Father-Husband-Marketer-Geek

My wife and I went up to the wonderful G+L Christmas Barn in Willimantic, CT, last night, racing to get there before it closed at 7 pm. We arrived about 6:30, plenty of time to peruse the "50% off" retired snow village halloween inventory. Well, we were a few weeks too late. There were only a few items left. We ended up getting a string of bat lights for $ 5.00 which we thought would go well with the ferris wheel in our halloween amusement park (decorating begins today, by the way!). Discouraged by what was left, what was there to do but look over the new buildings and accessories. We were torn between the Howl Radio Station and the Dead Creek Mill. We weren't sure where we were going to use the Mill if we bought it, but the radio station would be the official sponsor of our amusement park...you know, there's always a radio station broadcasting live from an amusement park. We then considered perhaps putting the Dead Creek Mill in a standalone display, perhaps in a ha...

If you live anywhere near the G&L Christmas Barn in Willimantic, CT, and you collect Original Snow Village Halloween, you should take a drive over there and see what Dave's got for sale. I received a postcard about a September-long Halloween sale. I can't remember exactly what % off he's giving, but I'll confirm the details and update this post. The G and L Christmas Barn website doesn't seem to contain any details on the Halloween sale. My wife and I will be taking classes there on building village landscapes. Should be interesting!

If you ever get the chance, take a trek up to Willimantic, CT to visit a place that I've labeled "Yankee Candle East". They have some of the most elaborate village displays of any of the stores I've been to. Each and every village is set up behind a glass display. We once headed up there on a friday evening, and we were not dissapointed. I could tell my wife was impressed (not easy!). We were pushing the closing hour and Dave, the owner, was kind enough to let us stay. He even gave us a tour and showed some new rooms and product lines. He had an original model of a building, before it had been cast and painted, from Department 56. Dave said the company often visits his store. You can click here to visit the G and L Christmas Barn self-maintained website which features Department 56, Lenox, Yankee Candle, and many other holiday collectibles.