What started as one family’s holiday tradition more than 70 years ago has grown to become the region’s premier holiday attraction. This month thousands of families from all over the country will flock to the dark countryside of Bernville, waiting for that first glimpse of Christmas Village spread out like a winter wonderland in the valley below.
How did Christmas Village get its start? My parents loved Christmas and always decorated the farm. They started with the windows of the farmhouse, and then the fences, trees and the barn. People used to come and park at the top of the hill to see the lights, and eventually they started coming down to get a closer look. So finally, my father created a small parking area by the barn and started charging $1 per car to see the lights and visit the calves. My brother, sisters and I had the idea for the ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas building, and we created it with our toys in a chicken coop. We’ve come up with a new display or building every year since then.
Have you added any new displays this year? I’m working on a museum in honor of my parents – A History of Christmas Village. So many people don’t know the history of this place and just kind of wonder who did all of this. So I’ve started going through old photos and all the newspapers and magazines that we’ve been featured in that we have saved over the years to put on display. It’s amazing; they go way back to the 40s and are from all over the country. We’ve also just finished up putting the icing on a brand-new gingerbread house, where people can shop for their favorite gingerbread treats.
Have you always been involved with the village? All four of us children were very involved for most of our lives. We all went away to college, but we always came back, no matter where we were, to work over the Christmas season. After my father died, my brother took over and ran the village for nearly 20 years, but unfortunately, he died very young, so I kind of fell in line to run it. My sister Beverly and I have been running it for the past 12 years.
What did you do prior to returning to run the village? I was a college psychology professor for many years; I taught at the Community College of Philadelphia for 30 years or more. I just retired a few years ago because it was getting to be impossible. I ran the village while I was teaching for a few years, but this is more than a full-time job.
What do you like to do when you aren’t planning for next Christmas? I’ve always loved to travel; as a professor I did research all around the world and for many years would travel for nearly a year at a time. This is actually the first year that I haven’t gone away. With all the rain we had this year, we had a lot of flooding to contend with, but traveling will always be my second passion.
It takes nearly two months to set up all the decorations and to test the more than one million lights that make up Christmas Village every year.
Christmas Village is open every evening from Thanksgiving Day through New Year’s Day. For more details visit koziarschristmasvillage.com.
