SUMMERSIDE, P.E.I. - Each Christmas, Clem Gallant tries to spread the spirit of the season.
And it all started with one nativity scene.
“I made a wooden display for myself one year. Then the next year, a couple siblings wanted one,” said Clem.
His daughter Jane Gallant added, “He has 13 siblings, so one of them was bound to want a display too.”
Then, after the death of a close friend, Clem felt called to spread the message of the nativity.
Now, with about 300 nativity displays of varying sizes and shapes completed, he has raised about $14,000 for St-Vincent de Paul, the Prince County Hospital Foundation and other community groups.
“This is my way of volunteering. My way of giving back.”
For the last three years, since the death of his wife, Clem has made 70-plus signs each season.
“It’s kept me busy. My wife used to tease me about it. I used to wake up at 5 a.m. or I’d stay up until all hour,” he said with a smile.
He said he knows what it’s like to be poor.
“My siblings and I, we’d be sent with a note to the local grocery stores to get groceries. We couldn’t pay, but the store owners knew that. Come spring, my dad would pay them.”
It’s that history that inspires him to continue to give to others.
This year, Clem enlisted the help of Jane to create some new designs.
“Some weren’t best sellers, but I really liked being a part of this with him,” she said.
She said she’s proud of the work her father has done.
“We didn’t grow up in a household flushed with cash either, and I think its special, because at this time of year, you have lots of people making things and selling them – myself included – and ultimately making money. But he’s giving back his profits.”
And the displays can be found East to West now.
“I said to him the other day, at some point anyone who wants one is going to have one, and then I posted the displays on Facebook again, since I posted them originally in November, to help him sell them. By the end of the day, there were like 18 messages in my inbox,” she said with a chuckle.
Clem turns 80 mid-way through 2019 and plans to continue to build his signs next year.
“I usually start around Sept. 1. I make four or more at a time, spending four to five hours a day working on them. But through all of this, my message is still the same, it’s important to volunteer and give back in whatever way you can.”
