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Course Description

Monday, December 8, 2025
11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Second Presbyterian Church, 3511 Belmont Blvd., Nashville

From 1953-1967 many Americans celebrated Christmas by trimming trees, attending holiday concerts, and watching Christmas parades, but Nashvillians received a gift that made everything different—a larger than life-sized Nativity scene, set up in Centennial Park beside the Parthenon. The Nativity scene was the result of the colossal dreams of three men:  Fred Harvey, Sr., the “Ringling Brothers of retail,” who commissioned and donated it; George Silvestri, Jr., the entrepreneur with an enormous imagination who developed the company where it was made; and Guido Rebechini, the talented sculptor who created the figures.  Silvestri was a first-generation American, and Harvey and Rebechini were immigrants.  Their intertwined stories, set against the backdrop of cultural changes from the early to mid-twentieth century, resulted in an unforgettable diorama that enriched the Christmas season for over a million people.  This display was said to have been the largest in the world at the time.  Once Upon a Nashville Night is the story of how the scene came to exist and the profound impacts it had on those who saw it. 

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Section Title
Lunch and Learn Series: Once Upon a Nashville Night- A history of the Nashville Nativity
Section Schedule
Dec 08, 2025
Schedule and Location
View Details
Contact Hours
1.5
Location
  • Off-Campus
Course Fee(s)
Tuition non-credit $10.00
Section Fees
$25 OLLI donation $25.00 Optional
$50 OLLI donation $50.00 Optional
$100 OLLI donation $100.00 Optional
Instructors
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