Bethlehem comes to life again in Tupper Lake

by Dan McClelland

The real meaning of Christmas was demonstrated in exquisite detail again this month when two dozen or so of the congregational members of the Tupper Lake Christian Center Church brought Bethlehem to life again in their church off Main Street.

This was the third creation of the biblical story of the birth of Jesus by the local church in as many years.

Last year Bethlehem was created in the Tupper Lake Municipal Park as part of a town recreation department’s “Holiday Stroll” celebration, but the outdoor event on that one Friday evening proved bitterly cold for the church players.

This year “Bethlehem Experience- a Living Nativity” returned to much warmer and much more enjoyable quarters in the church, where it was held on Year One.

For this year’s three hour event on the afternoon of December 13, the place was incredibly transformed into the village where Jesus was born.

-And all the players were there, including many of the shopkeepers and business people of Bethlehem.

Heidi Cheney was again the principle organizer of what we hope becomes an annual event, with the help of many from her church.

She remembered how brutally cold it was and how the wind just howled across the open park last year when they tried creating Bethlehem at the park.

The church quarters are much more appropriate in so many respects, she noted. Even the team of horses and sleigh which was a centerpiece of the park event last year were cold, Mrs. Cheney remembered.

Planning for this year’s creation of Bethlehem began about a month earlier- as the various sets were planned and the costumes envisioned.

“There’s no actual rehearsal or practice...we just start meeting as a group,” and as the ideas flow so does the set and the roles to be played, she explained that day as the visitors began to arrive in Bethlehem. “A lot of it just comes out of my head,” admits the organizer.

A few new businesses were added this year. New this year was a carpenter shop, for example. The tax collector’s headquarters and a census shop were also new this year, if our memory serves us correctly.

Also the name, “Bethlehem Experience- A Living Nativity” was used for the first time.

The actual transformation of the church quarters began a week before the event, according to Mrs. Cheney. On the Sunday before after services, all the furniture in the worship place was removed in preparation for the building of sets by Heidi’s husband, Mike, and other men of the congregation.

Church members stay after the services the Sunday before to start the transformation. Throughout the week much of the merchandise found in the shops are added and the various business booth come to life.

By Thursday, December 11, Bethlehem arrived, all ready for that Saturday’s event.

Back this year was Ken Besaw of “Thera-Pets of Schuyler Falls, which brought several of it therapy animals, including donkeys and goats. His wife, Holly, was unable to join Ken as she has in the past, as several of their children at home were ill.

Heidi’s sister Brenda Carter joined the cast this year, with her bunny “Waffles,” and her husband Mark.

A very deserving kudos to all involved in the local church’s production we offer this Christmas week!