Like the parade of people crowding into Bethlehem to register for the census more than 2,000 years ago, hundreds of people will stream into Sequoyah Caverns next week for the attraction's ninth annual Christmas in the Caverns.
The event is a 30-minute live Nativity scene, a dramatization of the first Christmas, set in the caverns' Ballroom.
Christmas in the Caverns is offered three times nightly starting Wednesday through Christmas Eve.
Around 1,000 show up each year for the free presentations, which are nightly at 7, 7:45 and 8:30 CST, said Roy Jones, one of the attraction's owners.
"It's Christmas," he said. "What else would we have? The main reason people come is for the Nativity."
Jones, the sixth of eight generations of his family who have run the attraction, said the drama will include Mary, Joseph, wise men, angels, kings -- nearly three dozen volunteer actors -- and maybe even animals. The angels, composed of members of area churches, will voice traditional Christmas songs during the presentation, he said.
Warm and dry like the stable in Bethlehem, Sequoyah Caverns -- lit in holiday finery -- remains 60 degrees regardless of the outside temperature.
IF YOU GO
* What: Christmas in the Caverns.
* When: 7, 7:45 and 8:30 p.m. CST Wednesday-Christmas Eve.
* Where: Sequoyah Caverns & Ellis Homestead, 1438 County Road 731, Valley Head, Ala.
* Admission: Free.
* Phone: 256-635-0024, 800-843-5098.
* Website: www.sequoyahcaverns.com.
Clint Cooper is the faith editor and a staff writer for the Times Free Press Life section. He also has been an assistant sports editor and Metro staff writer for the newspaper. Prior to the merger between the Chattanooga Free Press and Chattanooga Times in 1999, he was sports news editor for the Chattanooga Free Press, where he was in charge of the day-to-day content of the section and the section’s design. Before becoming sports ...
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