All Henrietta Van Maanen of Fort Dodge, Iowa, has to do to get into the holiday season is look at one of the hundreds of nativity sets she has collected over the past 40 years.

But Van Maanen isn't content to keep her treasures to herself. The 1955 graduate of Northwestern College has donated to her alma mater a number of sets, which will be on display during the Advent and Christmas season in Ramaker Library. Friendship Haven in Fort Dodge, Iowa, also has a number of her creches.

Currently, Van Maanen is part of a Presbyterian mission project in Albuquerque, N.M., but she took time to chat about her hobby.

Q. When did you start collecting the nativity sets?

A. I have the nativity set we had in my home. My maternal grandmother gave it to us. It came from Scripture Press. It was a cardboard set and you built the stable. It had all the different figures. That nativity set was always meaningful to me.

Q. What's the first creche you acquired?

A. The first came from my brother-in-law, an art teacher. It was made out of greenware. A few years later, I did my first national travel and picked up a nativity set in Bethlehem in 1972.

Q. What was next?

A. I watched the "Hour of Power" one day, and for a gift of money, they would send you a little creche that resembled the Precious Moments figurines.

Q. What compelled you to continue collecting?

A. Once you get something like this going, you can't stop. My next big trip was to the Mediterranean, starting in Venice, Italy. I spent part of the trip shopping and came across this beautiful pink blown glass that featured Mary, Joseph, and a very little baby Jesus which measured about an inch and a half. I was hemming and hawing and wondering, "Should I buy it?" A friend said, "Henrietta, if you really like it, buy it today. Tomorrow, we won't be here." I blame her for that one. Another one I bought was on a tour of Europe, in Switzerland. It was in the form of a music box.

Q. What criteria do you use for choosing a creche?

A. What I'm looking for now is pieces from different countries.

Q. What about price?

A. I draw the line up to a certain point. But I am single. Nobody depends on me. I've given a lot of sets to nieces and nephews at Christmas. In fact, if you get a gift from me, it very well could be a creche.

Q. What's your favorite piece?

A. That's a tough one. The stories and how I get them is what interests me. Ten to 15 years ago, I went to the Netherlands. While others were taking a cruise on the canal, I decided to look for a wooden shoe maker store. I found one and asked if they had a nativity set and, by cracky, this wooden shoe maker had a nativity set, painted in a soft water color. That one is very special.

Q. Do you collect anything else?

A. Dolls.

Q. How did that come about?

A. I've always liked dolls. I had my mom's baby doll from when she was 5 or 6. My single friends tell me that it's because I never had babies. I'm a good seamstress so I like to sew for them as well.

Q. Any thought to ever stopping the collecting?

A. (Laughs) I'm trying to cut back, but I really enjoy giving them to people and places so they have a memory of me when I'm not around.