👤 Who: Fort Walton Beach Growth Management Director Tim Gibson, along with Melissa Gibson, Mikayle Gibson, and Charlotte Shelton
🎄 What: A massive, handcrafted Christmas village featuring hundreds of buildings, figurines, and a working train
📅 When: Open now through the end of the year, Monday–Friday, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.
📍 Where: Growth Management Department offices, Fort Walton Beach City Hall, 105 Miracle Strip Parkway SW
💡 Why: To share a decades-long family tradition with the community and bring joy during the holiday season
A Fort Walton Beach family’s holiday tradition, more than 30 years in the making, is now adding extra sparkle inside City Hall.
Growth Management Director Tim Gibson, with help from his wife, Melissa, his daughter, Mikayle, and his mother-in-law, Charlotte Shelton, has transformed a vacant office in the Growth Management Department into an elaborate Christmas village featuring hundreds of porcelain buildings, figurines, and handcrafted details. The public is invited to tour the display through the end of the year.
The tradition began in the late 1980s when Melissa’s father started purchasing pieces from Mervyn’s annual holiday series, “Village Square,” for her mother. The porcelain buildings and figurines — once a highly sought-after seasonal item at the now-closed Mervyn’s department store chain — quickly evolved into a treasured family collection. Over the decades, the set grew steadily as new pieces were released each holiday season.
When the collection was passed down, Tim and Melissa not only preserved it but also significantly expanded it. Today, Tim estimates the village contains more than 1,000 individual pieces, including 250–300 buildings, dozens of figurines, multiple scenes, and custom elements he has engineered himself. The display also includes an operational model railroad that winds through the snowy landscape.
“It started with my dad buying these Christmas houses for my mom,” Melissa said. “It just grew from there. Every year, we found a new building or figure that fit the style of the village.”
Tim says their approach has become more refined with time. “It’s been fine-tuned. We’ve built onto it over the years, adding something new every year.”
This year, instead of assembling the village in their home as they’ve always done, Tim decided to bring the Christmas tradition to the public for the first time. He and his family spent numerous evenings and weekends carefully transporting, assembling, and arranging the pieces — a meticulous process that took several weeks. Tim emphasized that all work was done on personal time and without the use of city funds or materials.
The display spans nearly every inch of the former office, creating a miniature world complete with businesses, churches, homes, a castle, and neighborhoods connected by pathways, trees, and winter scenery. Soft lighting, layered elevation, and meticulously placed figurines add depth and realism to the landscape.
Visitors are encouraged to look closely — the village contains several hidden Easter eggs, including a miniature Where’s Waldo, tiny ladybugs, and whimsical shapes built into the puffy clouds suspended above the scene. These intentional surprises, Tim says, are part of what makes the display so engaging.
“I want people to come in and experience it; every time you look at it, you see something new,” Tim said. “I just felt like it would bring joy to people.”
The display is open to the public from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, inside the Growth Management Department at Fort Walton Beach City Hall, located at 105 Miracle Strip Parkway SW. It will remain open through December 31.
Pro Communi Bono
St. Francis De Sales, Ora Pro Nobis!
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