Every year, just before Thanksgiving, a nativity scene appears in the Beruatti Street grotto next to US 60. First, the adult characters show up. Then, a week before Christmas, the Christ child joins them. The identities of those who set up the display and its history have been surrounded by myths.

Globe native Eileen Harbison recalls setting up Christmas displays fifty years ago at the former Ace Hardware store while people worked on the creche. But she has no idea who they were.

Former Globe resident Christine Marin talked with Edward “Ted” Loughran about the nativity before his death. Loughran said he and fellow Globe High School teacher Robert Groves originally set up the scene in the mid-1950s. Candles illuminated the grotto and high school students would gather to sing carols.

Angela Earven also grew up with the manger scene. And after she and her husband, Don, lost their son Dylan to cancer in 2010, they became part of the secret. As she remembers, a teacher from Miami High School approached them and said he had been maintaining the scene in memory of a child who also died from cancer. It was time for him to pass on the responsibility and the honor. The Earvens decided to carry on the tradition in remembrance of Dylan. Over the years their purpose has evolved to remembering other children who have died from cancer.

Over the years that they have taken care of the nativity, the Earvens have made few changes. The original wooden figures have grown fragile. Although Angela had a friend patch and repair them, she would like to replace them with sturdier new copies. Stars now shine inside the grotto, and the extension cord has been replaced by electric service.

If the Earvens ever retire, they intend to pass the nativity scene on to someone who will continue the tradition.