Zion's Easter Crosses Good Friday, April 6, 2007 Click each photo to enlarge. Early in the morning on Good Friday, Charlie Canning delivers the logs that have been used for Easter crosses at Zion for at least the last 20 years. Pete Midgarden measures off the placement of the holes for raising the three crosses and marks the spots for digging. Milt Luoma takes over the digging task once the sod is marked for hole placement. The logs get carried to the digs for assembly into three crosses. Milt Luoma checks the hole placement for the project. The sign "INRI" is fastened on to the "Jesus" cross. "INRI" is an abbreviation for the Latin words which Pilate had inscribed on Jesus' cross, i.e., "Jesus of Nazareth - King of the Jews." The crosses will remain until completion of the Easter Season. Ralph Utter takes a turn on one of the three holes. The logs for the crosses remain unassembled until the holes are completed. Milt Luoma (r) and Pete Midgarden begin assembling the crosses. Unlike in Jesus' day, the crosses are assembled with screws and a portable drill. The three crosses have found those holes, each about 24 inches deep. Charlie Canning and Ernie Burnett (now back from their own Easter project, special flower procurement for Easter) look on the work of Milt Luoma, Peter Midgarden, and Ralph Utter (l to r) as Zion's Easter cross display is completed. Taking Down Zion's Easter Crosses April 24, 2007 Pulling three crosses out of the dirt after Easter takes some work. The three crosses stood throughout the Easter season on the corner of 7th and 4th at Silverhill's Zion Lutheran Church. Ralph Utter arrives early with fence post hole digger and loosens the crosses. The full cross crew arrives an hour later or so. When Milt Luoma and Pete Midgarden (l to r) show up, they begin lifting the crosses from each hole. Milt Luoma (l) supervises as Pete Midgarden attempts to remove a screw holding the cross together. The driver bit proved to be the wrong size. Then, Charlie Canning (off camera) to the rescue with his pocket knife. Ralph Utter begins filling in the holes in the lawn before all the crosses are down. The white pail is better quality dirt brought from home. Click each photo to enlarge. Milt Luoma, Ralph Utter, Pete Midgarden (l to r) are all interested in the holes as they disappear with some dirt. Pulling a cross out of the dirt after Easter takes some work. Pete Midgarden, Ralph Utter, Milt Luoma, and Charlie Canning (l to r) each spent some time working on removing the "Jesus cross" from its two foot mooring hole. Charlie Canning, Milt Luoma, Pete Midgarden, and Ralph Utter (l to r) remove the "Jesus cross" from its Easter mooring site. Pete Midgarden, Milt Luoma, and Charlie Canning remove one of the "thief crosses."