Leigh Gieringer earned a B. S. Degree in Fine Arts from a major university.  Her career field was in the the graphic arts.  As a hobby, she became a village collector in the late 1980's.  Finding that a large part of the fun was the placement of the buildings into dynamic settings, she received kudos and awards for her displays.  She became a feature writer for the Village Chronicle with respect to the Alpine Village and currently writes for the Village D-Lights magazine.  Leigh has compiled three Village Display Tips books, three series of Village Display Updates and three Village Scaping DVDs; all are resources for display building ideas and techniques.  She creates village store displays and conducts seminars on display building techniques.