Village Press

Are you ready for some Villaging? Time to dust off the boxes and plan your displays.

I am delighted that Jeff Kirchner and George Fells have agreed to be in charge of Programs. They have already come up with some great meeting ideas.

Tim and Patti Stephenson, from Smithfield, VA, will be our first guests. You will all remember them from the many Gatherings they have been at, and from a previous VL meeting. I for one can’t wait to see all the miniatures they will have to enhance our villages.

Congratulations to Jeff Kirchner. He was awarded the contract to decorate the Fort Lauderdale Ronald McDonald House for their annual fund raising event, to be held on Thursday, November 30^th. The Village Landlords will, once again, be donating a basket with a North Pole display to be raffled at this event. Also, Jerry Fernon is in the process of refurbishing the club’s display cabinet. The cabinet will have a North Pole display and will be located in the Ronald McDonald House Family Room throughout the holiday season.

See the special offer from Village D-Lights on pages 5 & 6. If you don’t already subscribe, they have some good display tips. Several of our members have been featured in this magazine.

We departed from Warrick Custom Hobbies’ parking lot at 7:30 AM on Friday, August 11^th, destination unknown. You could feel the excitement on the bus as everyone was trying to figure out which way we were going. As usual, Marlene had our days planned to the minute.

Friday we stopped at Teddy Bear Corner in Ft. Pierce, had lunch at the Golden Corral in Palm Bay, checked in to the Ramada Inn Mandarin in Jacksonville, and attended an hilarious play at the Alhambra Dinner Theatre.

Saturday we headed to Impressions in Brunswick, GA, where they had representatives from five collectible companies to greet us. We then headed south to an afternoon of shopping, sightseeing and dining at Fernandina Beach, before heading back to our hotel room in Jacksonville.

Sunday, we visited Village Gift Shoppe in Palm Coast, Twinkles in Stuart, and had dinner at the Cracker Barrel (where we continued to shop) before heading home.

At each of the stores we visited, we were greeted with open arms, yummy goodies, and gifts to take home. Most of the stores had special discounts throughout their store, discounts on retired pieces, and drawing for prizes just for us.

One thing is for sure, the Village Landlords do "shop ‘til they drop". Of course, Marlene, whom Norman and I call our "Game Guru", had games and raffles to entertain us on the bus. She truly did an extraordinary job on this one – all who attended this trip said it was the best one yet.

9/17 Village Landlords Meeting

9/30 Silver Sleigh – Annual Event 10AM-5PM

and 10/1 - 12Noon-5PM

10/6 Season’s in the Sun – Annual Event 5PM-10PM

10/7 Warrick Custom Hobbies – 11AM-4PM, Display

Demonstration, Raffle

10/29 Robert’s (Clearwater). Neilan Lund from D-56 will

be there to sign pieces. Register to win D-56 trip.

Membership is at 121 members; 29 individual and 46 family.

Welcome to New Members and Re-joining members:

Corrao, Peter & Myra

5614 NW 48th Way, Tamarac, FL 33319

corrao3@msn.com

954-485-1487

Halloween

Bussiere, Ed & Wade, Jason

PO Box 203, Rumney, NH 03266

ebussier@adelphia.net

603-536-4217

North Pole, Snow Village

Clark, Regina Klein

272 Very Old Barton Trail, Dandridge, TN 37725

rclark@webunited.com

865-850-6902

Address Change:

Harriet Abo

7221 NW 16^th St., Apt C252

Plantation, FL 33313

Remember, wearing your club shirt and name badge at our meetings earn you extra door prize tickets.

PLEASE REMEMBER THAT MEMBERS’ NAMES, ADDRESSES, PHONE NUMBERS AND E-MAIL ADDRESSES ARE TO BE USED FOR VILLAGE LANDLORD BUSINESS ONLY.  OUR BY-LAWS PROHIBITS THEIR USE FOR ANY OTHER REASON.

The Board members have volunteered to bring the refreshments to the September meeting

New this year, the Village Landlords will be supporting Toys For Tots. Please bring an unwrapped toy to the November meeting. For each toy you bring, you will be given an extra door prize ticket to win prizes that have been donated by D-56 and our sponsoring dealers.

If you have not already received your new club pin, you can get it at the meeting.

The new pin is free to existing members, and will be given to new members when they join the club. However, if you lose your pin, or want additional pins, they are available for $3.00.

A reminder to all that the monthly Can Food Drive will continue at each meeting. The collection of food will be taken and delivered to needy families. Please bring your contribution to the meeting. Items that can be used as a meal, such as, soups, ravioli, spaghetti o’s, chili, are requested and with pop top containers, if available. Your contribution is always needed and appreciated, but especially at this time of year. Thank you.

Any Village Landlord member interested in selling or buying any D56 item can now give us the information and we will place it in the next Village Press. Please keep it to a minimum of information on what you have to sell or want to buy and how you can be contacted.

There will be no charge for these ads. Please send your information:

Coral Springs, FL 33067

Remember all dealers are always welcome at any of our meetings and free to inform us of your events to be in our Dealers’ Corner.

Village D-Lights Offers Incentive For NCC Memberships

How to increase club membership: It is a point of discussion with most Department 56 Clubs. The answer? There doesn’t seem to be one all encompassing solution that works for everyone. Over the years, clubs have found success with a variety of ideas, ranging from word-of-mouth sharing, friend-to-friend, and after-hours promotions at Department 56 retail stores, to community projects and fundraisers that bring local and even national awareness to a whole new cast of potential Villagers. Recognizing how a Villaging magazine stimulates appreciation and enjoyment of the hobby, the Oil Patch 56ers of Midland, Texas, approached Village D-Lights about a special subscription rate, to use as a "calling card" for encouraging new members to come onboard.

Village D-Lights is happy to respond with a membership benefit, not only for the Texas club, but the entire NCC. The accompanying coupon is valid for all NCC members, and can be duplicated as often as necessary by member clubs. Raise your Villages high!

Linda Kruger, Editor

Village D-Lights

(MEMBERSHIP YEAR IS FROM JAN 1 TO DEC 31) All information is confidential and used for club purposes only.

Please fill out application and return along with the membership fee of $15.00 per person or $25.00 per family.

NAME:__________________________________________ WHEN DID YOU START COLLECTING? __________

ADDRESS:_______________________________________ WHAT DO YOU COLLECT?

__ Dickens’ Village __ Christmas in the City

CITY:____________________________________________ __ New England Village __ Snow Village

STATE:________________ZIP:_______________________ __ Snowbabies __ Snowbunnies

__ Winter Silhouette __ Little Town of Bethlehem

HOME PHONE #:___________________________________ __ Seasons Bay

__ Other________________________________

E-MAIL:__________________________________________

MAKE CHECKS PAYABLE TO: The Village Landlords

Would you be interested in hosting a Christmas House Tour for club members in December or January?

__Yes __No __Possibly __Need more information

What would you be interested in seeing more of this year at the meeting?

__Display Techniques __Guest Speakers __Social Events __Workshops __Other

__________________ _____________________________.

Comments_______________________________________________________________________________