Parishioner opens her house to show crèches

Intermountain Catholic

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Carol Huffman shares her crèche collection with others during the Advent season. IC photos/Christine Young

SALT LAKE CITY — Carol Huffman, a member of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, hosts an open house on Sunday afternoons during Advent to share with others the joy of her approximately 200 crèches.

"They are only meaningful if you share them," said Huffman. "My grandchildren love them at Christmas. Displaying them is kind of like seeing an old friend each year. Most of them have a story and I know where they came from, so it gives them meaning for me – trips I went on or how I hauled some of them home."

Huffman and her husband, John, have brought home crèches from Spain, Venezuela, Guatemala, Mexico, Argentina, Italy, China, Korea, Vietnam, Denmark, Ghana, Kenya and Uganda.

Huffman is a member of Friends of the Crèche, a society dedicated to furthering the tradition of the crèche. They hold a convention every year; in 2009, it was held in Salt Lake City.

Some of the members have up to a 1,000 or more crèches, said Huffman. "They are serious about collecting."

Students from Our Lady of Lourdes School know Huffman as the nativity lady, she said. "The boys like the nativity made out of bullet casings and the girls like the small brass nativity with plastic figures they think are glass. All the kids seem to like the folk nativity set because the arms go up and down. They also like the Fisher Price nativity because they can touch it."

Huffman is the secretary of the Our Lady of Lourdes chapter of the Ladies of Charity, and the group traditionally holds its first meeting in January at her home so members can see the crèches.

"It’s nice that we can get together and look at something so beautiful," said Jackie Harover, Our Lady of Lourdes Ladies of Charity president. "I’ve been going to her house for years looking at them and now I’ve started collecting a few."

Crèches are the meaning of Christmas for Huffman, she said. She displays them as soon as Advent begins and leaves them up through the Epiphany.

"When my children were growing up we would use an old crèche I got from Mexico and then about 20 years ago my husband and I started traveling and I began collecting them," said Huffman. "The crèches would catch my eye and I would notice how each one portrayed Jesus in a different way or with a different perspective."

For example, in Huffman’s Peruvian crèche, the baby Jesus wears a Peruvian hat, and in her Bolivian crèche, the holy family and three wise men wear traditional clothing. In another crèche, Jesus is portrayed as a child about 8 years old.

Among Huffman’s favorites is the crèche made of elk antler with inlaid turquoise, lapis lazuli and coral. "I like it because it’s unusual," she said. "I also like the Pueblo crèche from Taos. My mother is from Taos, so it reminds me of my heritage."

The Hummel crèche from Germany is also a favorite. "It took me a while to collect the pieces," she said.

Her more unusual crèches represent the Holy Family in the form of bears, snowmen, turtles, a pictograph, and wooden spoons.

"Some people may find this disrespectful, but it just means the story can be told in many different ways," said Huffman.

Huffman has crèches made out of toothpicks, pine needles, rolled-up newspaper, pop cans, snack wrappers, banana leaves, driftwood, a quilted wall hanging and a table runner. Others are carved into a bowl, placed in a walnut shell and in a bottle. She also has a crèche necklace with matching earrings.

See a video of Huffman’s collection at www.icatholic.org.