It almost sounds like a checklist for a Broadway musical or a Universal Studios ride, but this enormous performance that lured in over 13,000 visitors last year is fueled by pure volunteer enthusiasm from the church and hundreds of community supporters.

Sometimes only seeing is believing, and in this case, it’s far more than just seeing. While many of us know the Christmas story, The Journey gives us a chance to actually become a part of it from the moment of arrival.

Each guests joins a group (or a “tribe”) on a their way to register as citizens of the Roman Empire. Trailing behind a Roman soldier, they are escorted to the gates of Bethlehem, crossing the Sea of Galilee, walking through beggars and laborers in a bustling village full of action and sounds, and then stumbling into performing historical figures such as the Wise Men, the angel Gabriel and King Herod before ultimately reaching the baby Jesus in the manger.

“We had no idea it would be the success it was,” recalls Kay Garletts, who has been heavily involved with the production since its small inaugural performance in 1996, in the church’s former location on Tibet Avenue.

By the third year thousands were lining up to fill a church that was well over maximum capacity. It was time to regroup: could they move forward and accommodate the rising masses? With plenty of acreage outside the new church on Al Henderson Boulevard, a new vision was inspired, and Garletts brought it to life in 2002.

After choosing the most favorable design from an assortment of miniature Christmas models, she then called on an architect to draw up the plans and presented “Build Bethlehem in a Day,” a competition between 18 teams of volunteers, each tasked to build one of the eighteen life-size structures that now comprise the set of The Journey.

Now with each production the standing frames are refurbished and decorated under Garletts’ supervision, while drama director Wayne Sullivan and the cast begin hours of rehearsing on stage, and Armstrong history professor Dr. Jason Tatlock assists in the historical accuracy of every line, costume detail, and decoration.

And let’s not forget the small zoo of animals that make their home on the Henderson Campus for two weeks, such as geese and hens from Peth Farms, or the Percheron horses from Historic Savannah Carriage Tours.

“It’s been an amazing ride,” Garletts tells me. “You shouldn’t have this much fun with joint compound and Styrofoam,” says Garletts. “We do.”

But a village built in one day is not meant to last forever. So if you haven’t seen The Journey yet, it might be the time — as this will be their last running until 2010. cs

After witnessing a mere twenty minutes of filming at a local sand quarry off of Ogeechee Road, I have to say, the transfer from script to screen required some serious intestinal fortitude on the part of the entire crew.

According to writer and director Eli, A Song for Anna is a story about two sisters, Dinah and Anna, in a struggle to survive a devastating storm while living in a world void of people and life. Dinah, who cares for her mentally and physically disabled younger sister, longs for human contact and fantasizes of a new life far away over the mountains.

Her fantasy that is transformed into hope and relentless determination after she witnesses a new form of life, a bird, whom she then entrusts to lead the way into her Utopia.

Along their journey, with the storm at their heels, Dinah is presented with obstacles that test the depths of her character and force her to make terrifying decisions, ultimately having to choose between possibly sacrificing her dream and life to save her sister, or leave her to die in the storm.

Picture this – 34 degrees (freezing for us Savannahians) and the sun is just starting to rise. Eli’s crew has already been staged and ready to roll for the past hour.

Rodrigo, assistant director, finds me driving around aimlessly in the sand quarry, still trying to wake up while looking for some form of life. I guess that’s the idea behind using this as the site.

Dreading to abandon the heat in my car, we walk a good 100 yards to the set where I witness the scene of Dinah climbing the mountains at the brink of the storm. Barely dressed for this weather while the crew is bundled up, she is piggybacking the actress who plays Anna up the rain-saturated sand dunes of the sand quarry.

As she stumbles to the top, no doubt tired, she is met with her prize. Two other crew members only a yard or so away, blasting air in her face with giant leaf blowers to create the special effect of wind.

But no, not hot air.

“Cut!” She shakes off the cold and gets ready to run through it all over again. And again. My hands and fingers are already chilled to the bone after watching only one take.

And what about the special effects to create the torrential rains of the storm? A few hours before my arrival, Eli hesitantly sent the Savannah Fire Department home.

The weather was far too cold for his cast to be hosed down by our local firemen as originally planned, and he wasn’t about to risk sending them into hypothermia. However, this didn’t stop them the morning before, when they took advantage of the downpour and spent hours in the rain without shelter, even though it was only about five degrees warmer.

I’m impressed. As I said, I only spent about twenty minutes out there before deciding I would talk to Eli in the comfort of a climate-controlled room.

Later at Eli’s house, the crew is still trying to recover from the cold while reviewing the footage. After watching the measures that Eli and his team took make the story as realistic as possible, from shooting in the freezing rain to coordinating with Oatland Island to use a trained owl as the bird, I had to know why he chose this storyline?

What did the story mean to Eli, and what did he want his audience to walk away with in the end?

“It’s about the very difficult choices we make in life. Because I think that’s what makes life beautiful and at the same time worthwhile. They are decisions that no one wants to make, but on a minor level, everyone makes these kinds of decisions,” he says.

“When you strive for your dreams you have to have determination with a clear head at the same time. If you don’t, you might get that, but you’ll lose everything else in the process,” says Eli.

And in the end, it is Dinah who is so far lost in her fantasy world that she loses everything. Her dreams lead to her fall, and we are surprised to find the disabled Anna to be the true protagonist. Anna shared that same dream, but she was grounded through the entire story.

That wasn’t the only stereotype Eli played on when choosing the characters. He was also extremely focused on breaking the stereotypical roles of women and men in film.

When they originally wrote the script, it was a brother and younger sister. But after problems finding the right male to play the older brother, he began to consider a female to play the lead.

And once they started playing with this idea, they ended up embracing the chance to break the stereotypes of sex.

“In your generic Hollywood film, people tend to cast men as the male protectors. Somehow for some reason, if two women were there, they would crumble and fall and never make it on their own. Whereas if there was a guy, he would make it on his own, which is just not true,” he says.

“I think it’s important, especially in our society now, to show that a woman can be a protector, not because she’s motherly, but because she’s a protector. A protagonist can be a female just because she’s a female, and it means nothing about her sex.”

Without the motivation and hard work of his team, Eli says he would not have been able to make the shooting a success at the sand quarry.

“I would say it’s the best crew I’ve ever worked with in a SCAD production. We’ve been meeting at 4:30 a.m., sometimes 5, depending on the day. Everyone’s in a good mood,” he remarks.

“It’s real dedication. You don’t find that anywhere, it’s rare. Really it’s our actors that are brave, they go through everything. They’re freezing! And it’s really tough to shoot out there,” says Eli.

“Yesterday, we had this one kid who hiked off to use the bathroom. Suddenly I get a phonecall saying, “Eli, I’m stuck really deep!” So we run over and he’s up to his knees in mud. It’s fun, it’s an adventure in itself.”

CASA Board President Tammie Mosley wanted to do something different this year, and as a huge fan of the television hit series, “Dancing With the Stars,” she made her favorite show become a reality in the Charles H. Morris Center. The eight selected “Savannah Stars” were each paired with a veteran dancer, spending months and hours in grueling practice before competing in front of the crowd, juried by Fox 28’s Jennifer Beale, Magic Marc the Magician, Dance Instructor Richard Farnum, and Trip Tollison (Savannah Area Chamber of Commerce).

“This was a huge collaboration with the Community. We had representation from every possible source in Savannah. Everyone cared,” Tammie tells me while describing the endless list of donations, from practice locations to hair and make up specialists.

Kudos to CASA and everyone who supported the event – especially the eight Savannah Stars who courageously threw themselves out there for the children. This really was the best fundraiser I’ve ever attended.

“THE SHARK was a pleasant surprise after those stupid jellyfish!” Nash McIntosh tells me.

The 70-year-old Savannah native — who you’ve probably seen at one point or another downtown wearing one of his Indiana Jones hats — recently decided it was about time he made that swim from Tybee Island to Hilton Head Island.

Without fins, of course, because only a “wuss” would wear fins. And without goggles for that matter, although this was certainly not a part of the plan. He isn’t that crazy.

But Nash is more than just a local character. A true man of the water, the coastal rivers are like his city streets.

He discovered his love for swimming as a child while growing up on Isle of Hope, later finding his home away from home swimming for the Tar Heels at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and then for the U.S. Navy in Pensacola, Florida. And if you wake up early enough, you may catch him swimming his daily workout on Tybee Island.

In short, swimming is in McIntosh’s blood. So when you ask a question such as, “Why would you swim from Tybee to Hilton Head?” Nash simply replies, “Why not?”

Five nautical miles in five hours and five minutes. Not that anyone was counting.

The night prior to the swim, McIntosh docked his boat, the Po’ Cracker, at the Lazaretto Creek Marina on Tybee Island. It would be the safety vessel of moral support and Scooby Snacks the next morning, driven by his friends and motivators Charles Ellis and Jack Jones III while sporting a ten-foot fishing pole with a scuba/swimming flag attached and a cooler full of water, PowerAde, and chocolate cookies.

As per McIntosh’s request, Jones and Ellis would strongly enforce the “no touching the boat” rule.

Now, McIntosh doesn’t just jump in the water and swim for his life. Well, maybe he has come close to doing that on his three previous attempts over the past five years.

But this time he got smart and did his homework. How could he work with the converging currents of Lazaretto Creek, the Savannah River, and Calibogue Sound? Which current should he choose as an ally, and which to battle? How could he cross the Savannah River without being swept past Calibogue Sound, the final avenue to Hilton Head?

At 6 a.m., Nash submerges into the 80-degree water, what he calls the “perfect swimming temperature.” Wearing his goggles and a makeshift swim-cap to protect his head from the sun (a Wal-Mart baseball cap with the brim ripped off), he eases into the outgoing tide of Lazaretto Creek, giving himself adequate time to cross the Savannah River before the monstrous cargo ships begin their operations at 8 a.m.

Not five minutes into the swim, his goggles break and his hat is swept away with the tide. I would say this was a perfect opportunity to “wuss out” without really being too much of a “wuss.” But he looks at me like I’m crazy when I ask if this crossed his mind. That’s Nash for you.

For the first hour and a half Nash boogies down Lazaretto Creek with the forces of the outgoing tide racing behind him. “Hauling down Lazaretto” is something he says he will never forget.

But with every positive comes the opposing negative, as he will also never forget his last two hours fighting the current of Calibogue Sound after crossing the Savannah River. Eyes red and burning, McIntosh has to catch his breath and bring his heart rate down by flipping on his back and paddling — a swim stance that nearly convinces Ellis and Jones that McIntosh is waving the white flag of surrender.

But it doesn’t take long for the feisty man to set them straight, no matter how tired he may be.

“You’re going the wrong way!” they yell at one point.

“I can’t see!” he snaps back, eyes saturated with the saltwater. Understandable enough.

But even if he has goggles, there’s really only so much he wants to see. The murky water is a perfect vessel to deny the possibility of “what lies beneath.”

So besides the frequent startle of jellyfish slapping him in the face (the non-stinging types, luckily), McIntosh is more concerned about boaters than critters: The scuba flag is unfortunately not recognized enough.

I can only imagine what McIntosh feels like when his feet grazed the sands of Hilton Head. Shortly afterward he collapses on board the Po’ Cracker, too exhausted to even recognize the amazing feat he had just accomplished.

But now, even the humble Nash McIntosh admits that every once in while he’ll sit back and think, “I can’t believe I did that.”

I wonder what he’ll do for his 80th birthday?

On Aug. 4, 2007, just shy of 3 a.m., Billy Lee’s phone rings, awakening him from a dead sleep. He must have hoped it was only a nightmare. But the third of three phone-calls within two minutes confirmed it was no such thing.

His historic building, originally built in 1850,, home of McDonough’s (a restaurant and lounge) and Billy’s Place (a fine dining restaurant), was engulfed in flames.

“They didn’t think they were going to be able to save the building,” Lee remembers.

Ignited by a cigarette in the office/lounge on the second floor adjacent to Billy’s Place, the fire tore through the second floor apartment, the entire third floor (Billy Lee’s living quarters and guest apartments), and down through the original side of McDonough’s, taking out the bar and kitchen.

Billy’s Place and the other side of McDonough’s were not compromised, managing to escape with only smoke damage due to firewall suspension and the historic brick wall dividing the two sides of McDonough’s.

Driving on Drayton heading downtown, you can’t help but look to the broken building on your left hope for progress or some sign of reemergence. It was a landmark in Savannah.

Billy Lee wanted to open “a place for everyone.” That doesn’t sound like much, but it’s no easy task. And he managed to do it.

Savannah is a pretty diverse city, from the born and raised locals, to the military, to the artists and SCAD students. But most birds tend to stay in their flock when it comes to nightlife, because that’s where they feel the most comfortable.

But Billy Lee’s building was different. Between McDonough’s and Billy’s Place, it was one big pot of Savannah stew. All the ingredients standing quite alone in taste, but when mixed together, it simply worked perfectly.

A typical night there I walk in and there’s a couple of natives on the original side of McDonough’s. I walk through to the second side, which he opened about ten years ago (formally a pool room before bringing in the karaoke system) where I find a table full of SCAD students and a table of infantry guys.

The karaoke MC starts the music up and sings a few numbers to warm up the crowd. Less than an hour later, the locals next door mingle towards the music and find a table to watch the entertainment when they hear a near perfect performance of “Proud Mary” by one of the regular vocalists.

Another 30 minutes later, a SCAD architect student, an Army sergeant, and a maybe one of Billy Lee’s friends from grade school are on the stage together singing “Tiny Dancer.” They met maybe ten minutes ago.

Now here are a few couples wandering in, wearing dresses and suits, who just finished an evening of fine dining and live blues/piano entertainment upstairs in Billy’s Place, Billy’s most recent addition in 2006 as an upscale option.

So in answer to the question everyone has been asking since August 4: When will McDonough’s and Billy’s Place reopen? After a six-month standstill waiting for the building permit to start the process, they have been in full force for the past month, working hard to have both establishments open and serving for St. Patrick’s Day.

But the construction we’ve been persistently stalking is more than just reconstruction. “Renovation” describes it more appropriately, as Billy has made some major changes.

Would you believe me if I told you the “best burger” from the downstairs menu and the Filet Mignon from the fine dining menu upstairs were both prepared in McDonough’s original kitchen? They managed to operate out of one small kitchen, and they did it quite well. It’s amazing.

But with the fire comes an opportunity to make life a little easier. What used to be the apartment and office on the second floor is now becoming a full-service kitchen for Billy’s Place. Although the new kitchen will probably not be ready for St. Patrick’s Day, Billy may do things the old way, until it’s ready to go. Based on his history of success, that shouldn’t be a problem.

While historically the annual fundraiser is strictly limited to members’ of the Director’s Circle, this year brings a first-ever opportunity for non-members to join the organization and party it up with the big dogs of Savannah.

In the hopes of inspiring a younger generation’s early involvement with the museum, Ball Chairwoman Jackie Rabinowitz has organized a separate “Bash” in the museum, featuring a DJ to shake it down to while the old-schoolers do a little ditty to a band under the tent.

Admitting that the Ball may have been a bit too “stiff” to entice the younger crowd in the past, this is Jackie’s invitation to partake in “the most prestigious event in Savannah.”

This year Bash guests will enjoy a silent auction and special food stations while attendees of the Ball will have both a live and silent auction and a seated dinner. But whichever event you may attend, the same dress code will be strongly enforced across the board, y’all. Ballgoers and Bashers must strut their stuff in black and white, wearing gowns and tuxedos with a touch of 1940’s Hollywood flair.

Jackie and her committee have organized quite the lineup of contributors to drive the fundraising this year. Does a ten-day safari sound like something that may interest you? Or maybe a private cooking class at the Mansion on Forsyth Park?

Not really up your ally? Maybe a Robert Benedetto handcrafted guitar or a commissioned painting (portrait or landscape) by Anthony Palliser better suits your taste. These are just a few samples of the live and silent auction items this year, ranging in values from $500 to $25,000.

Or maybe you have your eye on that pretty little car in the photo above. That’s a 2008 BMW 328ci convertible donated by Critz as the raffle prize (along with one day at the BMW driving school).

And the best part is, raffle tickets may be purchased by anyone, even if you’re not a tuxedo/gown sporting Ball or Bash guest. Raffle tickets are on sale currently at the Jepson Center for $100, but hurry, because there are only 400 available.

Then as I snap the second picture, I notice the cameraman in my viewfinder – turning his camera on me, photographing him – filming the media.

Confused yet? So am I.

Let me confuse you more: I follow the pack into the newsroom set, try to find a spot amongst the Fox 28 videographer and the TV Guide photographer, so I can report on the TV Guide reporter who is reporting on Fox 28’s report.

This is great.

The TV Guide Network puts a new spin on reality television as they turn their cameras on the pigeonholed “exploiters” of American culture, the media. After broadcasting their summer 2007 hit, Making News: Texas Style, they are back in the works of filming season 2 in Savannah.

Making News: Savannah Style premieres June 2, featuring 13 episodes of an entire new cast, our local WJCL and Fox 28 news. But this isn’t the reality show we’ve grown accustomed to over the past decade.

They’re kicking it back to the old school, “The Real World,” reality style. No winners, no “cast-offs,” no million dollars in turn for national humiliation.

Only “the simple act of turning the camera on and capturing what is,” as Nikki Lichterman, TV Guide Network Communications Director, says.

So what’s so interesting about Savannah? Isn’t there more entertainment and drama in a city like Los Angeles or New York where ambitious reporters compete for a story like a pack of starving hyenas fighting over a kill? What intrigued a national network to broadcast a small-town local news station?

Well, it’s the underdogs who have a story to tell, particularly Savannah’s underdogs. Recent ratings reflect the city of Savannah number 97 nationwide out of 211 markets.

Locally, WJCL was rated number 3, while Fox 28 didn’t even hit the numeric system with a humbling rating — or should we say non-rating — of zero. Ouch.

I guess it doesn’t help matters that their general manager was fired after being arrested for embezzling funds from the station last year, leaving a crew of primarily junior reporters to drive on in a time of lost leadership and struggle.

Or that he apparently fired the motivated news director, Michael Sullivan, before heading to the federal penitentiary. But fortunately, Sullivan agreed to return in September 2007 when New Vision bought the station.

And so the TV Guide Network will broadcast to their 84 million homes the reality of what it will take for our small-town warriors to recover and re-emerge while still producing the broadcast. Only they must achieve this end state with a lot more obstacles to hurdle and far less to work with than the larger media networks.

While most participants of reality TV are lured with the chance to win one million dollars in compensation for subjecting themselves to national humiliation and intrusion into their personal space, what’s the bait for WJCL/Fox 28?

After evaluating the Texas based series and it’s positive latter affects on the station, such as a jump in their rating from number two to number one in the market, returning News Director Michael Sullivan embraced the offer as an opportunity to excel.

“With our rating situation being what it is, you can’t fall off the floor, you’re already there,” he tells me candidly.

And after a mere two weeks into the filming, Sullivan has already noticed a dramatic increase on their website hits as well as an unexpected bonus – they “perform better while being watched” by the cameras.

But how is the actual “cast” responding to their new guest, the omnipresent watcher? How do they feel about having the cameras turned on them for once?

During the first few days of filming, Jennifer Beale, Entertainment Reporter and Weather Anchor, “thought twice about everything,” for she understands the quest for those “money sound bytes,” as she calls them, that she also strives to air at the end of the day.

However, Beale seems to let things roll off quite well with this understanding – as she tells me about one situation that will no doubt hit the air this summer. Right before the “watchers” eyes, she found herself locked inside of City Hall.

Beale admits spending a decent amount of time portraying herself as “the dumb blonde who can’t find her way out.”

Would the photographer and producer capturing her glamorous moment stop to assist? No way.

Beale also admits that the experience has been beneficial to her job in understanding her subjects better.

“It gives us a perspective of what the people who we interview feel like when we’re bombarding them with questions. It’s better as a journalist to be able to understand the other side.”

But even with this understanding her number one priority remains: “get the job done, and get it done well.”

Not all of Sullivan’s crew went into this as optimistically.

“No, I’m not going to do this,” thought Wendy McNew, Military and Education Reporter, immediately after hearing the news of TV Guides arrival. And that’s exactly what she told Sullivan in his office shortly after.

McNew, aware of her own tactics and what it takes to make a story “hot,” was in no position to embrace this potential invasion of her privacy. No way, not when she has zero control in the final editing. She was just not ready to relinquish a power she normally reserves to another form of media.

However, McNew’s hesitation has somewhat dissipated since meeting the crew of the TV Guide Network.

“I trust them now,” she says, believing TV Guide respects Fox 28’s reporters. McNew, as well as the other reporters, may request at any time for TV Guide to “cease fire” if they feel something is inappropriate to film.

And she also realizes that she does in fact have control in the situation. If you don’t want it aired, don’t put it out there. So far the only time she’s had to turn on the red light is while eating with a camera two feet from her face.

“Please don’t show me eating a pickle,” she says. Understandable enough. He turns the camera off.

One thing is certain though. This team is the epitome of a team. “They all get along,” claims Nikki Lichterman. And they really do. Their atmosphere resonated a local and friendly demeanor, void of pins and needles on the carpet that I might step on if I were backstage with CNN.

Michael Sullivan explains that the nature of being oppressed might have been a huge aid in building them into the cohesive family that they are.

“We are protecting the idea of what we’re creating,” he tells me. And the feeling I get is that he wouldn’t sacrifice this rare characteristic for nicer uniforms in a million years. Sullivan, who chose to return to his local station over numerous offers elsewhere, is charged with the enormous responsibility of leading this broken crew to the top.

They can either “sink or swim,” as McNew puts it. And they have decided to swim to the surface with the TV Guide Network behind them.