BRADENTON — On a mild Christmas Eve in 1960, Davey Windham, then 5, joined a group of fellow First Baptist Church of Bradenton children affectionately called “sunbeams” singing Christmas carols in downtown Bradenton while holding tall, white candles with fire dancing at their tips.

There were hundreds of last-minute Christmas shoppers downtown that night, as the stores comprised the county’s main trading area, and many paused in their pursuits to stand on the sidewalk at 1306 Manatee Ave. W. and take in the young voices and faces warmly illuminated by candlelight.

Now, many years later, Windham is a grown man in his mid-50s, with many accomplishments, including being a lifelong member of First Baptist Church, graduating from Manatee High School in 1973, establishing Windham Construction in 1980 and raising three boys — Travis, 10, Ben, 9, and Jake, 7 — with his wife, Lorie.

But when asked to recall his greatest memories, those moments when he was 5 and 6 standing with a candle at Christmas Eve are near the top.

Windham is involved in a transformation that one day may make it possible for new generations of children to sing Christmas carols at the downtown church while holding candles.

Windham’s firm is putting the finishing touches on the church’s first park and playground in 100 years, part of a $250,000 capital campaign.

The park would be the perfect place to resurrect a time when people drove downtown on Christmas Eve, partly to shop but partly to hear youngsters sing Christmas carols in an organized concert, Windham said.

“When you are a kid, getting to hold a lit candle is a big deal,” Windham said. “I was very young and I remember the congregation of our church would walk out to the sidewalk on Manatee Avenue West to sing the last hymn of the service. People were downtown. It was alive. People were out walking to stores. They would stroll over and listen to us.

“I would love if we could do it again,” Windham added. “Kids need to have those tender memories.”

Surrounded by a 6-foot metal fence for security of the children, the new playground and surrounding park, which are just a bit of electrical work away from being totally finished, feature a music pavilion, bathrooms, numerous sliding boards, climbing walls, bongo drums and a spinning seat.

The facility got its maiden use during a recent fall festival when 1,000 people enjoyed the amenities, Windham said.

First Baptist, one of the oldest Baptist churches south of Tampa with a first meeting date of 1888, is adding the playground to an already family-oriented campus.

The church has a Family Life Center, which was the former Bradenton Herald building. It also has the historic Franklin Building, a former printing facility for small books, which is now used for church plays and storage.

The main sanctuary, built in 1912, was restored in 2002. There are other buildings on the roughly four-acre campus for Sunday school and administration.