Christmas village grows for decades
HARMONY — If you walk into the Majors home on Edward Lane, you'll see a winter wonderland in motion.
In the home's living room, a Christmas village built by Joanne Majors has been capturing local scenery for over 50 years.
“It was always a hobby of mine,” Majors said.
Majors created the layout in one day this year shortly after Thanksgiving with help from her granddaughter Jessica Robertson. The layout usually takes about a week to build.
“She came in and she was determined we were going to get it all done in one day,” Majors said of her granddaughter.
The village, consisting of about 40 buildings collected over the years, takes up about 64 square feet of space.
Buildings in the village's central area include a pet store, churches, a police station, a school with a playground and a barber shop.
The barber shop is reminiscent of the one Majors lived at when she was in Millvale where she first began building her Christmas layout.
“We try to make it as realistic as it would be if you were looking at a village,” Majors said about the model village.
A model train bought a couple of years ago loops around the village and is controlled by Majors' husband Buck.
“I don't want the kids fooling with it,” he said.
The Majors have been married for four years, but have known each other for at least 35 years.
“She just loves to do that kind of work,” Buck Majors said. “She puts her heart into it.”
On the outer part of the village is farmland that has a barn, windmill and water tower.
Other features on the outer part are a scale replica of Buck Majors' travel trailer business, Hufnagel & Majors, and a replica of the Pittsburgh-based Sarah Heinz House.A skating rink with moving skater figures also is on the layout. The rink is about 30 years old.Next to the rink is an alpine ski lift with rail cars moving back and forth.The entire layout is covered in cotton. Joanne Majors said she used about six bags' worth of cotton to create a snowy atmosphere.Each building also is lit and can be controlled with a dimmer knob. An electric network controlling the lights is under the layout.Other festive objects in the home include poinsettias, a manger built by Buck Majors, religious figures and a three-foot tall Victorian model house.“It's a lot of work, but if you like something like this, you have to do it,” Joanne Majors said.The layout will be taken down after Jan. 6, the day of Epiphany.<br>
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