T-R PHOTO BY ROBERT MAHARRY Iowa Veterans Home Resident Treatment Worker Cheryl Voigt stands next to the life size nutcracker she constructed with help from her husband Stacy to share with the facility’s residents and staff. It is currently located at the third floor dayroom in the Dack building.

During her 19 years of employment at the Iowa Veterans Home (IVH), Resident Treatment Worker Cheryl Voigt has earned a reputation as a Christmas enthusiast, and she’s always looking for new and fun ways to make the season a little brighter for both the residents and her colleagues in the Dack building.

Last year, she brought in a group of kids to paint a window with a winter theme, and this fall, Voigt — who does her best to remember all seasons and holidays — brought in pumpkin bars apple cider for residents while including members of her own family. For 2024, however, she took her efforts to the next level after seeing a six foot tall nutcracker on YouTube.

Voigt decided she would create her own replica.

“I thought that was amazing, but there wasn’t really anywhere to run out and just go buy it. I had the stuff for it, so I decided ‘Yeah, that’s what I’m gonna do,'” she said. “And (my husband Stacy) Mr. Voigt happens to own his own construction company, so he helped me with putting the guts together.”

In all, Voigt estimated that the project took about 20 days of work because of the time needed to let the paint dry, and she made trips to stores both in Marshalltown and elsewhere to ensure she had all of the necessary supplies. Fittingly, she finished the nutcracker on Veterans Day, and it’s been in the day room on the third floor of Dack since Nov. 22.

The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive thus far, and with a Family Christmas event scheduled for Saturday, the plan was to move it down to the main level to allow for pictures to be taken with it. When asked how she can top this year’s creation in 2025, Voigt said she’d like to use her Menards rebates to purchase some outdoor decorations that will eventually rival the set-up at Adventureland in Altoona.