Christmas Star

  • Published
  • By Airman Valerie Monroy
  • JBER Public Affairs
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska --  For more than 50 years, the city of Anchorage has had the privilege of gazing upon the Christmas star every cold winter night.

The star is lit the day after Thanksgiving every year in conjunction with Anchorage's City of Lights celebration and remains lit until the last musher of the Iditarod Sled Dog Race crosses the finish line.

For those experiencing their first winter at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson or in the Anchorage area, the bright star in the eastern night sky can be a bit of a shock.

"I was staring at it in awe. I thought that stars in Alaska just looked that big," said Airman 1st Class Samantha Moore, 673d Communications Squadron cyber security technician. "I told my supervisor the stars here were so amazing and he just gave me a weird look."

He explained to her the star was actually on a mountain."Overall, it was a great experience and a good laugh," Moore said.

The star has brightened the Anchorage skyline during the holidays since 1958. It was first constructed on top of the gatehouse at Site Summit as a 15-foot wide star.

Site Summit is a former U.S. Army Nike Hercules missile installation that sits atop Mount Gordon Lyon on the eastern edge of JBER. It was kept operational until 1979 by the Soldiers of the 4th Missile Battalion, 43rd Artillery.

However, the star was too small to be seen from Anchorage and a 117-foot star was built in 1960. Throughout the years the star has taken a beating from the harsh elements and even been wiped out by avalanches.

In 1989, it was reconstructed to be the 300-foot wide star that it is today.

With the star on the face of the mountain and positioned at hazardous angles in the high wind, maintenance is risky.

"It's really slick being at that angle," said Tech. Sgt. Michael King, 773d Civil Engineer Squadron electrical systems craftsman. "If the access road is covered in snow the only way to get up there is by snowmobile."

Work crews make their way up to the top of Mount Gordon Lyon every year to repair the portions destroyed by rushing snow and to replace each bulb.

"The star is located roughly 4,000 feet up and currently has 360 light bulbs," said King.

Though the star has gone through many changes and rough winters over the past 50 years, it will continue to shine as gift to the people of Anchorage.