JOPLIN, Mo. —
Motorists traveling on Missouri Highway 43 south of Joplin this past week may have seen a large, lighted Christmas star to the east.
No, it’s not the Star of Bethlehem, which the Gospel of Matthew says guided the Magi to the birthplace of Jesus more than 2,000 years ago.
Actually, the couple who built it are calling their star “The Guiding Light.”
Adorned with a garland, the star is 20 feet in diameter and welded from rebar. It has been hoisted atop a flagpole at Construction Adventures, about a mile south of Petro Truck Stop.
The star is the work of Dave Johnson, owner of Construction Adventures.
“We just put it up so people can enjoy it,” he said last week.
Johnson and his wife, Sherri, said the star was the focal point of their entry last weekend in a boat parade at Cherokee Yacht Club on Grand Lake in Northeast Oklahoma. Their children portrayed Mary and Joseph in a Nativity scene beneath the star during that parade.
Sherri said the star is a way for the family to profess its Christian faith.
“Christianity has taken such a back seat in the nation,” she said. “We are proud of being Christians.”
Dave said they have had “Merry Christmas” in lights on the fence for the past three years. They plan to make “The Guiding Light” an annual tradition, too.
“A lot of people stop in or call the office to express their appreciation,” Sherri said.
Sherri also said they plan to keep the star up past Christmas for the enjoyment of those driving by.
Star reference
“After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, ‘Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.’”
Matthew 2: 1-2
Local News
Related Photos
-
Dave and Sherri Johnson pose before the lighted star that they have erected south of Joplin on Missouri Highway 43 in honor of the Christmas season. GLOBE | ROGER NOMER
Discussion
Large Christmas star marks the season south of Joplin
- Local News
-
-
Jasper County to start enforcing newly adopted nuisance ordinance
Jasper County has received 15 complaints based on a new nuisance ordinance adopted earlier this spring, members of the County Commission said Tuesday. John Bartosh, presiding commissioner, said he and the other commissioners reviewed the complaints during a meeting last week with workers at the Jasper County Health Department.
-
Neosho School Board votes to boost custodians’ salaries
Action taken Monday night by the Neosho Board of Education on salaries was designed partly to retain custodians. The measure approved by the board gives custodians, with a starting salary of $8.77 an hour, a 10 percent raise.
-
Mike Pound: Carthage holding parties for a good cause
When my wife told me that we were going to host a party, I had only one question: Why? My wife might be the party-hosting sort of person, but I am not. She said this party was for a good cause. She also told me that our friends Lana and Bill, Lee Ann and Rob, and Amy and Jimmy were going to help host it.
-
Proposal would reduce 20th Street to two lanes
A design proposal that would convert much of 20th Street into two lanes instead of four from Main Street to Campbell Parkway to make room for streetscape and green features did not draw much public support on Tuesday.
-
Local runners show support for Boston in cross-country relay
After completing the Boston Marathon on April 15, Ashleigh Beyersdorfer made her way through the throngs of runners to retrieve the bag she had checked in and was on her way to meet up with her family when she heard the explosions.
-
MSSU board to complete terms of president’s departure
The Board of Governors of Missouri Southern State University will meet Wednesday to complete the terms of the agreement that terminated President Bruce Speck’s contract, board Chairwoman Sherry Buchanan said.
-
State’s key witness testifies in murder trial
The fate of Dustin Boggs may ultimately depend on the credibility of Arturo Council. If jurors believe Council, then Boggs, 25, could be convicted of first-degree murder in the 2012 stabbing and shooting death of his ex-girlfriend, Danyel Borden, 21, at his trial this week in Ottawa County District Court.
-
Swimmers attempt to set world record
Even before the instructor had finished giving his direction to the class of young swimmers, 4-year-old Alexa DeBerry had dunked herself underwater and had come up giggling.
-
Missouri moves to lift ban on foreign farm owners
Weeks before a Chinese conglomerate agreed to buy Smithfield Foods Inc. in the largest such takeover of a U.S. business, Missouri lawmakers quietly approved legislation removing a ban on foreign ownership of agricultural land.
-
Neosho Board of Education approves 10 percent raise in effort to keep custodians
School custodians are receiving the biggest percentage raise among salaries approved Monday by the Neosho Board of Education.
- More Local News Headlines
-
Jasper County to start enforcing newly adopted nuisance ordinance
