November 1, 2020 Happy Fall one and all, I hope this finds you well.much has happened over these last few months - even if we have been sheltered at home. Elections: As we wait for our national elections, we “warmed up” with our own FOTC elections. First of all, thanks to all who voted for the FOTC board members. Judy Klein was reelected and Marguerite has been elected to the board. Congratulations to both of you. Annual Meeting Nov. 21, 2020: The FOTC Annual Meeting will be held on Saturday, November 21 at 10 AM PST (11 am MT, 12 pm CT, 1 pm EST) via Zoom. Registration is open through Wednesday, November 18. This early cut off allows time to send you the information on joining the virtual meeting. I have sent a confirmation to all who have registered thus far. If you have not received an email from me confirming your registration, it means I have not received it. Please do not assume you are registered because you may have sent me an email. I need to have you register by sending: Your name Email Address Phone number The agenda for the day will be sent the week before when I send out the Zoom meeting information. But to give you a little “treat” in advance of the meeting, here is some of what will be happening on November 21. Our Virtual Nativity Exhibit will be made up of collections from 13 members across the nation, Canada and Guatamala: Juan and Ines Aguilar, Guatemala, Rita Bocher with sets from the University of Dayton; Doris Cadman, Ilene Hoffman and Phil Garding, Utah; Toni Conway Mary Herzog and Louise Polsky, California; Judy Klein, Texas; Brian Smith, New York; Diny Walters, British Columbia; Mike Whelan, Michigan, and Peter Johnston, Ohio. We are blessed to have 2 speakers from our membership who will be sharing their crèche insights with us. George Holland of Iowa will be speaking about “The Man in the Shadows”. What do we know about Joseph, the foster father of Jesus? Why is Joseph an important person in the life of Jesus? These questions are answered with images of Joseph. George Wm. Holland has been collecting nativities for at least 48 years, has his own Nativity Museum , and has a special collection f Nativities in which Joseph is holding or can hold the Babe.
Dr. Michael DeSanctis of Pennsylvania, will be presenting “A Proper Seat for Emmanuel: Personal Reflections on the History and Meanng of the Christmas Crèche.”
This presentation will offer FOTC virtual conference participants a look at the creche-building from original designs in which Dr. DeSanctis has been engaged as a professor of fine arts and theology at Gannon University, a Catholic, diocesan institution in Erie, Pennsylvania. The presentation will pay particular attention to some of the recent Nativity scenes DeSanctis has used to transport the details of Jesus’s birth to our own time and culture.
We thank all of you who have volunteered to be part of our 2020 Virtual Annual Meeting. It will be exciting to see and hear from all of you.
We will also be holding our Annual Meeting which is going to include the business of our organization PLUS a fantastic presentation on our 2021 Convention that will be held in Portland, Oregon. If you aren’t stamping your feet and packing your bags getting ready for the trip in November 2021, this will inspire you to do so!!
I hope you had a wonderful Halloween, even with all the precautions we are taking these days.
Hope you have a “boo-tiful” week!
Sydne