A magical holiday village..
That took over 30 years to build
Good afternoon Norwich and Upper Valley residents,
You don’t have to go to the North Pole to find a magical village, You only need to travel to downtown Norwich and you can find one at the Norwich Inn.
I have taken photos over the years of Xmas decorations around Norwich and have done short photo essays on them. I was recently at the Inn having dinner and realized that I never asked where the village display came from, who made it and why.
Gretchen Dwyer and the village that she built
I took a minute to ask Dave Burtonbush, the Innkeeper at the Norwich Inn. He told me this display was started by Gretchen Dwyer over 30 years ago and several years ago made it’s way to the Inn.
Complete with lights and figurines out and about Norwich and the Upper Valley.
A lot of intricate work goes into making this village look so real.
This adorable seasonal village is on display at The Norwich Inn courtesy of Gretchen Dwyer and family.
Norwich Inn employees, Linda Kane, David Burtonbush, and Gretchen Dwyer
And what a beautiful display it is!
I reached out to Gretchen and asked if she would be willing to share her story behind the village display and here is what she had to say:
Hi, I am Gretchen Dwyer, the person that builds the Christmas Village in the Lobby of the Norwich Inn.
It started in 1992 when my first child was born and we bought our first building. We added a new building every year. It became a tradition that the day after Thanksgiving the children and I would go to the store and pick out a new addition. We always choose what was personal to us... the Library, the School, the Bed/Breakfast etc.
A sleepy night in the village
Now let the sun shine in!
Why there is even an airport! Could that be a Cape Air plane in the hangar?
Post Office
Library
And even the train station at White River Junction
Let’s not forget Andrea’s Hair Salon
Very nice
Lot’s of intricate detail to these and there is Dan and Whit’s store even!
Even our friends from across the river have a place in this village
We started labeling some of the buildings with local business names when we bought the Opera House and it looked so much like our own Lebanon Opera House... so more names followed through the years.
It has now been over 30 years of collecting and the assembly was much to large for my home... so THE INN allowed me to put it up for all to see in their Lobby !
Please come and enjoy !!!
Thanks for reading and hopefully supporting My Newsletter “ about Norwich”.
