The 2,000-year-old village of Bethlehem came to life in Evergreen on Tuesday.

Children made laurel wreaths out of paper and learned Greek and Hebrew symbols, complete with English translations.

They tried their sawing, drilling and nailing skills with old-time hand tools in the carpenter’s shop.

They got their hands on Jewish-recipe bread dough and watched wheat being crushed while a team of women baked bread.

Amid the straw spread out inside a tent transformed into a manger for the night, they talked with Mary and Joseph and asked about their new born baby Jesus lying in a rough-hewn crib.

It was the Boys and Girls Club of Glacier Country’s Christmas party held at the headquarters on Shady Lane, attended by some 150 children and their families from Kalispell and Columbia Falls.

Each of the 100 families went home with all the fixings for a Christmas meal, courtesy of New Covenant Fellowship. Among other food, each grocery bag included a $12 gift certificate for a turkey or ham from Smith’s. 

The children took home handmade Christmas stockings from the church, filled with warm gloves, hats, candy and toys.

During the evening — the Christmas edition of a family night that the Boys and Girls Club hosts quarterly — director Alan Sempf and his crew served up a dinner of fried chicken, potato salad, roll and cake, all provided by the Lions Club.

Tuesday was an example of a community coming together for its kids.

Each volunteer had his or her own reason, but at least one woman came from a place of commitment in her own life.

“I just have a heart for kids,” Dawn Griffin said.

She’s the team leader for Spirit Club, a group that meets at the Boys and Girls Club in Evergreen from 4 to 5 p.m. every Tuesday. They play games, tell Bible stories and put on skits.

“When you get it, when you get what Christ did for us on the cross you have no choice but to respond,” she quoted a New York City street-mission pioneer, Bill Wilson. “That’s the quote that got me going in this ministry.”

Spirit Club coordinates with the Boys and Girls Club’s after-school program that runs from 3:30 to 6 p.m. on weekdays.

“I know that there’s so many kids that will end up making bad choices, and if we can teach them to make good choices at a young age it just might make a difference,” Griffin said.

“Hitler said ‘give me a child until he’s 7 and he’s mine forever.’ If we can do this at that early age, in a positive way, it might make a difference.”

Judging from Griffin’s recounting, Tuesday night at least made a good dent in the goal.

She said about 25 adults worked to put together the Bethlehem Village, setting up tents for each booth in the style of a farmer’s market. Participants in the village were dressed in clothing from the time of Jesus’ birth. Shepherds guided groups of families from station to station.

“They were very interested. One boy had a lot of questions about baby Jesus’ birth,” Griffin said. “They were excited about the crafts and learning a different language” as they drew the Hebrew and Greek symbols and learned what they meant: “I love you,” “joy,” “peace,” “Christ.”

“Some of the little girls didn’t want to leave the Jesus,” a baby doll wrapped in blankets, she said. “They just loved to hang out with Joseph and Mary.”

At the end of the night, Griffin said, the youngsters took away the history of Jesus’ birth and the town he was born in. And they took away just a little bit brighter Christmas with the stockings and the meals.

She sent out thanks to New Covenant, the staff of Boys and Girls Club and the Lions Club members who teamed up in the community gift-giving. Griffin is convinced they did it for a pretty special population.

“They’re my kids,” she said.

Reporter Nancy Kimball can be reached at 758-4483 or by e-mail at nkimball@dailyinterlake.com