State Auto Puts the Spirit of Christmas in downtown Columbus

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A word of warning to any would-be corporate Nativity designers: State Auto pretty much has the market cornered when it comes to celebrating the birth of Christ.

Every December, while fights ensue at city halls around the state, an elaborate hand-crafted, life-size 70-piece Nativity scene routinely goes up on Broad Street without protest.

"While Downtown holiday traditions come and go-we've seen shopping at Lazarus, the ice rink and Ferris wheel-this one has been around 77 years," said State Auto spokesman Kyle Anderson. "It's part of who State Auto is."

The otherwise low-profile insurance provider, located in the shadow of the 40-story Nationwide Plaza, relishes in its annual Christmas tradition-both inside and outside the building. There are no less than nine Christmas trees in the State Auto lobby. Christmas music is pumped through the halls. And if employees-or passers-by-of other faiths are annoyed by it, they're keeping it between themselves and their HR representatives.

"We have a lot of people, both working here and out in the community, who are very protective of the display," Anderson said. "If we missed a year, we would hear about it."

Complaints about the religious paraphernalia are very rare-maybe once a decade, Anderson said.

"It comes down to the fact that we are a private company," he said.

"Yes, we are celebrating the birth of Christ."

Why not Chrismukah? Or Kwanza? Or, god forbid, the Holidays?

"If we were to try to please everybody with their own display," the list would get out of hand, very quickly, he added.

The display, like its star, was born of humble beginnings. While the Great Depression raged, State Auto founder and Columbus philanthropist Robert Pein could be seen on Broad Street handing out eggs to those in need during the holidays. In 1931, when apparently the eggs weren't comforting enough souls, Pein, who famously loved Christmas, set out to get people's minds off the then-wretched economic conditions by decorating the heck out of his building. There were wreaths, 480 trees and more than nine miles of lights and garland. He called it a "Christmas card to the community," according to company history.

In the 1950s, the display ditched its more secular roots by adding a life-size Nativity scene to complement Santa's rooftop workshop. Since then, the Nativity has multiplied into a cast of 70, including three different Marys molded from the same plaster face.

The models are made from wire frames and plaster, and include elements such as hemp, hula skirts (for the roof of the manger, that is) and shag carpet. Care and refurbishing is done in-house.

In fact, State Auto has devoted a significant chunk of personnel time to its annual tradition. The work usually starts in October, when Corporate Sales Team Manager JoAnn Huntwork morphs into Head Nativity Designer. The maintenance crew devotes at least 600 hours to setting up the display.

Considering the annual lighting ceremony in early December, and the Christmas Eve service (where a local dignitary hand-delivers the baby Jesus) not to mention the loads of concerts and performances in the meantime, State Auto CEO Bob Restrepo quickly realized the positive publicity-err, embraced the rich community tradition that the display represents when he came to the company in 2006.

Restrepo hopes to expand the current display by adding more lights and decorations each year, Anderson said. Two 12-foot nutcrackers were added to the rooftop this year.

Columbus residents can take solace in the fact that the display is standing there at all. Only the most dire circumstances have interrupted the display, which did not go up for two years during World War II, or during the oil crisis in the late 70s.

By - Lyndsey Teter