Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, June 6, 1993 TAG: 9306060106
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: D2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Ed Shamy
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The Mill Mountain Star's place in the hearts and souls of Roanokers has been scrutinized ad nauseam for 43 1/2 years by the scholarly and the not-so-scholarly.
Whether you cherish or despise our collective night light, you've got to admit that it is a unique feature of a valley not noted for its uniqueness.
The world's largest manmade star has comfortably perched on our mountain shoulder for nearly half a century.
We are about to lose even that distinction.
El Paso, Texas - a city five times our size - will next month light a star high upon Mount Franklin. It will be 460 feet high - FIVE TIMES THE SIZE of the Mill Mountain Star.
"We're looking," says Jack Maxon, an El Paso restaurateur and president of the Greater El Paso Chamber of Commerce, "for an image."
El Paso, at the southern tip of the Rocky Mountains, about to celebrate its 500th birthday, sister city to Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, metropolitan-area home to nearly 2 million people, needs an image.
"We're looking for something that will help us develop community pride and a sense of identity," says Maxon. They've had a star there since 1942 or so, but it's only been lit at Christmastime.
Now, with the El Paso Electric Co., the chamber is laying plans to light up the star every night of the year - 460 incandescent bulbs (ours is neon) shining down onto the city.
School, church and civic groups, businesses and individuals will sponsor the starlight for a night, said Maxon, at a cost of about $30 (ours costs about $4 a night).
It'll be visible about 100 miles away (ours, 60 miles).
El Paso's new slogan, aimed at luring visitors to the West Texas outpost?
"We're thinking about the Star City," says Maxon. "Maybe the Lone Star City."
He started his campaign to light the star - really just electric lines strung between posts on a steep mountainside - about six months ago.
"I promise," says Maxon, "I didn't have a clue about Roanoke's star. This is totally independent. If I had known about Roanoke's I might not have pursued it. We're not going to compete with you at all."
Easy for Jack Maxon to say. A few years ago, Pearisburg - in Giles County - tried to pawn itself off as a western Roanoke. It had a Mayor Taylor and a jerry-built star on its mountain. Tourists by the thousands flocked to the small burg, thinking they were in Roanoke. Our valley has been mired in recession ever since.
Now, just as we climb out of our economic doldrums, comes El Paso, a mere 1,700 miles from here, ready to siphon off more of our commerce with a Texas-sized star.
This will not stand.
We are Roanokers, proud of our unique star. We stared down Pearisburg, we can stare down El Paso.
No experience necessary. Some travel required.
by CNB