By LAURA ROBISON
The Progress
The story of the first Christmas was brought to life last week as the Lake Valley ward of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints hosted a live nativity event for the community on Friday, Dec. 10 at the Hinckley Pavilion Park.
Area residents were welcomed to hear, see and even converse with the Three Wise Men, the shepherds and even Mary and Joseph with the baby Jesus.
Guests were taken on a short tour of the event with narrators Garrett Clove and Preston Bushman. The first stop was the story of the Three Wise Men who were played by Brian Burris, Vaughn Evans and Chris Hallenburg.
Next Prentice Freeman and his family played shepherds, complete with their actual sheep: Lola and Papa. The narrators told of shepherds who were tending their flocks out in the countryside near Bethlehem and how they were visited by an angel who told them about the birth of Jesus.
The final stop was with Mary and Joseph and their babe, played by Chanell and Gary Robinson and baby Koah. The baby was in fact, asleep. And Juanito the donkey was also close by.
It was cold night, but attendees were able to warm up around a fire pit and enjoy some hot cocoa and cookies.
In 2019 Matt Kynaston, who was serving in the Lake Valley bishopric at the time, planned a Live Nativity event. It was to be a substitute for the traditional Ward Christmas Party because of concerns that the Hinckley Chapel building was too small for the large ward and the much larger Stake Center had already been booked solid. The ward still wanted to celebrate the Christmas Holiday together somehow. The Live Nativity idea turned out to be a good work-around
This year the Lake Valley Ward Council planned the event and the animals came from ward and community members willing to participate.
“We had a desire to share the spirit of Christ with the community,” said Lake Valley Ward Bishop Kasey Davis. “We felt the Nativity would be a unifying experience for our valley and would fulfill both our desire to gather together and worship our Savior.”
Four year old Brookelle Tippetts said that her favorite part of the event was seeing the sheep. Her nine-year-old sister Brynlee said, “I liked all of it, especially baby Jesus.”
Lake Valley Ward member Tami Clove, stated “Without full time missionaries here in the area, this is a good way to feel the Christmas spirit and share fellowship with friends and neighbors.”
Davis estimated that close to 300 people attended and participated in the event.
“For now the plan is to keep improving and holding the event early in December,” Davis said.
