St. Luke’s cross will be visible from the lake

by Angie Asam– Staff Writer

After receiving numerous letters from sailors and boaters, who see the cross on top of St. Luke?s Episcopal Church and are comforted by the sight of it but wish they could see it in bad weather and at night, the church has gotten a new lighted cross made by Moran Iron Works of Onaway. Immediately the church members wanted to fulfill the request of the boaters; however, due to lack of funding, they had to put the project off for some time. Memorial funds were developed so that people could leave money in remembrance of someone and contribute to the effort to light the cross.

The church initially began the quest to make their cross more visible to the boaters by getting bids from electric companies on what it would take to have the original cross illuminated. Eight companies came to the church and bid on the project. No one could come up with a solution other than adding lighting from the roof onto the existing cross, but that wouldn?t work. One day, Patsy Tatomir was on her way home from Petoskey when she passed Moran Iron Works and the light bulb went off. ?I?ll bet you if anyone can think outside the box it would be Tom Moran. With his artistic flare I am sure he would never let normal, ordinary things stop him from building. I went home and called him and he came to meet me at the church. He got out of his truck and looked around. He agreed to take the project, gave us a quote, and moved forward. He did a fantastic job; he found specialty lights that would shine brightly,? said Tatomir.

Getting Moran?s lined up to construct the cross wasn?t the only hoop for the church to jump through; the coast guard didn?t want any navigational colors used for the cross — reds, greens, yellows, etc. The church voted and chose the royal purple color of the church. The church also made sure they had permits from the city to ensure that they would not be in violation of any ordinance. While the church was originally gathering quotes from the electricians, they were advised to try to get a hold of the Seamen?s Church Institute. The institute was founded in 1834 and is the largest, most comprehensive mariners? agency in North America, with affiliation with the Episcopal Church. Tatomir contacted them and informed them of the project; the institute sent a letter back and said they would be happy to help. However, because the project was delayed, they let the funding go from the institute and now are trying to get reacqiaomted with the institute.

The institute is a large organization and St. Luke?s is the first inland seaport in the United States to have the lighted cross for the sailors to see. The new cross is dedicated to Ethel Wickersham, who started working as the church treasurer when she was 16 years old. Wickersham worked as the treasurer until her death last year. She was the first person to receive a lette

r from a sailor who said that the sight of the cross was comforting to them.

Tatomir called the coast guard for permission, and the man she talked to informed her that he was aware that sailors were using that cross as a navigational device. This was a surprise to her. Saturday, after more than a year of working on lighting the cross, making it more visible, Moran Iron Works installed the cross on top of the steeple of the church on First Street. The cross is equipped with LED lights and a sensor that will light up the cross on dark dreary days, as well as at dusk. The cross will be lit from dusk until dawn.

?I can?t say enough about the folks who work at Moran?s. Everybody is so good and nice there. Everybody from the vestry, all the people from the church cooperated so well to get this project done,? said Tatomir.

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