We’re inside the 12 days of Christmas, and hopefully a lot of the hustle and bustle of the season (read: shopping) has been completed. What better time to celebrate the reason for the season than by visiting the event that made Christmas happen? There are at least three nativity scenes in the area to visit between now and Christmas.
The good folks at Windsor Baptist Church in Imperial are old hands at staging a nativity scene, having done it for the last 37 years.
This year, its live nativity scene will be open from 7-9 p.m. Tuesday (Dec. 19) through Saturday (Dec. 23).
The church is at 6701 Hwy. 61-67 in Imperial.
The event is free, and there will be Christmas music, live animals, costumed characters and a hospitality room.
For information, call 636-464-9008.
Another holiday tradition, the live nativity scene on De Soto’s Main Street will be open through Friday, Dec. 29, on the lawn of Mahn Funeral Home at the north end of Main Street.
The nativity scene has been at the site each year since 1964.
The display will be illuminated at night beginning at dusk.
For information on the display, call Mahn Funeral Home at 636-586-2288 during business hours weekdays or Saturday mornings.
This year, another entry joins the live nativity scene scene, but with a twist – you don’t have to get out of your car. (Not an option for those attending the original live nativity scene, of course).
Zion Lutheran Church, 310 Central Ave., in Pevely will offer its first-ever drive-through live nativity from 7-9 p.m. Saturday (Dec. 16). Admission is free.
Motorists will start their interactive journey at the gates of Bethlehem and view scenes from the Biblical story of Christ’s birth along the way.
A cafe will serve hot chocolate and live animals will be on display.
Along the way, those on the journey will meet musicians and singers, as well as shepherds in a field tending to their flocks. Shepherds also will introduce visitors to a multitude of angels, she said.
Then, shepherds will send the travelers on their way to the Bethlehem Inn and the stable where Jesus was born.
The journey circles the perimeter of the church parking lot and the wise men’s pilgrimage to the Holy Land the last scene on the way out.