Live Nativity takes work

BAZETTA -- Organizing a live Nativity is a lot harder than it looks.

But those at Bazetta Christian Church have been doing a drive-through Nativity for three years -- with Mary, Joseph, the Three Wise Men, and others, as well as live animals.

Jeanette Callahan of Bazetta, who organizes the event, came up with the idea in 2021.

"We were coming out of the pandemic and people were hurting," she said.

"It was a really bad time so I wanted to do something special."

The church had done a live Nativity inside the church without animals years ago and the costumes still were there.

But where can you find live animals, particularly camels?

Callahan said she knew someone at a Canfield church who knew someone at another church who knew someone with live animals.

That person with the live animals turned out to be Dwayne Felger of Salem, who not only has camels, but other animals.

Felger said he's been doing live Nativity scenes for the past 22 years and has his calendar booked from Thanksgiving to Christmas annually.

In 2021, Felger had a cancellation that allowed Bazetta Christian Church to take that open date and the church has been using his services ever since.

In addition to the two camels, Felger brought two goats, a donkey and a miniature cow to Bazetta.

This year, Rusty Stolba of Bazetta agreed to bring Buck, his horse, to the Nativity. Dressed as a Roman soldier, Stolba rode Buck around the parking lot as cars passed by.

The manger, which suffered damage in a storm last year and had to be fixed, was built by some of the church's parishioners.

Chuck Frantz of Bazetta, who helped build the wooden manger and played a wise man in the Nativity, said the initial manger took three hours to build and then another three hours to repair.

"It's amazing seeing the faces of the kids when they see the animals," Frantz said. "The crowds are steady."

A few hundred cars visit the live Nativity each year.

"It's an event to celebrate Christ's birth," Callahan said. "It has nothing to do with a certain denomination. We just celebrate Jesus. It's as close as we can get to the Nativity on a budget in Bazetta, Ohio. It's great for families to sit in their cars and tell their children about the birth of Jesus."

While about 15 to 20 people are part of the live Nativity, baby Jesus is a Cabbage Patch doll.