NORTH RUSTICO, P.E.I. — James Gallant can't believe what he saw Monday morning.
The P.E.I. man famous for entertaining thousands of people with his extensive Christmas displays outside his home in North Rustico – and for raising thousands of dollars for the P.E.I. chapter of the Children's Wish Foundation – has no idea how his nativity scene was damaged sometime overnight on Sunday.
“I just don’t know what happened,” said the 80-year-old Gallant, who added everything looked fine when he went outside Sunday at about 11 p.m. to collect the $292 in a donation box for Children's Wish P.E.I.
But come Monday morning, one of his neighbours on Allen Street, which is nestled near the Stella Maris Roman Catholic Church in North Rustico, pointed out that the door to his nativity scene had come off. The six-foot tall, two-foot-wide heavy door had been locked, yet it had been taken off by some mighty force.
Other than the door, the arm of one of the nativity mannequins was ripped off.
“There’s always a possibility that it happened on its own, but I find that hard to believe,” said Gallant.
“(The door) never budged in hurricane Dorian. It seems rather strange.”
In the 14 years Gallant has been doing his Christmas display, which is enjoyed by people from across Prince Edward Island, there was only one time when someone pried open the door with a crowbar and stole the donation box and money.
The perpetrator was never found.
“There’s always a possibility that it happened on its own, but I find that hard to believe. (The door) never budged in hurricane Dorian. It seems rather strange.”
FORCED OPEN
This time, though, there were no markings. Gallant said if the door was forced open, it would have to be a pretty strong person or more than one person.
He said he didn’t hear anything all night, other than, “a bunch of young fellas yellin’,” but he said the voices were nowhere near his property.
Gallant did contact the RCMP about the damage and said they plan on looking into the incident.
“I don’t know what happened, I am not going to say someone ripped (the door) off because I don’t really know,” he said.
As for the damage, Gallant said he won’t be able to get the door put back up for the nativity scene, but he will manage to fix the arm of the mannequin.
And there are still plenty of other Christmas decorations on display for people who make his festive yard an annual December destination.
Starting back in 2005, Gallant has set up the popular display every year in tribute to his son who died in a motor-vehicle accident. And every year he collects donations for Children's Wish P.E.I.
In 2019, Gallant was given the P.E.I.’s Children’s Wish Foundation’s provincial volunteer award for his many years of service to the organization.
“I just like Christmas I guess,” he said.
“I want to help those children out. I always try to make the nativity the main thing because that’s what Christmas is all about. Jesus is the reason for the season. Hopefully it puts them in the Christmas spirit.”
So far, Gallant has collected $1,000 this year for the foundation.
