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Sixty-nine years ago, an immigrant from India erected a large blue star on the hillside next to his home in El Cerrito as a symbol of peace during the Christmas season of 1949. The man’s name was Sundar Shadi.
The following year, he bought three wise men painted on plywood. Over the next few years, he assembled buildings to symbolize the town of Bethlehem. He also made human figures to represent villagers and shepherds and a variety of animals: camels, donkeys, dogs and sheep … lots and lots of sheep.
Eventually, the wise men were replaced by three-dimensional figures that Shadi constructed to ride on life-size camels, also hand-made. Their colorful clothes were sewn by his wife, Dorothy.
All the figures were hand-crafted out of plaster, chicken wire and scraps of wood, and hand-painted. The buildings were made from old wooden milk crates painted with doors and windows. Coffee cans and other found items became the domes, spires and minarets of Bethlehem.
In all, there are nearly 500 pieces in what is now known as the “Sundar Shadi Holiday Display.” It is truly a folk-art treasure. For the residents of El Cerrito, the display has always been a beloved gift each December.
For 50 years, Shadi gave this gift to his community — a gift to people of all faiths, as he was Sikh not Christian.
It was a gift of thanks.
As an immigrant from the Punjab region of India, Shadi was thankful for his life in the East Bay, where he raised his family. As a graduate of UC Berkeley, he was thankful for his education even though he could not find work in his field of expertise. Wed to Dorothy Cotelle Clark in 1934, Sundar was thankful even though they were not allowed to marry in California, because they were a “mixed-race couple.”
Shadi gave thanks each year until 1997 when he no longer felt strong enough to haul the figures out of storage and set up his display. That’s when the El Cerrito firefighters stepped in to help, and the tradition continued.
Shadi’s family sold the family home to support him in his final years. Knowing how much the display meant to the community, the family donated all the display pieces to the non-profit Soroptimist International of El Cerrito in 2001.
After Shadi died in 2002, community leaders worked to preserve all the figures. Later, under the leadership of Jane Bartke, a non-profit was formed. A committee of volunteers now re-creates the Shadi Display each year; his gift keeps on giving.
Again this year, an angel will emerge from storage. She will watch over a shepherd tending his sheep, bearded men gathered around a campfire smoking from a hookah, and the three wise men traveling to Bethlehem as a blue star twinkles above.
Each evening the lights will go on, music will play and people will make the annual pilgrimage to enjoy Shadi’s handiwork. Parents will whisper to their children that this is the same display they saw when they were young. Grandparents may tell their grandchildren how their family holiday traditions always included a visit to Shadi’s house. New memories will be made.
Visitors this year will see two special items on display: a life-sized silhouette of Sundar Shadi painted in his likeness, and a small sign that will be placed on the hill near his image that reads “Peace be with you.”
Michelle Fadelli is a volunteer with the Shadi Holiday Display. The display, on Moeser Lane in El Cerrito, may be visited from Saturday through Dec. 26. Information on display location and hours, musical performances, volunteering and donations may be found at www.ShadiHolidayDisplay.com.
