HEARTLAND CRADLESONG –
DUBLIN, OHIO - 2007

Friends of the Creche National Convention
Thursday, November 8, to Saturday, November 10, 2007

Ethnic diversity and music celebrating the birth of our Lord is the theme for this year’s convention, scheduled for November 8-10 at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Dublin, Ohio. Central Ohio and the entire Midwest have been and continue to be a true melting pot. Germans, Irish, English, African Americans, Italians, Scandinavians, and Greeks all settled in central Ohio in the 19th and early 20th centuries. New waves of immigrants continue to arrive from Asia, Africa, and Latin America. The convention program will highlight the early immigrant traditions in art and music.

Keynote speaker is our very Norwegian Pastor Paul Ulring, Senior Pastor of Upper Arlington Lutheran Church and lover of the musical heritage of the church. His presentation, This is My Story, This is My Song, will kick off the convention with a focus on the biblical roots of the Nativity cradlesongs and carols. An accomplished pianist, Pr. Ulring will lead us in song.

Frs. Nathanael Smyth and Nicholas Hughes, monks from the Monastic Brotherhood of St. Theodore, Galion, Ohio, will present the art and hymnody of the Nativity in the Greek Orthodox tradition. Nannette Maciejunes, Director of the Columbus Museum of Art, will introduce the mid-20th Century African American Columbus barber and wood carver, Elijah Pierce, whose vision of the Incarnation shaped his life-long ministry of “sermons in wood” and made him one of the nation’s outstanding African American folk artists. In addition, the traditions of Norway, Ireland, Germany, and Slovakia will be featured.

An exhibit of nativities from the Marian Library of the University of Dayton will be introduced by Fr. Johann Roten, director of the library and curator of the collec-tion. Program highlights include two Midwestern artists: Jerry Krider of Columbia City, Indiana, and Gary Wilson of Monroe, Michigan. They will talk about the inspiration behind their unique respective expressions of the Nativity in wood and clay. They are among the artists who will be exhibiting in the Manger Mart for the first time. Also planned are programs on the herbal lore associated with the nativity, Advent calendars, building a collection on a budget, and more.

The piece de resistance of the convention program will be a major musical performance by the Sanctuary Choir and instrumentalists of Upper Arlington Lutheran Choir, directed by Michael G. Martin, noted choral director, composer and arranger. To cap the closing banquet we will be entertained by the Worthington Singers under the direction of Charles Warner.

All registrants will have the opportunity to enjoy each other’s company over the Friday lunch and Friday and Saturday night dinners, with special menus featuring ethnic foods. In addition, a full breakfast is offered to all conventioneers staying at the Embassy Suites. In keeping with the melting pot theme, the convention committee is publishing a cookbook of family recipes. We invite each of you, whether you are attending the convention or not, to submit one or more of your favorite Christmas recipes. We would also like to know the origin, ethnicity or family connection, and accounts of the role food plays or played in your family celebrations. Tell us about your old or new traditions. Recipes submitted will be edited for publication in a cookbook available at the convention.

For those who arrive early enough on Thursday we have arranged an added Pre-Convention attraction: an interpreted tour of Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral, a splendid Byzantine-style church, adorned with some of the most impressive mosaics in the country, consisting of 5 million pieces of Venetian glass, marble, and 24-carat gold leaf; a docent-led tour of the Columbus Museum of Art to see Elijah Pierce’s Book of Wood and other carvings; and a visit to the State Auto Insurance Company’s city-block-long outdoor Nativity display, with more than 50 life-sized figures and animals, plus trees and other objects.

If you are going to be around on Sunday, the Hahms invite all conventioneers to view a display of nativities in their historic pioneer home. Their home is the oldest stone house in the area, built in the early 1820’s for Eliud Sells, one of the original founding family of the city of Dublin It is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Located in the Dublin Historic District, it is within walking distance of the hotel.

For more information, including hotel and registration details, see the enclosed registration form or visit our web-site, www.friendsofthecreche.org. Keep watching the web-site for news of the convention and the program. Remember to make hotel reservations directly with Embassy Suites Hotel and to submit your convention registration and hotel reservation before the deadline of September 1. Space is limited. Sign up early.