December 28, 2001|By Betsy Diehl | Betsy Diehl,SPECIAL TO THE SUN
HUNDREDS of visitors toured Bethlehem over the weekend, but they didn't need passports or luggage, and they did not have to wait in long check-in lines at the airport. Instead, they were transported by way of an interactive rendition of what Bethlehem might have been like 2,000 years ago - compliments of the First Baptist Church of Savage.
Congregants turned their churchyard into a bustling little city, complete with Roman guards and a lofty choir of angels. For A Walk Through Bethlehem, about 84 parishioners donned period costumes and went about tending livestock and small shops last Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings while onlookers strolled through the mock community and witnessed a re-enactment of New Testament events.
"You became one of the residents when you walked in the gate," said Bill Waller, who organized the free event. About 700 visitors were welcomed with complimentary hot chocolate and plastic "gold" coins before being led through the L-shaped city by Bethlehem's "mayor," Charles Dick Jr.
Waller, a former Savage resident who lives in Ellicott City, said he came up with the idea about five years ago, when he visited relatives in Atlanta and attended a similar program there.
Until this year, said Waller, a retired government worker and an electrical engineer by trade, he "hadn't gotten enough steam up" to take on such a production. But this year, the time was right. "One of the reasons we're doing this is to make Christmas special," he said.
Waller started planning about two months ago, persuading some of the men to grow beards to look authentic as shepherds and townsfolk. The outdoor stage was divided into three sections. The first, called "The Promise Area," represented early Scriptures and featured a wedding scene to illustrate the notion of a promise. Waller's daughter Wendy Wible and son-in-law Keith Wible of Savage played the bride and groom.
In the second area, called "The Proclamation," shepherds tended goats in a makeshift field. Organizers had hoped to procure some other livestock as well, but they ran into difficulty.
"We had some sheep lined up, but they all became mothers," said Ellen Gosnell, secretary at the church office. There were also small shops, fashioned from straw and bamboo sticks, that had a colorful display of candles, woven fabric and pottery.
As visitors strolled past the shops, a choir of white-clad "angels" suddenly appeared, with spotlights lighting them on the church roof, 25 feet above the crowd. They broke into song, proclaiming the holy birth. Members of the angel chorus were Linda Day, Greg Day, Pam Nixon, Karen Davis, Jacky Waller, Robin Hutchinson, Shirley Paul, Tammy Goode, Becky Kendricks and Ann Campbell, who also made most of the event's costumes.
The last area, called "The Gift," featured a stable beneath a bright star, where Emily Young, 12, dressed as a shepherdess, tended Sassy, a pony. Inside the stable, the Virgin Mary, played alternately by Brandy Grooms and Sarah Vollmerhausen, both 14, and Joseph, played by Adam Young, 18, knelt over a makeshift crib.
A chorus of youngsters, directed by Mary Messer, sang "Away in a Manger." Members of the children's chorus included Lillian Messer, Julie Hutchinson, Kelly Hutchinson, Emily Wible, Amy Wible, Brooke Wible, Brandon Nixon, Morgan Nixon, C.J. Pipgrass, Blair Grooms, Melissa Hardy, Brianna Sterner, Lavin Kulina and Blake Hudson.
Waller said this might be the start of an annual tradition for the church. "Lots of folks were asking if we were going to do this next year," he said. Some suggested that he stage a similar program for Easter, which Waller does not rule out.
"The more they talked, the more I started dreaming," he said.
Gifts from visitors
As part of the First Baptist Church of Savage's interactive Bethlehem program, visitors were given plastic gold coins to put in a basket as a "gift" to baby Jesus as the three Wise Men had done. The Rev. Paul Viswasam made a discovery after the first night: intermingled with the plastic coins was real money.
"The community really felt like they wanted to give something back," Viswasam supposed, adding that more than $400 had unexpectedly appeared.
He said he donated the real money - not the plastic - to help homeless people in the area.
Winning reflections
Congratulations to the Bollman Bridge Elementary School pupils who won awards for their entries in the PTA "Reflections" contest at the school.
Winners for literature are Sam Henig and Mika Lam; for musical composition, Jennifer Aranyi; for photography, Kenny Harpster; and for visual arts, Michelle Aranyi, Will Sandish and Mika Lam. Their entries will be judged at the county level later in the school year, said program coordinator Ann Ginty.
