Letter from the Editor
of HolidayJoyMagazine.com
Created by village collectors for village collectors!
If you have been looking for a place to gather and share your knowledge about village collecting you've come to the right place! Today begins our quest to create the #1 online resource for those passionate about village collecting just like us. "Us" is the key to the concept behind the creation of this web site.
My name is Terry Merlo. Editor of www.holidayjoymagazine.com. I am also an avid collector of Department 56 village pieces. The charm of these porcelain beauties is addictive and contagious in the sweetest of ways! As a single father of three teenagers it was becoming tougher to keep their interest. Trying to get them to want to spend time with dear ole dad gets tougher as they become more interested in other things. Village collecting gave us one more thing to do together as a family. We design, build, buy, sell, write, photograph and enjoy our hobby together. The quality time we spend together building various displays is priceless.
Our love for village collecting was given to us as a gift from my mother from the grave. A story I will share with you some day. I believe she is leading me to create this website to promote family through the joys of village collecting. Simply put I want to spread the word about how incredibly fascinating village collecting can be. Our goal is to spread the word about the joys of village collecting and strengthening family bonds. We wish to do this by spreading the word and sharing our enthusiasm. I am so excited about hearing your thoughts and ideas. Combining them with ours to share and increase our knowledge with our new friends. You are a welcomed part of the Holiday Joy Magazine family. We are happy to meet you.
My personal desire to publish a magazine worthy of you has been an unrealized obsession brewing in the back of my mind for many years. The funny thing is I didn’t even know it. I can’t begin to tell you how many times I have written articles in my imagination but never on paper. Or how many beautiful photos I have taken to share with the world that just sit somewhere on my computer. This passion to express these thoughts is exploding inside of me and it is time act. I believe there are many others just like me who are looking for a place to showcase their talents, learn and share knowledge about village collecting. Taking each of us to the next level. I especially look forward to growing together.
Holiday Joy Magazine is driven by the thirst for more knowledge and sharing. We are genuinely interested in your input. We look forward to receiving your articles, photographs, videos, design ideas, building techniques, stories and even holiday recipes! Email us anything and everything you wish to share related to village collecting. Every email will be read by me personally. Future topics will come from YOU. I want to know if there are others out there like me and together we will shape this magazine into something special. As a collector myself I have been looking for a useful and interesting websites that discuss Department 56 and provides historical information and collecting knowledge. This is our intent. It will take a while to get where we want to be as we build our database of knowledge to share.
You'll notice on the bottom most pages is this icon.
It is an invitation and reminder to each of us to participate by sending in your ideas, thoughts, photos and anything else village collecting related. If you use Outlook clicking the icon opens a blank email specific to the page you are viewing. Ready to send your input directly to us. We encourage you to participate as we begin to shape our magazine. If you do not use Outlook simply send your comments and ideas to friends@holidayjoymagazine.com. It's that simple.
The feeling I have inside about these little gems is so strong I am compelled to give something back to the hobby we love so. That's why I have created Holiday Joy Magazine. A relaxing place to share knowledge, experience and creativity with each other and become friends along the way.
Thank you for stopping by,
Terry Merlo
Holiday Joy Magazine Editor
Email: friends@holidayjoymagazine.com
Holiday Joy Magazine wants your input!
Click here to submit your ideas for fun games, crafts and anything else
just for kids! Holiday Joy Magazine knows the children really are our future!