This article appeared in the Dec. 15, 2006 issue of the Interlake Spectator…
The glow of Christmas can be seen from a distance of at least a mile when you turn east from Hwy. 7 at the hamlet of Meleb after dark. Across the tracks, down the quiet, country road, only a “Scrooge” would sneer at the wonderful and whimsical display of lights and figures, brimming from all sides with unusual elements.
Santa’s sleigh skirts the entrance to Fran and Bill Stewart’s yard. But, wait, there’s another sleigh on the garage roof with Santa and his reindeer, and old wagons and coaches, many in number, all through the busy yard, displayed with angels and deer and little gnomes, frozen in a timeless serenity.
“We don’t just do this for ourselves,” said Fran Stewart, “but also for the neighbours and children who come to visit each year…Our friends will say, ‘Is that ever nice!’”
The lighted manger is a focal point of the yard, and Bill Stewart is responsible for putting it up every year. They set up a manger inside the house too, beside a ten-foot tall natural Christmas tree that has to be tied to the rafters.
“[Bill’s] thing is the coaches and buggies,” explained Fran, all of which he has built himself, and Fran takes care of the rest of the display, for the most part, with strings of lights so numerous that neither of them can estimate how many there are. All Fran remembers is that it has cost them $2 or $3-thousand in Christmas supplies since 1987 when they moved to Meleb from Winnipeg.
Bill confesses that he hasn’t the patience to continuously work at the embellishments, although this year he did install more outdoor electrical outlets and more circuit breakers, now six in total, not including the one in the garage or the one in the house. “She’s always one step ahead of everything,” said Bill, “If you’re hammering two nails, she’s bugging you about the second before you get the first one in,” he said with a smile.
Fran loves Christmas so much that the first day after she finishes with her gardens and stacking wood for the winter, she starts preparing the yard for the holidays, and plans to continue doing this for many years. “I’ll be climbing up those ladders for as long as I can move,” she said, “Age is a state of mind. When I start the day, I am 20. When I get to noon, I am 40. At bedtime, I am 60.” Actually, she’s 75, but one would never know it.
The meaning of Christmas for Fran is, “to never let anyone be alone. If there is someone who can’t come over then I am more than happy to bring a tray of cookies over to them.” She already has plans to make such a visit to someone this Christmas and expects a large group for dinner at home .
For Bill, Christmas is a joyful time for sharing with family and friends. But it is really mostly about the children’s toys, which he admits to playing with. Usually, children visit at Christmas, but he remembers back to the one year when there were no children: “I missed the toys,” he said.
Fran is already making plans for next year’s decorations, and has purchased more lights. “When I was driving through Teulon, I saw [a lighted lawn ornament] of a mother deer licking her fawn. I want to try to get that one,” she said. And she wants Bill’s plywood horses in front of the buggy next year. “He’s afraid they will get ruined. But the snow won’t hurt them,” she said with certainty.
