DANVILLE — Danville residents put the true meaning of Christmas on full display during the village’s ninth annual Christmas Walk on Sunday night.
Organized by Main-Market and Beyond, local youths dressed as Mary, Joseph, the three wise men, shepherds and angels led around 50 people down Market Street to the Nativity scene at Memorial Park.
Joseph also handled a donkey during the trek down the road.
Many families peered through their windows or stood in their front yards as the parade passed by.
“We just wanted to bring it back to what Christmas was really about, and nobody in our area was really doing anything like this,” Amy McDonald, Main-Market and Beyond’s branding chair, said.
“It’s a nice tradition for our town. It’s real simple and quiet usually.”
‘God is with us’
After the group sang Christmas carols, Pastor Dave Jones of Millwood Church of Christ explained the true meaning of Christmas.
“Throughout the scriptures, we see multiple titles for Jesus. But, the one that sticks with me tonight is Emmanuel, which means ‘God is with us,'” Jones said.
“For you, maybe this has been a great year, maybe the best year of your life. Maybe you had a child for the first time. Maybe you bought a home for the first time; maybe you got engaged. Whatever the good things are that happened this year for you, you’re just grateful that God was with you, with all of those good and blessed things.”
“But for some of you, maybe this past year has been a little bit more challenging. You’ve lost a loved one, you’ve gone through some difficulty, maybe sickness or other issues in your life. Wherever you are on that spectrum, whether it was a year full of joy and blessings or a year full of challenges, God is with you.”
Below is a photo gallery from Danville’s Christmas Walk on Sunday night. Credit: Jack Slemenda
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