For more than 20 years creating the famed presepio, or Italian Nativity scene, at St. Ann Church has been a labor of love for Vincenzo Santarmarco. At 77, Santamarco, is long retired from his days working in the construction trades as a mason. But he brings these and other mechanical skills to life in assembling a fully motorized Nativity scene, with much of its character inspired by his native town of Fontegreca, Italy.

“I’ll keep doing this until I can’t do it anymore,” says Santamarco, who works part time at the parish, but labors after hours on evenings and weekends for about three weeks each year to construct the hillside scene, one which won’t be completed until Christmas Eve, when a baby Jesus is placed in a cave manger representing the Savior’s humble beginnings in Bethlehem.