Christmas creche preparations continue

The creche exhibit always features a "live" nativity. In this picture from a past event, Sandy Norstebon and Peter Lahauli took their turns as Mary and Joseph with the Christ child.

Working from their new, larger church facility, volunteers outlined additional plans to expand Mountain Home's yearly creche exhibit to a three-day Christmas celebration.

A non-denominational event sponsored by the local Latter-day Saints community, this year's display runs from 6-9 p.m. Dec. 2 and 3 and noon to 6 p.m. Dec. 4 at the new Mormon stake at 790 South Haskett Street.

"The nativity scene, or creche, is one of the oldest and most sacred Christmas traditions," said creche organizer Joy Norstebon. "It's an opportunity for families and individuals to come and reflect on the true meaning of the Christmas season. As you view the Nativity displays and listen to the inspired musical performances, you will be able to feel the true meaning of Christmas."

Free and open to the general public, last's year's exhibit filled every available room in the former stake center and featured more than 600 Nativity scenes and other depictions of Christ's birth. The displays are privately owned by local residents and loaned to the exhibit for others to see and enjoy, organizers said.

Those interested in donating a creche for this year's exhibit should bring it to the stake on Tuesday.

In addition, Norstebon invited the local community to add their own decorated Christmas trees to the display. Those wanting to include an artificial tree may bring them to the stake from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday or 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday. All trees must use white lights to keep these displays uniform, she said.

Mountain Home's first creche opened in 1998 with its second following the next year. The event stopped for several years afterward when the original event organizers moved out of the local area.

In 2005, Lynn Blethen joined Julie Vogl to organize a team of hundreds of volunteers to bring the Christmas creche back.

"For the next four years, they were the instruments in planning, organizing and donating their time and means for the creche exhibit," Norstebon said. "They called it a 'gift of love' to the community."

It's remained a fixture in the Mountain Home community over the past four years and draws people from across the Treasure Valley, organizers said.

It takes volunteers hundreds of hours over a three-day period to transform the church into the Christmas creche each year. Originally held in the gymnasium area of the former stake at the corner of 12th North and 7th East streets, public interest in showcasing additional displays prompted organizers to spread the displays to additional rooms.

Moving the creche to a new, larger building allows organizers to introduce new ideas for this year's event, according to Norstebon. For example, volunteers like Theresa Seng plans to expand the children's displays to three interconnected rooms with one room designated as a "kid friendly" area where youngsters can touch some of the exhibits.

Meanwhile, organizers will use other rooms to showcase Nativity scenes from different corners of the world. Church volunteers serve as hosts for the hundreds of people that visit each year while ensuring no one tampers with the exhibits.

During the creche, couples will also act out the roles of Mary and Joseph during the annual live Nativity scene. Although the interpretation of Jesus' birth features human actors, the Christ child is often represented by a doll to pass the rigid requirement of "no crying he makes," officials said in reference to Biblical verses regarding his birth.

Music remains another integral part of each year's creche, according to Norstebon. Terra Baldridge will direct a children's choir while Katie Gibbons leads the piano and organ performances as well as vocal soloists and a separate youth choir. Others scheduled to appear this year include the Mountain Home High School Jazz Choir, First Congregational Church Bell Choir, the Mountain Home Stake Youth Choir and the Love Abiding Church choir.

Returning to this year's creche include performances of George Frideric Handel's "Christmas Messiah" at 7 p.m. Dec. 2 and 3. Directed by Hacker Middle School band and choir director Mona Jackson, each concert runs about 30 minutes and features a modified version of Handel's oratorio, which depicts Christ's birth.

Last year, the annual creche drew a record number of visitors from across southern Idaho, shattering a previous 1,000-person attendance record set in 2008.

The creche exhibits are handicap accessible, and no proselytizing takes place during the event. For more information about the Christmas event, call Norstebon at 796-2135.