Stars are showing as I pull into the driveway of the Rolling Meadows Church of God. The temperature is dropping, it’s 6pm and I’m suddenly in the mood for hot chocolate. The church sits along its namesake road in the eastern corner of Franklin Township, where housing developments butt up against forested hills and old pastures. Below the church in a darkened field, animated strings of lights are going on—and off—and on—dancing gingerbread men, leaping dolphins, a herd of elephants, Noah’s Ark, reindeers, Christmas trees, and horses in the barnyard. There’s a green tractor (could it be a John Deere?), a snowman big as a kid and look! a train in the middle of it all!
This is the second year Pastor Richard Berkey and his congregation have set up this wonderland to walk through. There’s a crackling fire to sit beside in a gazebo full of friends and neighbors ready to share cookies, and hot chocolate and presents tucked into brown paper bags for good girls and boys. This free event will happen every Friday and Saturday night from 6-8pm until the last Saturday night before Christmas Eve.
Wife Linda Berkey is passing out glow sticks to kids from her table beside the Amazing Grace entrance sign when I get there. There’s a URL code on the fence, for smartphones to scan the story being presented and listen during the walkthrough. Pastor Berkey is under the weather tonight, but he and his family are interchangeable parts when it comes to keeping this show on the road.
Last year, it was Pastor Burkey and son Richard who drove to Florida to bring home many of the handmade wired figures that are lighting up the night tonight. Pastor’s brother Raymond worked for Campus Crusader for Christ in Florida and was donating the light show so Rolling Meadows could put on its first display for Christmas 2022.
This summer Linda made the journey south for the rest of the display, with a side trip to Arkansas “to pick up Jesus and the Bible” from pipe liner Bobby Reaper. Bobby attended their church a few years ago when working in Greene County. “He stays in touch with Pastor Rick and promised he’d make something for us.” Linda points to a far corner of the field where Bobby’s fabricating skills shines as the rock rolls away when Jesus rises and the six-foot-high bible that spells out John 3:16 on one page, Genesis 1:1 on the other. It’s the life of Jesus being told amid the trappings of Christmas cheer, as families make their way past the crèche and its trumpeting angels to the story of salvation and everlasting life.
It takes many hands to bring this all together, Linda tells me. Betsy Rigglemen connects the lights and Jessie Rush and her girls set them up all around the field. Then the legwork of arranging the stars of the show: things that light up, dance and be merry. Tonight I’ll meet some of that light up team hanging out in the gazebo drinking hot chocolate as families stop by to walk through the lights. It doesn’t surprise me that I meet up with some old friends.
When not throwing herself and her kids into church activities, Jessie Rush is busy at Waynesburg Senior Center where I deliver Meals on Wheels. Jesse works there and also leads the University of Pittsburgh-approved exercise program that happens twice a week for health conscious regulars and anyone else who wants to join in. Her youngest son Thomas just turned 10 and is the fireball that takes me on the tour tonight, running circles around us all. “Thomas came in third in the Turkey Trot at Bowlby Library this year and his age group goes up to 14!” Thomas runs with her every night. In a few more days he will have finished his goal of running every day for a year—with no plans to stop. “He does it because he loves it and we have fun. Sometimes when I get home from work I’ll feel tired, but Thomas is always ready to go!”
Hey! There’s Dave Stoneking, my favorite store manager when Mark IV was still open on High Street with its great selection of art and office supplies. “All the stores are gone now, it’s all online,” he informs me, and we both make faces and laugh. Dave is now part of the team at Direct Results and is a church regular here. We laugh some more when he reminds me I haven’t seen his son Tyler since that time he was a toddler dressed up as a hot pepper. Now he’s 13, working on his Elvis smile. As we gather around the fire sipping hot chocolate, Rusty Haney goes back to his truck to get me a handout for He’s Alive! A Musical Passion Play, that Heaven Bound Ministries will perform at the Capitol Theatre in Wheeling, WV on Palm Sunday Weekend March 22 -24, 2024.
Rusty tells me to go online and look up Heaven Bound Ministries. And I say thanks for giving me a mission to write about for the February 2024 edition of GreeneScene Magazine.Now it’s time for me to head home and finish this story about Christmas. I’ll be talking to you next year, Rusty. Thanks for the tip!