus parade in Toronto.  This parade is the oldest Santa Claus parade in the world and it is also one of the world's oldest annual parades.  The first official Toronto Santa Claus Parade was held on December 2, 1905 with only 1 float, which was sponsored by Eaton’s.   Eaton’s was Canada’s largest department store chain until it went bankrupt in 1999.   For more details regarding tomorrow’s parade, visit  https://thesantaclausparade.com/.

And apparently, my frequency of updating this blog site is just as often as the annual appearance of Santa Claus .   My excuse, as I have always maintained, is “better late than never”, right??

First off, I have added the latest newsletters to the blogsite.   Charlene has been doing a fantastic job keeping all of our members informed and entertained with the newsletters.  Kudos to her dedications, her timely delivery and a job well done!   You can see what’s happening with our club through our newsletters here. 

Secondly, I have also updated highlights for our meetings so far this year.    Since we have recovered from the Covid pandemic, our club has finally started to have in-person get togethers.  You can see our 2023 meeting details here (in addition to meetings from previous years).

And speaking of meetings, yes, we are having our Christmas/November meeting tomorrow.   We will have our annual potluck lunch, Christmas display contest, penny sale for charity, gift exchanges and much more!   Hope to see everyone there!   

Last but not least, Department 56 is also on the news lately.   They have announced the annual retirement list in early November.   If you have missed that information, you can click on these links to find out what products the company has retired: 2023 Snowbabies retirement list and 2023 Village retirement list.

Now that  some current products has retired, the company is already planning for their replacement in the new year.   Below are sneak peeks of some of the new village products you will be seeing in 2024:

2023 Mid Year Introductions

In addition to new products announced at the start of the year, Department 56 would often introduce new village items in the spring timeframe.   The slate of this year’s midyear introductions is quite small compared to what we have accustomed in previous years.  Only these 2 villages have new lit buildings and accessories: Snow Village Halloween and The Nightmare Before Christmas.  However, since the Snow Village Halloween series was introduced 25 years ago, 2 of the new pieces are created for the special occasion.

Gus Devenyi

It was sad to see another long time member passed away last month.  Gus Devenyi died peacefully on February 9th, 2023 at the age of 86.  He and his wife Helen had been members with the club at the very beginning.  Both were active members until recent years due to health conditions.  Our hearts go out to Helen and her family at this difficult time.

Merry Christmas!!

Most Wonderful Time of the Year

 

It’s the most wonderful time of the year … we are talking about the new product introduction from Department 56, of course!    Although it is not yet official on the Department 56 website, we have sneak peeks of some of the new 2023 village pieces. 

Highlights include 2 lit buildings that are replicas of actual lighthouses in the US and UK, a second addition to the ornament house series in North Pole, a train for the City commuters,  a “skull castle” for the Halloween display and a theatre that premiered the popular movie National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.  What’s your favourite??