JEFFERSON COUNTY — Driving just about anywhere around town, you can usually see a cross lit up at night above the town of Morrison.
But for the last ten days, the cross has been without power.
"Right there, you can see a gray box, that's the cross part," Tim Hartley, caretaker, said. "Doesn't look like a cross from the top."
Hartley manages the Olinger Mount Lindo Memorial Park, a cemetery which sits just above the cross.
"We believe it probably got hit by lightning," Hartley said. "It happened after the big storms last week and yeah, it went out after a lightning storm, so we feel that's what it was."
For people across the Denver metro area, it was the subject of phone calls to the offices of Olinger and General Manager Andrew Tisdel.
"To us, that's very encouraging, because what it means, it's a meaningful symbol for a lot of people," Tisdel said. "It's noticed around the city. So, we're definitely committed to keeping it working and running."
Lightning is just one of the challenges.
"We have a problem with people shooting them out," Hartley said. "You can see the bullet holes from the top."
He says there are more bullet holes from long-range across the canyon. But, this time, it is lightning that knocked out this guiding light.
"A lot of people view it as a religious symbol, but a lot more people just view it as a landmark or guide or a way around town," Tisdel said.
A local company, Chris Electric, is donating parts and labor to restoring the cross in the name of company founder Chris Syrpes. Electricians expect to have the cross up and running in a few days.
"It's nice to know that people still pay attention to it," Hartley said. "I was born and raised here and found my way home many a time by the cross."
