Christmas 2025: Bibok wants to spread joy

BY SHAWN LOUGHLIN

Wanita Bibok of Blyth wanted to open her house to the community this year. It has brought so much joy to her family for so many years, she was encouraged by her children and grandchildren to expand the experience. If everyone could leave their troubles at the door and experience unbridled joy and magic for a short stretch at her house, she says, that would mean she’s accomplished something this holiday season.

 

The Blyth resident, living on Mill Street in the former Blyth United Church manse, has, since her late teens, collected Christmas display pieces. First they were replica models of shops that she found in the Sears Wishbook, buying a new one every Christmas, first for her own enjoyment of the season and then much to the delight of her young children, who began to feel the anticipation and celebration of another holiday season through that very specific tradition.

 

She’s been part of the Blyth community for the last 15 years. She came east from British Columbia, first settling in Guelph with her family, but, as someone who grew up around a lot of nature, she quickly deduced that she wasn’t cut out for city living and sought something in a smaller community, eventually making their way to Blyth. First in a Dinsley Street house for a year and then into the former manse, where she still resides.

 

Her Christmas collection has really begun to expand in her later years on the west coast of this country, so to say there was a bit extra to be moved to Ontario when the time came would be an understatement, but it made its way here with everything else.
It was always something that she set up for her children, expanding every year. However, it was when she got her husband on board that things really began to sprawl and take over parts of the house. He said that if she bought him a train and tracks, he would work to expand the setting. Well, that was a deal and the rest is history. What the family has now is an expansive town that includes dozens of buildings on more than three levels, all with a train running around its perimeter. 

 

It’s now in its new home, specifically built for the display, which is a far cry from its original home on a dining room table that it quickly outgrew.

 

Now, Bibok is a seasonal decorator. She makes sure that the house celebrates whatever season it is and she’s ready for whatever the calendar will throw at her. However, there is a special magic to Christmas and that’s why it has a specific hold on her heart. It’s one of the only seasons that has magic inherently woven into its very mythology, she says, and that brings with it a completely singular feeling that can’t be replicated at any other time of year. That, she says, it what she responds to when it comes to Christmas.

 

Having said that, Bibok is also a deeply religious person who has been a member of the Blyth United Church - her neighbour - congregation for many years. So, Christmas and its meaning as the time to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ can also not be understated.

 

Bibok has also been very involved in the community since moving here 15 years ago. She volunteers with the church as well as the Blyth Legion, Huron Residential Hospice and more. In fact, she is hoping to make a donation to the hospice with some of the funds raised by opening her home to the public this Christmas.

 

On that note, she is hoping that this will become an annual tradition. If she could begin to build some momentum this year and help spread the word, she would love to change things up every Christmas and have a visit to her home become part of the fabric of the holidays in Blyth, enabling her to donate to charity every holiday season.

 

Going back to her motivation behind wanting to create a holiday respite for village residents, she mused that the world of today is a hard one for many. There are many things to worry about and reasons to get down. Bibok herself lost a son not long ago, so she knows the toll that the world can take on some. To be able to provide an experience that encourages people to leave their problems at the door, allowing them to get swooped up into the wonder and magic of the holidays, is perhaps the greatest service she feels that she can do for her community.

 

She’s seen the joy that her hard work decorating has brought to the faces of her children and now her grandchildren and it was them who encouraged her to cast a wider net and to bring the wider community into the mix and share with them as well.
There are a few days left (the last day is Dec. 23) so book a spot if you can.

 

After that, she’ll be celebrating the holidays with her family for the next few days - especially on Boxing Day, which is a big one for the family that will see Bibok entertain a full house. She has a commercial-grade kitchen in the basement of the house, which she installed when she was working as a baker for a number of years. However, when her son passed and the COVID-19 pandemic took over the world, she just didn’t have it in her to continue and she pivoted.

 

So, try and snatch up one of the final appointments this year if you can. If not, perhaps you can keep an eye out and see what Bibok has planned for next year. She tells me there are plans to create a North Pole display next Christmas, which is sure to be a sight to see.