Cedars, December 2017

December 2017 13 OFF CAMPUS Community Christmas Holiday Celebration Brings a Town Together by Breanna Beers M arcia and David Baits have lived in Cedarville for nearly 30 years, so they have watched the town become the community that it is today. The couple were called to make Cedarville their mission field in 1990, when David became the principal of Cedarville High School. “We found out that his spiritual gifts were administration and leadership, and mine were hospitality and teaching,” Mar- cia Baits said. “And we said, ‘Why don’t we follow this?’ So we put the fleece out to say, ‘Lord, where do you want us to serve you?’” The Baits were initially surprised that God led them to Ohio, of all places — let alone the small town of Cedarville. Howev- er, as they became familiar with the commu- nity, they began to see God’s hand at work. “When we came there was vandalism, there was drugs,” Marcia said. “No one wanted anything to do with the community; it was a mess. My husband had to fix the dis- cipline in the school, and we said, ‘Well, in order to fix the discipline in the school, we have to go into the community and change the parents.’” The Baits started searching for a way to unite the town. One of their earliest endeav- ors was to write a play depicting the origins of Labor Day, which was then performed in the Cedarville Opera House. “What is one thing that connects the town?” Marcia asked. “Labor Day. So we put the play on, revived the opera house, and cre- ated the Cedarville Opera House Society.” As the couple began to invest in the com- munity, others in the area started to engage as well. The town began to come together for holidays like Labor Day and, later, Christmas. In December 1992, just a few doors down the street from the opera house, beau- tician Linda Curtis started what would be- come one of Cedarville’s favorite traditions: the annual Little Town of Lights celebration. “She started by putting luminaries in milk jugs into the street,” remembered Mar- cia Baits. “She lit up the whole street. Then it flourished. That’s how the town came to- gether.” Marcia said Curtis’s simple decorations sent amessage to the community: their town was worth investing in. Those tiny twinkling lights were a reminder that someone cared about Cedarville and wanted to see it shine. Over time, more and more downtown businesses began to catch on to the idea, and sparkling Christmas lights took over the en- tire town. Now, the festivities are organized by the Cedarville Chamber of Commerce and include not just a dazzlingly decorated Main Street, but live music, horse-drawn wagon rides, free cider and cookies, a tree-lighting ceremony, a wreath auction and a parade led by Santa Claus himself. Residents compete to out-decorate one another in Cedarville’s home lighting contest. These displays often involve enormous inflat- ables and extravagant light arrangements. However, some homes also still put out a single candle inside of a milk jug, hearken- ing back to Curtis’s original decorations and the spirit of simple goodwill that brought the town together. The small, flickering candles burn as a reminder of the power of individu- als to make a difference in their communities. In their retirement, David and Marcia Baits went on to establish the Cedarville Historical Society, which preserves the sto- ry of the town in displays, photographs, and documents. Marcia Baits emphasized the importance of Cedarville’s history in unit- ing the town into the community it is today. “This is what we want the kids to know; this is how we want Cedarville to be known,” she said. “God gave me Ezekiel’s verse: ‘And the name of the town will be ‘God is there.’ That’s what we are trying to do here.” Breanna Beers is a freshman Molecular Biology and Journalism double major and an off campus news writer for Cedars. She loves exercising curiosity, hiking new trails, and quoting The Princess Bride whether it’s relevant or not. Photo courtesy of Cedarville Commons, 1993 Miracle Yearbook Little Town of Lights is a long standing tradition in Cedarville, started in 1992 by Linda Curtis. Photo by Macey Wymer A Cedarville Township Fire Department fire truck is decked with lights for the parade.