The Nativity at Cathedral Square doesn’t just appear out of nowhere. It takes a lot of work to set up the giant display. No one knows that better than Dan Hueckel.
In fact, there might not be anyone in Columbus today who knows the intricacies of the iconic figures that make up the scene better than Hueckel.
Thanks to Hueckel, Pat Foley, his brother, Joe, of Foley Contractors and a group of dedicated volunteers, the Nativity next to St. Joseph Cathedral will be seen by thousands of people – Catholics and non-Catholics – through early January.
Three years ago, Liberty Mutual Insurance acquired State Auto Group and donated what had become a Christmas landmark in Columbus to the diocese, ensuring that a holiday tradition that has brought generations of families and visitors to downtown Columbus annually would continue.
When Shawn Kenney, the director of the Museum of Catholic Art and History who oversees the Nativity, went to look at it in storage before the acquisition in 2022, Hueckel came along with him.
“And he’s been a superman since the beginning,” Kenney said.
Hueckel possesses firsthand knowledge of the more than 65 pieces that comprise the Nativity and surrounding scenes. He was around when they were created more than 60 years ago.
“The entire scene was made by Gordon Keith Originals,” Hueckel said of the Columbus-based artist and businessman. “And when I was in high school and college, I worked for Gordon Keith in the retail portion of the business called Decorative Supply and I saw a lot of the material that went into it being made here.”
Most of the figures were configured from mannequins used in department stores, he said. “They would take spackling and water it down and take the fabric and dip it into the spackling and then shape the fabric on the mannequins,” he said. “And then they would paint the fabric and so forth, and put layers and layers of lacquer over that to preserve them.”
Hueckel also was involved in the setup of a Nativity in front of the Statehouse during the 1960s and helped with other Gordon Keith projects, including the construction of floats for the annual parades that once took place in downtown Columbus the Sunday before Thanksgiving.
He also recalled decorating light posts on High Street and animated displays. He even traveled once with Keith to stores in New York City that had Christmas window displays built and supplied by Gordon Keith Originals.
“His business was building displays,” Hueckel said. “I remember when I was a little kid Gordon Keith decorated the entire State Auto building. State Auto used to spend over $100,000 a year decorating that building.”
Hueckel went on to work as a manager of sales for a five-state area at Diocesan Publications, which prints parish bulletins, but he remained involved in the Nativity setup at State Auto and several parishes in Columbus, including his parish of his youth, Columbus St. John the Evangelist and later Columbus Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal and for the past 20 years at his current parish, Columbus Holy Family.
So when the diocese was presented with the opportunity to inherit the Nativity, Hueckel was willing to offer his insider knowledge.
It’s no small undertaking to put the Nativity in place at the Cathedral.
The process starts in October when the pieces are transported to the Cathedral lawn on East Broad Street from a south Columbus warehouse, where space is donated by a generous benefactor, to begin the setup.
Each of the camels and the wise men weigh more than 400 pounds. The camels sit on steel frames fitted with handles to help the minimum of four men to pick up each piece. They’re so large that a trailer is needed to move them.
“Joe and Pat and usually two additional fellows that they have working with them for their company will come and do the basic setting up of the scaffolding, putting the boards on the scaffolding and surrounding it with all of the material that covers the scaffolding – and all of the stonework that you see below the Nativity that’s made of Styrofoam.”
Now 77, Hueckel said he isn’t able to be involved with the physical setup as he once was but knows where everything goes and “I can tell them to put this here, put that there.”
“I put the spotlights in place, cover the mountings with burlap and do all of the decorating beyond setting up the major stuff with the greenery and straw and covering up the extension cords from the lights,” he said.
There are more than 125 spotlights to illuminate the scenes. Most of the light fixtures are old. Some are in need of replacement each year.
Replacing the fixtures is just part of the expense of maintaining the set. The figures are constantly in need of maintenance. Age and outside exposure in harsh winter weather take their toll.
“We’ve got some that have been damaged just in moving them from year to year,” Hueckel said. “So we need to have them repaired, but for the person who doesn’t know anything about them, you would never notice. They still look amazing.”
Because of space limitations outside the Cathedral, there is not enough room to display the scene with King Herod, several shepherds and a number of animals. But many of the public’s favorites are still in place, including the Annunciation.
Kenney said Christmas Eve brings the largest crowds to view the Nativity each year. Many of the visitors are not Catholic – and that provides an opportunity for the diocese to evangelize.
“I’ll never forget one of the coolest experiences three years ago when I was standing out there on Christmas Eve and Bishop Fernandes came out, walked around and greeted people for 45 minutes to an hour. It was amazing,” Kenney said.
In addition to the Nativity at Cathedral Square, visitors have the opportunity to go across the street to 257 E. Broad St. to the Museum of Catholic Art of History, where over 1,000 Nativity sets are on display. Kenney expects more than 2,000 visitors to pass through the Museum of Catholic Art and History during the holiday season to view 1,000 Nativity sets from around the world that are on display through Friday, Jan. 9. The centerpiece is a 4,000-piece Fontanini collection believed to be the largest in the country.
The Museum of Catholic Art and History is located on the first floor of The Catholic Foundation building and open Tuesdays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., with the last tour of the day beginning at 2:30 p.m. Admission is $10 for adults and $5 for ages 4 to 18 or 65 and older, and $30 for a family of four or more.
There is no cost to view the Nativity at Cathedral Square, but Kenney said donor support is needed to help preserve this treasured Columbus tradition.
“It was costing State Auto $200,000 a year to maintain it and we’ve knocked down the cost,” Kenney said. “But there are constantly things that need to be done.
“We have a fund that takes care of the Nativity scene. If it’s something that we want to keep for generations to come, we rely on the community to help us. We’re solely funded by donors.”
Hueckel has seen and heard firsthand how much the Nativity means to generations of families.
“It’s so nice to hear people come by when we’re setting everything up and say they’re so happy we’re putting this up again,” he said. “They’ll say, ‘I remember when I was a kid, we used to go down to State Auto and see this, and it just brings back so many memories, and now I’m bringing my kids here and they like to see it.’
“It’s just another opportunity to grow the faith and get people to come down here to the Cathedral at Christmas time.”
Anyone interested in making a donation to the Nativity at Cathedral Square can do so by clicking here.
For more information on the museum, call (614) 618-4030 or go to https://columbuscatholic.org/ministry-office/museum-of-catholic-art-history.