Monday
May 17, 2021
Once upon a Time . . .
. . . before the omni-presence of the internet, the invention of
television, or even the flooding of airwaves with radio, news
was NOT instant. (Shock, Horror, Disbelief)
Hence, the level of excitement caused by the arrival of the "Coach".
Imagine a major event happening in your quiet, little hamlet. The
coachman's trumpet would bellow the clarion call as it approached.
Work would stop. Children and dogs would chase and scream, as if
it was the ice cream man, "COACH IS HERE!"
Carrying passengers from exotic locations, or neighboring villages,
along with mail and newspapers, the anticipated, latest old-news
had arrived! Dominating conversations at the village fountain, was
"Guess what "The Coach" had this week." As a salute to this great
tradition, we present our version (cue the fanfare) and shout -
"Coach is Here"
Who knows who or what it will bring, and . . .
it's contact free with social distancing.
"The Epping Coach is Here!" Time for some Fun!
Oh, by the way . . .
if anyone is cleaning out attics, or estates
and come across ANY old village publications
or collections, please - don't throw them away.
Consider donating them to a good home,
here at The Village Collector.
Yes, it's May.
Probably time to take down your display?
Maybe not.
If you DO take down your display, and have problems
removing building lights, we have an awesome tip
shared by Norm Redpath of the Georgian Bay Villagers.
Thanks so much for sharing, Norm.
Vanessa Taylor, a member of "Our 56 Club" entered
a recent vignette contest with this beautiful display.
Congratulations to her on First Place!
Now it's time to introduce something every villager
needs: the new TVC Secret Decoder Ring.
Click on the ring for our first secret message.
What a surprise to my little naive mind this find was.
I thought EVERY place had Christmas. Even if just
a commercial day or something.
What is truly neat to me is that we have Villagers
visiting here from countries that DON'T celebrate
Christmas. Villaging truly is world-wide!
Thank you for being part of our community.
I do like the coaches. There are many looks covering
a wide range of ideas, from whimsey to high art.
Here's two more examples:
This photo is in the Jim Peters' May 8th column.
Now THAT'S a great example of "cell phone distraction"!
Click on the photo to go to his column without being distracted.
It brought back so many personal memories.
Back in the 80s, I spent two summers on a whale watch
boat, videotaping Humpback Whales for whale research.
What a great gig that was !!!
My Merry Christmas Forum (my hangout) recently
had a survey on "What is your favorite village brand"
The results surprised me:
Department 56 - 60%
Lemax - 20%
Dickensville - 20%
and no other brand received a vote.
I'll bet if the survey was done here, the
results would be a little different. :)
To visit the forum, click HERE.
With no budget, the only way I advertise is
word-of-mouth, flyers, etc. I believe the term now
is "Gorilla Marketing" but I've always just called it
Spreading the Word.
One item I use is a flyer I put up on notice boards.
I'm including a pdf of it in case any readers would
care to put one out. (Well maybe someone will)
You never know what may happen when you
cast your bread upon the waters. :)
I usually print on card stock and
slice between the bottom tags.
FRIDAY
FRIDAY NIGHT
SATURDAY
It's such a tough job!
and now for a serious moment -
PLEASE help save your corner of the world.
We need to wipe out this virus completely before
it mutates into something we can't control.
IT WORKS & IT'S SAFE
Here in the United States, we have two days
to honor veterans. One called "Veterans' Day" in
November to honor ALL veterans, and one called
"Memorial Day" which (as the name implies) is to
honor all those who gave their life for their country.
To most, it just means the start of summer, cook
outs and big sales at home stores and car dealers.
Here's hoping you might think of a little more this year.
As ex-Navy, I'd like to dedicate this to ALL sailors
from ALL COUNTRIES who gave all.
There is a little silence at the beginning to think of
sailors you might have known, followed by the Navy Hymn.
I have a hard time keeping a dry eye during this.
Click on the poster below.
I challenge you to watch it full screen and turn up the volume.
Sometimes ya just need a friend.
Ahh, the P.S. at the end of a letter.
An after thought, a few random items to leave
a smile on your face, or an idea to ruminate on,
or whatever I can find that seems fun. Here ya go -
Lit Village Collectors are awesome and everywhere!
The "Village Video" page is where we prove it.
What comes through all of these selected videos, is the
passion, care and effort that went into each display. This
is the "Essence of Villaging" and you can experience it
in this month's selections by simply clicking below.
The TVC "Village Videos" are a very popular source for ideas,
but there's so much more here. Explore the whole website
and you'll be rewarded with a lot of "Villaging".
Actually, well over a hundred hours worth.
ALL FREE
OK, It's a Wrap!
C'ya Next Time.
just another example of:
