An exhibit inspired by the former Sibley’s department store in downtown Rochester brings old-time Christmas to life in LeRoy at St. Mark's Episcopal Church.

What You Need To Know

  • The Joy Project, an exhibit inspired by the former Sibley’s Department Store in downtown Rochester, brings old-time Christmas to life at the Exhibit Hall at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in LeRoy

  • The Joy Project has been in the works for 40 years with a set of displays and activities meant to reflect some of the things that used to be found within Sibley’s Toyland

  • The exhibit features an extensive Christmas village and train display, department store windows with animatronics, hand-painted murals by a local artist Lorie Longhany funded by a grant from GoArt!, and a one-of-a-kind diorama of the 1937 radio show "The Cinnamon Bear"

“I have been dreaming of doing the Joy project for 40 years,” the Joy Project creator Jim DeLooze said.

With Christmas only days away, children may be eagerly anticipating seeing a pile of presents under the tree.

But rather than dwelling on Christmas future, Jim DeLooze revisits Christmas past.

“Its purpose is to rekindle old Christmas memories of people of my generation and to start new family traditions and memories for the younger people,” DeLooze said.

It's an effort to spread joy by recreating the look and feel of an old-time department store- Sibley’s in downtown Rochester.

“When Sibley’s closed in the mid-80s, it was awful because that was a family tradition,” DeLooze said. “When it was gone, I said, ‘My kids and my grandkids are never going to be able to see this.’ So for the past 40 years, I have wanted to recreate something similar so they get a taste for what it is.”

Inspired by DeLooze’s own holiday tradition, he reminisces about the department stores they visited in their childhoods and the holidays they once shared. Bringing the same joy he experienced as a child with others. 

“When I was a kid, you wanted to pick out your toys for the year,” DeLooze said. “You had the Sears catalog and you had Sibley's toy land. And now, you know, kids are getting lost in computers and not getting out and socializing. And it's so good and so important for people to come together.”

The exhibit features an extensive Christmas village and train display, department store windows with animatronics, hand-painted murals by a local artist Lorie Longhany funded by a grant from GoArt!, and a one-of-a-kind diorama of the 1937 radio show ‘The Cinnamon Bear.’

“I listened to the Cinnamon Bear probably 30 times in,” DeLooze said. “I told him that I would make this available for people to view between Thanksgiving and Christmas every year free of charge.”

They are having the Christmas spirit live on through music, toys, and, most importantly, the people you can share it with.

“We have close to 900 visitors that have come through here now,” DeLooze said. “With all the bad news in the world and everything. If they can just come in here and get lost in the Christmas spirit for a little while, that'd be great.”