Public can visit “Albany” village
By Melinda L. Lucas
Local residents and their guests have an opportunity to see a large lighted Christmas village set up to look as much like Albany as possible.
The mother-daughter duo of Cindy and Ashley Parsons have combined their collections on the conference table at H.R. Stasney & Sons office, where Cindy works, using 50 buildings with a large assortment of people, vehicles, and other accessories. Ashley spent a number of hours setting up the display.
“Ashley’s design includes the highways and the hills coming into Albany with a roadside park and McDaniel’s car wash,” said Cindy. “And of course, we have the Albany Football display.”
Stasney manager Lance Thomas suggested that the village could be accessible to the public at the office, located at 441 South 2nd St. next to Albany City Hall.
“Last year, I commented about not having many people see it at my house, so Lance suggested we do it here,” said Cindy.
Office hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., but Cindy plans to stay late on Wednesday, Dec. 21 until 8:00 p.m.
She began collecting village pieces 30 years ago in 1992. The next year, her in-laws, Joie and Bill Parsons, bought Cindy’s first Dickens houses.
“Over the years, I have ordered different pieces that remind me of Albany,” she said.
Cindy added that she and Ashley buy both new buildings and those found at estate sales.
“The courthouse looks pretty close to ours, and I purchased a house that replicated the Ole Nail House for Joie,” Cindy said. “We added the hardware store and the Texaco station that Jennifer Carlile says looks just like the one her great grandfather Walter Crow and her uncle James Edmison worked at when Hugh Ayres owned it in the 1960s.”
The layout even includes Larry the recently retired UPS man in his Christmas shirt sitting on a UPS truck.
Other details include a sign in front of the theater advertising the Nativity and an area at the Bank Park for the beating of the playoff drum.
Cindy and Ashley invite everyone who is interested to stop by the office and look through the village of “Albany.”
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