They found a new home in the library

The small white lights illuminating several Dickens Houses in the front window of the Minneota Public Library is a reminder of what Christmas is all about.
A total of 75 of the miniatures houses and business were a collection belonging to the late Bette Streeter, a former Minneota resident who passed away in November of 2022. Her son, Tom Streeter of Andover, MN and his girlfriend, Judy Hamerlinck, donated them to the library.
Judy had contacted her sister, Joyce Downing of Minneota, to see if she had any ideas of where to donate them and it was agreed the library would be a place where people could enjoy viewing them.
"They didn't want to split them up," said Downing. "They wanted them all to go to the same place."
Tom and Judy brought the Dickens Houses to Minneota and left them with Downing. Each of the houses were still in their original box.
Karen Golden, a Friends of the Library member, her sister, Mona Hammer, and Downing put up the display together in the library window.
They were unable to display more of the houses due to a lack of outlets in the window.
"The lighting of that many houses became an issue because there is only one outlet in each of the four library windows," Golden noted.
The Friends of the Library are currently contemplating what to do with the other donated Dickens Houses.
"People have been asking how the rest of the houses will be displayed in the future, but that hasn't been decided," said Golden. "The family was just pleased that someone would take them and use them. Any future plans for the houses would depend on what the library board thinks, and what the family wants, too."