Like these cadets from The King's Academy JROTC, this job is a good position for those persons who prefer not to be in a city costume.
Each evening we need about 10-14 people to help at Davis and the two lots at the church. See the sign up section for link to sign up for this role. Erin Parker is our head of parking and safety.
You must be at least 16 years of age to be an independent Roman soldier. You must arrive by 6:30 p.m. to get into your replica costume. Wear dark pants and shoes. Rick Johnson is our Centurion over the soldiers. Your role is crowd control and a bit of harassing of the shopkeepers.
Kitchen crew works in shifts on workdays and on performance dates. Your role is Prepping, portioning and serving meals to our cast and crew. Tonya Cannon is head of Kitchen and Susan Reichman is second in command.
The cider booth is the first booth the visitors interact with. It is a warm job as the cider is HOT. Adults are used mainly inside the booth and preteens and teens are cider servers. Lynda Strotman heads this group of volunteers and uses our ancient recipe for making this tasty treat for our guests.
Sound and Lights is a big part of our presentation. From lighting the torches(and keeping them lit) to the city music and the special music at the nativity, all work together to provide the experience of being in Bethlehem. Jeremy Dennis is head of the nightly nativity portion and Matthew Strotman helps with the city portion.
What would Bethlehem be without children? All children under 12 MUST be with an adult at ALL TIMES. There are many reasons for this and safety is the most important one of these. We have lots of costumes in all sizes So bring the whole family.
Costumes for all roles are provided by Bethlehem Walk. We need help mending, making new costumes, handing out costumes and getting shopkeepers and specialty roles dressed and ready each performance. Diana Amers if the head of our costume team. She is willing to teach you any task needed to have our citizens dressed for success.
Runners help our volunteers stay hydrated. They do not need to wear costumes. They take hot chocolate and water from the kitchen to the city and the parking crews. They also help smaller children get to the bathroom and back during performances.
Nursery is provided each night for children under 5 years old. Denise Butcher is our lead nursery worker. She has at least one volunteer each night to help her. If you want a fun and warm inside job, talk to Denise.
Each year we strive to have a live Baby Jesus. Usually, the baby's parents portray Mary and Joseph. We also need 1-2 shepherds, 1-3 angels and 3 wise men
Shopkeepers have props and scripts to help them develop a short talk about their shop. We have 21 shops in all and over half of them are adopted. This means that the person who plays the role of the shopkeeper also has volunteered to set up and take down the shop.
Counters sit under the bridge and use clickers to count our guests as they enter the city.
The Sanctuary is an inside job. Your role is to greet the visitors and bring them slowly back to the 21st century. You can pray with or for them, help them light candles in memory or honor of loved ones, or simply just listen to them. Terri Kellar and Beth Fisher co-lead this area.
We have generic scripts that anyone can use, as well as shop specific scripts. We have all the props you will need for your shop. All shopkeepers are asked to be on site on Saturday, December 7 at 9 a.m. to help set up the shop for opening night. We have incense for each shop. We also have table covers to help keep things dry should it rain. Please try your best to keep all of your bins in the shop. Cover them with fabric and use as extra display space. All bins should be labeled with your shop name. Heather Chagnon and Marty Bruce are two people to ask about shop decor. We hope to have a picture for each shop to help you set it up.
Sign ups can be done manually on the paper sheets outside the prayer room at the church or online by clicking this link- signups
We need many hands to make this event happen each year. Everyone is welcome to come and help as long as they come in the spirit of Bethlehem Walk. Amanda Lewis is in charge of sign ups this year.