CHRISTMAS MAGIC

What started as a Christmas gift from a family member 41 years ago has turned into a collection of more than 400 village pieces for Rose Cory-Vick.

Much of the family room in the basement of her Medford home is filled with what she refers to as “Christmas magic.” Most of the major pieces are luminated while many of them are also animated. They have all been placed on a pool table in addition to a church table covered with white cloth to symbolize snow and Styrofoam used to stack some of the pieces. 

Cory-Vick considers the bright display as a tribute to her life’s legacy. “This will always be a source of joy,” she said. “It’s a legacy of how my life evolved over those 41 years,” she added.

During the past four decades, Cory-Vick has lost two husbands, Rod Piton in 1991 at just 41 years old and Paul Vick in 2023. Her most recent husband had been sick for five years and died of COPD.  

While Cory-Vick knew her second husband for 50 years, they had been married for 18 years. One of Vick’s last wishes prior to his death was to have a large family get together. Cory-Vick continued their love story even after his passing by holding an inurnment ceremony nearly a year later in May with about 35 people gathering at her home.

The ceremony allowed Cory-Vick to grieve her husband’s death as well as share in the joy of being together with family and friends. And, of course, the village became a focal point of the gathering. She said everyone looked at the village and took pictures with it.

“Our love continued for the ages,” Cory-Vick says. “It didn’t stop when he died.”

After she received a coffee shop from her first mother-in-law, Dorothy Pitan, things started filling in over the next 40 years. She received many of the pieces as gifts while she purchased some of them on her own.

The village is complete with most everything, including train station, church, hospital, newspaper, brewery, Santa’s workshop, fire station, hair salon and bridal shop among many others. The village is also lined with many signs, trees and figurines.

“I tried to think of everything when I grew up,” said Cory-Vick, who retired from Federated Insurance. “I can remember every piece I bought and where it came from,” she said. “It’s just that little piece of Americana.”

One of Cory-Vick’s favorite pieces is a Christmas tree that swirls and plays music. “It kind of encompasses the whole thing,” she said.

She considers a moving carousel as one of the most unique pieces in her collection. She also enjoys the movie theatre, which features, “It’s a Wonderful Life.”

The last piece she bought was a police station.

As she looks over the village, a calmness and comfort embrace Cory-Vick’s body. “It makes me feel good… you just want to wrap your arms around it because it’s warm and comfort,” she said. “It’s like a Hallmark movie.”

She remembers the simplicity of what life used to be like. “It’s that aha moment of this is what Christmas made me feel like,” she said. “It reminds me of all the traditions like going to grandma’s house and having mincemeat.” She also recalls when her family would go out driving around looking at Christmas lights and it wouldn’t cost a dime.

She finds the village puts her in a happy place. “I think about all the love I had for my family,” she said. “To me it was just a wonderful journey. The memories will always be there,” she added.

Holiday celebrations at Cory-Vick’s house have always been centered around the village. “You live for all the love that was shared,” she said.

As much as Cory-Vick has enjoyed the village for so many years, she has decided to retire it after this holiday season. She will begin packing it away in January in the original boxes and placing them in 20 storage bins. She does not plan to bring it out again.

She knows it’s going to be hard to take it down for the last time, but she also will be reminded of how it has provided her with comfort “through thick and thin.” Cory-Vick went on to share, “It’s like the best movie ever: ‘It’s A Wonderful Life.’

“This has been the beginning of the spirit that rises in you. I got to share it, and now I have the memories and still feel the love,” she said, adding nothing stays the same as life constantly changes.

Cory-Vick, 68, doesn’t know exactly what will happen with the village, but she hopes it will stay in the family. She has a son who has helped her pack around with it for years by storing it above the garage.

Village displayed or not displayed; Cory-Vick will always hold fondness in her heart for the rest of her life of what it has meant to her family.

“It’s my own little piece of Christmas magic.”