EASTER SERVICES ARE SET AT BALD KNOB CROSS

ALTO PASS, Ill. -- Sixty-one years ago, 250 people gathered atop Bald Knob Mountain for Easter sunrise services. Since then, thousands of worshipers have made their way up the mountain road near Alto Pass, Ill., to visit the Bald Knob Cross and participate in Easter sunrise services.

"We never know how many visitors will be here," said Lorene Lingle, a charter member of the Bald Knob Cross Of Peace Foundation. The foundation was created three years ago to raise funds for maintenance of the giant cross, which rests on the highest point in Southern Illinois. "On a pretty day we'll have from 2,000 to 3,500."

The Easter Sunrise service will be held, rain or shine.

Three years ago, in 1994, during a downpour of rain, the crowd barely topped the 400 mark. But in 1995, with good weather, more than 3,000 worshipers attended services. Last year, dawn emerged cold and cloudy, with about 700 worshipers attending the service.

Sunday's services will get under way at 6:30 a.m., with pre-service special music by the DutchCreek Blue Grass Band of Jonesboro. The Rev. Frank Heil will provide the sermon for the 61st Easter service.

The visitor's center at the site of the 111-foot Bald Knob Cross will be open all night Saturday, with breakfast available at 2 a.m. Sunday for early visitors, and those who spend the night.

"Various foods will be available throughout the weekend,' said Lingle.

Plenty of parking is available in a special parking lot atop the mountain, said Lingle.

Crowds have ranged from 250 during the first year to a peak of 3,500. Many people flock annually to what was once an obscure mountain top.

The cross is an attraction throughout the year, drawing more than 40,000 visitors annually.

The story of the Bald Knob Cross has been told many times but it is still one which can warm hearts, and involved people from all walks of life from all parts of the world.

Even a mongrel dog, a sow and her litter of 21 piglets played vital roles in providing funds for the massive project.

The idea came about 61 years ago when two men were walking down a country road following a service at a rural church. The year was 1936. The late Wayman Presley, who served 25 years as a rural letter carrier, and the late Rev. W. H. Lirely were discussing the need for closer unity among the many Christian dominations and religious groups, and the need for a meeting place to bring all dominations together.

The two men started spreading the word, calling for an Easter service atop Bald Knob Mountain.

A crude cross was fashioned from railroad ties by members of a nearby Civilian Conservation Corp camp. And, on Easter Sunday, Presley, Lirely and some 250 other worshipers attended the 1937 Easter services.

More worshipers joined the 1938 services, and later, three crosses were fashioned from native trees by a Sunday School class. These still stand, along with the towering cross.

Thousands of worshippers were filing into the area each year for Easter Sunrise services, and the idea of a permanent cross came to mind.

Presley borrowed money from an area bank to purchase the Bald Knob property and established the not-for-profit Bald Knob Christian Foundation. Each member pledged $100.

It was at this point that the mongrel dog and Old Betsy, a sow owned by farm widow, who pledged her $100 to the project, came into play.

Old Betsy gave birth to 21 piglets, more than three times an average pig litter. Betsy didn't have enough "dinner jugs" for all the pigs, so Mrs. Myra Clutts' mongrel dog, which had lost her new-born puppies, pitched in to raise five of the piglets. The dog nursed them and stayed with the pigs until they were larger.

Needless to say, Old Betsy immediately became famous. Her picture, with the great litter, was shown throughout the county.

The piglets were eventually given to Presley. He took the females of the litter, built a hog barn on the widow's hillside farm, and started raising pigs. Presley soon had 100 brood sows, which produced 1,500 pigs. Presley distributed the pigs to farmers in the Southern Illinois area, who raised the pigs and sent the proceeds to the cross fund as the pigs were marketed.

Over a three-year period, sales of the pigs accounted for more than $30,000 for the cross project.

More funds were accumulated when Presley appeared on "This is Your Life," a national television show. Ralph Edwards, the program's emcee, asked people to contribute to the program.

They did.

More than $100,000 was raised, with contributions ranging in denominations from pennies to dollars coming in from every state and Canada.

The towering cross, which can now be seen from several miles away, was completed in 1962.

Today, maintenance of the cross is still accomplished through contributions from visitors and by the volunteer work of local residents.

Bald Knob Easter Sunrise Service

Sunday's program, starting at 6:30 a.m., with Collie Craig, master of ceremonies

-- Pre-Service Special Music by DutchCreek Blue Grass Band.

-- Trumpet Call to Worship, Tom Neil.

-- Sunrise Bell, Gene Adams.

-- Pledges to Flags -- American Flag and Christian Flag -- and greetings, Dan Wilson.

-- Prayer, Collie Craig.

-- Offering

-- Hymns of Praise, congregation.

-- Song leader --Old Rugged Cross, and Christ Arose -- Myra Owens.

-- Trumpet Solo - Amazing Grace, Tom Heil.

-- Lord's Prayer, congregation.

-- Sermon, The Rev. Frank Heil.

-- Song -- "He Lives" -- by the congregation.

-- Benediction, Rev. Frank Heil.

-- Free coffee and donuts after service.