Nativity Scenes

Four area churches will recreate Bethlehem scenes from the nativity story--sometimes using unpredictable animals--for visitors to see in coming weekends, by car or on foot. Although some churches avoid "bathrobe" biblical productions as amateurish attempts to dramatize Christian origins, an entertainment executive who has directed such outdoor events at churches for years calls them "a very important part of the Christmas celebrations for some people--both meaningful and fun."

It might be in the running for the world's smallest nativity scene: a speckled bird's egg, not much bigger than the tip of your thumb, which holds the tiny figures of Joseph, Mary and the baby Jesus. But it's no more remarkable than the intricately carved clay figures of the holy family nestled in a manger of sticks--handcrafted by a blind artist in Washington. Both are among about 600 nativity scenes on display this weekend in Thousand Oaks.

It might be in the running for the world's smallest nativity scene: a speckled bird's egg, not much bigger than the tip of your thumb, which holds the tiny figures of Joseph, Mary and the baby Jesus. But it's no more remarkable than the intricately carved clay figures of the holy family nestled in a manger of sticks--handcrafted by a blind artist in Washington. Both are among about 600 nativity scenes on display this weekend in Thousand Oaks.

More than 200 nativity scenes--shaped from everything from driftwood to crystal--are on display at the Thousand Oaks Stake Center of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints this weekend. "It is our gift to the community," said stake public affairs Director Roy Thorsen, who donated his own replica of the birth of Christ, an antique made of wood and silver from 18th-century Russia.

The roar of an untuned engine briefly muffled the words of the wise men and seemed to startle a stolid donkey. But no one seemed to mind at an elaborate drive-through Nativity staged Saturday in the parking lot of a Huntington Beach church. The production, which featured more than 70 actors, three donkeys, two sheep and a cow, drew hundreds of walkers and a line of cars that stretched about three-quarters of a mile at one point.

The City Council agreed to allow a Nativity scene to be displayed in a city park. The city owns a portion of a Nativity scene that has been in a city storage facility for years. Resident Karen Johnson requested that Hermosa Beach residents be allowed to install the scene in Greenwood Park at Aviation Boulevard and Pacific Coast Highway. The council voted 3 to 2 to allow the installation. Mayor Robert (Burgie) Benz and Councilman John Bowler opposed the idea.

During the day, Domenico Masdea's four-bedroom Tustin home is hardly distinguishable from the other neat but unpretentious dwellings on this quiet cul-de-sac on Caper Tree Drive. But at night, Masdea's home is transformed into a Christmas decorator's Shangri-La. Passersby first notice the rows of colorful lights hanging from the 46-year-old handyman's roof and bushes.

Come Christmas, there's a street in every community where neighbors prop up brilliant yard displays, attracting looky-loos from miles around and causing bumper-to-bumper traffic. Ventura's Teloma Drive--better-known as "Candy Cane Lane"--was such a street for 38 years. But residents there tired of congestion and petty vandalism and decided to pass their tradition--and even some of their handmade decorations--to F Street, one of Oxnard's first neighborhoods.

It had been a long time since I volunteered to take part in a living Nativity tableau--not since the days when the Santa Claus Lane Parade in Hollywood included a church float with Mary, Joseph, the baby Jesus and the usual supporting cast. Back then--perhaps 25 years ago--as the float went by, Johnny Grant, Bill Welsh or whoever would announce to the crowd, "And now here's the real meaning of Christmas."