Christmas Village Comes To The Square

By Courtney Warren

The Rose Room in downtown Canton has been transformed into a sparkling Christmas Village for all to enjoy. Each delicate home has a glossy finish and the longer visitors look, the more they are bound to see. From various Christmas churches with delicate stained glass windows to a ski lodge in the upper right hand corner, it’s hard not to want to visit this winter  The excitement of Christmas tradition led Neal Marlow to bring the village to Canton after the passing of his grandmother, Dorothy Raper, earlier this year. 

In 1985, Raper walked into Hallmark in Grenada, Mississippi, and was carried away by “the prettiest little thing she’d ever seen.” They were miniature lighted buildings of all types. Little did she know that when she began collecting Department 56 Snow Village pieces, it would ignite a lifelong passion - a passion that she shared early on with her grandson, Marlow. 

Marlow took Raper’s love for the little buildings and expanded upon it by creating enormous layouts in her home. Every year, it became an obsession for Marlow to see how much bigger he could make it and to try something new. The question always asked was “how long did this take to put up?” And the answer is, it’s not the actual time to put it up, but the hours of endless planning and thinking about the layout. It sometimes took a few days of planning, building platforms, wiring, checking and rechecking bulbs. It was a tough job, but a wonderful labor of love. 

For nearly twenty years, without fail, Marlow put the village up in Raper’s home. 

Over the years, the small collection of a tiny village grew into a sprawling metropolis. It rapidly became part of the family’s Christmas tradition. Word soon spread around the community about the snow village, and it became a Christmas tradition for many others, as well. 

Always welcoming, Raper and Marlow invited everyone to come see it, regardless if they knew them. Local newspapers regularly carried the story of the snow village each season, extending the open invitation and notifying everyone of when it would be lit.

People drove from all over to see it, and others who came from out of state would just make it a permanent stop on their way to visit family over the holidays. Some would come many nights through the season, or others would just sit and stare as long as they could at the warm glow coming from the little houses. It captivates people’s imagination around the holidays and transports them to a happy and peaceful little world.

Seeing the joy on people’s faces was something that never got old to Raper. It was the excitement the village brought to people that made Christmas for Raper and Marlow.

Marlow works hard to display the village in her honor, because she loved to share it; and he says she would be thrilled to know that people are still dropping by to see her snow village.

The snow village will be up for all to see during the Christmas festivities in downtown Canton. Those who visit are urged to keep an eye out for the special church on the hill in the upper left hand corner, as it was Raper’s favorite piece in the village.