Memories Built Over Years Culminate in Christmas Village Display at the Peteetneet

Pictured: Sandy Hummer with some of the collectibles on display at the Peteetneet now through the days leading up to Christmas.

A lifelong passion for miniature and ceramic collectibles that began with a Lionel train, bought in 1939, has culminated with an impressive Christmas village.  It is on display now through the days leading up to Christmas at the Peteetneet Museum and Cultural Arts Center in Payson.

This charming collection belongs to Sandra (Sandy) Hummer and her husband, the late Dennis Hummer, and represents years of meaningful art-making and collecting, near and far. And it all began the year Dennis was born, 1939, when his father purchased that first Lionel train. After he and Sandy married and made their home in Buffalo, New York, the train went with them.  It became a part of a collection that expanded as the family grew to include five children and seventeen grandchildren, one that was most celebrated in the couple’s living room at Christmastime.

“Dennis and I have always loved Christmas,” Sandy said as she spoke in her office where she works part-time as coordinator and scheduler at the Peteetneet.  

The collection would later follow them from New York to Provo, Utah, in 1998, and eventually Payson, in 2002.   Dennis passed away soon after they moved here.  Missing the love of her life dearly, Sandy searched out something to do in the community.

That something arrived, at first, in the form of a Payson City utility bill in January 2003- a call for volunteers to help out at the Peteetneet.  Sandy responded to the call and was soon working with directors and volunteers at Payson’s landmark, including Helen Scott and the late Thora Jean Jewett.  Volunteering at the museum and cultural center made “the town more real,” she said as she came to know and appreciate the people who reside in Payson, or visit as guests to the popular museum site.

She has stayed at the Peteetneet since, adding to her roster of efforts her part-time position with Payson City, as well as Secretary-Treasurer for the People Preserving Peteetneet (PPP), and her role as Treasurer of the Payson Historical Society.

It was within these capacities that the Christmas village display came to be. A board discussion that included a search for an appealing exhibit to add to Payson’s storied school-turned-museum’s displays resulted in Sandy’s contribution.

What visitors can expect to find are more than fantastic objects to admire.  Each comes with wonderful memories recalled each Christmas as each piece was delicately put in place around and near their fir tree.  The trip to Dennis’s family’s hometown, Nuremberg, Germany, is recalled with the St. Nicholas figure the couple bought while visiting the city soon after Sandy’s retirement from her work in Buffalo.  The Polish St. Nicholas purchased from the same traditional Nuremberg shop to recognize Sandy’s heritage.  Smiling snowmen.  Skating children.  Warm village homes set up in a flurry of faux snow.  There is something for every taste.

The display can be viewed in the Historical Room, Room D, on the Peteetneet’s main floor.  While it does not include the Hummers’ collection in entirety, a few of Sandra’s most cherished pieces are among them.  Be sure to enjoy them before the exhibit concludes in the days leading up to Christmas.  Admission is free.  Peteetneet entrance hours are Monday-Friday, from 10 AM - 4 PM.