.: Print Version :.

“It started at Wal-Mart when he wanted a train,” Debbie Shield said.

Her husband responded “Well, another train.”

Then the Charleston couple looked at all the ceramic houses, bought a few of them and Debbie asked “Why don’t we put together a train display with these.”

That's how it started seven years ago with 20 ceramic houses and three trains from Rusty’s collection. The Christmas Village and train display has grown this year to about 200 houses and seven trains.

The couple spent about a week setting up tables, unpacking the houses and trains and setting up the village and trains inside the main Charleston Fire District office on the Cape Arago Highway.

The display is open to the public free of charge from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m., seven days a week. The fire department also turns on the trains for school children and senior groups during the day on request.

“A lot of these (Charleston area) kids don’t have a lot. Through the trains, they can see history and tradition,” Debbie said. “They can see the community at large and learn things.”

The Shields moved to the Charleston area a little over 20 years ago with their five kids. So, it's no wonder they enjoy creating a show that's a kid pleaser. But it's not just children who are thrilled by the whirring locomotives and sparkly lights. Debbie recalled the day one 80-year-old woman came to see the display.

“She came in and looked at the trains and started to cry. ‘I remember when I rode a train like that when I was a girl.’ ”

That's how it is, with the Shields finding they welcome children of all ages.

"We have had children come in over 100 years old," Rusty said joking. "I don’t know what childhood they are in and I don’t want to know.”

“I don’t know which childhood I’m in,” he added.

The couple agreed, as Rusty says, the display is “A way of paying back the community that has been good to us.”

“The looks on people’s faces, young and old, make it worthwhile.”