CAMDEN, Maine — On any night in December, you can see it. A bright star, blazing low in the sky over the west side of Penobscot Bay.
But this star is not a part of nature’s night sky. Instead, it is created by local volunteers in Camden, to shine the light of hope and community during the holiday season.
“I’d say it's a symbol of community,” Peter Rollins said, one of the volunteers who gather each year to assemble the star and then make the trip up Mount Battie each afternoon to fuel the generator that provides the power.
“Come up here any night to light the star and there are people around, and you get, ‘Thanks so much for doing this,'” Rollins added.
The Mount Battie Star, as many call it, originated in the mid-1960s when a local store put a large lighted star on the side of a downtown building. According to local history, other business owners liked it but thought the star should be in a spot where more people could see it.
That began the tradition of putting the star on the stone tower on top of Mount Battie in Camden Hills State Park. From there, the star is visible in many parts of Camden, as well as the islands of Islesboro, North Haven, Vinalhaven, and even Matinicus. Some people on the opposite side of Penobscot Bay can reportedly see it as well.
The ten to 12 volunteers come together each November to put the pieces of the star together and set it up on the tower. Randy Stearns, who helps organize it all, said they usually begin with emails in September to nail down an installation date.
On the mountaintop, pieces of the star's frame are laid out and bolted together.
And while they’ve carried out this tradition every year for more than 50 years, sometimes there can still be initial confusion about where each piece goes.
“We tend to go through this every year ‘til someone finally has that 'Eureka' moment," Jonathan Ward said.
A few years ago, one of the volunteers made a design chart to work from, and once that came out and the color-coded pieces were dropped into their places, the 22-foot star came together.
Volunteers like Bob Cochran said they enjoy being part of the annual event, at least on good weather days.
“But there’s certainly a sense of reward, and on those bad weather days, everybody works together to get it done safely and quickly. We can all see it from town beneath,” Cochran said.
That is the reward for everyone involved—people in the town and thousands of others in the midcoast area get to see the star every night.
The star is first turned on on Thanksgiving night and runs through New Year’s Eve.
And while the star fully appears to be a product of volunteers and donations, besides the group that assembles and sets up the star, and those who turn it on each night, the generator has been donated and the fuel to run it is donated by a local market.
A hardware store also donates the 100 LED bulbs that provide the light. The Lions Club provides insurance, and Stearns said the current star frame was built with donated tubular steel.
Rollins and the others said being part of that beloved tradition means a lot to them, and others agreed.
“There will be nights you're up here lighting the star and as soon as they see it you’ll hear horns honk downtown it's pretty neat, it’s a great thing," Rollins said.