Wednesday, December 10, 2020
GO! magazine — A&E in Northeast Oregon
Take a step back in time
■ Free guided tour re-creates the road to Bethlehem
By Dick Mason
The Observer
LA GRANDE — Stepping back 2,000 years into a re-creation of the world in which Jesus
Christ was born is as easy as walking down the 15 steps leading to the basement of Market
Place Fresh Foods, La Grande.
The spacious Fresh Foods basement, normally not open to the public, is the site of a free
interactive program, “Return to Bethlehem,” open to visitors of all ages the next two Satur-
days, Dec. 12 and 19.
Those taking the trip back in time will travel a short route simulating what it would have
been like for Mary and Joseph and others to trek the 90 miles from Nazareth to Bethlehem,
where according to the Gospel stories in the Bible the Messiah was born.
People participating in the guided walks will encounter some of what Mary and Joseph did,
including impatient Roman soldiers asking for identifi cation, a shepherd talking to an angel,
shopkeepers and the appearance of the Magi.
Local performers portray all the characters, said Shaun Halladay of La
Grande, a volunteer leader of the program, which also features facades of
shops, a model of a fi re that crackles, large video images of fl ocks of sheep,
a realistic cutout of a donkey and much more.
The La Grande Seventh-day Adventist Church provided the facades.
The church has used them for years at its popular Living Nativity display.
Because of the pandemic, the church will not be conducting its Nativity
this Christmas season, Halladay said, so it provided items to the Return to
Bethlehem program.
Dick Mason/The Observer
On loan from the Seventh-day Adventist Church’s Living Nativity set,
facades such as this carpenter’s shop and a realistic donkey cutout (right)
help bring the biblical story of Jesus’ birth to life at “Return to Bethlehem,”
a free guided walking tour open Dec. 12 and 19 in the basement of Market
Place Fresh Foods in downtown La Grande.
Return to Bethlehem tours will operate the next two Saturdays from
2-4:30 p.m. and 5:30-8 p.m. The guided tours will take about 25 minutes,
with groups limited to six or fewer people in order to adhere to COVID-19
social distancing rules. The tours are free, but people planning to attend
are asked to reserve tickets by going to www.abundantlife.ticketleap.com.
Halladay said the event will be able to provide tours to a total of 347
people in one day and still meet COVID-19 social distancing standards.
And there is an elevator available to help those with mobility issues reach
the site. Market Place Fresh Foods is located on the corner of Fourth Street
and Adams Avenue in La Grande.
Abundant Life, a group made up of members of
local churches, is putting on the Return to Bethlehem
walking tour.
Halladay said nearly 100 people have helped with
the creation of this event.
“The main purpose of this is to help us come to-
gether as a community,” Halladay said.
John Bozarth, who recently was elected to a position
on the La Grande City Council, is among the project’s
supporters. He said he believes it is needed because of
the challenges the world has experienced this year.
“This is important because we need a little hope,”
Bozarth said. “It is important to look at the spiritual
aspect of Christmas.”
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