Clark Fork plans holiday celebration
Snow crunches underfoot and the fragrance of wood smoke scents the air as the crowd gathers beneath the tall fir tree in the corner of the Clark Fork High School yard. Bundled in coats, scarves, hats and gloves, they look like figures in a Currier and Ives lithograph. Song sheets are passed around and people cluster near flashlights to read the words.
Inside the school auditorium actors rehearse their lines, touch up their hair and makeup and don their costumes. Director Sharon Wichman makes last-minute changes in the placement of scenery and the position of the pageant performers. Stephen Denham runs a final inspection, checking the lights and sound. Numerous volunteers put the finishing touches on the trays of refreshments.
Since 2002, Cabinet Mountain Calvary Chapel has invited friends and neighbors of Clark Fork and the surrounding communities to join them in a traditional Christmas tree-lighting celebration.
“We wanted to take the focus off of the things that add stress to the holiday,” said Pastor Scott Douglas. “And put it back on the one thing that brings true joy to the holiday. It’s called Christmas for a reason: because it’s all about the birth of Christ, the one who came to bring us joy in a world that has so little to offer on its own.”
The celebration begins with the gathering beneath the fir. After a short introduction, Douglas flips the switch and the tree radiates the lights of Christmas.
Strumming his guitar, Douglas leads the group in a traditional carol. The tree lights are reflected in the glistening eyes of the participants. When his fingers grow too cold or the songs have all been sung, Douglas invites the crowd inside to continue in the festivities.
Hot cocoa and cookies are waiting to warm hands and tummies. Young actors in the stage production peek through the curtain to judge the number in the growing audience. Once everyone has been seated, the younger children in the audience are invited to come forward and listen to a Christmas story. Their eyes grow wide as they stare at the pictures.
The story is followed by more carols and a message from Pastor Douglas on the true light and excitement of Christmas.
“We need to remember to keep the main thing the main thing,” he said. “We all need the reminder when we are being pulled in so many directions at the same time, and all of them away from the birth of Jesus.”
The evening’s finale is a theater production performed by members of the congregation. Several are involved in local theater companies and they all have a desire to share the love and wonder of the season. Weeks of preparation are spent to bring each performance to life. Director Wichman is known for her piercing whistle as she leads the cast and crew through their pre-performance paces and her passionate heart for using drama to touch lives.
In years past the cast and crew has presented an adaptation of a Leo Tolstoy play set in Russia, a Henry Van Dyke play called, “The Fourth Wise Man,” and a version of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.”
When narrator Connie Welch was asked about this year’s play, she smiled mysteriously and responds, “Barren women are blossoming everywhere.”