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WEST VALLEY CITY — You could say Joleen Wright really likes nativity sets: She owns a collection of hundreds. This weekend, she is holding an exhibit to show them off to the world.
When Wright first married her husband, Richard, 54 years ago, they received a nice nativity set as a present. Wright loved the set and started to collect more.
The collection really took off when their son returned home from a Latter-day Saint mission in South America and brought Wright a nativity set. Since that time, Wright has amassed more than 700 nativities.
"It just kind of snowballed," she said. “Everybody knew how much I enjoyed nativities. I’ve been given a lot from friends and families and neighbors.”
Wright’s collection includes nativities from all over the world. Some were even made by famous and local artists. Wright said if she ever gets a nativity set during the year, she will keep it on display in her home for the rest of the year.
“I put it in my living room and look at it all year, and then it goes into the basement after that Christmas,” she said. "The fun thing is that we have gotten them out so everybody can see them. If they’re in the basement in the boxes, they’re not being viewed — and they need to be viewed, especially at this time of year.”
For the third time ever, she has decided she wants to share her collection with the rest of Utah this Christmas season. Wright said that this is most likely the last time she will showcase her nativities to the public.
Her personal collection will be on display on Friday from 1-8 p.m., and Saturday from 10 a.m.- 6 p.m. at the Latter-day Saint Granger East Stake south building at 3935 S. 1500 West, West Valley City. The event is free and open to the public.
Of all 700 sets, Wright said she doesn’t have a favorite.
“They’re all my favorite because they all have a story,” she said. “I just love them all. But I’ll tell you, it’s all about celebrating the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ, so the baby is always my favorite in all of them.”
Make sure to stop by to see Wright’s nativity collection while its on display this weekend.
