Jared Womack is such a nice young man that he’s really struggled to take on the persona of mean old King Herod of New Testament fame.

He plays Herod during the 22nd annual “Live Nativity 2025” that kicks off this weekend at Brent and Janis Ritchie’s Burton farm. It will be held at 5:30 p.m., and again at 6:15 p.m., Saturday at the farm located at 1200 S. 6000 W. It will be held again at 6:15 p.m. and 7 p.m., on Monday.

According to the New Testament, Herod sought to kill the newborn Baby Jesus after the Three Wise Men skipped town declining to tell him where Christ was.

Despite Womack’s good nature, he managed to grimace, glare and seethe during a practice for the annual event held Friday night. Womack sat on his golden throne next to two little boys, Abram Tolman and Grayson Draney.

“Jared has been in it since the beginning,” said organizer Janis Ritchie. “He started as a shepherd.”

Ritchie says Jared has copied from a previous King Herod who did a really good job being wicked and evil.

“He learned from the other King Herod,” Ritchie said. “He sounded really mean. Somehow Jared picked up on it.”

Yet to put his fellow actors at ease, Womack tells them “I’m the good King Herod. He tells everyone in the cast, so they’ll know he’s not really wicked.”

The cast is made up of about 40 children who portray various biblical characters from inside the Ritchies’ barn.

According to the New Testament, the Christmas Family couldn’t find anywhere to stay while in Bethlehem to pay their taxes — along with just about every Israelite in the country.

This predicament made for the famous quote, “No room in the inn.” The situation left the young family with nowhere to stay, except for the barn.

In the Ritchies’ Christmas production, Mary rides a donkey while Joseph knocks on the door of the inn. After being turned away, the couple heads to the barn where Mary gives birth to the Christ Child.

Several angels sing the birth announcement to shepherds from the barn’s loft. Townspeople make up the rest of the cast. A cow and a yak are also part of the performance. During Friday’s practice, the cow escaped and wasn’t found until 3:30 a.m. the following day.

“You saw how crazy it was,” Ritchey told the Standard Journal. “The cow got away from the boy who had her. I got up at 3:30 in the morning, and she was standing on the other side of the fence. I was surprised she came back in the dark.”

During pervious productions the donkey also made an escape into the same field as did a yak one holiday season. This year the donkey stayed put while the yak hid behind it.

The Ritchies started their annual Nativity in 2003 to thank Upper Valley residents for rallying around the family while their six-year-old grandson Dallin Hartline underwent cancer treatments for Burkitt Lymphoma, a non-Hodgkins lymphoma that only affects boys.

“The community was wonderful,” she said. “He would have been 29 on the 15th of November. From the time he was diagnosed, Dallin lived only 10 and a half months. He taught us a lot.”

Young Dallin helped his grandmother learn patience and “to make the best of every day.” She noted he would race around the hospital hallways on his Hot Wheel while his friend rode a tricycle — much to doctors’ consternation. The children’s mothers would race along with them holding their IVs.

“They’d sneak out of their rooms with their poles,” Ritchie said. “They got on the elevators with their poles and would go down to the gift shop and buy things for the other kids on the cancer floor. Dallin just made the most of every day.”

Dallin loved animals and would have enjoyed being a part of his grandparents’ annual Christmas production. Youth participating in this holiday season’s production say the event has become a Christmas tradition for their families.

Kylie Packard, 10, served as Mary last year where she rode on the donkey.

“It was kind of hard having two legs on one side. One time I even fell off,” she recalled. “The donkey was in a wild mood.”

Despite that, Packard enjoyed playing Mary.

“It felt good and made me feel important,” she said. “It was fun.”

Emalynn Draney, 16, who this year is serving again as the story’s narrator, has been a part of the production since she was about six years old.

“I just love the spirit it brings,” she said. “Last year, I had a little boy jump into my arms and that was what I needed. He gave me a hug. That reassured me that what I was doing was what I should be doing.”

This year Grayson Draney plays a tax collector. Previously he’s played a townsperson, “Toddler Jesus” and a shepherd.

“I like that we get to have a crowd watching us,” he said. “It makes me feel the Spirit.”

Abigail Packard, 6, plays an angel.

“I wanted to do it,” she said. “I wanted to sing ‘O, Holy Night.”

Addison Powell, 6, also plays an angel.

“I just really like being up there in the loft singing,” she said.

The purpose of the event is not only to thank the community but to teach residents about the importance of Christ’s birth.

“The whole idea is that the kids are doing it for a service, and they’re learning,” Ritchie said. “We’re reminding people of what Christmas really is about.”

The performance will be held again at 6:15 p.m. to 7 p.m., Dec. 15; Dec. 21 at 6 p.m. and 7 p.m., Dec. 22 at the same time followed by two final performances at 5:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m., on Christmas Eve.

For more information call 208-243-3940. To see pictures of the upcoming performance see page A6 of today’s paper.