BY LEW MOORES
The Cincinnati Enquirer
MOUNT HEALTHY - The live animals arrived Wednesday.
Donkeys, sheep, lambs and a pregnant goat ready to give birth any day now are on display for the next three weeks in a Nativity scene that has been part of the Mount Healthy landscape for a half-century. It has become a holiday tradition at the Paul R. Young Funeral Home on Hamilton Avenue - the barn and manger assembled on the front lawn, hay spread about and live farm animals.
The display includes baby Jesus, Mary and Joseph, the shepherd and his children. The human figures are done in wax by Paul Young Sr. He used his young niece as a model to sculpt the face of the baby Jesus, and used his son, Paul Jr., and daughter, Beverly, and a few of his neighbors as models for other figures.
"They're all out there," said Mr. Young Sr.
The Nativity scene is a tradition as old as the business itself, which began in 1948. That's when Mr. Young Sr., who was then 27 years old, bought the property at Hamilton and Madison avenues and opened the funeral home in a house that even then was already more than 100 years old.
The 50th anniversary of both the Nativity scene and the business will be commemorated with an open house and tour of the 165-year-old home from 2 to 8 p.m. Dec. 26.
It features 42 rooms - festooned with antiques, eight working fireplaces and so many Christmas trees that even Mr. Young Sr. has lost count. Carriage rides will be offered that day. The house and atmosphere is intended to summon the feeling of Christmases past in this community of 7,500.
"I thought it's time to celebrate," said Mr. Young Sr., who is 77 and lives in Butler County's Okeana on a 100-acre farm, which now provides the farm animals for the Nativity scene. Paul Young Jr. now lives in the home on Hamilton Avenue.
The holiday display has become a tradition that has been passed from one generation to the next. The kids Paul Jr. grew up with in the neighborhood now have children that they bring around to the Nativity scene each holiday season.
"This is what there is to do at Christmastime in Mount Healthy," Mr. Young Jr. said.
Hundreds will come by and visit the Nativity scene, day and night. In the next few days, they may see newborn goats. Newborn farm animals are not uncommon there.
"We've had a lot of sheep born out there over the years," said Mr. Young Jr.
