Smith: Santa Rosa landowners appeal for an end to battle of hillside cross

On Easter, of all Sundays, emotions stirred by the great, disputed cross of white-washed stones on an east Santa Rosa hillside may run especially high.

Opinions of the cross, created nearly 35 years ago by war veteran and retired policeman Arvo Kannisto, who’s nearly 97 and lives at the base of the hill, range from worshipful adoration to sheer loathing.

But the only opinions that matter are those of the couple who own the property on which the cross resides.

For years, Carl and Suzanne Merner and their family allowed Kannisto alone to go onto the slope to maintain his 127-foot by 67-foot cross. For several reasons, among them Kannisto’s advanced age and his failure to honor the terms of the agreement, the Merners in 2012 told him he could no longer pass onto their land.

From that point, the cross should rightly have begun to recede naturally into the landscape. But, as you probably know, a struggle has flared between rival camps of trespassers.

One side sneaks up, plucks rocks from the cross and rolls them down, as happened recently, then the other ascends to replace the stones. Quite reasonably, the Merners want the treading and trampling to stop.

“It’s really time that the hillside return to the state it was in,” Suzanne Merner said. She appeals to everyone to end the clash that is worsening the scarring of the land.

“It’s become an eyesore,” she said.

She and her husband have begun to encourage people living near the hillside to call the police at 528-5222 if they see anyone trespassing.

That cross has existed for a good long time. It’s been both scorned and adored since Kannisto created it in 1981 as his tribute to Jesus Christ and to all who died in service to their country.

But to everything there is a season. And the Merners are right.

It’s time for everyone to stay off that hill and to allow the cross to take its place in the past.

WHAT IS A QUILT but a patchwork of love and comfort? It’s also a consummate gift for a child in distress.

Meg Easter-Dawson of Valley of the Moon Children’s Home visited a gathering of the Santa Rosa Quilt Guild the other day to accept a quite stunning expression of caring - 100 handmade quilts.

As has been the tradition for decades, one will go to each child who enters the home, a sanctuary for abused and neglected kids.

Before Easter-Dawson packed the colorful, imaginative and lovingly stitched quilts into her car, guild members showed them off in a parade around the periphery of the meeting room in Rincon Valley.

Easter-Dawson said the quilts are treasured by the children.

“These quilts become security blankets,” she said. “We hear story after story of kids who carry them into adulthood.”

Members of the nearly 40-year-old guild donate quilts also to many others who benefit from the warmth and kindness. Soon the quilts they’ve created and given away will number 19,000.

“ODYSSEY” CONTINUES: The world finals await seven theatrical and diligent girls from Santa Rosa who emerged as winners of the statewide Odyssey of the Mind competition.

The team’s current challenge is to fine-tune the presentation and raise the cash needed for the May journey to the championships at Michigan State University that will draw students from across America and overseas.

The kids, their parents and coach Bob Lipman, who teaches at Santa Rosa’s Hidden Valley School, are working up plans for fundraisers. There’s an appeal at gofundme.com/omstatechamps.

All seven members of the Santa Rosa team are students or ex-students of Lipman, and veterans of his previous Odyssey of the Mind teams. The competition presents students creative problem-solving challenges.

Lipman’s team, composed of students from Hidden Valley and both Santa Rosa and Rincon Valley middle schools, performs an elaborate skit that portrays the making of a silent movie.

The hardest part for the kids: being silent.

Chris Smith is at 521-5211 and chris.smith@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @CJSPD.