Holiday village in miniature sparks memories of Christmas past for visitors in Sundridge, Ont.

Imagine strolling through the streets of a snowy, sparkling village lit for the holidays; now imagine being a giant overlooking an entire town celebrating the holidays.

A Sundridge, Ont., woman has created a Christmas village, in miniature, over the past five years out of what she calls a "mish mash" of secondhand or donated miniatures to create a rambling table top display as a festive treat to the public.

Ann Swallow says she assembled the village out of 450 houses with a population of about 2,000 tiny bundled figures carrying out their business.

You can see a miniature ice sculptor, a gang sitting around a bonfire, and children snuggled in a chair before a mantel decorated with swags.

There's a train, one of 17, pulling into Santa's station.

Trees festooned with decorations and glitter rise like spires throughout the village 

Swallow says she has done a different theme in each of the five years since she started assembling the village, first as a project to keep her occupied when the pandemic shut everything down.

This year's theme is all about The Nutcracker.

After suggestions to move it out of her home, she now has it set up in the Masonic Lodge in Sundridge so the public can admire it.

There is even a replica of the town of Sundridge and nearby South River, both located south of North Bay, which she says sparks a lot of memories.

"People come in and they talk to me about Christmases past," said Swallow. "We have a large population of seniors here that have grown up in the area and they just come in and they tell me all these stories about the village when they were growing up. And it's great."

Swallow draws her inspiration from her memories as a child when her family would travel to Toronto to see the decorated windows of the Eaton's department store.

She said she loves Christmas and the village is a way to spread cheer.

"It's a time when everybody says hello on the street," she said. 

"And it's a time when everybody really pays attention to what's going on with their neighbours and their friends. And it's just a really great time of year."

Swallow plans to preside over the village at the Masonic Hall in Sundridge from 12 p.m. until 6 p.m, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday until January 5th.

People are encouraged to bring a donation for the local food bank.