During the Christmas Eve Service at Christ the King Church, Sharpsburg, after taking a stool and reading the children the story of Jesus’ birth, he also read a short story of Bishop St. Nicholas of Myra (in modern Syria). Then followed a surprise visitor who was Bishop St Nicholas himself (portrayed by Scott Quinn in red vestments) who, according to the church’s tradition of two decades, gave each child who was present a gold coin, including the unborn children whose mothers received their gold coin (a Sacagawea U. S. dollar). The pastor, David Epps, said, “It is a way to look past Santa Claus and see the real, historical figure who really did exist.”
