In early April, Ron Bealer Jr. and Ron Sr. were given permission by the Rev. Dennis Moore to thin out some large trees in the woods behind Union Evangelical Lutheran Church, Neffs.

The first large 35-foot pin oak tree did not fall where it was intended.

Rather, it dropped to the side and fell on and crushed the cross the church had in an outdoor sanctuary area used at various times during the warmer seasons.

The next day, Ron Sr. reported to his pastor he had "sinned and destroyed the cross."

Pastor Moore said the cross was old and needed to be replaced anyway.

The Bealer men were then on a mission to replace the cross.

They cut the fallen tree and hauled the large trunk to Mike Peter's Saw Mill in Shimersville.

He cut 7-inch by 7-inch timbers to be used in the construction of a new 17-foot cross.

When completed, the new cross weighed more than 700 pounds.

Hohenshilt Welding of Schnecksville volunteered its crane and the large cross was lifted and placed into the saddle at the base of the cross to hold it firmly upright.

The Bealers, with the help of Dale Johnson's Machine Shop, Carl Gillikin and others in the community, had replaced the destroyed cross.

Knowledge of Ron Sr.'s cross-building expertise spread throughout the Lutheran community and he was soon summoned to use his talent in building a cross for another site, this time at Luther Crest retirement community, South Whitehall.