Rosemary Nickerson, of Shepherdstown, listens to Civil War board game enthusiast, Paul Lawson, of Pittsburgh, Pa. in the George Tyler Moore Center for the Study of the Civil War on Saturday. Tabitha Johnston

SHEPHERDSTOWN — Children crowded around a fire in the backyard of the George Tyler Moore Center for the Study of the Civil War (GTM Center) on Saturday morning, as they placed the Yule logs they had decorated with ribbons and stickers on the coals and watched them begin to burn.

Inside of the GTM Center, Shepherd University history professor Sally Brasher shared the significance of the Yule log tradition with families attending the center’s annual Historic Christmas celebration.

“This is a European tradition, so it brings a little European history into all of the American history!” Brasher, who teaches medieval history, said. “This is a Scandinavian, pre-Christian tradition. It has evolved throughout history, so that when Christianity came, they just made it a Christian tradition, so it has all of these kind of traditions it has become a part of. The French, of course, turned it into a patisserie that you could eat. My family hide it in the woods and separate into teams to go find it, because we’re American and we’re competitive. I like that it’s this old tradition that’s been through all these kind of iterations! It think that makes it kind of fun.”

The evolution of the meaning and use of the Yule log tradition lead to it taking on a new purpose in the South, according to Brasher.

“Before the Civil War, slaves used to burn Yule logs,” Brasher said. “They didn’t have to work, as long as the log was burning, so they would get the greenest, wettest log that they could find and they got to get a break for the holiday.”

Children burn the Yule logs they decorated in a fire pit behind the George Tyler Moore Center for the Study of the Civil War on Saturday morning. Tabitha Johnston

While Brasher manned the Yule log station in the GTM Center’s entrance, the rest of the first floor was similarly filled with activity, as a Civil War board game station, a Shepherdstown Battlefield Preservation Association display, a fiber arts demonstration by Shepherd University public history major Belle Erickson and Civil War reenactors shared their knowledge with Historic Christmas attendees. And, filling the whole building with scents of the season, was a table bearing Civil War-appropriate treats, such as homemade gingerbread men, cheese, crackers, hot coffee and apple cider.

“I would say the attendance at this year’s event is up 10 or 20 percent from before,” said Tish Wiggs, of Shepherdstown.

George Tyler Moore Center for the Study of the Civil War Director James Broomall agreed, noting that a number of children’s toys had been added to the event, as an increased number of families were attending this year’s event.

“Last year, we found that family-based programming were highly successful, so we decided to continue with that this year. There were several families that I know of that said they were planning on coming, so we wanted to cater to that younger population as well, in addition to the typical history-going group of Lifelong Learners and college-aged students,” Broomall said, mentioning that many of these changes were student-driven. “What I have found is that every two or three years is that we need to change the format, the presentation and the approach. If you continue to do what you’ve always been doing, you’re going to get a little stale, so it’s always important to reinvent and possibly reach new audiences!”

For Shepherdstown resident Rosemary Nickerson, the new programming at this year’s Historic Christmas led her to an unexpected find.

Children decorate Yule logs at the George Tyler Moore Center for the Study of the Civil War’s annual Historic Christmas on Saturday morning. Tabitha Johnston

“I think I just thought about an idea for a Christmas present!” Nickerson said, after chatting with Civil War board game enthusiast, Paul Lawson, of Pittsburgh, Pa.

A Civil War reenactor smokes a pipe and chats with community members in the backyard of the George Tyler Moore Center for the Study of the Civil War on Saturday morning. Tabitha Johnston