By Jennifer Eisenbart
staff writer
Call it a second home of sorts – the village and home of the dreams of Cyndi and Ben Lentz.
At the lowest level is a fishing dock, complete with fishermen, buoys, seagulls and a nautical store.
At the highest level sits a lighthouse, one of two from the couple’s travels across the country to see the sailor’s safety mechanisms.
In between are a schoolhouse, a fox hunt – complete with mud in the snow – a vineyard and a newspaper office, plus homes of all shapes and sizes.
What started off as a humble collection of five homes has developed into “Bencynville” – 55 buildings, numerous animals and a glimpse into the past when times were simpler.
“The first year, I just did it on top of the piano,” explained Cyndi. “I never knew it was going to grow into this.”
Like many who collect and display Christmas village buildings, the setup has changed almost yearly. For a couple like Ben and Cyndi – for whom the village is named – 35 years has proved plenty of time for them to conspire together on what looks best and give Cyndi a chance to use her artistic talents.
A watercolor and pastels artist, she is the brainchild behind the setup.
“We’re retired, so what else do we have to do,” Ben said. “Her favorite part is the creating. She’s an artist.
“Every year, it’s a little bit different.”
Quite the set up
It takes three days for the Lentzs to set up the village each year.
As the village has evolved, so has the space that’s needed. The couple moved the setup from on top of the piano to a large bay window initially, in their home in Elkhorn.
Now in a Whitewater condominium, the couple uses the lower level of their home, setting up the multi-level village across three large tables in front of large windows and a sliding glass door.
The first day, Cyndi sets up the base, using all sorts of different items to create levels, including books.
On the second day, they “put up all the houses and the buildings that need electrical hookups. The third day is all the accessories,” she said.
The electrical hookups include lights in every building, but also a lit downtown Christmas tree and train crossing.
Cyndi then uses a wide variety of different items to create a natural look. For example, dirt is made with coffee grounds, and cinnamon sticks are logs.
The accessories are the stories that run throughout the village. There is a fox hunt going on near the hunting log, with dogs and men on horses chasing the fox.
In one part of the village, children are playing hockey on a makeshift rink. In another, some children are playing Revolutionary War.
At the train station, Cyndi has made up stories for all the people there, from families arriving to locals frequenting the building.
“It’s the story of the accessories that change,” Cyndi explained. “There’s never anyone walking down the same part of the street.”
Individual stories
Over the years, special pieces and their stories have been added to the village.
For example, there is a bed and breakfast, up on one of the hills. When Cyndi saw that piece at a Stein’s Garden store – with the bed and breakfast already named “Cynthia’s” – she knew it had a place in her village.
She and Ben have put an artist working on a painting in the front yard of the B&B to further symbolize Cyndi.
Then there is a pair of lighthouses in the village. Ben and Cyndi have traveled all over the country to visit lighthouses on both coasts and on lakes. One lighthouse is representing Cape Hatteras. The other is a beautiful lighthouse the couple found in a Lake Geneva shop.
“It encompasses a lot of what we’ve seen,” Ben said. “The colors, the style.”
The winery on the village represents a trip to Sonoma Valley the couple took. Their son surprised them with the winery for their village the next year and it even has vines for the grapes.
There are clock towers, mills, barns – featuring hay bales purchased from Pharmacy Station in Elkhorn before it closed – and three churches in the village – one given to the couple as a wedding gift from a friend.
Cyndi has a bakery in the village because she used to work at one, and the sea/dock area includes a boat store, which “is what you see out on the East Coast,” Ben said.
There are two fire departments in the village – one city, one country, fitting as Cyndi’s father was a fire chief in Spooner.
This year, there is a house on fire that has smoke coming out of it and red threads to catch the light.
Hat vendors (for Ben’s love of hats), Santa’s Ice Cream Shop (Cyndi loves ice cream) and even a popcorn cart decorate the streets.
The structures are from a variety of brands and have been purchased from stores, garage sales and, of course, some were received as gifts. That, of course, is how a village is built.
“A village isn’t all the same builders,” Cyndi said.
Ideally, the couple said you can’t see everything in one viewing.
“If you came on a different day, you’d say, ‘oh, I didn’t see that,” Ben explained.
The future
While Cyndi said the village is nearing its capacity, that won’t keep her from enjoying the yearly tradition of setting it up – and making up new stories.
Eventually, the village will be handed off. The couple’s children have yet to indicate an interest, so Ben and Cyndi are hopeful a library (or perhaps a museum) will take in the collection.
But both also admit, part of the charm – and the fun – is the memories they have tied to the individual pieces.
“The thing I love most about the village is, to me, it’s a representation of Cyn and myself,” Ben said. “Our past, and our memories. When I look at it, it’s her. It’s everything that she does. And it always brings back everything I always hoped to see at Christmas.”
“I’m so lucky,” Cyndi added.
