Youth Provide Nativity Scene

You may have seen the lights on the east side of town near the East Side School. A Nativity scene sits on display for the second year. The scene is a traditional one that was put together by Glasgow's youth.

Several church youth groups came together last year to put the scene together. The driver of the idea was teacher and city council member Rod Karst.

Karst said he saw a Nativity scene on a hillside in California and he thought Glasgow should have something similar. He spoke to several community members for a while, and several churches came together.

First Lutheran Church, St. Raphael's Parish, Assembly of God and Glasgow Evangelical youth groups teamed up to start the project. An anonymous donor helped provide the materials. The pieces were cut out and painted for display. The land owner gave permission to place the scene at the location and he helped light it up. The power cords were also donated so the power from the baseball field can be used.

"It's a community thing, but actually the kids did the work," Karst said.

More pieces are being prepared for the next year. The youth have already started on an additional shepherd, a camel, a donkey, three sheep and an ox. The cut outs still need to be painted before they are ready for the display next year.

Seth Runner and Tom Fauth, along with Mandy Bell, have been helping to continue the project. Each church had kids participate in the project, and Fauth said that there have probably been around 20 kids from the seventh to 12th grades participate in it. Each church group has put in around 10 hours of work into the Nativity scene.

"It's just a great way to express our gratitude to the community," Fauth said.