Saga of Zion's Steeple Cross Thursday, November 20, 2008 Click each photo to enlarge. Thursday at 12:00 PM. Silverhill's Zion Lutheran Church has lived with a sagging, crooked cross on its steeple since Hurricane Ivan, the problem slowly worsening with succeeding years. All the congregation saw, however, was a leaning cross at the top of its steeple. Thursday at 12:05 PM. Eric Denk (from Denk's Metal Commercial and Residential Buildings, 947-2919) came to Silverhill with his truck-based crane able to extend to heights of 62 feet. The truck was "tall" and cable service wire had to be lifted to allow the truck to approach the church. Pete Midgarden (Silverhill) hoisted the cable to allow truck passage from a ladder steadied by the hands of Charlie Canning (Magnolia Springs). Thursday at 12:15 PM. Peter Midgarden (l) with safety harness in place, climbed into the crane's basket while Charles Canning (c) manned lines and extension cable to provide power for work on the cross. The crane would soon move in three dimensions, directed by Eric Denk (r). Click each photo to enlarge. Thursday at 12:20 PM. Pete Midgarden was soon lifted to the top of the steeple. With wrench in hand, he evaluated how to straighten the cross. He elected to remove it for work at ground level before remounting the cross. Thursday at 12:45 PM. Not angelic, but suspended between earth and heaven! Peter Midgarden (basket) was lowered from the apex of the steeple by Eric Denk at the crane controls on the truck. Charles Canning (r) manned rope and electrical cable as the basket descended. Thursday at 1:00 PM. Once on the ground, Eric Denk (l) and Peter Midgarden began removing nails, some in pieces, some severely distorted, and some with major rust. Click each photo to enlarge. Thursday at 1:05 PM. The mystery of the sagging cross was revealed. The culprit for the leaning cross was rust. The galvanized nails had almost rusted through, certainly being substantially weakened since the cross was last aligned just a few short years ago. The narrowing of this pictured "previously galvanized" nail secondary to rust is obvious to the naked eye. Thursday at 1:10 PM. Both nails AND screws had anchored the old cross to the top of the steeple. Eric Denk unscrewed a "frozen" screw with channel-lock pliers. Thursday at 1:30 PM. While Pete Midgarden (l) attended to his safety harness, Charley Canning (c) aligned screws for remounting the cross on the steeple. Eric Denk (r) counseled and advised the two. Click each photo to enlarge. Thursday at 1:55 PM. After Pete Midgarden had remounted the cross on the steeple, Charlie Canning (r) stepped into the safety harness assisted by Erick Denk (l). Canning would soon be at the apex of the steeple with a can of paint to cover the freshly remounted cross. Thursday at 2:15 PM. Charley Canning, close to sixty feet in the air, applied fresh paint to the cross. Not only had the salt air from Hurricane Ivan "done a number" on the steeple cross's nails, but the paint and wood had aged at a faster rate since Ivan. Canning's paint hopefully would delay additional aging of the cross. Thursday at 2:30 PM. Charley Canning checked one last time for alignment and paint coverage before descending to earth for the last time. The job was done! The curious can check the job at 4th Avenue and 7th Street in beautiful Silverhill before the 10:00 AM Sunday service.