Christmas Miracles

Brackenbury family says they receive more than they give producing live Nativity

By Dianna Troyer

For an inexplicable reason, Brandon Brackenbury formed a friendship with a camel named Toby while he was studying at Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine.

“Toby came into the vet clinic for treatment,” Brandon says. “I didn’t really know much about camels, so maybe it was the novelty of being around one that drew me in. They’re really expressive and tend to bond to certain people.”

Brandon runs White Mountain Animal Health, a mobile practice based in Albion.

“When I graduated in 2002, they offered to let me have Toby,” he says, “but we didn’t feel comfortable transporting him such a long distance from Indiana back home to Idaho.”

Brandon never forgot Toby, though, and hoped to one day own camels of his own. In 2010, he happened to read about a veterinarian in Texas who raised dromedaries—the camels with one hump—and bought two 4-week-old males. He and his wife, Carie, towed their horse trailer to Texas and picked them up. When they brought them home, their daughters named them Toby and Sahara.

Little did they know, Toby and Sahara would become a life-changing part of their family and be featured in several community programs and television shows. “They’ve touched a lot of lives,” Brandon says.

Cherished Camels
The affectionate dromedaries became popular cast members in a cherished live Nativity the Brackenburys started on the second Saturday of December at 6:30 and 7:30 p.m. in the Albion City Park.

Through word-of-mouth, television producers heard of how calm Toby and Sahara were and asked Brandon to allow them to be filmed in two productions: “The Christ Child,” an 18-minute dramatization of the Nativity, and the “Book of Mormon” videos.

“With the help of a good friend, Casey Knudsen, we were able to train them quickly enough for filming,” Brandon says. “They easily learned to kneel and stand, carry baggage and lead because we had bottle-fed them, so they like being around people and want to please.”

The camels were also the spotlight in an educational outreach program Brandon started. They’ve been to area schools, where the Brackenburys met people who became lifelong friends.

For the Nativity, Brandon usually dresses as a wise man and leads a camel into the stable backdrop.

“Having camels really gives authenticity to the program,” he says. “We’ve had other animals, too—chickens, donkeys, sheep, goats and cows.”

Christmas Blessings
Although the Nativity is the Brackenburys’ gift to the community, it blesses their family, too.

“We get more than we give,” Brandon says. “So many people have volunteered to help us or have donated materials anonymously. The community’s generosity is amazing. It’s really touching.”

People put checks in their mailbox, sometimes with thank-you notes, to help pay for camel food and the coffee, hot chocolate, chili and cinnamon rolls served at the production.

“I’ve never cashed any of those checks,” Brandon says. “To me, it’s just not right to accept money for doing this. The commercialization of Christmas has never appealed to me. Christmas has always been exciting to me because it’s about celebrating the birth of Jesus.”

Brandon’s wife, Carie, says their family decided to produce a Nativity in 2010 as a gift to him.

“We invited friends and thought it would be small, but it grew by word of mouth, and we had 300 people come,” she says. “Eventually, we had so many coming that we had to do two performances. Depending on the weather, we get 500 to 900 people for both times.”

The format is the same every year, but Carie says, “something unexpected often happens—a Christmas miracle for us.”

One year, a snowstorm threatened the production.

“The wind just wouldn’t quit,” Carie says. “We were setting up, and finally I said aloud what we were all thinking. ‘Should we cancel?’ But how could we? People would be coming soon. So Brandon’s mom and I walked to different places in the park and said a prayer. The wind died down when we started. Then, big soft snowflakes slowly fell. It was a perfect night.”

Throughout the many years of performing, people have told them how the program comforts them.

“One man said our Nativity made him feel the excitement of Christmas that he remembered from childhood,” Carie says.

Organizing the production sometimes seems miraculous, she says with a laugh. For the first production, Carie ordered costumes for shepherds and wise men from Oriental Trading.

Since then, people have asked to participate. Friends and a church children’s choir perform. Local businesses donate food. Bleachers were given for free.

“Chip Harris offered his sound system,” Carie says. “Kurt Catmull narrates and has the perfect voice.”

The Brackenburys’ children, Haylie, Tinley, Shaelee and Bode, help with whatever is needed.

“Seeing people’s faces light up when they’re watching it makes it all worthwhile,” Tinley says. “A Bible verse that sums it all up is Luke 2:10-11: ‘I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.’”

For the finale, the audience and performers sing “Silent Night.”

“There’s such a calm over the park,” Carie says. “It puts you in the right frame of mind to celebrate the real meaning of Christmas. After helping to coordinate everything and finally relaxing, I look around and realize it’s the community giving us a gift.