Christmas at the Rock to be old-fashioned celebration

It will take place Sunday in Elizabeth Township.

Christmas at the Rock, a fun-filled family holiday event, will be held from 2 to 6 p.m. Sunday.

Located at 999 Rock Run Road in Elizabeth Township, the free event will have indoor crafts, cookies, hot cocoa, games, fire pits with live music, a South Side BBQ food truck, a live Nativity, a tree lighting, pictures with Santa and more.

The event is being held through The Rock of the Redeemer. The year-old nonprofit organization aims to cultivate a nondenominational Christian community hub on the grounds of the Sisters of the Divine Redeemer, which has been at the location since the 1950s.

Organization President Daniel McLaughlin said there is now a board of directors consisting of 10 people of different backgrounds mainly from the Elizabeth Township area.

“Once upon a time, there were around 100 nuns that lived there, and now there’s only five American sisters remaining,” McLaughlin said. “They just felt like it wasn’t sustainable for them, so they were looking at selling the property, and I was part of that process.

“I had proposed I would start a nonprofit there on the property while they continued to live the rest of their lives on the property, and start providing the property purpose again.”

They also have youth ambassadors who work under the board of directors, and they support them through helping at the event.

According to McLaughlin, they started doing events on the property to give the sisters something to look forward to, and he said the location is “stunning.”

They had a tree-lighting ceremony last year, with more than 250 people in attendance, and then an Easter event. McLaughlin said the board wanted to step it up a bit.

This year, in addition to the live Nativity, the church is introducing the first two buildings in a Christmas village it is building on the property. Guests can play games in a gingerbread house and a candy cane cottage.

McLaughlin said they are planning to reuse the houses for Easter, and will hold a 5K at the property run next year.

“Eventually, the goal is — and we have architectural plans — is to build a Christmas village on the property,” McLaughlin said. “We want this to be the place where people come for Christmas where there is a tremendous amount of Christmas spirit. These huts we are building are very purposeful, and there would be 30 to 40 of these little sheds that we want to custom build.”

They are expecting around 500 people to show up this year, and they got inspiration from other Christmas events in the Mon Valley. St. Nicholas will arrive at 4:45 p.m., and the tree lighting will be at 5:45 p.m.

Because they are a nonprofit, Mc-Laughlin said the village is currently being supported by the board of directors and donors.

“Right now, we are really just trying to build a following, and as things continue, eventually we need to figure out how we can afford things long term because it’s a pretty substantial building, and it’s a heavy lift from a financial standpoint,” he said. “Even if the property was given to us, it would be very difficult just to pay bills.”

While it is free to attend the event, items such as cookie decorating kits, 50/50 baskets and reindeer food kits will be sold, and there will be outdoor carnival games.

Performances are scheduled by The Rock Angel Children’s Choir, Meek House Music, Mark Neff, Eli Kettering and members of EF Area Community Chorus. Music will start around 4 p.m.

“My daughter was a lead in the Elizabeth Forward musical a few years ago, so a whole bunch of her friends will be outside with their guitars around the fire singing Christmas carols prior to the indoor musical events,” McLaughlin added. “Everything that we do always has music.

“Every event that we do, even the Christmas event, there’s always an outreach component as well, and they support 25 families with Angel Trees, food drives and various causes around the community.”

While preparation has been a long project for the nonprofit, McLaughlin is excited for this year’s event and is happy they got to bring the church to life.

“I think people should come out to the event for the sheer Christmas spirit,” he said. “It is going to be the true meaning of Christmas, and you kind of have to go down to Pittsburgh to experience that. You are going to experience things that you see on television. It’s a kid’s Christmas dream.”