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Matthew Harris / The Daily Item
Live nativity play opens Saturday in Snyder County
MIDDLEBURG — Approximately 45 volunteers and eight churches have joined forces for the eighth year in a row to present a live drama of the Christmas story in a rural Snyder County barn.
The first night of the drama will be Saturday.
With new props for the wise men and Roman guards, the drama — which attracted approximately 1,200 people last year — will once again include a variety of live animals and actors dressed as angels, shepherds and all the other characters one may find in account of Christmas, as written in the book of Luke in the Bible.
To keep things fresh, a few things are changed each year, but event founders, coordinators and farm owners Karl and Tanya Hertzler said the story, of course, stays the same.
“We felt a lot of children did not know the real Christmas story,” Karl said. Approximately one-third of the attendees are children younger than 10.
“It just seems natural to do this every year,” Tanya said. “Every year it gets a little bigger.”
Visitors arrive at a lighted area for parking, being assisted by parking attendants and actors. They then walk to a nearby barn, where they get on a bus that takes them down a lane to a big red barn, labeled “Bethlehem.”
After signing in with the census taker, they are guided by a Roman guard and then by the prophet Isaiah, who tells them the story as they go from scene-to-scene, from the top of the barn to the lower level. The story ends at the manger scene.
“We keep it as authentic as we can,” Karl said. “That’s our niche — to keep it primitive, as it was.”
To light each room, they use lanterns, not high-tech lighting.
Visitors will also find live animals, including goats, sheep, a miniature donkey, a miniature horse, chickens and perhaps a llama or two, as they walk around Bethlehem.
At the end of the story, the crowds will gather in the main room of the barn, where a stove will be running to keep things warm. A live choir will sing from the loft each night, and special entertainment is also scheduled, including bell ringers this Saturday, and New Life Gospel on Dec. 5 and 12. Cookies and hot chocolate will also be available.
Four churches take turns hosting this ending program: God’s Missionary Church, Beavertown; Richfield Mennonite Church; Shamokin Dam Alliance Church; and Zion United Methodist Church, Middleburg.
The live drama will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. Saturday, and Dec. 5, 12, and 19. A bus will take a group of people to the barn every half hour. Approximately 70 to 90 people will be in the barn at all times.
“We’re doing it to glorify the Lord,” Tanya said. “The true spirit of Christmas is Christ.”
“There are a lot of loyal people who make this thing happen,” Karl added.
The event is free. A donation box will be on hand. Proceeds will be given to the Pregnancy Care Center and the House of Hope.
The farm is located in Middleburg, off Route 522, about two miles from the square in Middleburg. More information is available by calling the Hertzlers at 837-3192.
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