New Haven Register, Monday December 25, 2006

By Patricia Villers
Register Staf

   (Click here to see the picture)

ANSONIA - A painted Nativity scene outside the Krystopik home on Hodge A venue had a humble but meaningful beginning: Its creators wanted to share the "true meaning of Christmas."

Fifty years later, that message is s.till going strong .. The religious artwork has been a part of the family for a half-century and it continues to grace the exterior of the house throughout each yuletide season.

Ceil Krystopik and -her late sister, mary Krystopik, painted the scene on wood in 1956, using a kit Mary had ordered, Ceil recalled this week. "It was her idea," she pointed out.

Although the artwork was done using a paint-by-number kit, Ceil Krystopik said it was a complicated process.

"We had to draw the outlines of the figures and transfer them (onto the wood)," she said. The sisters created the painting "so that the true meaning of Christmas could be told," she said.

The house's brightly decorated interior reflects Ceil Krystopik's love of all things Christmas. A large evergreen sits in a corner of the living room, and at least seven more Christmas trees of various .sizes and shapes that family members have collected over the years grace tables and counters.

Lighted Christmas trees hang in kitchen windows and decorations line shelves.

Yet, "it just wouldn't be Christmas tradition without that painting outside," said Krystopik's niece, Gloria McKie, who lives in the three-family house.

"I can remember my aunts doing the painting in the basement," said McKie, who was 4 at the time. "It was a labor of love."

Neighbors agree the Nativity scene has become a Christmas tradition.

State Rep. Linda Gentile, D-Ansonia, who lives a few doors down from the Krystopik house, said the painting is clearly a labor of love. "Traditions are wonderful and they are something we should always cling to," Gentile said.

McKie said when the front porch was redone, she recalls "how important it was to keep the columns far enough part" to allow enough room for the Nativity painting, so it could hang where it traditionally had hung.

Mary Krystopik died in 2003, but the painting and the love that was put into its creation lives on said neighbor Lynn Canavan who lives directly across the street.

"I look forward to it every year," Canavan said. "It's just gorgeous. I really appreciate it because they made it themselves."

She said anything people "put their hands to" and create, is made with love. Canavan also likes it because it brings back fond memories of Mary Krystopik. "They are a wonderful family."

“I can't say enough good things about it," Canavan said.

The painting, which measures 63 inches wide by 42 inches high, shows the Virgin Mary, Joseph and the infant Jesus, a wise man bearing a gift, a shepherd and a sheep, with a bright star above them.

The artwork is illuminated from above and surrounded by green garland. Years after it was made, Krystopik's brother constructed a shed-like roof to give it the look of a manger.

Krystopik's nephew, Frank A. Hoinsky of Milford, said it took a former neighbor asking about the painting in a Christmas note to remind him how important the piece is to many neighbors and former neighbors.

"A lot of people come back (to tbe neighborhood) and look to see if it's still up," Hoinsky said.

Krystopik, who has lived in the house since 1930, said Hoinsky "is going to restore that painting. He is the second generation and he will take it over."

Longtime neighbor Mary Tabaka, who also lives across the street, said she waits for the scene to be installed each year. "I was peeking out my porch waiting for it," she said.

Tabaka's daughter, Renie Integlia of Ansonia, said she remembers seeing the painting since she was a child. "It's still as pretty (as it was), just not as ornate," she said.

Patricia Villers can be reached at pvillers@nhregister.com or 734-2813.

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