Correspondent photo / Sean Barron ... From left, Delaney Baber, Noah Stellato, 2, Baber’s sister, Olivia Baber, their brother, Brennan Baber, and parents, Melinda and Walter Baber, prepare for their parts in the 61st annual Boar’s Head & Yule Log Festival on Sunday at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Youngstown. Noah is Walter and Melinda Baber’s grandson.

YOUNGSTOWN — For the Babers, being part of a longtime local religious tradition truly is an all-in-the-family affair.

“We walk in with the procession of the Boar’s head,” Walter Baber, said, referring to a piece of the traditional pageantry that was colorfully on display during the 61st annual Boar’s Head & Yule Log Festival on Sunday afternoon in St. John’s Episcopal Church’s sanctuary, 343 Wick Ave.

Baber and several family members took part in the first of two Sunday performances.

For their parts, Baber and his wife, Melinda Baber, of Poland, who are longtime St. John’s members, were dressed largely in deep gold as the lord and lady of the manor.

Other family members who took part were daughters Delaney and Olivia Baber, who played the role of waits; grandson, Noah Stellato, 2, who was a page with a green outfit and hat; and son, Brennan Baber, who wore an all-white outfit as an acolyte.

The Boar’s Head tradition dates to the days of the Roman Empire, and the boar was considered to be the first dish served at Roman feasts. In Norman, England, the boar was said to be a menace to people and represented evil, so serving the animal’s head was symbolic of Jesus Christ’s triumph over evil that began at his birth and manifested as he became savior of the entire creation at Epiphany.

The tradition was said to have been fully developed by the 12th century.

The Yule Log, lit from the previous year’s embers, is a metaphor for the warmth of the family fireside and the continuance of human life and concern, along with the rekindling of love. Such love “lights” the birth of a new year as well as the old one that passed.

Who started the first Boar’s Head procession remains unknown, but its earliest origins appear to have been traced to Oxford University in England.

In the 1890s, the Rev. Edward D. Tibbets instituted the fest at an Episcopal school in Hoosick, New York, the version of which serves as the main template for how the local festival is celebrated and conducted, according to church literature.

The beloved festival also seems to be a family affair for Meg Silver, director.

“My son, Noah, has been part of this since he could walk,” Silver recalled, adding that he played a variety of roles in the pageantry over the years, including having carried a lantern as a yule log when he was a child.

The family theme was evident also with Chris Wlodarski of Brookfield, who dressed as one of the beefeaters (yeomen of the English royal guard at the Tower of London).

“I’ve done the beefeater part for about 20 years,” he said.

Wlodarski expressed pride that his two daughters, Leah, 16, and Emma, 19, also were part of the pageantry. Both of them performed dances to celebrate the 12 days of Christmas, Wlodarski added.

Sunday’s earlier program began with the St. John’s Episcopal Church and Illuminare choirs joining forces to perform their renditions of several numbers for the event’s prelude that included “I Saw Three Ships,” “Sans Day Carol,” “Whence is that Lovely Fragrance Flowing” and “Shepherd’s Pipe Carol.”

Soon after, several performers with pipes and drums, and dressed as beefeaters, entered the sanctuary before performances from those dressed as King Wenceslas, woodmen, shepherds, waits, the Three Wise Men and three kings, along with those who were part of the Boar’s Head procession.

Silver, who has been part of the local Boar’s Head & Yule Log Festival since 2011, noted that Ronald L. Gould, the church’s former choirmaster and director, started the beloved gathering in the early 1960s.

Gould, a renowned conductor and organist whose career with Youngstown State University’s Dana School of Music spanned more than 40 years, also was one of two recipients of YSU’s Heritage Award in 2022.

Silver also thanked many community members for their parts in making the fest a success.

“It is a huge community effort,” she said. “Everyone gets a part.”