By KATIE LEFEBVRE, Globe staff reporter
November 25, 2004

LAURENS - One priest of the Diocese of Sioux City will hold an open house to display his Christmas collections and to bring people together during the Advent season.

Father Verne Stapenhorst, pastor at Sacred Heart Parish in Laurens, has been presenting his collection of Santa Claus' and other Christmas decorations in different ways throughout his priesthood.

"I have been collecting things and doing these things ever since I was a child," said Father Stapenhorst. "I think you start a collection in a very humble way and then it builds and develops. People know you have a collection and they share some of the things that you collect and give to you."

Father Stapenhorst's display will include 10 fully dressed Christmas trees donning a different theme including nature decorations, food and candy decorations and Coke decorations.

Five or six of the full Christmas trees will be decorated with natural flowers such as golden rods, bitter sweet, roses, peonies and pansies and other natural decorations like weeds, flax, oats and many kinds of grasses.

"Christmas time is a very special time for me because I can share my collections with others, especially my love for the natural world," said Father Stapenhorst. "During the year, I collect and dry flowers and collect rocks and minerals from the western states."

He has a Coke tree because that is another set of things that he collects. Other trees will include an apple tree, a Hershey kiss tree and an M&M tree.

"I think when you collect things it is easy to find God and Jesus because collections, especially from the natural world, have always helped me develop a personal friendship with the Lord," said Father Stapenhorst. "I believe that is why Van Gogh said that 'the best way to love God is to love many things.' I think that is true for my collections."

There will also be a tribute to St. Francis set in a wooded area with trees and bitter sweet, natural birch trees, birds' nests, dry maple leaves and a statue with a verse from St. Francis.

Father Stapenhorst will put out his Santa Claus collection of around 90 different Santas including the first one that he received from his mother when he was young.

"My mom gave me my very first Santa Claus collection when I was a very young man in Sheldon, Iowa. It was an ideal Santa Claus from the old Gambles store in Sheldon," said Father Stapenhorst.

Father Stapenhorst will lay out winter photographs on three tables during the open house that have mostly been taken in the Laurens area. The photos are mainly landscape pictures representing the beauty of winter. He takes many photos and gives them as gifts to others. He noted that they are gifts from the heart and point out that "beauty is a natural quality of God."

"My collections have grown during the years - my youth and priesthood. I think my first crib was a gift from Santa Claus when I was seven years old. During the years, many people have given me cribs, especially my students. Now I have a whole room of creches and mangers," said Father Stapenhorst.

The center of the Christmas collections will be a crib, 3-feet high statues of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, set in palm trees and poinsettias. According to Father Stapenhorst, this is a natural setting or framework that represents the first Christmas.

"I think, the crib with its serenity and peace and calm colors gives meaning to all the other decorations. I think that is very important. That is kind of the center of my decorations because that is the true meaning of Christmas. That makes all the other trees and decorations a meaningful experience, a reflection of the infant Jesus' love for all of us," said Father Stapenhorst.

When Father Stapenhorst was in West Bend, he had an open house to display his Christmas collections as well. During his 30 years of teaching at Heelan High School in Sioux City, he also put out his Christmas things for the students and others to see.

The open house will take place from 6:30 to 8 p.m. on Dec. 4 and 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Dec. 5 in the Sacred Heart Parish Center in Laurens.

"I think that if I can share my hobbies, they teach us how to experience God and how to feel his presence in our life," said Father Stapenhorst. "Every human thing or experience is ultimately or necessarily an experience of God. I believe that my collections are simple yet profound experiences of the living God in our daily work. I like to share those masterpieces with my parish. They enjoy these natural wonders because many of them live close to the land. They can relate to them in a very beautiful way."