Keeping Christmas memories: 116-year-old nativity remains a Dougherty tradition

     Gold stained glass catches the sun, streaming into what used to be St. Patrick’s Church in Dougherty. A long aisle of pews lead up to the front, where a 116-year-old nativity scene is surrounded by greenery and lights.

    Nobody in Dougherty is old enough to remember when the nativity scene was new, but everybody seems to have a memory of it.

    The church was closed by the Archdiocese of Dubuque in 2010 due to low attendance. A group of residents bought it for $1 to save it from destruction, and transformed it into a non-profit called the Society to Preserve Antiquated Town Structures (S.T.P.A.T.S.).

    This time of year, people often come back to the town, which was home to 58 people at the 2010 census, to bring up memories of the old church and nativity scene.

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Read the full story in the Dec. 24 edition of the papers.