Looking for the holiday experience at no cost? Community members across Onondaga County have been flocking to the North Syracuse Baptist Church since 1993 to see one or more showings of the three-day Community Christmas Pageant event.
Although the event took a two-year hiatus, the show, named “The Ornament, A Musical Drama,” will resume this year under the direction of longtime pageant coordinator Greg Hitchin.
"It's an opportunity to use organizational skills that God has given me to put out a great message at Christmas time," Hitchin said.
The church’s pastor, Allan Travis, has already began “getting the word out” as he has been working on posters and communicating with media outlets to let the community know that the once-annual event is back.
“It’s the return, if you would,” Travis said. “It’s back and we’re more than excited to put on this event.”
Travis said the “break” gave the church time to rethink where they “wanted to take the show,” before they were up and running again.
This year’s event will show at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday Dec. 11 and 12 and then at 4 p.m. Sunday Dec. 13 at the church’s auditorium, located at 420 S. Main St. in North Syracuse. Tickets are free for all three shows.
The event is solely fueled by the community, hence the name “Community Christmas Pageant.” From set design, making costumes, acting, singing, dancing, greeting event attendants or baking cookies for the post-pageant reception, people from all over the county come together to put on the holiday show, Travis said.
Since there are so many pieces to the puzzle, Travis said there are both youth and adults contributing to the show. He believes this is the reason why the audience is always diverse in age because of the range of people that are in the show or working on the set.
“There is something for everyone,” Travis said. “It really is a community gathering.”
In past years, the church has calculated that more than 3,500 people attended during the three-day performance lineup.
“That’s a lot of people,” Travis said. “We have people in the play and attending from Skaneateles, and even farther north and south.”
While the general group of participants are from the North Syracuse, Cicero, Mattydale, Liverpool and Clay area, Travis said he enjoys seeing the new faces the show brings every time.
“We have a long history in the community,” Travis said about the church.
This year’s story, according to Travis, will have a familiar sense for everyone that attends.
“The Ornament” takes place in the Christmas season that is filled with a myriad of emotions and family dynamics and is the story of the Keagan family, Travis said. Henry Keagan has recently begun to deal with the passing of his wife, the matriarch of the close-knit group, and is met with various reactions.
Because the Keagan family must now come to terms with their loss, Travis said there is no doubt that families attending will see the real love and devotion that any family maintains during hard times.
“We want the audience to witness the way the family works to continue yearly traditions,” Travis said. “You can really learn new perspectives of life.”
The show will include different “life situations” that everyone faces, according to Travis.
“While circumstances in life will change, God will always safely lead us through the journey,” Travis said.
The production will not just have “life lessons,” but touches of humanity and the spirit of the season will shine through with caroling and a visit to the soup kitchen, Travis said.
“The Community Christmas Pageant will continue to be free to the public,” Travis said. “Because it’s a gift for the community the North Syracuse Baptist Church serves.”
The church asks that attendants acquire tickets for the purpose of a head count for each performance night.
“This is a time we won’t take a donation,” Travis said. “We’ve been able to do this event year after year. It’s something we can give back to the community.”
