For some children in certain parts of this small town, it’s guided them to goodness instead of landing on Santa’s “Naughty List” for nearly 70 years.
It’s reminded them and everyone else for decades that Jolly Ol’ St. Nick would soon be on his way, but also, it’s been a man-made sign of the true Miracle of Christmas. The “Bethlehem Star” has been in place in the Bachmann backyard since 1955, and the brainchild of the family’s patriarch, Gilbert, now is larger than it’s ever been before. This year, according to its new caretaker Matt Croft, it first illuminated the night after Thanksgiving, and will remain in place until a day after New Year’s.
“I started taking care of the property for the Bachmann family later in 2016, and the star was hung off of the huge oak tree that was once in this backyard. But then in the early summer back in 2022, the double derecho that took out the power around here for a couple of days also took out that tree,” Croft explained. “It took out a lot of trees on this hilltop. I think I had to clear something like 96 trees off this property alone. It was a mess for a while.
“As winter was coming up last year, Mark (Bachmann) told me his father’s original intent was to have the star attached to their back deck, and when the family first put it up (in 1955), that’s where it was and the star was 12-feet-by-12-feet back then,” he said. “They made it a little larger (14×14) in the late 1960s, and then Walter Doran made a 20-by-20 frame for it and they hung it from the tree beginning in 1991.”
It’s even bigger today.
“We decided to return the star to the back of the house and made it much larger (25×25) and now we’re using the LED lights, so it’s very easy to see from down below,” Croft explained. “And ya know, back in 2020 during the pandemic, I left it up longer than usual because I thought it might give people hope, or something like that, but this year we’ll go back to Mr. Bachmann’s tradition.”
Gilbert Bachmann was a partner with the Bachmann Hess Bachmann Law Firm in Wheeling for decades, and the family property is close to the very end of Chapel Hill Road in the hilltop village. Most of the backyards along the ridgeway roadway are crowded with woods that block any view of the city of Wheeling, but the Bachmann property has been consistently sculpted through the years in honor of the star.
“Once people find out that I take care of the land, the star is all I hear about. And that’s true in the middle of the summer, too,” Croft said with a chuckle. “People love it. A lot of people tell me that it gives them encouragement because if it’s still there, it means no one has quit on it. They say that at this time of year, it’s the bright star in their life.
“I’ve had people tell me they have stared at it and prayed to it since they were kids,” he said. “And people who have come home to see family have told me they’re so happy to see that at least one thing they remember from their childhood is still there for them to see.”
Star Light, Star Bright
There are a couple of illuminated stars on the Medical Park campus of WVU Medicine Wheeling Hospital, and another close sit close to the westbound hillside climb of Interstate 470, and all of them make for a fancier constellation than what Bachmann’s old-fashioned display.
But those gleaming nightlights fall to compare, at least to Croft, anyway.
“It’s the village of Bethlehem, so they are just trying to mimic what the Bachmanns have done here for so many years,” he said. “And that’s OK. I’m sure those stars make people happy, and the people traveling I-470 can’t see this one anyway. And hopefully, the one at the hospital give people the hope they need.
“Those stars may be prettier and bigger, and those owners may have more money in them, but this star has been here forever, and it will stay here forever as far as I’m concerned. This is a tradition that must continue for as long as possible because of what it seems to mean to so many people. To kids, especially” he said. “Mr. Bachmann was 96 years old when he passed away in November 2014, and I know it was important to his family, to his son Mark, that the star continued to shine, and that’s a very beautiful thing to me.”
That’s why – and Matt Croft will immediately explain if and when asked – he is honored to be the person now in charge of the historic and holy glow.
“When I was asked by the family to care for this property, it was like it was a calling because of how much I have loved and respected this family for so long. I wear a lot of hats and I’ve had a lot of titles in my career, but taking care of this land, and especially this tradition, is one of the biggest honors I’ve had in my life,” he admitted. “There are a lot of people who count on seeing this star when you’re supposed to, and to be the person who makes sure it’s there for them is a really big deal to me.
“Mr. Bachmann’s Bethlehem Star was there for me as a kid, and I made a lot of wishes on it, I can tell you that,” Croft added. “So, now it’s my job to make sure other children – and adults – can do the same.”
