Let there be light
Those looking for a family activity on New Year's Eve can head to the northwestern part of the county at dusk.
The Portersville-Prospect Rotary will set up 300 luminaria in each borough to enhance the holiday atmosphere.
The twinkling display has been set up by the Rotary for at least 25 years, but the timing of the 2020 event is different.
“It's usually on Christmas Eve to welcome the Christ child, so it adds to the Christmas Eve atmosphere,” Rotarian Polly Shaw said, “but it was pouring down rain, so there was no point.”
She said in years past, the Rotarians used plastic milk jugs, various size candles, battery-powered lights and other materials when making the luminaria each November.
Now, they are made of a 2-by-4 block of wood inserted into a wax bag with the top turned down.
A tall, narrow plumber's candle is placed into a hole in the wood block and lighted.
Shaw said the plumber's candles are the most reliable.
“Some of them are still burning by the next morning,” she said.
In the unlikely event a bag or wood block catches fire, it is simply allowed to burn and a new one is made by the Rotarians.
The luminaria will be placed at the intersection of Routes 488 and 528 in Prospect and along both sides of Perry Highway in Portersville, Shaw said.
For the past few years, members of the Interact Club at Slippery Rock High School have helped set out the luminaries, but will not participate this year because of the coronavirus pandemic's disruption of the school schedule.
Brian Bailey, mayor of Portersville, is thrilled that the luminary display will occur in 2020.
“It has been a local tradition,” Bailey said. “I think it gives people the chance to get out and talk to one another.”
He appreciates the Rotarians' efforts in setting up the display, which he said provides unity and fellowship in the borough.
“The Rotary contributes a lot to the community and the luminaria is just one of the things they do throughout the year,” Bailey said.
Prospect Mayor James Butler, who is also president of the Portersville-Prospect Rotary club, will be out Thursday afternoon placing the luminaries along the side of the road with his fellow club members.
“It's sort of a small way our club can remind the community of the meaning of Christmas,” Butler said. “It's really about lighting the way to hope and salvation in the new year.”
He said the display in the small borough always receives a positive reaction from its residents.
“A lot of people come out in the evening and walk along and see them,” Butler said.
Although they could not be placed on Christmas Eve as usual, Butler hopes the display will warm the hearts of all who view them.
“It's a nice way for us to celebrate the season,” he said.
Shaw said the Christmas Eve luminary display was rained out before, about 10 or 15 years ago,
She said a Rotary member who works at Moraine State Park had the luminaries placed along the Moraine Sunken Garden Trail at the park after a snowstorm.
Shaw said many cross-country skiers enjoyed the impromptu decoration of the trail.
In the event of rain Thursday, Shaw said the Rotary will put the luminary display on hold until next Christmas.
