Sundar Shadi's annual holiday display gradually grew from a single star in 1950 to a sprawling Biblical village that attracts viewers from near and far each December.
Holiday mystery question: How many people does it take to carry one of the camels featured in El Cerrito's sprawling holiday display on Moeser Lane?
Hint: more than the number of Wise Men.
Often the five people needed to hoist the camels are strong firefighters from El Cerrito who volunteer every year for the heavy lifting required to unpack and install a unique El Cerrito phenomenon that draws viewers from near and far.
"Without them (the firefighters), I wouldn't be able to carry those camels," two-term former Mayor Jane Bartke told the City Council Monday night. Bartke is the prime organizer of the community effort to keep the 60-year-old display going following the death of its extraordinary creator, Sundar Shadi, at age 101 in 2002.
The display — enhanced under lights at night — will go up Dec. 18 this year and come down, as it does every year, on Dec. 27, she told the council.
Many people don't realize how many animals, humans and buildings are in the large hillside replica of a Bethlehem-type Biblical village, said Bartke's husband, Rich, also a former mayor and another organizer of the Herculean labor involved in storing and maintaining the ancient town, not to mention putting it up each year and taking it down.
"You don't realize how many there are until you have to carry them," he said.
If you ask people how many sheep, for example, are in the display, they may say a dozen or two, Rich Bartke said. "In fact, there are 50 to 60." The number varies from year to year, depending on how many are in the "animal hospital," he said.
And don't forget the dogs or goats. Or the people — the three Wise Men, a couple dozen villagers, some caravaneers camping by a fire with the camels, shepherds. And the angel. They vary in size, from nearly life-size to around 1/8th or even smaller, with the smaller items placed higher on the hill to accentuate the perspective.
The creature population, however, pales in comparison to that of the buildings, which number around 110 to 120.
If the size is surprising, the fact that one man made them all by hand (except for the angel, which is a mannequin) may be astonishing.
Their creator, Sundar Shadi, apparently didn't like to sit still.
Born in India in 1900 (0r thereabouts), he came to Berkeley and earned a master's in subtropical horticulture. Any plans to return to India to apply his knowledge were changed by meeting his future wife at Cal, Dorothy Clarke, said their eldest daughter, Zilpha Paganelli of Concord.
While his wife continued her studies, which eventually led to her becoming a professor of Spanish at Berkeley, Shadi encountered racial discrimination and was obliged to work in humble jobs. However, his ability, perserverance, wise property investments and later ownership of a Berkeley gas station allowed him to prosper. One of his donations eventually permitted the creation of the El Cerrito Historical Society's new home — the Dorothy and Sundar Shadi Historical Room at City Hall.
When he retired, he could spend more time with the thousands of flowers he loved at the family home at 944 Arlington Boulevard and start what would turn into a virtuoso seasonal sculpture garden.
It began with a single star in 1950, Paganelli said. "Then it grew year by year. He loved doing it, and it gave him something to do in the fall when his flowers were not in bloom."
And while Shadi knew plants, he didn't know how to make models of creatures and buildings, especially those that could withstand the rain and chill of El Cerrito winter.
"He'd never done anything like it before," Paganelli said. "He started saving pictures of sheep from Christmas cards. Then he went to the Berkeley library to figure out how to make these things."
He found that a wooden frame covered in chicken wire formed a good foundation. For the outer layer, he tried various materials, including plaster of Paris and papier-mâché. He even tried concrete for some sheep, Rich Bartke said, and eventually seemed to favor stucco.
But no matter what materials were used, they break. Noses and feet fall off. Bartke said he drew odd stares when, needing to match some paint, he walked into a hardware store with a hand from one of the Wise Men.
One missing element that surprises many people when they are told about it is that there is no manger, no nativity scene with baby Jesus, Rich Bartke said. Many people almost will swear to having seen one in the display, but there's never been one, he said.
The absence of the nativity scene was a kind of ecumenical compromise, his daughter said. "He said he was making the scene of Bethlehem," she said. "He was not a Christian, so he was trying to accommodate everybody in his own way."
When Shadi got too old to put up the display in his latter 90's, it stopped appearing. And when he died, no one knew if it would ever return.
He had expressed a wish for someone to take it over, and the family hoped to find someone to do so, Paganelli said. No one seemed willing, however, and so it looked as though the collection would be broken up and sold.
The loss was averted, however, when Jane Bartke and the Soroptimist International of El Cerrito offered to help. Husband Rich, an attorney, was recruited and managed to negotiate a transfer to a newly established nonprofit, the El Cerrito Community Foundation.
 |
| Framed photo and City Council resolution naming Sundar Shadi as the first member of the city's Wall of Fame Credit: Charles Burress |
 |
| Photo of Dorothy and Sundar Shadi that hangs in the Dorothy and Sundar Shadi Historical Room at El Cerrito City Hall. Credit: Charles Burress |
 |
| This photo, courtesy the El Cerrito Community Foundation, shows the Sundar Shadi Holiday Display in on Christmas Day in 1955. Credit: Charles Burress |
 |
| Portion of Sundar Shadi Holiday Display in 2008 Credit: Courtesy of Jane Bartke |
 |
| This 1987 clipping, preserved by the El Cerrito Community Foundation, shows the Sundar Shadi Holiday Display as it continued to grow. Credit: Charles Burress |
However, they still needed land big enough to display a small village. The two empty lots next to Shadi's home where it had appeared for most of its existence were no longer available. Happily, an arrangement was made with PG&E to use the wide swath of land under power lines next to Moeser near Sea View Drive, and the Community Foundation resurrected the display in 2002 and remains its sponsor today.
The foundation needs volunteers, Jane Bartke told the council. Maintaining the large collection takes time, she said. She and other volunteers, like Marie Pike and Beverly Granzella, have been busy this past week making clothes for the Wise Men, for example.
The foundation also needs funding and welcomes donations. You can sponsor buildings for $10 each, or, say, sheep for $25 each. The range increases gradually up to the angel or one of the Wise Men for $500. (Detailed sponsorhip information can be found on the attached PDF document.)
Other individuals who've been major helpers include Gordon White, Al Miller, Tom Panas, Richard Ritz, John Wilson and Barbara Lanier, in addition to the steadfast and continuing help of the local firefighters, Rich Bartke said.
The successful community effort in preserving the Shadi display has been a welcome delight for Shadi's family, Paganelli said. "We were really happy they could do that."
The people of El Cerrito refused to let his legacy die.
This beloved holiday tradition can go on for hundreds of years. Or it can go away tomorrow, and after a generation nobody will remember. It's up to you, El Cerritans.
----------------------
Further pictures at:
http://elcerrito.patch.com/articles/miracle-on-moeser-lane-el-cerritos-unique-holiday-display-began-six-decades-ago#c