Batavia resident Pat Schindlbeck walks the streets donned in rich robes and jewelry, yelling at passers-by.
“Why aren’t your taxes paid?” he sneers at unsuspecting walkers. “Don’t you know it’s time to pay your taxes? Just for that, your taxes just doubled.”
But don’t be alarmed. Schindlbeck is part of a biblical Bethlehem Faire in the basement of the Fox Valley Christian Church in Batavia. There you’ll find a re-creation of the town marketplace set the day after Jesus was born.
Parishioners went all out making the 21st annual fair as realistic as possible. And that includes people playing shepherds tending to real goats and sheep in a stable. There’s also a recreated bright star in the “sky” and an angel who periodically appears on the roof of the church, proclaiming the Messiah’s birth. “I’m excited about doing this,” said Nicole Vogt of Batavia, who plays the part of the angel.
Schindlbeck, the street yeller, plays the part of Matthew, a corrupt Roman tax collector.
“Tax collectors at that time were not nice people,” he explained. “They were considered unclean because they mixed with Gentiles and worked on the Sabbath. … They also routinely overcharged people and kept the difference, so there was a lot of resentment against them.”