If you’ve ever driven past the Gordonsville water tower on Interstate 40 during the holidays, you’ve most likely seen the twinkling cross that’s lit up from Thanksgiving through the New Year.

Though the cross is there year round, it’s most noticeable during Christmastime and Easter, when it lights up the night sky. Originally, the Lions Club built the cross in 1968 out of wood as a project to help the community celebrate holidays. Just under a decade later, a tornado destroyed it. Gordonsville resident Hollis Blair built a second – and current – cross out of metal. It’s hinged at the base of the water tank, so it can be easily serviced when lightbulbs need changed or other maintenance is required.

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Blair, his family and the Southside Lions Club help maintain the 14-foot cross each year, and it has inspired others to build crosses of their own.