It was a crisp December morning in 1961. Jerry Green and his 5-year-old son Tommy arrived in downtown Ogden in search of the perfect vantage point for the big Christmas parade. They came early, wanting to be sure to catch it all--not miss a moment. The anticipation was immeasurable!

Finally, it began! The Christmas parade was here! There was Santa Claus! He rode in on a flat-bed truck, waving to the crowd of around 1,000 people.

And then it was over.

That was it.

Nothing more.

Tommy was horribly disappointed.

"Disgusting! We waited and waited for that?!" thought Jerry Green. "We’ve got to do something about this."

And so the idea of Christmas Village was born.

Originally, the idea was simply to create a better parade. In 1962, little houses were built and put on flat-bed trucks in order to produce a better parade. Then they were moved onto the grounds of the City and County Building.

Albert Davis, a resident of Ogden for many years, along with Jerry and Maxine Green, was instrumental in getting the whole thing going. Davis’ wife, Marilyn, was a member of the Junior League of Ogden, which took on the project of producing the village.

"There used to be a place called Bartlett Motors on Washington Boulevard that became vacant," said Davis. "So, that became the work place for us to build the village. We’d all meet after work and build the buildings. A lot of pounding nails and paintin-everyone pitched in. Anderson Lumber supplied us with the materials free of cost and other downtown merchants all helped out with the financing of the village."

So 1962 saw the first Christmas Village.

"Utah Power provided the power free of charge," Davis recalled. "The Junior League ladies manned the stations in the village and put on puppet shows. It was quite a production."

The intention of those involved in the workings of the village was to continue with it, each year adding something new.

"Some of those buildings in the village today are the original ones from back when we started," said Davis.

And so the tradition continues. Even with location changes and years of no new additions, the Christmas Village has remained a part of Ogden’s holiday season.

And now, thanks largely to Jo Packham and her Christmas Village Upgrade committee (photo top left receiving roses from Mayor Matthew Godfrey), the village again begins to grow with all the buildings being refurbished and new buildings added in scale to several Ogden landmark buildings such as Egyptian, Union Square and the Union Station.

According to Amber Gerritson, public relations for Christmas Village, the direction for the future is set to rival Salt Lake City’s Temple Square. "We want it to be a place where people will want to plan to come to each year as part of their Christmas sight-seeing," Gerritson said.

"Eventually, we want to have over 100 cottages, so that it will take more than one trip to see the whole thing."

Judging by this year’s success, it looks like it’s well on its way.

Jen Davis - Winter 2003

www.streetmagazine.net