Knights of Columbus Preserve Cleveland Christmas Holiday Tradition
For decades it has stood as the true meaning of the Christmas season on Cleveland Public Square; the traditional, life-size depiction of the birth of Jesus . . . the first Christmas.
Reconstruction of the square has shut down all access to the center of downtown, moving events like Winterfest to Playhouse Square, 14 blocks away.
With no adequate location for the manger scene there, the Knights of Columbus Cleveland Council 733 arranged with the city to have it placed at "Perk Plaza at Chester Commons" which is at East 12th Street and Chester Avenue.
The manger scene has been a favorite of families visiting downtown during the Christmas season. The new locale is only a couple of blocks from the Winterfest decorations on Playhouse Square.
The downtown manger scene tradition began in the 1950?s, first with plaster figures displayed in a department store window, then later moved to Public Square. It was originally sponsored by the Cleveland Diocesan Council of the National Council of Catholic Women and later by the Catholic Daughters organization. When the Daughters no longer could maintain it, the bishop asked the Knights of Columbus to take-on the responsibility of maintaining and installing the lighted scene which had earlier replaced the plaster one. The Knights updated and repaired the Creche and arranged for its display at Perk Plaza while public square reconstruction is completed.
