"Joseph," played by Jackson Thompson, pets the Living Nativity's new addition, Reuben the Lamb, on Saturday afternoon. Tabitha Johnston

SHEPHERDSTOWN — Trinity Episcopal Church’s Fellowship Hall was filled with the scents of homemade vegetable barley soup and pulled pork barbecue sandwiches on Saturday, drawing in a number of hungry people to the Christmas Cookie Walk and Craft Show.

The show is an annual event, which, just like the church’s Living Nativity held outside in front of the church, had to be cancelled for the first time last year, due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.

“Last year, we debated about having the Living Nativity outside with masks on,” said Rev. G.T. Schramm. “But we decided to be careful, and cancel it instead. We didn’t want it to be a superspreader event.”

This year, the 15-minute Living Nativity returned back to normal, being held at multiple times on the two Saturdays after Thanksgiving. The only difference, was the retiring of Gabe the Donkey, and replacing him with Reuben the Lamb, both of whom are residents of Schramm’s farm.

However, the Christmas Cookie Walk and Craft Show organizers did have to make some greater adjustments, to feel comfortable holding it indoors. The most notable change was only setting up tables and chairs outside of the Fellowship Hall, for attendees to eat at. In previous years, the hall has had a number of tables and chairs set up indoors for diners.

Shepherd George Alwin, far left, reads Luke 2 to the audience, during one of the Living Nativity presentations in front of Trinity Episcopal Church Saturday afternoon. Tabitha Johnston

“We’re just glad to be able to do it again. We weren’t even in church, last year!” Schramm said, referring to how the church closed its doors and held services on Facebook Live, to prevent the pandemic’s spread among parishioners. “We’re still under a mask mandate.”

Cookie walk volunteer Kirsten Grimm’s mother, Elaine Dorosh, has organized the event for over 15 years. Its development preceded that of the Living Nativity, as it was created to fill a need in the church.

“Our youth group includes grades six through 12. We use the proceeds from this event to provide scholarships for them all to attend church camp every summer,” Grimm said, mentioning she herself was a camp scholarship recipient as a child.

Along with selling the soup and Bill Simmons’ award-winning Memphis-style barbecue, the church was also selling 80 dozen cookies, church aprons and church cookbooks. A secondary stream of revenue for the fundraiser was from a handful of vendors, selling their crafts and other wares in the hall.

While some of the vendors had sold at the event in years past, for at least one of those vendors, it was a new experience. Kelsie LeRose, who was selling Color Street nail strips, grew up attending the church, so she knew from experience the long-term value of the fundraiser proceeds.

Community members browse the Cookie Walk table in Trinity Episcopal Church's Fellowship Hall on Saturday afternoon. Tabitha Johnston

“I grew up at this church, so I’ve been part of it, before I started selling Color Street,” LeRose said. “It’s benefiting my church, so I wanted to support them in any way I could.”

Barbecue cooks by Trinity Episcopal Church's Fellowship Hall, during the Christmas Cookie Walk and Craft Show on Saturday afternoon. Tabitha Johnston

Christmas trees, displaying handmade ornaments for sale, were featured at one of the vendor tables, during the Christmas Cookie Walk and Craft Show in Trinity Episcopal Church's Fellowship Hall Saturday afternoon. Tabitha Johnston