They come in all shapes and sizes from all over the world and they were gathered on Dec. 14 at Forest Hills Church, 1702 Forest Hills Blvd., for the One Starry Night Open House. The annual event grew exponentially when Mark and Pat Kirby joined the congregation.
One Starry Night featured a display of nativity scenes that belong to church members, along with music and refreshments. The Kirbys just happen to collect nativity scenes. They don't know exactly how many they have, but they estimate about 600.
Once you start looking for nativity scenes, they're easy to find, Pat Kirby said. She's bought them at craft fairs, at flea markets and at antique shops. The only problem is keeping track of what they already own so they don't accidentally purchase a duplicate.
"There's no way to categorize them," Mark Kirby explained. Every one is unique. When they find they have a duplicate, they give one away.
The collection started when the Kirbys were first married and they received the first nativity set from her mother. Since Mark Kirby was a pastor, it just seemed appropriate to start a collection.
Many of the sets were purchased through the Fair Trade movement. People in Third World countries use local materials, often recycled materials, and traditional skills to create the product and the profit is used to benefit the community, Pat Kirby explained.
One set is made from the stained glass that was removed from Pat Kirby's childhood church before it was torn down.
The materials range from wood to tin to banana fiber and many of the sets reflect their origin with unusual animals sharing the creche. Tiny elephants, polar bears and wolves are all part of the collection.The gifts the wise men bring also reflect the origin of the sets.
In some nativities the central characters aren't human. The Kirbys have the holy family and the rest of the cast represented as gnomes, mice, bears and a family of moose. There are several sets of children, including a Precious Moments nativity.
There is a vase, jewelry, even a plastic spatula in the collection because they also portray a nativity scene. Pat Kirby found the vase in a nursing home. One of the residents had left it behind and she asked permission to replace it with a different vase so she could add it to the collection.
"If you can think of it, someone will make it," Pat Kirby said.
But while the Kirby's may have the largest collection, they aren't the only collectors at the church.
Monica Malim has about 100 nativities, many from places she visited or lived. She has one made of recycled newspapers from Viet Nam and one from the War Eagle craft fair made from corn husks. She bought the corn husk set over several years, but when she tried to purchase the final wise man, the artist was no longer making them.
But she needed a third wise man, she told the artist. That's when she learned that the bible doesn't actually mention the number of wise man who visited.
Malim said she brings her sets home from church and sets them up in her home each Christmas, but the Kirby's have too many to display. When they moved to Bella Vista, Mark Kirby built a set of shelves the entire length of their two-car garage and many of the nativities, carefully packed in white boxes, will return to their shelf until next year's One Starry Night.
Community on 12/17/2014