A New Ivins Star

November 14, 2020

Months ago, Bishop Galibrath mentioned that he wanted to see Ivins get a new star on the mountain. He wanted a bigger star and placed higher on the mountain. Little did we know that his dream would become a reality and that we would be involved. For months the bishopric would meet together and talk about the star. Once they got it passed by Ivins city council they got started on building the monstrosity of a star. The bishopric was the brains behind the operation but Ryan Cain was the sole engineer. Adam would pop in and help him when he could. 

After a ton of man hours, building the star and hiking up to the first ledge to scope out the perfect spot, drill in anchors and plan the execution, the day came to get the star up the mountain. It became a ward event with the bishopric, YM leaders, YM and several other members who came to help. We figured it would take 10 trips to get everything they needed to the ledge so I was in no hurry to rush over. I was planning on heading over to check out the progress later that day but then Adam called around 9:30 am and asked me to bring water bottles and granola bars for everyone. So I took the "refreshments" and ended up staying until they were done. 

As I got there, bishop was just coming off the mountain and said "We've had angels with us today, especially Adam, he almost got beheaded by a boulder" Wait what? Just then Adam came down and I said "Sounds like you had a near death experience" and he said "No one was supposed to tell you" Haha! Later I got the details from Kristen Stout who was the closet to him at the time. They had made a human chain going up the mountain and lining the edge of the mountain to pass items from the bottom to the top. He was right under a ledge when a boulder was knocked loose above him. He could hear it rolling and getting closerto him and could hear everybody yelling "Heads up, Here comes a rock" He looked up and saw Tyson Borrowman jump out of the boulders way and just had enough time to tuck. The boulder went right over his head, missing it by less than a foot. Kristen said it scared her to death. She said the boulder was big enough, that had it hit him, he would have been a gonner. So glad I wasn't there to witness it and so happy that angels were there that day to protect Adam and everyone else on the mountain. After Adam's experience the rest of the day went smooth. 

By the time I got there, they had already taken up all the poles, (one being 30 feet long), the wiring, the light bulbs, paint, cement, tools etc. The last thing they had to haul up the mountain was a huge tool box that housed the solar panels. 

Of course Adam had to be in the center of all the action and helped pushed the cart the entire way. 

The crew waiting at the top to help pully it up. It was pretty impressive. They had a whole pully system set up to get everything to top. I wouldn't have believed it possible if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes. They definitely got a peek into what the pioneers went through hauling wagons up the mountain and bringing down rocks to build the temple. 

Taking a break

Adam showing me how big the boulder was... haha!

Getting to the cliffs to get over the toughest part.

Pulling, pushing and lifting the cart through the rocks. 

They made it. 

The 30 foot pole.

'

The base. 

Shane Flowers, Bishop Galbraith and Ryan Cain. 

Everyone got to work putting the star together and hooking up the solar panels. 

Cementing the base. 

Wiring the star. 

They will even have camera's up there to hopefully keep it from being vandalized. Helps having the Ivins city engineer in our bishopric. 

Screwing in the bulbs...this was something I could actually help with :)

Erecting the Star

They had the YM on one side helping pull it up with a rope...

while there were other's holding it back so it wouldn't fly forward. 

It is standing. 

Last minute touch ups. 

The master minds and muscles of the operation

Some of the YM

The brains of the operation and the bishopric. 

We cleaned up and headed back down around 1:30pm. 

Everyone kept looking up to see how it looked from different angles. 

Back at the bottom, admiring their work. You can barely see it in the distance on the first ledge. It's crazy how during the day sometimes you can see it and sometimes you can't see it at all. 

That night at 6:30 they did a practice run of lighting the star. We were all stationed around Ivins to see it from every direction. 

It was awesome. The official lighting will be Thanksgiving weekend. What a great day! I am still in awe with all the planning, building and climbing that it took to get the star in place. So excited to see it light up the mountain through the holidays and to know we had  little part in it.