Meridian Magazine : : Print

Christmas in Different Times and Places
By Clark L. and Kathy H. Kidd

There comes a time when the tired ham dinner and the halfheartedly-sung Christmas carols are no longer sufficient for a ward Christmas party. More to the point, is it possible to not have an appearance by Santa Claus and still have a celebration the children will enjoy? If your ward has wandered down the Santa Claus path in the past, is it possible to get back to a more Christ-centered celebration without causing a revolt?

Pondering these questions while looking back on a succession of identical — and identically boring — ward Christmas celebrations, we decided we couldn’t bear another one and began looking for alternatives.

We were delighted with what we found. Apparently there are many wards that have abandoned the standard Christmas party in favor of something more substantial. We decided to try the most popular of these, and we scuttled the ham and Santa in favor of a Christmas dinner that was almost no dinner at all. Our ward presented “A Night in Bethlehem,” complete with Middle Eastern food that was eaten by costumed ward members who sat on blankets on the floor.

If your ward is desperate for an alternative to the sit-down ham dinner, go here to see how to do “A Night in Bethlehem.” It’s easier to put on than a standard dinner, it’s far less expensive to host than a standard dinner, and — most important — it’s infinitely more meaningful than the traditional dinner-Santa combo.

We were amazed at how well our ward came together to host the event. We gave members the option of dressing in costume or wearing street clothes and were stunned to see how many people opted for the costumes. Most of us opted for bathrobes, but some of the costumes were authentic. The unusual attire added to the excitement of the evening.

A costumed vendor “sells” dried fruits and olives, which were part of the dinner.

There was something inspiring about eating the same foods at our ward Christmas program that the Savior would have eaten. Ward members who had never tasted pita and hummus were pleasantly surprised that the foreign food was not only edible, but even good enough that they went back for seconds. We may be accustomed to more traditional dinners, but it’s hard to identify with the Savior and his life when you’re sitting at the table using a knife and fork to cut the fat off a piece of ham.

Fatima’s Pitas was a popular dinner destination.

Even our water was “drawn” from the local well. Every effort was made to recreate Bethlehem — insofar as it is possible to recreate Bethlehem under the shadow of basketball hoops.

The keepers of the well made sure not to allow animals to pollute the water.

The evening ended as every Christmas party should end — not with Santa, but with a reenactment of the Christmas story. Even the diehards in our ward who had insisted on having Santa at every year’s Christmas party freely admitted at the evening’s end that nobody missed him once he was gone. Without exception, the people who attended the ward Christmas party said it was the best one our ward had ever seen.

In fact, we learned there is only one drawback to presenting “A Night in Bethlehem” as a ward Christmas party. Once you’ve done something that good, how do you go back to Santa and ham? The minute the party was over, we started thinking about what in the world to do this year.

An idea didn’t take long to come.

A New Christmas Story

Latter-day Saints are the only people we know who have two completely different accounts of the Christmas story. “A Night in Bethlehem” only covers one of them. Why not, we reasoned, host “A Night in Zarahemla”?

The Bethlehem experience featured “vendors” selling foods that were eaten in that place in that time. The Zarahemla night could also feature vendors — but these would distribute foods that are indigenous to the Book of Mormon lands of Central America. The possibilities are endless. Pineapple and bananas abound, instead of figs and olives and dates. Instead of pita, we would serve tortillas; instead of hummus, beans.

The decorations would be Mayan in nature, and instead of sparse vegetation the décor could reflect the lush greenery of the rainforest. Needless to say, the Christmas story in Bethlehem took place under cover of night, but the Zarahemla Christmas story took place in a situation where night was as bright as day. This is a party that needs to be held with the lights on.

Costumes might be a little more difficult, because bathrobes do not a Nephite costume make. But war paint and feathers might have the same effect. We were willing to take the plunge.

The only drawback was the program. We didn’t have a program for “Christmas in Zarahemla,” but that didn’t stop us from looking for one. We have long been firmly convinced that Google can uncover anything, so we Googled the phrase. Voila! It turns out The Friend published a program many years ago on precisely this subject, and it is available on the web for anyone to see.

But that wasn’t the end of it. Kathy was so excited about her find that she posted the concept of the Night in Zarahemla Christmas party in the ward activities mailing list, generating a lot of hubbub in the process. The excitement grew when we learned that one of the members of our group — Krista Darrach — had already written and produced a second program to go with the concept of Christmas in the Americas.

This second program, entitled “Christ the Lord,” also centers on the New World Christmas story. As soon as Krista posted her script on a website, the activities committee chairmen breathed a collective sigh of relief. It wasn’t even September yet, and all of us had our Christmas programs ready to go.

Other Alternatives

What happens after you’ve spent a “Night in Bethlehem” and “Christmas in Zarahemla”? You don’t have to go back to ham-and-Santa unless you want to. Activities chairmen on the ward activities mailing list have produced a “Christmas in Nauvoo,” “A Dickens Christmas,” and other variations on the theme.

Debra Woods of Bountiful, Utah, posted a Bethlehem variation — this one called “A Walk through Bethlehem.” This is what she wrote:

This was a major undertaking but really a wonderful evening. Families or groups were invited to set up a station in some location in the building. Some of the stations included:

The shepherds on the hillside
King Herod
The innkeeper
Angels
The wise men
The stable

Each station was richly decorated, the performers were authentically dressed, and in each place some token was handed out as a reminder of that part of the Christmas story. There is a script I don't have, but you could come up with your own. Little money was spent; most people were able to gather what they needed with little expense.
That evening, everyone was to come dressed in Biblical attire. They were invited to bring a blanket for their family to sit on for their meal.

The meal was first, consisting of pita bread and fixin's to go in the bread, that could be consistant with Israeli food of the time. People built their own sandwiches, if I remember right. There were olives and goat cheese and deli meats, etc.

We sang Christmas songs and then divided up and went as families and groups to one of the stations. Each station took maybe 5 - 7 minutes. Then a bell would chime and we would rotate clockwise to the next station. Perhaps there were guides.

It really gave you the feeling of what it might have been like.
Debra Woods
Bountiful, Utah

Ruth Liddell, another member of the group, wrote of her ward’s plans to host Christmas in Nauvoo:

I originally brought up the idea of Christmas in Nauvoo to this group, and now our ward isn't even doing it. Go figure. We're just doing an "Old Fashioned Christmas". But I had some ideas to share. I was thinking the different booths/stations could be patterned after the different stores that are now in Historic Nauvoo, such as the following:

Red Brick Store — this was the store owned and run by Joseph and Emma, and was very popular in Nauvoo. I'm sure that many Saints who didn't make their own gifts, bought Christmas gifts from the Red Brick Store. Maybe you could have some kind of gift here for the children, or a piece of old fashioned candy or licorice stick. You could also have people drop off canned goods here and donate them somewhere.

Scovil Bakery — In Nauvoo today, the Scovil Bakery is famous for the free gingerbread cookies they hand out, that are made fresh daily. Perhaps at this station you could have people decorate gingerbread cookies, or help to decorate a few gingerbread houses.

Stoddard Tin Shop — The Nauvoo Tinners Association made the 1846 angel weathervane that adorned the top of the first Nauvoo temple. You could have people make Christmas tree ornaments here by pounding tin. (Click Here for directions using wide mouth Kerr/Mason Jar lids.)

Printing Shop — The two newspapers published in Nauvoo were the Times and Seasons, and the Nauvoo Neighbor. You could get the missionaries to set up a booth with pamphlets and the "Luke 2" videos — something to pass out to nonmembers and such.

Mansion House — If you wanted a sit-down dinner, this would be the place to have it. This was the last home of Joseph and Emma, and they hosted a Christmas dinner here in 1843 for 50 couples (this was Joseph's last Christmas, and it is the Christmas that you can find the most information on. He was awakened that morning by carolers, so you could incorporate that too). They had a big dinner in the afternoon, and music and dancing all through the evening. Or you could serve hot cider or wassail. Joseph and Emma also hosted a Christmas party back in 1835, when they were in Kirtland, and I read one journal entry of a man who attended and said they served cider, so perhaps that was a Christmas tradition for them.

Riser Boot Shop — perhaps you could do something with Christmas stockings here.

There's also the Webb brother's blacksmith shop (where you get a "prairie diamond" ring made from a nail), and the brick kiln (where you can get a mini Nauvoo brick souvenir) — I hadn't thought of anything you could do with those.

As for decorations, back then for any mid-winter holidays, they used whatever natural materials looked most attractive at that time of year, which would include evergreen garlands, holly, and big bunches of mistletoe. The Christmas tree didn't actually become that popular in America for another ten years.

You could have some kind of a hay ride or carriage ride outside. I read another journal entry of a woman at Winter Quarters on Christmas day, and she said she missed the sound of sleigh bells.

I'm sure more than anyone, Joseph would have given heed to the true meaning of Christmas, so I think it would be great to have a nativity scene, perhaps acted out by the children.

Just an interesting side note here — "A Christmas Carol" by Dickens was published during the holiday season of 1843 (same year of Joseph's last Christmas), and was the most popular book that Christmas. I wonder if any of the Saints had a copy that year.

This was a bit long, but I hope it gave you some ideas. I don't often contribute to this group, but I love reading everything everyone else shares.

As you can see from all these ideas, you don’t have to have the boring ham dinner every year — tradition or not. There are creative ward Christmas parties out there, in all shapes and sizes. And if you don’t like these, your imagination can provide you with something else. All you have to do is sweep the cobwebs out of your brain and do a little creative thinking.

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