SAN DIEGO UNION TRIBUNE PUBLISHING COMPANY Dec 20, 2001

POWAY -- Some of them are tiny. Some are so big they sit out on the lawn. Some are ceramic and others are made of paper. Some spin. Some play music. And all of them are cherished. They are Merrilee Boyack's Nativity sets. All 103 of them. She has been collecting them from all over the world for more than 20 years.
And so has her mother. And her sister. And her nieces and nephews. Her mother, Hilda Browne, 80, began collecting Nativity sets 50 years ago and now has 77. Boyack's sister, Kathe Humberstone of Rancho Bernardo, also collects the sets and has a modest 50 in her home.

"We have a problem -- we're serious addicts," Boyack said with a laugh. Boyack has an open house for neighbors and friends each year so they can view her collection. She has sets from Haiti made of steel drum material, a Russian set made of birch bark and a Hawaiian set in a coconut. "We wanted to keep the focus in our home on the birth of Christ, since Christmas has become so commercialized," Boyack said. "We tried to downplay the Santa theme a little and emphasize that Christmas is about Jesus."

Boyack and her husband, Steve, and their four boys haul 40 boxes of Christmas decor out of their attic each year. The countries represented by the Nativities include Guatemala, Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Peru and Spain. "I really like them because each one has a different story to tell," said Tanner Boyack, 10.

The tradition started with Browne. "We started out with a big family set that we put on the piano and then we gave one to each of our children for their bedrooms and it grew from there," Browne said. By the time she and her husband retired, they had amassed about 50 sets. Then the serious collecting began.

Taking trips all over the world, the Brownes were sure to pick up a Nativity set from each place they visited. The most prized one in Browne's collection is a tiny rendition inside half a walnut shell. She also has a set made of bamboo from China and an Eskimo set made of stone that she picked up in Alaska.
"I swear I tried to stop, but I just couldn't," Browne joked.

This year, she gave each of her married grandchildren a Nativity set. The family's favorite set is one of the Hansen Classics, a simple white ceramic set featuring only Mary, Joseph and Jesus. "We are very picky now about the expressions on the figures' faces and their relationships, and that particular set is so loving," Boyack said. The family continues to add a couple more Nativity sets each year. Boyack is especially looking forward to buying a traditional olive wood set from Bethlehem. She is waiting to make a trip there to pick it out herself.

Considering herself an expert now, Boyack has a recommendation for those interested in beginning a collection of their own.
"Wal-Mart has a great basic set that we like. It's a good one to start off with." Only 100 more to go.

[Illustration]
1 PIC; Caption: Merrilee Boyack and her mother, Hilda Browne, collect Nativity sets. Boyack has 103 and Browne is down to 77 sets.; Credit: John Gastaldo / Union-Tribune
Credit: COMMUNITY NEWS WRITER