When I headed off to college from Hawaii, my parents gave me a nativity made out of natural materials from the islands. My husband gifted me a membership to FOTC back in 2001. I have served on the FOTC Board for ten years and thoroughly enjoy the friendships from fellow creche enthusiasts nationwide. I worked for eight years at the University of Dayton. This job gave me a lot of experience in the history, purchasing, care of, displays and exhibits, and loaning nativities from the collection. This is my second year as president and we are seeing many changes and updates to make our organization exceptional!

What began quite by accident has turned into a passion. I picked up my first nativities over 50 years ago in Colombia, South America while serving as a Peace Corps volunteer, and living and working overseas for over 20 years gave me lots of opportunities to find unique ones in far flung places. Actually though, I have taken to collecting more actively in retirement and have doubled my collection in the last 10 years. Being a member of Friends of the Creche and participating in annual meetings and conventions and getting to know others who share this interest has deepened my affection for the depiction of the Christ child as seen through the eyes of believers all around the world. Our trip to the Holy Land several years ago, which included a visit to Bethlehem was a capstone experience. I enjoy sharing my love of the nativity with others.

I owe my love of nativities to my mother, who let me play in the outdoor blow mold creche in the front yard where she placed a sign, “This is the true gift of Christmas.” I would imagine the angelic scene from Linus’ speech on the Charlie Brown Christmas special where he recites from Luke to explain “what Christmas is all about.” Our family nativity was made of durable plastic so I could play with it. I bought my first nativity around age 10, one of those small one-piece Hong Kong plastic sets. I started collecting during my first tour as a Foreign Service Officer. I was serving in Ecuador, where instead of Christmas trees, they had large outdoor markets where families bought pieces each year to add to their home nativity set. Around mid-way through my 32-year diplomatic career, my husband signed me up for FOTC so I could get the Creche Herald. Now that I am retired and able to more easily get to FOTC meetings, I love being with others who love creches. I have learned so much from FOTC members, and enjoy their friendship.

My husband, Bob, and I have been married 63 years, and we still work in our family run almond processing business in Modesto, CA. Our 3 children live close by, and all are involved in the family business. We have 8 grandchildren and 2 darling great grandsons. Because of my personal faith in Jesus, I have enjoyed collecting Nativities since 1961 which now has grown to 972 sets – from the size of a thimble to life size. We open our home every other year to the community to view our collection; in 2024 we had over 1100 guests in 6 days of showing. I joined FOTC when someone told me about a “Nativity collectors group” which I researched online and have thoroughly enjoyed the conventions and annual meetings over the years. I was appointed Treasurer for the organization in 2021. I willingly serve as an ex-officio board member.

I joined Friends of the Creche in 2001, after showing nativities for many years in the churches where I served. My passion for the organization has lead me to serve on the Board and as Webmaster before switching over to membership. My wife Nora and I are passionate about showing our nativities in public settings to show the diverse nature of those who love and serve God.

My wife Diane and I began collecting nativities in 1989 with a Lotte Sievers Han carved wood set. Our collection grew over the years to hundreds of sets, focusing on handcrafted items from around the world. We joined FOTC in 2019, and I've been on the board since 2023. I'm happy to bring my background as a Microsoft engineer to manage FOTC's online activities through the web site, Facebook, Online Gatherings, and email outreach.

I've been a member of Friends of the Creche since the first year. Love it, love it, love it! I began collecting nativities before that. My husband and I wanted our children to have Christ's birth be the center of our Christmas season, not Santa. My husband did some traveling with his students and began to buy nativities in different countries. One led to another, and we began our collection. Some big, some tiny, some exquisite, some simple. Some bought and some handmade. I like ones that are unique to the area where we acquired them. I love being on the board and having the opportunity to share my love of nativities and the Savior with others.

I am very blessed to have the opportunity to serve on the FOTC Board for many years. My primary function has been to locate individuals to chair various conferences and yearly meeting events, as well as to locate speakers for our Zoom gatherings. I have collected nativities for about 45 years and have displayed them in public settings in Bishop, California and Incline Village and Reno, Nevada.

I joined FOTC after I attended an annual meeting. I was so Impressed with the people and the program that I wanted to be part of a group that is as passionate about nativities as I am. I enjoy being on the FOTC Board and serving as the Election Chair. If you are interested in being on the Board, get in touch with me. We always had a small dime store nativity under the Christmas tree when I was a kid. My own collection began when I made a paper Mache set. It was finally beyond saving, and I moved on to collect over 400 sets. My favorites are ones from the Southwest and ones made especially for me. I love getting to know the artist. My daughter says “Mom, do you really need another nativity?"My answer is a smile and a twinkle in my eye.

Having done much international work in our careers, my husband and I have collected creches from over a hundred countries. Each have their own regional focus. We display many of them at the Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land in America in Washington, D.C.

Unbeknownst to me, I became a nativity collector during my junior year abroad in Provence. I wanted to take home a memory of France. At the Christmas market in Aix-en-Provence I found the Santon figures that definitely were my treasure. It wasn’t until I began work at Mary & Joseph Retreat Center, I became more of a collector, finding nativity treasures from other parts of the world. I love the story of Christ coming to each culture and how the craftspeople interpret His birth, each giving the Christ child a unique twist based on where they are from. I love the various mediums each of these crafters use to present their art. I was blessed to find the Friends of the Creche in 2007 and began attending yearly meetings and the biennial conventions! What fun! And I became involved with the board, serving as a member at large, a Vice President and the President for several years. Along with a great group of collectors who live near me in Southern California, we were able to host the Annual meetings in 2012 and 2024 at Mary & Joseph Retreat Center in Rancho Palos Verdes.

Shelly was the founder of the Peoria, Illinois Area Community Festival of Nativities, an annual event that showcases over 1000 nativities. She became involved with Friends of the Creche in 2020 and chaired the national convention in Washington D.C. in 2023. She is the mother of four and the grandmother of fourteen who all share her passion for the story of Jesus.

I grew up in Mexico, where my mother would set up a large nacimiento which incorporated various components like mountains, streams, and small villages which allowed the wisemen to travel toward the manger. (We would move them daily until they arrived on January 6th.) Many years later, my wife and I started assembling our own nacimiento but quickly realized we did not have the room for such an elaborate display so pivoted to collecting multiple nativity scenes. Before we knew it, we had started seeing nativities everywhere we went and started collecting them in earnest. We moved to Texas in 2008, and finally had the space to display them all. The collections continues to expand!

I live in Lawton, Oklahoma with my husband Mark. My mom June also lives with us. Growing up, my Mom had a white ceramic nativity on which she shined a color changing light. I liked that it was different than most sets I saw. My grandpa had one that his first wife dressed in rich fabrics. It was so amazing and beautiful to me. As I traveled around the country for school and work, I began to encounter unique and world nativities which sparked my interest in collecting. I love seeing the many ways the birth of Christ is depicted by different cultures.