For an unknown number of years, a bright Christmas Star hung on the tallest tower at the old Bartlett-Collins Glass plant on South Linden Street, a beacon of light that could be easily spotted from almost anywhere in town.
“I remember as a kid, we’d come down that hill on (Highway) 97 and you could see that star. It was just a beautiful sight to see at Christmastime,” said Jeff “Swick” Schwickerath, who purchased the old glass plant earlier this year.
Though it hasn’t been seen in over 25 years, that nostalgic symbol of local Christmas charm is going to enjoyed again by a new generation of Sapulpans, thanks to Swick, who told Sapulpa Times awhile back he was “planning to bring the star back.”
His plan was to hopefully update the iconic star with modern technology, using LED lights and solar panels to provide power.
Swick was ready to replace the star with a new one, or try to create one if needed, but when they started to investigate the tower they found out they wouldn’t need to—the old star itself was still attached the pole it hung from for all those years.
“That star was still up there,” he said. “It survived all these years of 100-mile-an-hour winds and who knows what else. I couldn’t believe it.”
On Wednesday morning, Justin Brissey and Jacob Grimes volunteered to make the 150-or-more feet climb up the tower to begin assembling the star for the lighting that evening. “The first time they climbed it, they had a harness, and I told them, ‘don’t risk anything,’ but they said it was so solid that the next time they went up, they didn’t even wear the harness.”
Other materials, like the lights and small solar panels, were hoisted up the tower using just a bucket and a rope. By the time the assembly was complete and the star was hung, it gave the appearance of an old antenna perched atop the tower. All that was left to wait until the sun went down.
At roughly 5:40pm, the star could be seen all around, shining as bright as ever and twinkling. Swick is proud to say that the Christmas Star is once again hanging for all to see, above Swick’s Distribution Center, at 620 S. Linden Street.
