HUR CHRISTMAS STAR SENDS MESSAGE ACROSS THE QUIET HILLS

(12/07/2023)

By Bob Weaver

The coming of Christmas in the Village of Hur was slow during the early part of the 20th Century, in my time the rehearsal of the Christmas Program at the Mt. Olive Church started right after Thanksgiving.

The Christmas Program was a big deal in the 1940s-1950s, involving just about everyone. Even the curtain pullers got their names on a printed program.

When electric came to the village in the early 1950s, families bought a few strings of Christmas lights for indoor trees and many went wild with outdoor displays.

The world lit up.

The outdoor displays have waned in more recent years, but the tiny Village of Hur was adorned with a Christmas star in the 1990s on a high hill, the abode of Lewis and Dottie Hersman Slider.

Dottie had the display made, to be erected year after year, though she and Lewis have now died, the signature Christmas star once again sends its message across the hills, erected by Lewis' brother, Tommy.

Twenty-five years ago it seemed like the village would be more alive with the coming of a few new citizens.

Death has taken its toll, with only a handful left.