Faye Landham to retire annual Christmas Nativity display

A popular holiday staple in Hood County will soon be coming to an end.

Faye Landham, who has organized Granbury’s “Away in a Manger Nativity Display” for the past decade, has announced her plans to retire the long-standing Christmas tradition next year.

“Because of my age (soon to be 82), the age of my friends and relatives who have helped me these many years — many who live out of town and/or out of state — and the expense of transportation, meals and housing they pay or I provide, I have decided that this year will be the last year I will be able to give the gift of ‘Away in a Manger’ to the men, women and children who have attended the display these many years,” Landham said.

SPREADING THE LOVE OF JESUS

For more than 25 years, Landham’s nativity collection has been a holiday favorite in not only Granbury, but in Arlington as well.

“I used to do it out of my home (in Arlington),” she said. “I had one of those Coleman Garden Rooms, and I had these pieces of plywood, and I would invite my church or my friends and the neighbors to come over to look at nativity. I started out with 50 or 60, and that grew to about 200.”

Shortly thereafter, Landham began displaying her collection at The Nativity in Arlington at the Latter-Day Saints Stake Center, where it stayed for 16 years until her move to Granbury in 2010. She created Granbury’s “Away in a Manger” event in 2011.

AWAY IN A MANGER DISPLAY

Featuring a beautiful display of approximately 1,350 nativity scenes from more than 100 countries, Landham’s collection shows “the birth of Christ through the eyes of the world.”

“The whole reason I'm there is to tell about the birth of Jesus,” Landham said. “We have people come in every year and I have asked people to sign a book and a lot of people write wonderful things. People say, ‘Oh, this is a highlight of my Christmas,’ and ‘This is the best thing about Granbury.’ When people say things like that, it joys my heart.”

Each year, Landham sets her collection up at the Langdon Center in Granbury. Nativity scenes from each country are set up on separate tables, along with her “precious” collection.

“I do the precious table. It's called the precious because it's the most expensive ones,” she said. “I have many that are several thousand dollars each. I have some that are solid gold or that I bought on trips.”

Children are allowed to pick up several different display items. Many children enjoy playing with the music boxes and spending time in the children’s play area. Every year, Landham hosts a scavenger hunt for the older kids to find a nativity scene from a specific country. After they finish the game, they receive a candy cane.

"Some kids have done it so many years that they go right to them (the sets) and get four or five candy canes,” Landham said, chuckling.

Many of her sets are made of fibers, plants or stones common to the countries from which they were made.

“I have one that is made from recycled cold drink bottles,” Landham said. “Button covers, cookie cutters, jewelry, pillows, books, candles, throws, bullets, dust pans and puzzles all tell about Jesus. A new one from Italy is made of confectioners’ sugar icing.”

‘TRUE MEANING OF CHRISTMAS’

Landham received her first nativity set from her parents more than 60 years ago. Ever since then, she has developed a strong and personal bond with the different scenes she has received over the years.

“As a young bride and then later as a young mother, nativity became a very important part of my Christmas celebration,” she said. “That sense of importance has only grown through the years, and the nativity has always signified the true meaning of Christmas to me and my family.”

Landham has received several nativity sets from friends and relatives over the years, but the ones that mean the most to her are not the largest, prettiest or expensive ones — however, they still hold a special place in her heart.

‘BIGGEST SUPPORTERS’

“One of my favorites is a white ceramic nativity that was made for me by my late grandmother, Dora Lee Basham. I loved her, and I think of her each year when I unwrap the wonderful set she gave me,” she said. “Then I have a beautiful little set that was given to me by a young man who had AIDS. He said, ‘Faye when I die, I want you to remember me by this nativity.' When I see that, I think of him. The ones that are special have a story; it’s not the cost or how they look.”

Landham said her parents were some of the biggest contributors to her nativity collection.

“My parents lived and traveled all over the world,” Landham said. “They have given me many unusual nativities, such as the one from Norway that has horses and elephants, instead of the usual camels and donkeys. They gave me one from Nigeria that is hand carved from a thorn tree. In it, the wise men are bringing fruits and vegetables to the Christ Child.”

She said she remembers when she first received that nativity scene from Nigeria and told her mother that the shepherd staff arrived broken.

"She said, ‘Faye, don't you know that it says in the Bible that when Jesus comes back, all the staff that are broken will be put back together again. It's supposed to be broken.’ So, I said, ‘Oh, I've already glued it back together,’ and she said, ‘Well you better unglue it,’” Landham said, with a chuckle.

Landham said her father Roy E. Gibbons loved finding new sets for her and was one of her biggest supporters when she started displaying them to the public.

"Every time we’d go to Cracker Barrel, he would take me back and buy something. He would sneak it in the RV, and he said, ‘Don't tell your mother,' because my mother would fuss and say, ‘She's got too many already,’ and daddy's favorite line was, ‘You can never have too many baby Jesuses,’” she said.

Landham’s father was a deacon in several Louisiana Baptist Churches, and she said he loved telling the stories about some of the “special” sets in her collection.

“When he was dying of pancreatic cancer, I said, ‘Daddy, who's gonna tell the stories?’ and he said, ‘Oh, just make up something. They won't know the difference.’ I said, ‘Is that what you've been doing all these years?’” Landham said, chuckling. “But he loved nativity. I don't how many I have that he bought for me.”

For years, several of her friends also helped her decorate and set up the display.

“My friends Linda and Russ Grimmett have worked so hard for 19 years to make this display special and oh so beautiful,” she said. “My friend Maryanne Vallejo has been with me from the beginning, and her sister Francis Jackson helped me for several years. My sister Katie, her husband Michael and my niece Jessie from California have also helped me several years. I love and appreciate them and many others who have helped me, and there is no way I could ever do this without them.”

‘LABOR OF LOVE’

For 29 years, Landham has presented her nativity collection to thousands of people — but now it is time for her to retire the local tradition.

“It’s just been a labor of love and I loved it, but I just realized that I’m getting old and now have extra expenses,” she said. “I have shed many tears the last few days when I finally decided this would be my last year and am so sorry I am having to give it up. Although if someone will take the entire collection, I will promise to help them in any way possible.”

She had originally planned to host a giveaway this month to donate all of the nativity scenes, as well as Christmas trees, tablecloths and various racks she had used to display her set. However, she was recently contacted by the Historic Granbury Merchants Association and asked to wait a year while the organization tries to find a new home for her collection.

“I would love for someone to take the whole kit and kaboodle," she said. "I would work with them, and I would tell them the stories and help them set up, but it's just time for me to give it up right now."

Landham said she has contacted 76 churches hoping one would take on the beloved display, but many don’t have the necessary space needed to store the 71 tubs that are filled to the brim with her collection.

"I would hate for it to just die. It breaks my heart, really," she added.

Landham advises the person or organization who takes over the nativity display to “love them as much as she loved them,” and to “not fret over the decorations.”

“Don't be so concerned about how the room looks and how fancy it is or how beautiful it is,” she said. “You’re telling the story about Jesus from different countries — and that's what I like.”

2022 NATIVITY SCHEDULE

Landham’s nativity collection will be displayed at the Concert Hall in the Langdon Center at 300 E. Bridge St. from Dec. 3 through Dec. 12.

The display will be open from 5-10 p.m. on Dec. 3; from 10 a.m.-8 p.m. on Dec. 4; from 12-6 p.m. on Dec. 5; from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Dec. 6 through 9; from 10 a.m.-8 p.m. on Dec. 10 and 11 and from 12-6 p.m. on Dec. 12.

“I have shed many tears since I have decided to do this and am so thankful I have been able to tell about the birth of Jesus at the display these many years,” Landham added. “I pray someone will come forward, and I pledge to help them in any way I am able.”

For more information on “Away in a Manger Nativity Display” or to potentially take over the Granbury holiday tradition, contact Landham at 817-360-6228 or HGMA at 682-936-4550.