Cross on the Hill
The History of St. Margaret's cross on the hill
Note: (The following was excerpted from an article in the Desert Sun)
Palm Desert and other residents are used to
seeing the brightly lighted cross
atop a hill behind St.
Margaret's. It's been there
for more than two and a half
decades.
Placing the inspirational cross the hill originally, was the idea of a young College of the Desert student. Mark Stembler. He built, wired and installed his cross with the help of friends in December of 1981. Immediately, churches, city halls and businesses received hundreds of phone call from Valley residents and visitors.
Sadly, the cross was an inspiration for only four months, until a wind storm blew it down. Immediately, a committee was formed with Mrs. Evelyn Young, Ed Mullins Fr. Brad Hall, Millie Bartow, Ralston Calvert, and others. They started raising funds through donations to replace the original cross. Young Stembler's simple idea became a complicated cause.
Who owned the land?
What permits were necessary?
How to get permanent electricity?
Who would build and erect the new one?
In the beginning, electricity came from a nearby house and was paid for by Stembler.
Palm Desert National Bank opened an account for donations. Due to it's proximity to the church, St. Margaret's and Father Hall became involved, success at last! Stembler, his friends, and businesses worked to obtain a construction company and helicopter service to build and carry the cross up to its new site very near the original shaft. Success was a fleeting thing.
On that Good Friday, witnesses were appalled when the helicopter lowered the cross into the new shaft, the redwood began to split, and it had broken from the base.
Again, even greater forces joined to repair and replace the cross, hopefully in time for Easter Sunday. Stembler and friends spent the entire night digging a new shaft. A construction company spliced and bolted the broken cross and again, the helicopter gently lowed the cross into its new position it would stand lighted for Easter Sunday.
The 32 foot high white cross had 42 light and its white paint was impregnated with reflective glitter to increase visibility during darkness. The Cross had a light sensitive switch which automatically lights the cross at dusk.
By 1996 the cross had been bow down a number of times and patched so much that it was clear to Fr. Brad Hall that the old cross needed to be replaced. Fr. Brad asked Frank Trane if he would design and build a 30 feet high, 16 feet across, with 6 inch square aluminum that would withstand 100 knot winds. The cross also had 39 fluorescent lights, the number of lashes Jesus received on the cross! Frank had a mast builder in Newport Beach make the cross preassembled,
After the cross was built Steve Jones sent a flatbed truck to Orange County to pick it up. When it arrived in the desert, Steve and five other men assembled the cross pieces, and had it up in 3 to 4 hours. A 3 foot piece of the old cross was saved and will someday be displayed along with St. Margaret's other mementos.
The cross sits above St. Margaret's due to the vision of Mark Stembler and the hard work of others. It is a symbol of peace and the brotherhood of man.
© 1998 - 2007 Saint Margaret’s Episcopal Church, Palm Desert CA" All rights reserved. Please contact the church for permission to use any of this material