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12/17/2024 | News release | Distributed by Public on 12/18/2024 07:07

What Does It Take to Create a Winter Wonderland? Ask This BU Employee

What Does It Take to Create a Winter Wonderland? Ask This BU Employee

Each year, Jesus Nater transforms the eighth floor of One Silber Way into a holiday extravaganza

Jesus "Chu" Nater, an administrative coordinator in the Office of the Provost, with many of the ceramic figurines in the panoramic winter wonderland scenes he fastidiously creates from scratch every year on the eighth floor of One Silber Way.

Campus Life

What Does It Take to Create a Winter Wonderland? Ask This BU Employee

Each year, Jesus Nater transforms the eighth floor of One Silber Way into a holiday extravaganza

December 17, 2024
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Jesus "Chu" Nater is a connoisseur of two things: boosting morale and Christmas. He's a man for all seasons when it comes to the former, hosting annual office parties and frequently cooking for his coworkers on the eighth floor of One Silber Way. But when the December holidays roll around, Nater, an administrative coordinator in the Office of the Provost, is something of a local celebrity. Each year, he transforms his floor's reception area into a sprawling winter wonderland scene big enough to rival the best window dressers at any department store.

"The biggest reaction I get is just awe-that I brought everything in and put it all together," Nater says from his "mission control station" behind the reception desk. Surrounding him are evergreen garlands, twinkling Christmas lights, strand upon strand of tinsel, and enough ornaments, figurines, and glittery holiday baubles to cover more than five tables.

One element of Nater's dizzying display is his ceramic winter village, consisting of two six-foot tables with 67 miniature buildings, 60 figurines, and a pair of working train sets.

There's the BU table, Nater explains, decked out with crimson-and-white holiday decorations, as well as two tall ceramic Boston terriers. Then there's the "disco wonderland" area, he says with a laugh: a pile of tinsel and silver snowflakes, with pops of blue-and a light-up menorah. To the left of his desk is an explosion of rainbow decorations, including a multicolored garland, ornaments, and tiny festive Christmas trees. That's the "Latino-slash-Pride area," he adds.

The real pièce de résistance, however, sits behind his desk: two six-foot folding tables, nestled next to each other and covered in a tablecloth, become the canvas for a ceramic winter scene in miniature, complete with 67 freestanding village houses, 60 ceramic villagers and animals, a pair of working train sets, and innumerable tiny details to delight all eighth-floor visitors. The scene is divided into areas to represent a mini seaside village, a farm, a forest, and even a mountainous homage to the 1964 Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer TV Christmas special, complete with tiny yeti.

Nater's modus operandi has changed a bit this year, with the introduction of themed table displays, like the BU area (left) and a panorama he dubs his "disco wonderland" (right).

"I came in on Black Friday at about 10 am, and I set it all up until 7 pm," Nater recalls. "I did it all in one day, and since then I've been tinkering." He got a little help unpacking the boxes (the items live in his shed during the rest of the year) and setting up the display from some holiday elves: friend Dwayne Rondeau, student employee Emmanuel Alvarado Tamayo (Sargent'25), and Kevin Gonzales (COM'08, Questrom'15), assistant vice president of operations for the building.

The display stays up each year for a little over a month.

"I'll try to take it down during intersession," he adds. "Or, if everyone really likes it and wants to see more, the end of January."

Nater began his ceramics collection 30 years ago, when he lived in an apartment that didn't allow Christmas trees. "And then everyone started giving [ceramics] to me," he explains. The ceramics came back into play when his son was little.

The "Latino/Pride" display includes Snoopy plushies donated by a coworker.

"I used to do a display at home with a spinning Christmas tree in the middle, and my neighbors thought it was like a mall display," he says. "They would all come in to look at it, because kids enjoy it. [Eventually] I thought, why not bring it here, too?"

That was six years ago. Since then, the displays have become a holiday fixture at One Silber and something his colleagues eagerly look forward to. They've also started adding decorations from their own homes to the tableau.

"It's become really collaborative," Nater says. "That's the stuff I enjoy the most, that everybody feels it's part of their own thing."

This year, he says, he was inspired to organize the display differently.

"Before, the display would be a mix of decorations," says Nater. "I usually don't ever have an idea of what I'm going to do-I'll try to figure it out as I go. This year, I opened the decorations and saw the red and I was like, I should do a red table."

Nater started collecting winter-themed ceramics 30 years ago, when he lived in an apartment building that didn't allow real Christmas trees.

That is how the BU-themed table came into being-and all the other themed tables next to it. The scale of the project is different this year, too. The six-foot tables are new (before, he set up his ceramic village on smaller office furniture), as are the different corners of the room reserved for different displays. Now, it's a room-size affair.

As he explains his modus operandi, Alison English, executive director of finance and administration in the provost's office, comes into the reception area and nearly drops the letter she's holding.

"This is just gorgeous," she gushes, and Nater obliges her with another explanation of the layout. Before she leaves, he offers her candy from one of three strategically placed bowls-there's Swedish Fish, Starlight Mints, and Hershey's Kisses to choose from-and she walks out with a smile.

"Look at me-I'm Grand Central Station," he says. "I greet everyone, and you have to keep everyone happy. I'm going to help, because I'm always helpful."

From his reception desk, Nater has a 360-degree view of his homemade winter wonderland.

But with the holiday displays, the annual parties, the weekly batches of home-cooked meals, and the little daily surprises like baked goods and candy, it's not just about keeping everybody happy.

"I've been here 19 years, and my son's a senior [at Questrom]," he adds. "He grew up here. It's like a family."

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  • Sophie Yarin

    Associate Editor, BU Today; Managing Editor Bostonia

    Sophie Yarin is a BU Today associate editor and Bostonia managing editor. She graduated from Emerson College's journalism program and has experience in digital and print publications as a hybrid writer/editor. A lifelong fan of local art and music, she's constantly on the hunt for stories that shine light on Boston's unique creative communities. She lives in Jamaica Plain with her partner and their cats, Ringo and Xerxes, but she's usually out getting iced coffee. Profile

  • Cydney Scott

    Photojournalist

    Cydney Scott has been a professional photographer since graduating from the Ohio University VisCom program in 1998. She spent 10 years shooting for newspapers, first in upstate New York, then Palm Beach County, Fla., before moving back to her home city of Boston and joining BU Photography. Profile

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