December 8, 2019
THE SHIRLEY SQUIRES NATIVITY MUSEUM IS NOW OPEN
By Richard Davis
If you are overwhelmed by the crass commercialism that has overtaken the holiday season a trip to see Shirley Squires’ 1500 nativity sets in her Guilford home might be just what you need. She has been collecting nativity sets since 1993 and as the collection grew, in 1997 she decided to share it with anyone with an interest in visiting.
As the years have passed Squires has given up most of her living spaces to the Christmas displays. The only traditionally functional areas of her home are the kitchen and a small area in the living room where she has a day bed. She spends time every year preparing for visitors and her family and friends help her during the busy visitor season. Most years between 250 and 300 people come to see the nativities display.
She takes a great deal of pleasure in hosting the students from St. Michael’s School in Brattleboro, who come in small groups around Christmas. The school has donated a nativity set from their collection to Squires and they also made a set specifically for her.
Simply walking from room to room and into the separate space her son built to house the growing collection, is a total immersion in the world of Christmas and it is also a chance to hear about the way different sets have found their way to the house that is now mostly a museum.
Full disclosure- I have given Squires a few sets and every time I travel I look for a unique nativity set that she might not have. There are 55 countries represented in her former house. I was happy to bring her the first set from Jerusalem and I have also found sets for her from the U.S. Virgin Islands and Hawaii. The cheap angel from Tuscany I brought to her this year turned out to be a certain style angel she had been looking for.
Squires explained that she started collecting nativity sets after the death of her son and husband to keep her mind occupied. What started out as a form of self-help for the soul has now become nourishment for the soul of anyone who would like to experience a different type of Christmas immersion.
There are no regular visiting hours. All visits are by appointment only by calling Squires at 802-254-2696. The displays will be open to the public until February 1, 2020.
Great collection
I saw her collection featured on BCTV a few years back. It was AMAZING. It’s the kind of place that should be featured on one of those 24 hour streaming 4K Christmas channels, or in a Martha Stewart magazine.
After watching her tour around and talk about her collection, I became a fan of the variety of nativity scenes she has, and the joy in every little piece.
Keeping it all clean and dusted must be a continual operation. : )