Palmer Lake Star lights up the night signifying the beginning of the holiday season

PALMER LAKE, Colo. (KRDO) -- The Palmer Lake Star has been lit on the Saturday following Thanksgiving for 86 years. According to the residents, it is the largest lit star in the world.

Saturday night at 7 P.M., dozens of locals flocked to the outside of Palmer Lake Elementary School to see the star light up the night sky. The history of the star is far and wide, just like the star itself.

"They built a 500 foot star with 92 light bulbs up on Sun Dance Mountain, and the road to Denver came through here so when it was shining people saw it," Jack Anthony said.

Anthony has been involved with the start for over a decade. He was integral in getting the star named a historical site in 2013.

"I've been a star nut since 2005. It was after we got the star to be named a historic site, the fireman started to ask me to climb up on a ladder and give a little talk before we do the countdown."

Before the crowd gathered outside Palmer Lake Elementary School, they were all inside dining together. A meal prepared by the Palmer Lake Fire Department.

"We started the star lighting with the firefighters it kind of got passed down with the responsibility of the star up keep and stuff," Carly Castanzo, a Palmer Lake firefighter, said. "It's just tradition to light it the Saturday after thanksgiving, and then it is lit for the entire month of December and it finishes on New Years."

The star will turn on every day right as nightfall approaches, and will turn off at dawn each morning.