Nov. 18, 2018 – West Bend, WI – On Monday, Nov. 19 the Downtown West Bend Association will work alongside volunteers and set up a new nativity in Old Settler’s Park. The nativity is sponsored by a generous donation from Thrivent Financial.
In 2017 the vintage Amity Rolfs Nativity experienced a pretty rough season. The life-size nativity display is a holiday hallmark for West Bend.
During the initial setup one of the wisemen suffered a bad accident and needed a head transplant as the hard, foam material simply gaveway.
August Peters from the Museum of Wisconsin Art was hired to mend the wiseman. He said it wasn’t the first time the head broke off and he managed to repair it in a timely fashion.
However, tragedy struck shortly thereafter when someone vandalized the 60-year-old nativity, ripping the baby Jesus figure from its creche. Police found the remains of the figure however its arm was broken off and the head was missing.
A reward was offered but the case quickly went cold and the entire nativity was moved to storage shortly after Dec. 25 to avoid anymore vandalism.
Behind the scenes the remains of the baby Jesus were put in a box and later retrieved from the West Bend Police Department.
Quietly, over the summer, the figure was repaired.
Locksmith and avid woodcarver Terry Vrana crafted a new head and reattached the hands on the figure.
Vrana said he felt it important to rescue as much of the original piece as possible. The repair took months of dedication and Vrana’s top-notch craftsmanship is evident; you can not even see a seam in his handiwork.
While a new nativity will be placed in the center square the original Rolfs nativity has been adopted by Holy Angels Parish and will be on display this year near the rectory.
If you see Terry Vrana please offer him a kind-hearted ‘thank you’ for using his time and talents to return the original centerpiece to the Amity Rolfs Nativity.
Also note on Monday there will be a gathering to unveil the new nativity. A special blessing will be offered. The 3 p.m. event at Old Settler’s Park is free and open to the public.
