'Very special to us': Last Christmas on display for model holiday village in Winnipeg
A long-standing holiday tradition for one Winnipeg family is coming to an end.
Teresa Vanoutrive has been collecting model houses, shops, carnival rides, and other similar pieces for about 40 years with the help of her husband Brian, who wired all of the lighting for their expansive Christmas display.
"I owned and operated a daycare, and one of the daycare children gave me a small Christmas house so I made a big deal of it," said Vanoutrive. "My little table it was on all of a sudden became a bigger table, and bigger. Every year people kept giving me houses, and then eventually I started buying houses myself and creating the village."
The Christmas village at Fred Douglas Place is on display for the final time this season (Image source: Zach Kitchen/CTV News Winnipeg)
Each Christmas season the two painstakingly set-up the sprawling village at Fred Douglas Place to share a little holiday magic with friends, family, and even strangers.
"We actually had two officers stop in here the other day - two beat cops - and they said 'We heard on the street that this place has a huge village,' so they stopped in to have a look at it.
But now the couple say this is the last Christmas for their village. They plan to sell off the collection, either as a whole, in sections, or piece-by-piece.
The Christmas village at Fred Douglas Place is on display for the final time this season (Image source: Zach Kitchen/CTV News Winnipeg)
Vanoutrive said it has been a wonderful holiday tradition over the years.
"It's just really nice to see the reactions of all the people and everything. That's very special to us."
The Christmas village at Fred Douglas Place is on display for the final time this season (Image source: Zach Kitchen/CTV News Winnipeg)
The Christmas village at Fred Douglas Place is on display for the final time this season (Image source: Zach Kitchen/CTV News Winnipeg)
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