Folks Who Show Up

Since 1957 our local church, Trinity United Methodist Church, has sponsored a live Nativity scene on Rome's busiest street. Actually in 1957 the Turner-McCall Boulevard bridge over the Oostanaula was under construction and would not open for another few months, so I suppose that first year the street wasn't quite so busy. I first stood in the scene as a teen in 1962. 

This is the first year that Sheila and I have been a part of the necessary work of taking apart and putting away the stable till next December. My seventy-five year old muscles, tendons, and bones are reminding me of my age this moment, and my part was relatively small compared to my older fellow tenor Lynn Popham who led the effort. I am sorry I was not available the day the stable was built in December, largely by these same folks. 

I am so thankful for "those who show up", aren't you?  Every church, every school, every storytelling festival, every civic club, every scout troop, is dependent on that usually small group of "folks that show up".  

This morning it was Tom and Cindy Brown, Thom Holt, Monty Rasure, Kay Lowe, all led by Lynn and Sandra Popham and their granddaughter Hannah. Jamie Palmer happened to drive by, stopped, and lent some younger muscle to the effort for an hour or so. This afternoon, after lunch,  a few of us will be back to move one last load. 

I love this tradition of my church, as anyone who has read my blog the last 17 years knows. Most folks are like me. We show up to stand for a shift. Maybe bring a few goodies to share with those participating. We love to watch and let the scene inspire us to consider the real meaning of the season. But that's about it. 

Over the years several generations of the Craven family have borne most of the putting up and taking down chores. Eulaine and Paul Camp spent years organizing the costumes and seeing that all the shifts were peopled. Many others have helped with that since the Camps gave it up, including Sandra Popham this year. 

Thank goodness for those, at Trinity and in all sorts of community endeavors, who work behind the scenes, usually with little recognition, to make things happen.

(If you are looking for a welcoming church community, we'd love to have you at Trinity. You don't have to be a carpenter!)

Christmas Eve 2022

A few notes on the Christmas card above:

• center picture at the top - Ruth & Clem and their paper chain representing the days left till the arrival of "GrandShaw and Granny" last September. This was taken when they had to add seven links because GrandShaw had come down with Covid.
• center pic at the bottom - the girls loved visiting with their Aunt Lil at her home in Decatur. Here they roll around the front lawn.
• center pic at left the three sisters sit on a mossy bank of the trail at Sloppy Floyd State Park.
• center pic at the right - Aunt Lil & Jordan sport their Chip & Dale hats.
• bottom left - the girls loved playing on the Little Tikes playlet on our big side porch - one of the best 15 bucks I ever spent.
• bottom right - Clem agrees to pose with the Courtin' Frog in our Backyard Football
• center - Ruth climbing on a playground. These girls explore multiple playgrounds wherever they travel.
• top right - the girls welcome their Dad to Georgia in our Atlanta AirBNB

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Brannon & John and the girls called us on Christmas Eve to 

let us share with them as the girls opened one present early.

Suzie is into throwing kisses and waving.

She offered us a bite of a "cookie".

The girls carefully tend to a sheet of "cookies" with dad's help.

The kit comes with cookie sheet, cookie "dough" to "slice" and "cut'

These girls have gotten much more than their parents' money's worth from their "nugget" set of construction cushions. (Stay tuned for Christmas morning's surprises for them@!)

Sisters

Excited over the new cookie toys

Ruthie offers a bite of "cookie"

Joseph (Jordan Friedman), Mary (Lillian Shaw) Angels (R-L Sheila Shaw, Holly Bettler, Stacy Harris, Caroline) Shepherds (Don Bettler, ??) Wise Men (Tom Brown, Tom Harris, ?? Harris,  Harris SIL)

"Mary & Joseph" Lillian & Jordan. ...

The live nativity scene has been a tradition at Trinity United Church since 1957. I first stood it it during the 1962 Christmas season.

After we got home we lit a menorah and Jordan, who has a very nice voice, sang a couple of Hanukkah blessings for us.

We used a smaller tree this year. The carol era are from mama Shaw's collection of forties and fifties decorations.

Trinity United Methodist Church Live Nativity

I first stood in the Nativity Scene at Trinity United Methodist Church as a fifteen-year-old during the few days before Christmas 1962. Subtract that year from 2022 and the result is a nice round  -- and pretty large --  number. 

It is a tradition I love. The Advent season can get very hectic. Sheila and I have tried in the last couple of decades to make ours less hectic. We don't do the commercial Christmas anymore. We give fewer gifts and try to make them more meaningful -- usually giving activities rather than things and making contributions to charities that are important to us. 

But for me, the thirty minutes (at least) that I spend standing as a wise man or shepherd in the nativity scene is a precious time of meditation and prayer as beautiful Christmas music plays. A time to settle my thoughts on the real significance of the celebration rather than the glitter and bustle. I know that ours is a pretty crude simulation of what the original nativity scene must have been. So I do some thinking about that. A teenage Mary, traveling with her husband, very pregnant with no place to stay, settling for some sort of outbuilding. She and Joseph are likely very sweaty and dusty from the road. She must have been frightened and definitely uncomfortable. And really, surely Joseph had some doubts about this whole situation. Still he was there and loyal.

Of course the present intrudes on such thoughts sometimes. 

• One night a teen-aged girl, an angel, fainted. 
• Sometimes absent-minded young angels (five year-old Brannon comes to mind) play with their halos endlessly - converting them from halo to necklace and back again repeatedly.
• Animals have escaped -- was it a sheep I remember? 
• And the dadgum donkey would NOT quit braying one year. 
• The goat kept getting all wrapped up in its tether. 
• On really cold nights, I remember "Uncle" Bobby Storey heating bricks in the oven in the kitchen for the characters to stand on for fifteen minute shifts -- it was just too frigid to stand there for longer. 
• On Christmas Eve one year, another really cold one, a very pregnant Sharon Craven helped her husband Frank close down the scene with the Shaws and maybe one other family. A little while later she gave birth to a baby boy.
• And of course every year the shepherd boys and young angels get tickled at the animals that are less than reverent in their bathroom habits.

The 2022 Trinity United Methodist Nativity Scene will go live at 6 p.m. and close at 8 p.m. on December 22, 23, and 24. Please come and join us. If you'd like to take a turn as one of the characters, come on. We'll start dressing the characters each evening in Mobley Hall at 5:30 and again at 6, 6:30, and 7. There'll also be some refreshments there. Or just stop by and observe the scene out front for a few minutes then walk around the building and come fellowship with us for a while in Mobley Hall. You can park behind the church or in the side lot.

I have previously written about the Nativity Scene here and here and here and (very briefly) here.

Gleaning Facebook: Pandemic Nativity

Tonight should have been the second night of the 2020 edition of the annual live nativity scene at Trinity United Methodist Church, a tradition in Rome since the fifties. The terrible coronavirus pandemic that has taken the lives of over 300,000 fellow Americans has taken this treasured Christmas experience from us this year as well. Thanks to a wonderful group of artists in our church we have life-size, if not live, figures in the scene.

Our family has participated in the scene during most of the years since 1962. It is dear to me and many others. The nativity scene has been mentioned in my blog many times since 2005...

http://aloneonalimb.blogspot.com/.../old-leaves-live...

Tim Raley It is truly a tradition that will be missed this year.
Rita Lawler How faithful. Pope Francis said early on that the pandemic would bring no forth so much creativity
Nancy Crider What beautiful art work from your talented congregation! Since I was born in the fifties, your Nativity has been special to me all of my life. It continues to be a reminder, in a difficult year, about what Christmas is truly about. 

Melanie Collette Babb We drove by last night. The life size figures look nice. I am thankful for Trinity's faithfulness in sharing the nativity with our community. When my parents were living I had the opportunity to take part with my children and grandchildren.
Trude Sansbury This is wonderful.

Betty Smith Franklin Someday again
Ann Gore It is dear to all of us Romans! We always had to ride by for many years growing up in Rome! Hope it will not be a thing of the past!

Cindy Smith I’m glad y’all were able at least to create the image of the nativity scene this year. The live nativity is something I look forward to every year since I was a child 

Michael J. Burton Darn I can’t watch people shiver like I used to.

Anita Stewart The Nativity figures were a work of love. The BeARTitudes Art Class made them several years ago. So glad we have these, especially this year.

Christie Hufstedler Boyd I’m glad you have the cut outs but so sorry to miss the Live Nativity.
Jamie Fergerson I’ll miss seeing the live nativity, but I’m really grateful y’all are being safe about it.

Gleaning Facebook: Live Nativity 2019

Taking my once-a-year opportunity to be a wise man instead of a wise guy again tonight. I first stood in the Trinity nativity scene at Christmas in 1962. With only a few exceptions it has been an annual tradition.

Michael J. Burton

Mostly remember the heated bricks for frozen feet and the wonderful hot chocolate afterwards.

Leigh Whittenburg Callan
Michael J. Burton Me too!

Terrell Shaw
I was there on the coldest Christmas Eve in the history of Rome GA. We went 15 minute shifts.

Michael J. Burton
Terrell Shaw year?
Leigh Whittenburg Callan -- 

Terrell Shaw
Michael J. Burton It was the year Frank Craven’s son was born. Frank and Sharon stood as Joseph and Mary the last shift I think... stayed with us to help clean up and put the animals up. Seems like it got to about -2 F that night. We said Merry Christmas and Good Night about 9:30... Sharon delivered a little boy not long after midnight! Mid-eighties maybe?

Michael J. Burton
Terrell Shaw I had some cold nights but not in the 1980s

Freddie Ashley
Probably the thing about miss most about Christmas in Rome!

George Barton
I was in the first year, also a wise man when A. J. Peters was minister, Daughter Joyce still goes to Trinity? She would remember the year.

Michael J. Burton
George Barton hadn’t seen Joyce in 60 years

Paula Dickinson
Trinity’s Nativity has certainly been a great tradition for my family.

Gleaning Facebook: Christmas Eve 2017

Brannon & John portrayed Mary and Joseph in Trinity's 60th annual live nativity on Christmas Eve.

Rhonda Ingram Bramlette

Aww! They look so sweet with the baby Jesus! 

Always loved this. My Quincy was an Angel in this Nativity many years when she was a child. Such a special tradition

Terrell Shaw
I first stood in the Trinity nativity in 1962. 

Rita Lawler
What a nice picture to have, especially for this Christmas.

Terrell Shaw
Yes. 

Michael J. Burton
Wonder when I first stood

Terrell Shaw
Maybe '58? (the first year)

Michael J. Burton
I’m pretty sure I was in the first one

Terrell Shaw
Michael J. Burton I’d be surprised if you weren’t.

George Barton
I was in the first one. Have lots of memories. A favorite is when Susie Latimer was Mary, and they had a live milk cow behind her. The cow got nervous with all the cars and lights, and did what upset cows do, she lifted her tail and starting reducing tension for about 30 minutes. Susie got nervous but maintained control.

Terrell Shaw
Just orally interpreted your rich prose to my assembled family (Mother, three sisters, a neice, and Sheila) to the merriment of all!
Tagging Cynthia Latimer

 

Gleaning FaceTime: Christmas 2014

Most years beginning in 1962, on the evening of December 24, you would find me at Trinity United Methodist Church here in Rome. And there I was last night. This time sitting on the back row on the right side, far from my usual pew, so Lillian and I (Sheila's cough kept her home) could sit with Debi and Gregg, Lisette, Andrew, Matthew and Emily, and especially our recently added great-niece Annabelle. We sang the carols, heard Hannah and Susan sing O Holy Night, listened to David's meditation, took communion, lighted our candles and with a sanctuary crammed with Christmas Eve worshippers, lifted our candles to light the room as we repeated the first verse, voices only, of Silent Night.

Then off to the fellowship hall to get ready for the Live Nativity tradition. I made a quick trip home to collect Sheila for a brief visit to the church.

During this "lost Christmas" we have both been sick. Upper respiratory misery. Much tradition has slipped by without our participation. Parties, concerts, etc.: none.

But I had that prized thirty-minutes, standing with my box of gold (or maybe frankincense?) and in a ridiculous "Wise Man"s costume. I've only missed those quiet Christmas Eve minutes a few times during the last fifty years. The back ache distracted me, but still I enjoyed that enforced period of contemplation about Christmases past, the first and those of my own life, and the Love that we celebrate this day.

Happy Christmas!

Laurie Craw
As much as I always want to cut back on the traditions because there seem to be too many to cram into a few days, I realized this year that those traditions are so important. To keep families together, to focus on the truly important things in life, to think about others instead of ourselves, and to be truly grateful for all we have.

Emily Barksdale Moore Threlkeld
Annabelle is BEAUTIFUL! Merry Christmas- and I hope you both feel better asap!

Ann Gore
Sorry you all have been sick! Hope you are better! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to the Shaws!

Michael J. Burton
My mama sure loved that tradition.

Julie Hatfield Burton
Hope you and Sheila will take easy recovery soon!

Terrell Shaw
We are both doing much better, Julie. Thanks!

Madelyn Collette
I did not get to participate in any of these activities because of a problem Drs. can't quite determine the cause. So thankful to be able to go 3 of the Sundays in Advent and cook a little for Christmas.

Alice Jeffries Keel
Terrell Shaw we were driving by Trinity last evening about between 5:30 and 6:00 on our way back to Douglasville. We commented that we guessed they weren't having it on Christmas Eve - guess we just missed it by a bit. It is always so sweet!

Terrell Shaw

Dec. 20-24, 7-9 pm, every year. 

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My Mother loves me! I used to always ask for this cake for my birthday. She surprised me today with a Date-Nut Cake for Christmas! I may skip turkey and go straight for the dessert!

Years ago my co-workers at Pepperell Elementary (Priscilla Wooley & others) had heard me wax eloquent about Mama's Date-Nut Cake and decided to treat me with one on my birthday for breakfast at the diner in the big old company store building in Lindale (now gone). We gathered there before school, and out came the waitress with a stack of pancakes adorned with tiny calendar pages and small nuts of the hardware variety (and candles of course.)

I like pancakes, but I'll enjoy this Date-Nut Cake even more than that prank-cake of the early eighties.

Terrell Shaw Mother just told me that "Mama worked out that recipe." She also said, "Don't tell everybody I made that cake just for you! I made it for everybody!" But I know it's for me. 

Ann Gore Looks good!

Terrell Shaw It is. She doubled the dates on this one. Lots of pecans. Very rich and delicious.

Claudia Kennedy Yum, yum. You are one blessed man.

Joyce Mink Recipe?
Terrell Shaw
OK, here goes:

Three Layer Cake

(from the One-Two-Three-Four layer-cake from scratch recipe)

1 c. butter

2 c. sugar

3 c. flour

4 eggs

1 c. milk

1.5 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

Cream sugar salt & butter in large bowl. Beat yolks into mixture one-at-a-time till light & fluffy. Add vanilla.

Sift flour & baking powder together. Add flour & milk alternately to the creamed mixture. Blend well after each addition.

Beat egg whites stiff but not dry. Fold into batter. Turn into 3 greased and floured 9 in. cake pans. Bake 350 degrees about 35 min. or until a fork comes out clean. Turn layers onto cooling rack and get busy on the filling.

Ieula Baird's Date-Nut Filling

2 cups of pecans

1 pkg of dates (Mama used two this time! Yum.)

2 c. sugar

1 stick butter

1 large can evaporated milk

Cook over medium heat for five minutes stirring constantly. Cool and spread between layers and on top and sides of three cake layers.

Invite Terrell over.

Brew some coffee to wash it down.

Jenny Sills You actually got measurements out of your mom. I am impressed. I could never get measurements from my grandmothers fro anything. Same with my dad.

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"Merry Christmas, everybody! May God bless you all. And we wish you and your family a happy and healthy 2015." —President Obama and the First Lady

Gleaning Facebook: Christmas Eve 2013

Tonight, if all goes as planned, I will have an opportunity to reflect on these words of Christy Davis, my wonderful former student, as I stand in the annual Trinity nativity scene, shepherd's crook or wise man's gift in hand -- feeling the cold air on my face; smelling the hay; hearing Christmas carols punctuated with traffic noises, whispered talk among the viewers, and the animals milling about the scene; and watching denizens of the 21st century trying to recreate the wonder of those gathered at that humble stable at the beginning of the first. These are among my most cherished minutes of the Christmas season.

I think we downplay Christmas too much by making sweeping statements about Christ's divinity and the ultimate sacrifice to come. The magic of Christmas is that He arrived in the lowest of circumstances to a family that had been overlooked. Poor, hungry, and desperate for rest, they found the manger and the Child was born surrounded by animals and His parents. Isn't it interesting that in our lives, the most concrete examples we'll see of the unwavering, unfailing, and unquestioning love of Christ are our parents and our pets?

That's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown. Love, expressed though undeserved, and always meant to be passed on without conditions or judgment.

Merry Christmas Eve, y'all. May you have shelter and food, warmth and safety, but may you also feel love beyond our own understanding and pass it on to someone who didn't earn it...Just like we did.

As we received, so may we give. - Christy Davis, FaceBook, December 24, 2013

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From Ralph Noble: "And while our elected leaders like to brag about how much they’ve cut spending, they wash their hands of its real-life consequences. Per capita state spending on education, for example, has fallen by 21 percent since 2008, according to Carolyn Bourdeaux of the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State University, yet when local school districts complain that it has become financially impossible to pay their teachers and keep their doors open for a full school year, the governor and state legislative leaders refuse any responsibility."

[The article from the AJC about "Schoolkids: 'Will work  for food' signs?" seems to be no longer available]

Raymond Atkins

We just took a week's worth of food to a family whose Food stamp assistance was cut by 25%. These are real people, and they have nothing to eat.

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E.B. White comments on Christmas... 1949

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We enjoyed a beautiful service of carols and readings and an excellent meditation by David Campbell at Trinity this afternoon. Then we joined the folks in Mobley Hall to suit up for the nativity scene. Sheila and Brannon stood two shifts (angels at 7 & wise women at 8:30.) I was a wise man (type-casting) at 7:30 and Lil an angel at 8:30). This is the way we have spent Christmas Eve most years for several decades. A treasured tradition.

Sheila and i wish a very Merry Christmas for all our friends!

Jennifer Kellogg We were there for the Brannon and Sheila angels, except I thought Brannon was Lillian until we ran into Lillian on our way to the car. Always wonderful to see the Shaws but we missed seeing you!

Ruth Baird Shaw Gil and Janice drove by and saw you all in the nativity scene.
Terrell Shaw The service included communion and ended with the passing of light from the Christ candle of the Advent Wreath to each person while we sang Silent Night.
Barbara Jean Smith Merry Christmas!
Susan Cherones Christmas Blessings!

Nena Dake Merry Christmas!

Marsha Yancey Atkins Merry Christmas!

Ruth Pinson Merry Christmas!!!

Betty Smith Franklin Love this...have great family stories of it.
Elizabeth McGinnis Johnson MERRY CHRISTMAS
Laurie Craw See y'all sometime before Brannon leaves for her next adventure.

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Ruth Baird Shaw

I do not know any more perfect angels than those three!

Gleaning Facebook: Nativity 2011

James Schroeder and Brannon Shaw as Joseph and Mary