Photo provided by Jackee Pugh This December may be the last hurrah for a one-of-a-kind Christmas display that has appeared in St. Clairsville for more than 30 years.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — Just as a star in the east is said to have guided three wise men to the manger where Jesus was born, a star in St. Clairsville has led three illuminated magi to help bring the spirit of Christmas to the city for the past three decades.

Lifelong resident and former mayor Terry Pugh and two of his friends created the display together on a bit of a whim. He said after Oglebay Park began to welcome visitors to its Festival of Lights, he was motivated to create a lighted display for his own property, which is situated some distance off of Ohio 9 on the north side of St. Clairsville.

“They are the thought behind Christmas, and we need it anymore in this country,” Pugh said Friday.

Pugh said he and the late Conan Urbanek, a welder who owned Wise Exhaust in Fairpoint and died about 15 years ago, and Brad Jarvis, who owned Electric Supply Co. in Cambridge, were “all good friends” who decided to tackle the project.

According to Pugh, the inspiration came from Urbanek’s discovery of his father’s old industrial arts book, which contained an outline of the three wise men from the biblical story of Jesus’ birth. Urbanek also was the one who came up with the idea to create the massive figures from steel rebar — so that they would stand the test of time.

At the time, Pugh owned St. Clair Lawn Care and had some large buildings related to that business around his home, including a garage where the trio did their work. Pugh said Urbanek heated the metal while Pugh and Jarvis help twist it into the proper shapes on the garage floor. Urbanek then did the necessary welding to put them all together.

Next, Jarvis through his business ordered and made the lights and sockets needed to make them glow.

“If they didn’t have their skills and businesses, this never would have come about,” Pugh said of his friends.

In the end, the three men created three separate lighted wise men and three lighted camels to mount them on. Pugh said the magi and the camels come apart for storage.

When assembled, Pugh said, each figure measures “a little over 12 feet long and a little over 12 feet high.

He explained that the pieces have tubing that allows the rebar to slide inside to put them together, then the lights on the components get wired together as well.

The star, which Pugh made himself, is built out of wood and gets mounted high atop the garage each December.

This year, though, might be the last time Pugh erects the display.

“The wise men are pretty heavy,” Pugh said. “Now I pay a guy to put the star up on top of garage.”

Noting that he is 77 years old and will turn 78 early next year, Pugh said the effort to drag the figures out to the lawn with a tractor and set them up is becoming a bit too much for him to handle.

“I don’t know how much longer I can do this,” he said.

Pugh’s daughter, Belmont County Tourism Director Jackee Pugh, said seeing the wise men at her parents’ home each December takes her back to her childhood.

“I was probably about 10 years old, give or take,” she said regarding the time when the display was created. “I remember he had a couple of friends welding in his garage. Later, we would drive through St. Clairsville (to look at holiday lights) with Route 9 as our last stop, coming home to see the camels.”

She said her own daughter, St. Clairsville Middle School student Paige Elmore, said it will be “so weird not having it next year.”

Jackee said the sheer size of the display makes it special.

“They’re huge,” she said. “They’re over 12 feet tall. He uses a tractor to drag them up through the yard. They’re Oglebay sized.”

Terry Pugh said area residents have come to anticipate the lighting of the wise men and camels each year.

“About three years ago, my wife was on the internet and it’s funny in a way — two ladies werre talking and said, ‘We haven’t seen the wise men up yet. I think that guy died.’

“I told my wife, they will be up tomorrow!”

He said a lot of people seem to appreciate the display. In fact, a few people from the Cadiz area who drive by it frequently have driven up to his house because they wanted to see how tall the figures actually are. He also noted that, because of the way it was created, the display is one of a kind.

And while this year may be the last time Pugh puts the display up for passersby to enjoy, he said it has been a pleasure to share the Christmas scene with everyone for some many years.

“I’m glad myself and my family can do something for the spirit of Christmas,” he concluded.