Anyone who’s visited the Montgomery Village Museum on 142 Clinton Street has likely seen several dioramas on display, depicting near perfect replicas of village buildings and scenes down to their most minute details. Eddie Benson, a 45-year village resident, is the artist behind these creations, a passionate and outgoing individual, who enjoys recreating the community he loves. The village celebrated Benson’s life last Saturday, November 2 during a ceremony at the village museum.

Originally from Brooklyn, Benson moved to the Village of Montgomery in June 1971. He wears many different hats: he is a veteran who served in the U.S. Navy between 1965 and 1968, a proud father of five children, and a grandfather of 14 children. He also owned and operated Eddie’s Deli on Clinton Street; he retired from the business in 2016, and the property eventually became Antonio’s Family Restaurant.

“Ed’s Deli, for as long as I’ve been working, was the place that I went to in the morning before I went to work. Yeah, we had coffee at work, but I wanted to have it at the deli and sit with the farmers,” said Village Mayor Mike Hembury. “I really miss his deli.”

One of Benson’s favorite pastimes is drawing paintings and constructing dioramas of village buildings, many of which he donates to residents; he considers the hobby therapeutic and a way of giving back to the community he loves. One of his biggest dioramas was a replica of the entire village, recreating every single building, street, tree, and more on a miniature scale. The project took about eight months to complete and won first place in General Montgomery Day’s parade float contest in September 1995. Benson displayed the model in his deli and later donated it to the village museum.

“One of my first projects was the village replica; I remember almost getting arrested a few times because people saw me scanning their buildings,” Benson said.

Over the years, Benson donated several more dioramas to the village museum, including replicas of the museum itself, the village hall, the Orange County Firefighter Museum, the Montgomery Grange, Walden Savings Bank, and a mastodon habitat.

“This guy is unbelievable, my grandkids have paintings of Nemo in their room that he painted for them,” Hembury said. “He is so dedicated, and this is what the village is all about. We are from all over the place, but we appreciate what we have.”

“It’s amazing, he’s adding so much to our village’s story. When the kids stand in line and take their pictures of the dioramas, they go back to school and look at these pictures, picking out the little details in them that we don’t see right away,” said Village Historian Brian Fitzpatrick. “The attention to detail is phenomenal. When people come to this museum, they stop, stare at the models, and ask ‘Who did this?’ It’s Eddie Benson.”

During Saturday’s ceremony, dozens of residents enjoyed refreshments and music while celebrating Benson’s contributions to the village. Hembury and Fitzpatrick also presented a glass plaque and gift basket to Benson, solidifying him and his legacy in the village’s history.

“He’s always given so much and continues to give so much back. Just being one of our residents and business owners makes a huge difference in this place and the entire village. He’s had an impact on all of us,” Fitzpatrick said. “Congratulations Eddie.”