‘2020 needs this’
Local church hosts a Christmas spectacular to light up Stamford
STAMFORD — A line of cars wrapped around Bethany Church and snaked down the street. But people weren’t waiting for a nighttime service or preparing to worship.
They were all following the glow of holiday lights and the sound of Christmas carols into the church parking lot for just a little bit of winter magic.
After a hard year for Stamford and for the church community, Bethany Church brainstormed a socially distant way to lighten the mood and celebrate the holiday this weekend. The church hosted a holiday celebration stocked with light, music and other festivities for the community to see and enjoy.
Christmas is usually a big deal at Bethany Church, said Emily Giordano, who spearheaded Christmas Lane — a socially-distanced celebration designed for Christmas during the coronavirus. Her husband, Scott Giordano, serves as lead pastor for the congregation.
“We usually do a thing here at Christmas with events and parties. We usually do a variety show type thing, with a huge dinner,” said Giordano. “All the way through — Thanksgiving to Christmas — we always have fun stuff.”
Just over a month ago, it became clear that dinners and events for the children’s’ choir would be impossible under
“Everything has been so different this year because of COVID. We wanted to make one thing feel happy.” Noelle Giordano, 16, of Stamford
the current COVID-19 regulations. So, Giordano and her team got moving, guided under by one question.
“What could we do that would be good for our people and also for Stamford?” she said.
And, so, the drivethrough Christmas spectacular was born.
Christmas Lane came together in just under a month through extensive planning and crowdsourcing. Members of the community donated candy canes, old string lights and flashy decorations. Giordano and her volunteers decked out the entire parking lot as best as they could, filling it with lights and hand-painted signs with Bible verses.
A pack of carolers rotated through classic carols, and Stephanie Bisagni — who handles communications for the church — handed out candy canes to guests.
Familiar vignettes of holiday life circled the rest of the property. Jason Solis, kids’ coordinator for the church, heralded a pack of children onto the Polar Express while reminding passing cars that it was time to board the Christmas train to the North Pole.
“This is all just for the kids,” said Solis. “It makes them forget how horrible this year has been. Just five minutes of decorations and lights brings up their mood for the rest of the day.”
A few feet over, the young women dressed as an elf agreed – Christmas Lane was about making the community feel just a little bit better.
“2020 needs this,” said Abby Palow while holding her 11-month-old daughter, Mila.
All the elves laughed in agreement.
“Everything has been so different this year because of COVID,” said 16-year-old Noelle Giordano. “We wanted to make one thing feel happy.”