When the call came, Diane Robinson said she didn’t hesitate.
The Knights of Columbus were looking for a new home for their manger scene, a traditional observance that was placed on top of the city hall entrance roof each Christmas for decades until it was banned just last year.
“Of course, absolutely. No question,” said Robinson, a co-owner of the Tillicum Twin Theatre.
And so on Dec. 2, Robinson and co-owner brother Jim Young along with Knights Erik Hernes, Joe Barbosa and Paul Vandermeer, placed the manger on top of the roof of the entrance canopy at the theatre.
Bill Young, Robinson and Young’s father, was a long time member of the Knights of Columbus so having the manger scene at the building fit perfectly, Robinson said.
“Dad would have been thrilled,” she added.
“I’m sure having this on this building, he’s having a big smile on his face, both he and Norma,” added Jim Young. Bill Young died in 2018 and Norma Young, his wife, in 2020.
Paul Vandermeer said the Knights appreciated the response of the theatre when they made the call.
“We’re very grateful,” he said.
The city used a unanimous 2015 Supreme Court of Canada ruling which held that there should not be Christian prayer a council meetings, as the reasoning last year for banning the nativity scene.
The decision, however, was silent on the matter of religious symbols.
And although approximately 350 letters were sent to the city expressing an opinion on both sides of the issue, city council members never fully addressed the matter nor explained the seven year-gap between the Supreme Court ruling and the banning of the nativity scene.
The city has kept Christmas lights at city hall and a large tree in front of the building, is once again decorated.