Murphy – A typical scene this time of year is children peering through store windows, dreaming of the gifts they want. One local business was putting children in the windows.
The Curiosity Shop Books & Gifts had children performing as living statues on Wednesdays and Fridays. The window shares owner Timi Godin’s interpretation of “a partridge in a pear tree,” to go along with the Murphy Business Association’s 12 Days of Christmas event.
Through her research, she saw the partridge as Jesus and the tree as the cross. The children, dressed in black and white, are holding signs that read, “Peace on Earth” and “Goodwill toward men.”
“When you see children holding those signs, it touches your heart,” Godin said.
She got the idea of having children perform as statues from her time serving as principal at Reedy Creek Elementary School in Kissimmee, Fla. During parent nights, kids would display their art and pose as statues.
She also thought it would be a great opportunity to provide local kids a way to perform and show their creativity.
“Kids have had so many things canceled and haven’t been able to have performances,” Godin said. “I thought it would be nice to have something.”
She reached out to a variety of schools and organizations, and is working with the first two that contacted her back – Tri-County Early College High School and The Learning Center charter school. The charter school had no one express interest in performing, but the Early College did. Sophomore Sarah Zipperer-Price was the first living statue.
“I’ve never been a living statue before,” she said as she stayed perfectly still in the window, her mask hiding the movement of her mouth. “It’s a little difficult.”
It is benefitting students in the schools in another way – students need community service hours, and not many service opportunities have been available due to COVID-19.
“It seemed like a nice opportunity to get community service hours for school,” Zipperer-Price said.
Children become statues for store
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