Norwich Christmas Pageant, 2016. Photograph by Lars Blackmore

For 64 years the high school seniors from Norwich have been invited to participate in this beautiful live re-enactment of the nativity story in a processional down Main Street, complete with donkey, sheep and oxen. They stop at the Inn, listen to angels at the Grange, and settle into a stable with one of the newest Norwichians as the babe, surrounded by the townspeople singing carols between each scene.

This time-honored town tradition is something all of Norwich looks forward to each year, and the students, from the time they were young children, witnessed the spectacle with wonder and expectation, excited for the day when it would be their turn to be an angel or shepherd.
It all began in 1960 when the Chaplain of the Grange called a meeting of representatives of all the organizations and Churches in Norwich for the purpose of planning a format for an annual Christmas Pageant. The response was very good and after much discussion they hit upon a program that is still in use each Christmastime.

Betty Booth, one of the founders of the Norwich Christmas Pageant and her donkey, Smoky, took part in almost 30 pageants! One Christmas, Smoky was being very stubborn and refused to enter the barn where the pageant took place. From that Christmas on, Betty had to coax Smoky with oreos whenever he was stubborn.

The Grange hall was always used for rehearsals and sits mid-point in the procession between the Inn and the stable for the crowd. At first the shepherds only are seen gathered around a fire, then angels appear on the balcony above. The photo on the far right is a rehearsal during Covid when the pageant became virtual. You can watch that video here.

Here is the final manger scene in 1963, 1991, and again in 2016 in the same barn. This year’s pageant also ends at the traditional barn on Main Street.

A Newly Restored Grange Hall

In 2023, the Norwich Community Collaborative, with the full support of the Grange, began work to restore and revitalize the Grange Hall into a community center. The “Angels’ Porch” was in danger of falling off the building. By 2024 the porch was re-built and safe for the angels once again.

 

This year the Norwich Community Collaborative has created The Angel Fund, a special fundraising effort honoring the community tradition.They are inviting all past pageant members, their families, and friends to support this preservation project.  To learn more about the Angel Fund, go to: norwichgrangehall.org/angelfund.

NHS has been involved with this important preservation project from the beginning and honors the deep history embedded in the walls.