the Village
BY LUCRETIA VOIGT INDEPENDENT ARTS WRITER
Every year the Nantucket Historical Association puts on a Christmas show worthy of the North Pole. The elves resemble the landscaper you see preparing window boxes during the summer, the shopkeeper at your favorite antiques store, and the nonprofit activist you admire for the causes she champions. The fruits of their labors are 75 trees in a myriad of designs, from traditional with vintage ornaments to trees fashioned from antique metal watering cans.

ROB BENCHLEY/The Independent A showpiece at this year's Festival of Trees, this train village has its own farm, complete with horses, cows, sheeps, pigs and a windmill for ecological power.

"Some of the trees are labor intensive and it takes some time to put them together," said Peter Greenhalgh, Manager of Public Relations. The special attention is evident, and though you won't get a whiff of pine when you enter the building you will find yourself humming your favorite holiday tune. Due to the fire code, the trees are required to be artificial. "The first couple of years they were real trees," explained Greenhalgh. "The benefit of the artificial trees is that they originally only lasted for a weekend. Now they are up through December 17."

Mary Malavese, the Chair of the Festival of Trees for the second year in a row, considers the event "the best melding of Nantucket that you could possibly have. I think it's an interesting mix of Nantucket community and that's why I said I'd work on it for two years," she explained when asked about her dedication to the event. "You have the tree designers who are year-round business people and residents, and the wonderful summer people who come back that support all of Nantucket, and they are all together in the same venue. That's pretty unique because we are all together because we love Nantucket. That doesn't happen very often at some of the other summer events."

For the second year in a row, Peter and Linda Hoey are sharing their train village, creating a slice of late 1950s holiday cheer. The train, a Lionel, is a remnant of Linda's childhood, a gift from her father. "My dad was the big train person in our family," she explained. "There are five girls in the family and so he got us the Lionels when we were kids, so the trains are about 50 years old at least, probably more. He got them so we wouldn't mess with his real trains, with his HO scales. I luckily ended up with the trains."

The train circles around a typical New England village of thirty-five buildings filled with Christmas shoppers and a Salvation Army choir. Skaters glide gracefully over the ice pond, their friends looking on as they roast marshmallows over the glowing fire. It is a collection that the Hoeys have been cultivating for many years. "I started with the village," said Linda Hoey. "My first piece was the church, and I got that about 32 years ago. Then the houses got added here and there and it just sort of grew like topsy. It started on my little baby grand piano in our house in New Jersey with two buildings, first with the church, then the church and a house, and then it moved from room to room when it got bigger. I added them one by one. Some years if I was feeling in the spirit, I'd add two. This year I got the newspaper building, and Ms. Mae's Rooming House. My middle name is Mae so when I saw it I said, 'Hey, I have to have that!'"

The village also has its own farm complete with horses, cows, sheep, pigs and a windmill for ecological power. The local tree farm is Nick's Tree Farm, a nod to Linda's father Nick.

Linda Hoey designs the scene at home in the garage prior to bringing it to the NHA. "I start three weeks ahead, and I set the whole thing up in my garage. I design it and change it every year," she explained when recounting the time involved in bringing the village to life. "I cut all the roads, cut all the holes for all the lights because all the houses each have to have a hole underneath them for a light to come through. Then I pack it up again and bring it over here and put it all back together."

The village is resplendent with embellishments like a tire swing in one yard, a police car with flashing lights, a garbage truck picking up Christmas wrapping castoffs and a tree house awaiting a club of mischievous boys. Peter Hoey prepares a list of items to find in the village each year, a test that will have you searching up and down the streets for mailboxes and flags. The longer you spend with the village the more you realize the extent of the scene. "It is the details, the little details," said Linda Honey. "It's really fun to watch people come to look at it because the older people usually had Lionel trains, and they love the trains. The women love the houses. The kids love it all. The neat thing is that so many people can see it and enjoy it. It's funny, when you blow the whistle on the train, kids come running from all over the museum."

Peter Greenhalgh says it best: "It's a nice way to sort of kick start the season, to provide the Christmas feeling without the shopping. It's not as commercialized. It's a wonderful venue, you're surrounded by history yet you have the festivity of trees

and the excitement of Christmas." I

- The Festival of Trees takes place at the Whaling Museum, 13 Broad Street, until December 17. Hours are Thursdays, Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Fridays from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tickets are available at the Whaling Museum.