Rob: Hi Guideposts. I’m Rob.
Nancy: And I’m Nancy.
Rob: We’re the Johnsons in Leavenworth, Washington at the Enzian Inn.
Arlene: Hello, Guideposts. My name is Arlene Wagner and I’m here at the Leavenworth Nutcracker Museum.
Rob: So the town became a Christmas theme town partly because it looks like a Norman Rockwell town inside of a snow globe. People just love to come here and enjoy the snow. And we usually do have snow on Christmas Lighting.
Nancy: We’re not too far from Seattle or Spokane. It’s a quick beautiful drive, but you feel like your worlds away.
Arlene: The Nutcracker Museum opened its doors in 1995. And I have been in charge of it ever since then. It started with a collection that my husband and I had, and it was so popular with the visitors that we thought we would like to have it as a museum so that everyone could enjoy it.
Nancy: My faith has had a part in building the Christmas theme in Leavenworth in that the church that we go to has had a living Nativity going on for at least 20 years. People dressed up like Joseph and Mary, shepherds, animals. We had a baby Jesus, and actually we use a real live baby every year. So each Christmas lighting then we have a living Nativity downtown. And so tens of thousands of people get to see that during the Christmas season.
Arlene: We have over 7,000 nutcrackers in the museum. People are always asking me which is my favorite. There is no way I could pick out just one.
Rob: So the Alphorn which we see behind me here, actually it started as a way of communication in the Alps. And because the mountains are so echoe-y and this was centuries ago, if they were being attacked, a small village was attacked or there was a fire. They had certain tones and little rhythms that they would play, given what was happening. We have people that are part of the Enzian family here, and they blow a horn every morning. It will vary, but usually 8:15 to 9:15 every day. And you can hear it throughout the whole town.
Arlene: Let me introduce you to Karl. This is the museum mascot that was carved by Karl Rappl of Oberammergau, Germany. This nutcracker was carved in Norway about 1700. It has a delightful crown that came unbroken. However, he lost his feet a long time ago.
Nancy: It’s kind of funny when you walk downtown and you see people in town that are visiting, probably 70% of them are holding hands. So I think it kind of brings families together and people together. And I kind of think that’s the atmosphere that we have here in town.
