BUCYRUS—Bucyrus resident and the former director of the Bucyrus Area Chamber of Commerce Deb Pinion has conducted research on three crosses located on Ohio 4, south of Bucyrus, and is heading up a campaign to restore the crosses as a community in honor of the city’s bicentennial.
“The crosses were put there by Rev. Bernard Coffindaffer. He grew up very poor in West Virginia but when he got older, he got a job cleaning coal. He eventually opened his own coal-cleaning company and made millions of dollars from that,” Pinion said.
She said that after Coffindaffer became religious and was saved, he made the decision to travel across the United States, erecting the crosses throughout the nation.
Pinion was able to connect with the operator of the website, Crosses Across America, which is based in Vicksburg, Mississippi, to learn about the crosses and Coffindaffer.
“The lady is very elderly now but still keeps the website up-to-date. I was able to find out about Coffindaffer through her and there were four sites of these trios of crosses in Crawford County and this set is the only one still standing,” said Pinion. “He placed 1,900 sets of crosses across America, Zambia and Puerto Rico.”
She said the crosses on Ohio 4, which were erected in 1986, are in bad shape and covered with overgrown trees and brush.
“One is even leaning some. I thought it would be a nice project for local residents to do to restore the crosses since they are right outside of town and people see them as they are coming into our city,” said Pinion.
She said that Coffindaffer died years ago, penniless as he spent all of his money erecting the crosses throughout the United States.
“He did not have children or a wife so this is how he chose to spend the money he made throughout his life,” said Pinion.
She said that she and her husband, Roger, are willing to head up the project as well as purchase solar lights to light up the crosses at nighttime after they are restored.
“The property belonged to Mary Lou Hastings when Coffindaffer came to town to do the project. She gave her permission for the crosses to be constructed on her property. He stayed with Pastor Reuben Leuthold of Wayside Chapel when he came to town which is what he did as he traveled. He hooked up with churches in the area while he was there,” said Pinion.
She said she has contacted the current property owner, Dave Taylor, who has given the green light for the restoration to occur.
“He said he has wanted to do something with the crosses but did not take on the project by himself at this point. He was happy to talk with me and to learn someone was interested in it,” said Pinion.
She told about her restoration plan to the Bucyrus City Council members at their meeting on Tuesday.
“Councilmember Bruce Truka called me after the meeting and is donating $300 to get the project started,” said Pinion.
She said donations of $5 or $10 are also wonderful.
“This is the community’s project, much like the Liberty mural project we did years ago. I remember one day when a little girl, who had just won the art contest at the Bratwurst Festival, came to my office and wanted to donate the money she won, $10, to the project in honor of her grandparents who both had served in the military,” said Pinion. “That little girl learned about the project and then felt ownership in it which is what we want this to be, the community’s project.”
Pinion said she is collecting the donations to get the ball rolling but has reached out to non-profit organizations, including the Community Foundation of Crawford County, to take care of the donations.
“We want a place in which the donations we have leftover after the project is completed can be saved for future maintenance,” said Pinion.
She said there is a local company that has been out to the site and may help with the restoration but donations, up to about $3,000 at the most, are needed to complete it.
“We also would like people to donate other items, such as gravel, paint, and more. We think the crosses were originally constructed from telephone poles,” said Pinion.
She is reaching out to local businesses for donations also and can be contacted at 419-562-3288 for more information about the project or for people who would like to donate something or their labor to the project.