Youngstown couple's global Christmas collection includes items gathered discreetly

YOUNGSTOWN

The mood was festive as members of First Presbyterian Women of First Presbyterian Church, 201 Wick Ave., gathered this week at the church to hear about Christmas ornaments and to do a good deed.

Becky Murray, a church deacon, presented a program on “Christmas Ornaments Around the World.”

She and her husband, Terry, spent their careers as international teachers. They’ve traveled to the seven continents – Asia, Africa, North and South America, Europe, Australia and Antarctica (on a cruise). On a recent trip to South Africa, Becky Murray fell and broke a hip. On crutches, and with some help from fellow Presbyterian Women, she arranged ornaments as centerpieces on tables.

Murray counts Mambo Santa as one of her most-unusual Christmas decorations. She even has the original box it came in. What’s surprising about Mambo is that she found it while she and her husband were teaching in Jubail, Saudi Arabia. They taught there for many years, leaving in 1999.

“It has a lot of flash,” Murray said of the battery-powered Santa that lights up and plays a drum. “I don’t think they realized it was a Christmas decoration.”

Murray said observing Christmas was not something done in that country. She recalled how the “religious police” told friends to “move the Christmas tree” out of the window. “We had to be careful when celebrating Christmas ... even not mentioning it in phone calls,” she said. The Murrays had a tree, she said, and disguised yule get-togethers as plain social gatherings.

Murray estimated she has some 75 Christmas decorations from around the world, though she acknowledged there probably are more. “It’s an embarrassment of a collection,” she said with a smile.

Read more about the collection and their experiences in Saturday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.