Family Donates Stunning Nativity Scene for CDH Community to Enjoy

December 11, 2018

A stunning Nativity scene is now on display at Cretin-Derham Hall due to the generosity of Lisa Peirson, her son Noah '19, and her two other children, Jack '12 and Melissa '15.

"We want everyone to enjoy this at Christmas," Peirson said. "Our family loved putting this up every year, but it was time to share it." The family won't totally move on from their love of this set. "We all agreed we could now go see it at CDH."

The Fontanini set, with more than 250 pieces, has been a part of the Peirson family for decades. Lisa Peirson started collecting the set more than 30 years ago. 

"My aunt, a nun, started my set by giving me Joseph, Mary, and Baby Jesus when I was younger," explained Peirson. "So then, of course, I had to get the stable, then later the three kings, and well, it just kept growing from there." The Nativity scene offers an expansive view of Bethlehem that goes far beyond the stable. 

This year the Nativity scene was set up by the Peirsons and some friends. Lisa and Noah were joined by Abe Schwinn '19, his mom, Heather Stites, and Danny Callahan '19 to set up the Nativity scene in the CDH display case near the Commons.

Earlier this year, Noah installed a large wooden display case built specifically for the Nativity scene as part of his Eagle Scout project.  

The family's Nativity set inspired this project. According to his mom, he was struggling to find a project that he was passionate about until the two of them thought of donating the large Nativity set to CDH. "Once we started talking about donating the Nativity scene, Noah really connected with this project. He planned the construction of the display case just for this purpose," explained Peirson.

Students, faculty/staff and visitors to CDH are encouraged to take a moment and pause during the busy Christmas season to appreciate the Nativity story with a stop by the beautiful display.