By DAVE DOMESCIK | Staff Writer

HARPERSVILLE – Against the backdrop of their sprawling Christmas Tree Farm, Old Baker Farm put on its annual Christmas on the Farm event on Saturday, Dec. 7 to ring in the 2024 holiday season.

The event ran from 5-8 p.m., and included appearances from Santa and Mrs. Claus with Christmas caroling, crafts, local food trucks, hot chocolate and apple cider, a live nativity scene and a hayride.

“This year was very beautiful,” said Pam Baker, who operates Old Baker Farm with her husband, Jerry. “People liked it. It’s a very festive, very happy event.”

Baker also emphasized the true essence of the Christmas on the Farm event, emphasizing that Jesus’s birth is the driving factor for why Old Baker Farm puts together the Christmas celebration in the first place.

“We love to celebrate the birth of Jesus,” Baker said. “We’re all spiritual, Christian people, and we just love the Lord. So, when we decided to have a big party at our Christmas tree farm, we wanted to make sure the public knows what this is all about.”

Baker also added that the Christmas on the Farm event also creates interest in the Christmas trees that the farm sells.

“People will often come in at 4, purchase their Christmas trees, throw it in their car, and then walk on down to the farm, and enjoy the farm until we light the tree at 6.”

Veritas Christian Classical School of Sylacauga assisted in putting on the nativity scene, and Baker said that they did an excellent job.

“They built two scenes, the inn and the market. And of course they had lots of children all acting and dressed in costumes, and it was absolutely lovely.”

According to Baker, the weather for the event was “beautiful.”

“It was kind of chilly but was not bitter cold,” Baker said. “If it’s in the twenties, it’s so hard. One year we had eight inches of snow on the ground. It was the perfect Christmas setting this year because people were hungry for hot chocolate and hot apple cider and food, and it was just really a lot of fun.”

Those interested in learning more about Old Baker Farm may visit its website at Oldbakerfarm.com or visit its official Facebook or Instagram pages.