The Christmas Pageant
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| Christmas Pageant 2013 (Manger Scene) |
In the midst of getting my Shop’s ready for
Christmas, filling Custom Orders, etc., my main goal during the Christmas
Holiday, is the preparation of our annual Christmas Pageant in our Parish
Church. I started organizing the Pageant
about 23 years ago when my boys were very young.
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| All the Children in the Pageant |
Since that time, we have now grown to 70
children. This year we had the largest
group of little Angels and Shepherds. The planning of our Pageant begins in
November and by the beginning of December, our little Committee of 3, my
daughter, Kelly Baker-Wolfe, Jan DeLeo, and myself, start assigning the
parts. The children range in age from 4 to
12. The older children, of course, have
the main parts of Mary, Joseph, the Angel Gabriel, Wisemen, etc. Something our
little Angels and Shepherds look forward to as they progress from year to
year. Once the parts have been assigned,
without hurt feelings, and the comments from a few of the parents, who want
their child to have one of the “main” parts, the Practices begin!
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| Angels |
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| Shepherds |
The past few years, I have turned the Directing over
to my daughter Kelly, while I concentrate on getting all the costumes ready for
the children, making a few alterations here and there. It is amazing to see how well Kelly works
with the children - by the end of the first practice, all the children know
exactly what to do, where to stand, and all their cues. Even more rewarding is having my little grandson
in the Pageant; he started about 4 years ago at age 2 mo., as the “Infant Jesus”.
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| Zachary (2 mo) "Infant Jesus" |
The success of the Pageant is well noted as the
Narrators (children grades 5-7) begin to tell the story of the Nativity, and
you look at the smiles on the faces of each parent. Although our little angels,
who range in age from age 4 - 7, completely steal the show; along with our
little shepherds of the same age group, the other children are so professional,
as they kneel so reverently portraying, Mary and Jesus from the time they are
approached by the Angel Gabriel, to the birth of Jesus, and the arrival of the
Wisemen. Our youngest participant this
year was just 1 mo. old, playing the "Infant Jesus."
The final
scene begins with the Children’s Choir singing “The Little Drummer Boy” (this
year we had 2 Drummer boys, and one little Drummer Girl (who is also one of my
students), all just 4 yrs. of age, walk so very slowly down the center aisle
playing their drums while the choir sings. The Little Drummer with the hat is my
grandson, Zachary. The most adorable thing is not only watching them, but
watching the little angels singing their hearts out - pa rum pum pum pum, I
could continue talking about the beauty of the children in the Pageant, but the
pictures tell it all.
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| Zachary as "The Little Drummer Boy" |
A lot of the credit goes not just to the Director,
but to the small group of parents, as well as a few students, two of whom, Olivia and Alyssa, who both portrayed Mary a few years ago; who dedicate their time each year helping with the
Pageant. They each automatically assume
the various jobs that they have taken over each year; assembling the little Angels,
Shepherds, and Wisemen, as well as the Drummer Boy’s and Girl. It is this team work
that makes this so successful.
I hope you enjoy looking at the pictures,
visualizing each child in their part; as much as I enjoy working with these
little ones, while already thinking ahead of next year’s Pageant!
