By By KEVIN SCOTT CUTLER
Lifestyles & Features Editor
BATH — The first town in North Carolina is gearing up for a festive Christmas celebration this month.
Activities begin this weekend with a children’s event, barbecue luncheon and a community parade.
On Saturday, beginning at 10 a.m., Historic Bath State Historic Site will host a Christmas HiSTORY Hour for children ages 5 to 10. The event will be held at the Bath Visitors Center.
According to Bea Latham, historic interpreter and assistant site manager, the event includes the viewing of a classic Christmas movie. Participants also will experience the preparations of a Colonial-style Christmas by stringing popcorn and cranberries by hand.
The cost is $1 per child, and preregistration is required as space is limited; call 252-923-3971 for more information.
On Sunday, Bath will roll out the red carpet to visitors and residents alike for the town’s traditional parade and barbecue luncheon. The luncheon, sponsored by the Bath Ruritan Club, runs from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The parade, which features a bevy of beauty queens, church and school groups and community organizations, begins at 2 p.m.
On Dec. 11-12, Walk in the Lights Productions Inc. will join with several local churches in hosting “Back to Bethlehem,” a live nativity event at the Ormond Amphitheatre. The event runs from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. both evenings.
This free event includes a 20-minute guided tour of the theater, which will be transformed into a setting reminiscent of Bethlehem the night Jesus was born. The tour includes music, hands-on activities and photo opportunities for families.
The highlight of “Back to Bethlehem” will be a nativity scene in which actors portray Joseph, Mary, the baby Jesus, the Wise Men, the innkeeper and shepherds with live animals.
“The birth of Jesus Christ is the most incredible event ever to take place in the history of the world, and we wanted to bring it to life for families in our community to have the chance to come and see for themselves what it may have been like during that time,” said Judy Downey, president of Walk in the Light Productions.
The town will observe a traditional Colonial Christmas on Dec. 13 when Historic Bath hosts its annual holiday open house from noon to 4 p.m.
“This event ushers in the holidays by highlighting the decorations, foods and sounds of Bath before Christmas trees and decorative colored lights,” Latham said. “Visitors can tour historic structures and appreciate the simpler, 18th-century decorating themes while strolling the streets of the town whose houses are donned with a montage of 21st-century decorating styles.”
Lorraine Hale and Donald Shiffler with the Ad Hoc Players will perform instrumental and vocal selections of Colonial times in the entrance hall of the 1751 Palmer-Marsh House. At the 1830 Bonner House, guests may watch fresh gingerbread being baked in an open fireplace and then partake of the holiday fare. The cider press also will be in operation, churning out fresh-pressed apple cider for sampling.
Bath’s 1790 Van Der Veer House and the 1734 St. Thomas Episcopal Church will also be open for viewing during the open house.