Hundreds attend early Easter gathering at Bald Knob Cross

ALTO PASS, Ill. -- Driving two and a half hours to an Easter sunrise service Sunday at Bald Knob Cross was worth the sleepy eyes and cold weather for Tammy Lundsford of Sturdivant, Mo.

"Once you get out here, you're hooked," said Lunsford, explaining that she gets an adrenaline rush from being there. The site is on Bald Knob Mountain, overlooking the Shawnee National Forest and Alto Pass.

She and her husband, Steve, first spotted the giant cross while driving to Trail of Tears State Park in Cape Girardeau County and wanted to "see what everybody sees." They have taken their family to the sunrise services for nine years. This year they brought their two daughters, a future son-in-law and two grandchildren.

Attending the service has also been helpful since Tammy Lunsford's mother died four years ago, she said.

"I feel close to her, like she can touch me and I can touch her," she said.

More than 200 people braved the cold to attend the 68th annual Easter sunrise service at Bald Knob. Dr. Jerry Cain of Elgin, Ill., was the speaker.

The outdoor services have been at the mercy of whatever the weather brings. The temperature at 6 a.m. Sunday was 46 degrees, according to accuweather.com.

"There's probably more rainy memories," said Jennifer Cain of Cobden, Ill., laughing. The most memorable rainy service was in the 1970s when two storm fronts seemed to collided directly over the site, she said.

But no matter what the forecast is, "it's really nice because you always get to do it with your family," she said.

Cain started attending the sunrise service when she was 5 years old, when her grandparents took her. She has attended the service for the last six years, and this year brought her daughter, sister and nephew.

Charles and Brenda Bramlett of Sikeston, Mo., last attended the sunrise service more than 15 years ago, when they took their two youngest children. This year, it something they needed to do.

"I just learned to walk again, putting away the wheelchair," Brenda Bramlett said, explaining that she had spent the last year recovering from Lyme disease, which she contracted from a deer tick 13 years ago.

"I'm here," she said, reflecting on what she was grateful for. "Truly it's a miracle. And our kids are healthy."

The Easter sunrise service was started in 1937 by Wayman Presley and the Rev. William H. Lirely. The cross has been a site for interdenominational services.

Mary and Denise Harris, a mother and daughter from Carbondale, Ill., attended for the first time, and meeting other people was their motive.

"It gives us a chance to fellowship together," Mary Harris said, "and it's God's way of showing you that there are Christians everywhere."

The monument, completed in 1963, is 111 feet tall, 22 square feet at the base, 16 square feet at the top, and its arms are 63 feet across. It can withstand winds up to 150 miles per hour.

jmetelski@semissourian.com

335-6611 extension 127