Winterlight — A Photo Essay of Christmas at Joseph Smith’s Birthplace
By Scot Facer Proctor

SHARON, Vermont, December 22, 2005 — As our plane was nearing the airport this morning in Burlington, Vermont, we looked out the window to see the vast, frozen Lake Champlain and the frozen Winoski River feeding into it.  The forests of Vermont looked barren and dead.  The scenes from the air, for a photographer, were rather bleak and, well, rather black and white.  The temperature was 11 degrees Fahrenheit.  Some were calling it “shorts and t-shirt-weather.”  The temperature has been below zero here for quite some time.  We grabbed a bite at a local diner before heading the 87 miles to Sharon, Windsor County, Vermont.  By the time we finished our breakfast the weather had changed from patches of blue to complete overcast gray.  After all, it is the winter solstice — the longest night of the year will be tonight.

What an appropriate day to preface the birth of the Prophet Joseph — the longest night of the year, just before “the light begins to return to the earth.”  We love that symbolism in the Prophet Joseph’s birth.  We are here to celebrate the Bicentennial of the Prophet’s birth with the entire Church. 

I found great joy in shooting a few pictures of the Christmas lights around the Joseph Smith Birthplace Memorial tonight.  I always wanted to come here at the winter solstice, but never really dreamed I would because of Christmas and family.  This year, we just couldn’t miss this event — and we fly back on Christmas Eve — just in time for practicing our family traditions and gathering.  Walk with me, if you will, through a little over a dozen scenes of “winterlight” at the birthplace of the Prophet Joseph Smith.

click on photos to enlarge

The east visitors’ center will be the place for the broadcast of President Gordon B. Hinckley with Elder M. Russell Ballard.

Looking through the posts of the visitors’ center, wrapped in lights, one can see the humble little place on the rise just beyond us where the cabin once stood where the Prophet Joseph was born.

The cabin where the Prophet Joseph was born is
no longer here, but the feelings linger yet.

  The front porch step (the stoop) that went to the small, 22 x 24-foot, humble, rented cabin is still in place.  I like to touch things of historical value.  I always touch this stone when I come here.

  The addition of lights to the Joseph Smith Birthplace Memorial attracts as many as a thousand visitors in a night here in this obscure place in Vermont.

  The polished granite shaft from the Barre, Vermont quarry stands 38 ½ feet tall, one foot for each year of the Prophet Joseph’s life.

  The stone walkways are covered with wood in the winter for easier access to the monument and the Joseph Smith birthplace cabin site.

  A full-size nativity is set at the base of the walkway to the Joseph Smith monument. 

  Different angles reveal different views around the monument.

  Snow is light here this year, but cold weather is plentiful.  The lights around the monument warm the soul.

  Thousands of lights light up this obscure location in Sharon Township, Windsor County, Vermont on this winter solstice.

As the night darkens, the lights between the two visitors’ centers become warmer and warmer.

  Full night scene of the nativity and the Joseph Smith Memorial is captured in this shot.  What a blessing to be here this night.

As we leave our circle around the Joseph Smith Monument we get to drive under a canopy (or covered bridge) of Christmas lights.  This seems to be a favorite of many, many visitors to this sacred site.

Watch for a full report on the Bicentennial Celebration of the Prophet Joseph’s Birth on Christmas Eve morning.