Tina Alvey began her village collection almost 30 years ago, buying a new building each year and most years also added a few new accessories, like lamp posts, park benches or a skating rink. Each year’s village, she says, is a little bit different from the one before.

This year, the village includes a trailer park and contains 18 major buildings, seven smaller structures, a couple of bridges, a skating rink and more than 50 trees. In addition, it sports a “human” population of 108 and an abundance of “critters” – even a West Virginia black bear.

Alvey, who writes for The Register-Herald, takes a week of vacation in late November every year to assemble the village and to otherwise decorate her home for the holiday season. And, she says, it takes the entire week to do it.