Away in a Manger

“All my nativities are special,” Faye Landham said Thursday from her nativity display known as Away in a Manger. “They all have a story.”

Landham picked up a small nativity from her 1,300-piece collection and began to reflect on the manger.

“This one was given to me under unusual circumstances,” she said.

In 1996, Landham was living in Arlington and had her 300-piece collection on display. Her daughter called a television station to do a story on the nativities.

“My doorbell rang one night,” Landham said. “There was a TV camera crew and reporter standing there when I opened the door.”

After the story aired, Land-ham received a phone call from a lady who said, “I saw you on TV.”

The caller told Landham that she had a nativity she wanted to donate to the collection.

“But she was ill and couldn’t bring it to me. She asked if I could pick it up,” Landham recalled.

“I went to her house and she told me that she was not going to live much longer. She moved to the area to spend time with her son before she died,” Landham said.

The woman had a special nativity that was the only Christmas decoration that she saved.

She told Landham, “I want you to have it.”

Landham tried to argue that it should go to her son, that it should stay in the family.

“Oh no,” the woman said, “He won’t love it the way you will love it.”

AWAY IN A MANGER DISPLAY

You can view Landham’s extensive collection at the Langdon Center Concert Hall, just east of the square. There’s no charge to visit the display from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. today and from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday.

There’s a children’s area with toy nativities, books and a scavenger hunt for older children to find specific items in the display.

dschneider@hcnews.com | 817-573-7066, ext. 255