Page 22 - AreaNewsletters "Nov2022" issue

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the light bulbs they could reach and heaving them over the side of the Rock. The six boys, oldest one was 17, were jailed pending a trial before Castle Rock Magistrate George Manhart. Manhart heard the charges and evidence and ned each boy $12.50 plus $4 cost of light bulb replacements, 19 bulbs were broken. Manhart advised the o enders that the statute provided a maximum ne of $100. The boys were then jailed in the Douglas County Jail, pending the parents’ arrival.
The prospect of facing their parents and telling them that they had been caught taking electric light bulbs out of the Christmas star on the Rock of Castle Rock, seemed a greater ordeal for the convicted juveniles to face than raising the ne!” (from unknown newspaper article)
The First Starlighting ceremony with fanfare included a massed choir march down Wilcox Street from the High School to the Courthouse, and it was started
in 1965 by Mrs. Anne McConnell, who was the owner of the Golden Dobbin. Subsequent ceremonies included the Air Force Academy Choir and in 1966 Helen Lowrie Marshall wrote a poem about the star.
Vandalism of the star didn’t end in the early days. The Douglas County News-Press reported on December 1, 1990 that “25 light bulbs had been taken
out of the star
and thrown on the
rocks below. ‘They like to come up here, unscrew the light bulbs and use them as hand grenades,’ said reman Darrol Mosley.”
Throughout the rst Gulf War in 1991, the star remained lit. A ag and yellow ribbon were also added.
The lightbulbs in the Star were changed to blue and orange to commemorate the Super Bowl wins for the Broncos in 1998 and 1999. And the Star was lit for several weeks after September 11, 2001.
It’s always fun when I am able to reach out to someone whose name came up a couple of times in the research for any rsthand story about the Castle Rock star. I asked Castle Rock Fire Chief Norris Croom if he remembered any story about
the star.
“When I joined the Castle Rock Fire and Rescue Department as a
A photo of an early Starlighting celebration when our town’s population was much lower.
November 2022 • Castle Rock “AreaNewsletters”
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CASTLE ROCK HISTORY