The Lighted Cross Church
Thousands if not millions of nighttime drivers on Interstate 70 have driven by the Excelsior Lutheran Church and noticed the beaming cross. The church is situated on a small hill overlooking primarily wheat cropland. In the spring the little white church looks like a little white island in an ocean of green. In the summer it sets there in the middle of an ocean of waving golden wheat. It is always a pretty spot and picturesque.
At night though, is when the church really shines, it is visible for miles. I always look forward to getting there on my frequent trips to Russell as it is roughly half way in between Salina and Russell. I always wondered who did the maintenance and how they kept up with all of those light bulbs.
Your mission is to tell me what is really odd about that cross that glows in the night and to find the cornerstone at the Northeast corner of the church. There are two oddites about the cross, when you get there it should be apparent, it is not really a conventional cross and that is what makes it visible for miles as a cross. We would also require the cornerstone date, and the number of spokes, just to keep anybody from cheating off of the Interstate with a telescope.
The Excelsior Lutheran Church was founded in 1899 and the nearby graveyard is pretty interesting as well. They must have had a disaster in time though, as the church came later.
Thanks to Warren: "I happen to know the daughter and son of the man (Jerry Klema of Wilson) who designed the cross. By the way, the Rural Electric Co-op replaces the bulbs twice a year free of charge to the church. It costs approximately $600/yr in electric bills to light the cross and turns on and off with a solar timer."