It started 29 years ago with a little ceramic cottage made by her then-16 year-old-daughter.
That cottage would mark the beginning of a lifelong Christmas project for Judy Long of Home, Pa.
After receiving that cottage from her daughter, she began to buy other cottages to sit beside it. What started as something small, soon grew into what she refers to as her Christmas Village.
After moving to Pennsylvania, Long purchased a larger cottage to add to her collection. With each year, 
her passion for collecting cottages grew.
BROOKVILLE — When members of the Willow Run Sanctuary for Animals in Coolspring found Angel, a terrier mix, she was "very, very bony, just a walking little skeleton," said Margo Stefanic, the founder and president of the organization.
Stefanic said the dog was "very unhealthy" and seriously malnourished, a description that was backed up by a veterinarian after she was discovered. Angel had been left restrained in the backyard of her former owner's residence in Rose Township, where she had not been given water or food.
It was a bright sunny day as the students from the Playhouse Children's Center came out to spread some holiday cheer. The children stood in front of County Market and sang Christmas carols, as numerous customers stopped to watch and listen to their angelic voices last week. This was a special event that the Center performed alongside the Salvation Army’s bell ringer to help raise more money for the Salvation Army during the holiday season.
