PHOTO: Participants in the 2019 Walk to Bethlehem holiday event in Rangeley. This year’s event will be held outside . (RFA Staff photo)
RANGELEY — For 40 years, the Rangeley Friends of the Arts has sponsored the annual “Walk to Bethlehem.” The event recreates Mary and Joseph’s journey to Bethlehem, with community members costumed as nativity figures, and begins at the Lakeside Theater, 2493 Main St., with the reading of Caesar Augustus’ decree that all people must return to the city of their birth.
The event will be held this year at 5:30 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 13, with some changes to accommodate COVID-19 safety precautions. Instead of distributing printed carol books, all of the song lyrics will be available online at rangeleyarts.org/caroling-lyrics. Participants can print it out in advance or use their phone/device during the walk.
Walkers will be asked to wait in their vehicles until the walk begins. Participants will all wear masks and walk with their pod, maintaining social distance from others. Pageant participants and walkers will walk through the streets of Rangeley, singing (if they choose), stopping at St. Luke’s Catholic Church and the Rangeley Free Baptist Church to ask if there is any room at the inn. The procession will also stop at the Giving Tree. The walk ends at Church of the Good Shepherd Episcopal Church.
When the procession arrives at the Church of the Good Shepherd, everyone will remain outside. The costumed nativity participants will arrange themselves around the crèche in front of the church building and the Christmas Story will be read outside. The event will conclude with Victor Borko playing “Silent Night” on the guitar. Those comfortable singing may do so. Another way to enjoy the annual event is to park near the church and watch and listen from the safety of vehicles.
