St. John’s Catholic School students present a living nativity scene on Wednesday, Dec. 15, in Brunswick. Courtesy of Catholic Diocese

For years, families, parishioners and the wider community gathered to enjoy the annual Christmas pageant presented by the students at St. John’s Catholic School in Brunswick.

It is a tradition that, like many others, was suspended due to the pandemic, but members of the school community found a new way to recognize the season.

For the second straight year, the students at St. John’s presented a drive-thru living nativity in the school’s parking lot on Wednesday, Dec. 15, drawing nearly 150 carloads of people in just an hour. As cars drove into the campus parking lot from Pleasant Street, they slowly moved through ten “stations” of the nativity. Each grade level was assigned a station of the nativity story and presented it tableau style as motionless figures in a scene with costumes. Each station also had a phrase or verse written on a poster that described the scene for those passing by.

“We are so grateful to the teachers for preparing our students and our students for holding character out in the cold,” said Shelly Wheeler, principal of St. John’s. “It was another great turnout.”