Live nativity procession. Ocean Grove, New Jersey. c. 2000. By Paul Goldfinger. ©. This event used to be held outdoors with a finish in the Auditorium Pavilion. Now it is held in the Great Auditorium. The music is too happy to remain only in December, so Christmas in July is held in Tent Village each summer.
By Paul Goldfinger, MD, Editor @Blogfinger.net
When we first moved here part-time in 1998, we became acquainted with the Live Nativity event. I never saw anything like it before.
I recall standing out in the cold waiting for the children and animals to appear. There was a procession, and this star bearer came by. She seemed as if she had appeared out of the mists of time as in Brigadoon. For a moment I felt I had travelled back to 1869.
Preserving the past is usually expressed in this town by the architecture. But other things occur which add life to the history, as you see in the photograph.
It’s important to continue those traditions whenever possible. The live nativity is now indoors, but it seemed more authentic when we were breathing vapor out our nostrils while waiting in the cold for the two-humped camel, the wise men, the sheep and some shepherds to arrive.
SOUNDTRACK: As a teenage musician I often took part in Christmas celebrations and concerts. We went caroling in the snow, and people tossed dollar bills out the windows of the garden apartments where we lived in Rutherford, New Jersey.
In school, Christmas music was a big deal, and I always have associated this holiday with beautiful music, both classical and popular.
But this photograph seems to require something especially heart-felt and different from the usual carols, so here, although it is not actually a Christmas selection, it does seem to go with the photo. It’s Puccini.
Someone: I am no expert on this history, but I can tell you what I saw one night in December. It was perhaps 1999.
We have lived here since 1998. We went with another couple and stood outdoors near the Auditorium Pavilion where they had a nativity scene. And as the camels and shepherds, and other characters in the show marched toward us we got a good look. They all seemed to emerge from around the front of the building. I don’t recall if there were any live animals, but the humped camel had some kids dancing around inside.
They then walked into the Pavilion to pay their respects to the gathering there with Mary, Jesus, Wise Men and others together. I believe they were on a bed of straw. I don’t recall going inside the GA, but we probably left early. It was a cold night.
Thank you for your input. In a historic town it’s good to keep researching and providing meticulous accuracy. —Paul. Blogfinger.net. 12/23/23.
As someone who helped with the lighting at the December ‘Live Nativity’ and Summer beach Nativity for more than a dozen years, I can state with certainty that it’s not quite accurate to say “This event used to be held outdoors”.
The ‘Live Nativity’ was always (and still is) held indoors, with the exception of 2 years when (for safety concerns) work was being done on the Auditorium.