PICAYUNE —
It all began 20 years ago when Marie Whitman’s daughter gave her a set of ponies decorated for the Christmas season. It was the first miniatures, based on the Christmas motif, that she had ever received. Her daughter purchased the miniatures from Wal-Mart, when it was located at 750 Memorial Boulevard where Resurrection Life now is, before it moved on the east side of I-59.
“It started then. I got another one, and another one, and another one. And my friends saw I was interested in such things, and they got me some, and my daughter continued to give me different items,” Whitman said while directing a tour of the display at the depot on South Harvey Avenue.
“I did not plan, or set out intentionally to do this,” she continued, while observing her display, which has now grown into thousands of pieces. “It just happened, appeared, somehow out of my mind.”
It takes days to set it up, it’s so large.
“And you turn down the lights, and turn on the lights in the village, and get real close, and you are in another universe, a make-believe place, away from the troubles of planet Earth, a winter wonderland,” she said. “You can’t fully explain the feeling you get from visiting this village.” The village is named, appropriately, Whitmanville.
“I guess that’s why I got obsessed with it: Whitmanville, with its Christmases of ages past, and snow, is another world of make-believe where all our dreams come true. There’s no work, just fun and play in a winter wonderland all the time,” she said.
As Whitman’s collection grew over the years, it grew into her living room, her bedrooms and began consuming large portions of her house.
And putting it up each Christmas became a major chore that stretched over days. Her husband, Bill, said he tried to help, but “it sort of got out of hand. It is very meticulous work putting these displays together and grouping them in an orderly manner that looks natural.”
Marie’s collection grew so large that she began assembling it on her front porch at her home in Northwest Picayune. She also began telling friends about the collection, and they told other friends, and pretty soon people began calling, wanting to know how to get to Whitmanville.
Eventually, a reporter from the Item heard about it, and called the Whitmans, who allowed a story to be done on Whitmanville. That was it. Word was out.
Diane Miller, who works for the city, was looking for displays to spruce up the Intermodal Transportation and Tourism Center during the Christmas season. The center is always decorated in some of the most beautiful Christmas displays in town, and is becoming a tourist attraction, and an attraction to residents who want to see a beautiful Christmas display, especially the city Christmas tree.
Miller called Whitman and asked if she would set up the display at the depot for a Christmas presentation. Whitman had been looking for a place to do that and a place that would draw more people and had enough space.
The situation was ideal for both Miller and Whitman. Hence, the display is now all laid out at the depot, and residents can see it for the first time from 7 a.m. until 6 p.m. daily. It will remain up until after January 1st, when it will be dismantled until next year. Whitman has more displays and expects the presentation to be larger next year.
The display is in the conference room.
It must be seen in low room lighting, with village lights on, for best effect.
And you must bend over and look closely to get the full effect of the settings, said Whitman.
City officials are urging residents to come see it, and you might be lucky and meet the collector who put it all together, Whitman, who will be there rearranging and tweaking the display.
“I still don’t understand why I had to do this, but for some mysterious reason it just happened,” she said.
And that’s what most passionate collectors say about their collections.
Features
Related Photos
-
Above: A warm glow from a scene within the large village of Whitmanville. Whitman, right, has thousands of pieces in the set, collected over a 20-year period. She says she does not know exactly why she did it, that it was just a compulsion that began after her daughter first gave her a small miniature as a Christmas gift 20 years ago. David A. Farrell
Whitman Christmas Village: An obsession 20 years in the making
- Features
-
-
southern gardening
Every spring the home gardener is bombarded with new and improved petunias for the garden and landscape, making it hard to decide which to bring home from the garden center. In my opinion, you simply can’t go wrong selecting any of the Supertunias.
-
arboretum paths
Spring is now in full swing at the Crosby Arboretum, and the show is well on its way toward a crescendo. The blooms of native purple Iris can be seen along the edge of the Piney Woods pond, pink “honeysuckle” azalea is flowering near the Pinecote Pavilion, and the yellow blooms of the pitcher plants — called “buttercups” by local residents — are beginning to carpet the south Savanna Exhibit.
-
USM set to host Children’s Book Festival
One of the most anticipated events celebrating children’s literature, the Fay B. Kaigler Children’s Book Festival at The University of Southern Mississippi, will be held April 10-12 at the Thad Cochran Center on the Hattiesburg campus.
-
Amber Bounds breaks six-year-old state swimming record
The Southern MS Aquatic Club (Mantarays) participated in the Santa’s Best Swim Invitational in Biloxi Nov. 30-Dec. 2. The Mantarays finished 6th out of 22 teams competing from LA, AL, FL, and MS.
-
Capitol Pages
Jonathan Fail of Picayune, and Lorrie Warren of Poplarville recently served as pages for the Mississippi Senate.
-
Yellow jasmine brightens yards
According to the calendar, we are just a few days away from the official start of the spring season. But if you have been watching the garden and landscape like I have, you’ve seen signs of spring for at least several weeks. The plants are starting to wake up.
-
Native blooms abound at the Arboretum’s spring plant sale
The long-awaited weekend is upon us – that time which comes but once a year. Yes, it’s the Crosby Arboretum’s spring native plant sale.
-
Welcome Center celebrates arts and literature in March
The Mississippi Development Authority, Division of Tourism will be celebrating “Arts and Literature” during the month of March. Each of the Welcome Centers will be decorated differently for this celebration.
-
Lamont Rowlands house important to historical heritage
Pat Crosby first moved to the Lamont Rowlands house in 1992.
Although she found the home in disrepair, she couldn’t imagine not living there and knew that was her new home.
“It just spoke to me, and it still does,” said Crosby, the wife of the late Tommy Crosby, son of R.H. Crosby. Tommy Crosby completely renovated the home and grounds. -
Pearl River County Arts League Art Show and Sale
Pearl River County Arts League Art Show and Sale will be held on Saturday, March 23, from 10 a.m. till 5 p.m. and Sunday, March 24, from noon till 4 p.m. at The Knights of Columbus Hall, 408 Carroll Drive. The show is open to all artists and admission is free to the public.
- More Features Headlines
-
Probe Begins After Conn. Commuter Trains Crash
NTSB Begins Investigation Into Conn. Train Crash
Lotto Fever Sweeps the Country
Conn. Commuter Trains Collide; 60 Go to Hospital
Coffee Run Leads to Hatchet Hitchhiker Arrest
Fmr. IRS Head Insists No Politics in Targeting
CDC: Fecal Bacteria Common in Swimming Pools
$1 Million in Jewels Stolen at Cannes Film Fest
NM Mom Chases Down Child Abductor
Raw: Crash Sends Car Into Fla. Pool
Raw: Obama Sits Down With Elementary Kids
Raw: Bear Falls From Tampa Tree
Ousted IRS Chief: Errors Not Caused by Politics
Terror Suspect Due in Court in Idaho Friday
Raw: Driver Ejected From Truck, Over Bridge
Could Tobacco Be the Next Biofuel?
Wash. State Releases Draft Rules for Legal Pot
Dying Man's Blinks Lead to Murder Conviction
Officials: Texas Tornado Likely Had 200 Mph Wind
Brothers Arrested in NOLA Parade Shooting
