A Christmas village
Festive figurine tour will benefit foster children
By Sean Hart
Argus Observer
Saturday, November 29, 2008 10:29 PM PST
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| Jean Oakes’ 400-piece Department 56 Original Snow Village collection will be on display from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. today and Dec. 7 at her home, 33 S. Dorian Drive, across from Wellsprings Assisted Living in Ontario. The event is a fundraiser for the Malheur County Foster Adoptive Parent Association, and the proceeds will be used to purchase Christmas gifts and help with other activities for children in foster care in Malheur County. |
ONTARIO ” Nestled away on Dorian Drive in Ontario is an old-fashioned, homely village that has steadily grown for about 20 years. Teeming with life, its buildings are carefully crafted in 1950s’ style, and the landscape is constantly covered in a blanket of snow.
This year, the 400-piece Department 56 Original Snow Village will be on display for the public to tour, while helping bring Christmas cheer and year-round assistance to the 90 children in foster care in Malheur County.
Jean Oakes, Ontario, who has cared for 13 foster children herself in the past decade, is inviting anyone to her home, 33 S. Dorian Drive, across from Wellsprings Assisted Living, to enjoy her massive Christmas figurine collection from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. today and Dec. 7 to benefit the Malheur County Foster Adoptive Parent Association.
“The last time we had it, it was kind of fun,” Oakes said, referring to a similar fundraiser about five years ago in which food was collected. “I don’t think people know all the different pieces you can have. We’ve probably added at least 30 pieces (since then).”
This time, the village can be viewed for $2 per person or $5 per family, and FAPA will spend that money purchasing Christmas gifts for foster kids and helping them participate in sports and other activities throughout the year.
Each year, Oakes said she usually adds five to 10 new pieces to her collection, which has given uncertain gift buyers a perfect solution when shopping for her. The village now covers much of her living room and kitchen when it is assembled for the year.
“It probably takes a good week (to set up) if you work on it all the time,” Oakes said, adding she spent a few weeks off-and-on. “I put it up differently every time. That’s probably the hardest part, figuring out how I want to display it.”
Oakes’ collection has about 180 buildings, she said, and various other accessories, including ice rinks, sledding and ski hills and a train, but the entire Original Snow Village collection has more than 1,000 pieces and more are produced each year.
Oakes joked, “We might be obsessive, but we’re not as bad as we could be.”
FAPA IS FOR THE CHILDREN
The Malheur County Foster Adoptive Parent Association has been in existence since the 1990s, according to current President Debby Caswell, Ontario, who has been a foster parent to more than 40 children.
“We (FAPA) have to be self-supportive and make our money. We are a nonprofit organization,” Caswell said, adding the organization’s goal is “to keep (a foster child) just like that other kid as much as you can.”
The Department of Human Services provides nominal monthly stipends to foster parents to help cover expenses incurred and helps the children acquire other services, such as swimming lessons, when it is able to do so, but Caswell said DHS, although it “does a nice job,” also has limited funding.
“That’s where FAPA comes in,” Caswell said. “We want every kid in foster care to have an equal Christmas.”
Last year, though, the number of children in foster care was high, which depleted the association’s funds.
“We could spend more last year. I really wish we could have this year, but I was afraid because we were really wiped out (financially),” Caswell said. “And then Jean (Oakes) offered this as a fundraiser, which I think is awesome.”
