Ontario’s Nativity scenes, a list

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“No Room at the Inn,” circa 1967, courtesy of the Model Colony History Room, Ontario City Library. Below is the same scene in 2009.

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The Nativity scenes in Ontario have been a 50-year tradition on the Euclid Avenue median. (See my Christmas Day column for more.) What you may not know is that all 12 scenes did not debut the same year; they were built as money could be raised from 1959 to 1968.

When did each scene debut? Here’s a list pieced together from Daily Report stories in the Ontario City Library files.

1959: Shepherds’ Adoration (Scene No. 4)

1959: The Nativity (Scene No. 5)

1960: Arrival of the Wise Men (Scene No. 7)

1960: No Room at the Inn (Scene No. 2)

1961: The Annunciation (Scene No. 1)

1961: Shepherds’ Vision (Scene No. 3)

1962: The Presentation (Scene No. 6)

1962: Flight Into Egypt (Scene No. 8)

1963: The Holy Family (Scene No. 9)

1965: Jesus in the Temple (Scene No. 10)

1968: Come Unto Me (Scene No. 11)

1968: The Light of the World (Scene No. 12)

Any thoughts or memories regarding the scenes? Post away below.

And Merry Christmas!

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