Cross and effect
It is said that a year of good fortune awaits the young man who retrieves the Epiphany cross. But destiny sometimes takes a detour.
By ROBIN STEIN
Published January 6, 2006
It's the image most of us see when we think of the Epiphany celebration in Tarpon Springs: teenagers in white T-shirts splashing and diving in search of a wooden cross.
That's why the photo of two men in wet suits is such a curiosity.
Why is one of them holding a broken Epiphany cross? And why were they diving in Spring Bayou?
The history of the Epiphany celebration is filled with odd occurrences. Lost crosses. A divinely inspired dove. Even Bubba the Love Sponge.
And the 1965 celebration was among the most unusual.
When Father Constantine Raptis threw the cross, it hit a flagpole and ricocheted, breaking off a bar. After his second toss, 40 young men scoured the chilly waters of the bayou without luck. Father Raptis was forced to toss another cross, which was retrieved within seconds.
But news reports of the lost cross intrigued two Army buddies in Tampa.
Wade Wharton and, yes, Lucky Wilkerson, both 27, were biding time before embarking on what they hoped was a lucrative fishing venture in Central America.
The next day, they drove to Tarpon Springs, suited up in snorkeling gear, and set out in search of what they thought was a bejeweled, golden cross.
After about 45 minutes, Wharton spotted something.
"One arm was broken off, it was standing straight up, waving in the water, and there was a beam of light shining on it," he said.
It was not the treasure the men expected, but still worthy of showing off to the folks in Tampa. (Their consciences, their wives - and a Pinellas County sheriff's deputy - quickly dispelled any idea of them keeping the cross as a trophy.)
Today, Wharton, 68, is retired from Boeing and lives in Huntsville, Ala. A lifelong sculptor of wood and metal, he recently began winning awards for his gourd carvings. He has never believed much in luck - one way or the other - despite nearly severing his hand in Honduras and suffering a near-fatal brain aneurysm when he was 36.
"I was unconscious for about two weeks, and I was a blithering idiot for a long time after that," he said. "My doctor died in a plane crash about two or three months after I had my stroke."
He sporadically keeps in touch with Wilkerson, who stayed in Central America and became a Baptist missionary.
"I started out as a sharecropper in Arkansas," Wharton says. "Started out in the mud, knee-deep. It takes a lot to crawl out of mud like that."
Just like a lost cross.
AT A GLANCE- Epiphany Day starts with the Orthros, the morning preparatory service, and the Patriarchal Liturgy at St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Cathedral, 36 N Pinellas Ave., at 8 a.m. today. The service will be followed by the procession to Spring Bayou.
- The Diving for the Cross will take place about 12:30 p.m. at Spring Bayou, with His All Holiness Bartholomew performing the ceremony and tossing the cross. More than 50 young men ages 16 to 18 will dive.
- The Glendi, or festival, will be at the Sponge Docks from 1 p.m. to midnight with Greek food, music and dancing. The Sponge Docks will be blocked to vehicle traffic for the festival.
- Parking and shuttles are available from several locations (www.epiphany100.com) The festival continues from noon to midnight Saturday. All events are free. (727) 937-3540.
Epiphany lore and odd occurrences1930s: Epiphany lore has it that a "ruby-studded cross of pure gold" was lost in Spring Bayou.
1936-37: Divers from Greece and New York retrieve the cross, prompting organizers to adopt a rule that only local boys can dive for it.
1947: After seeing a diver cross himself three times, a bishop throws the cross three times. Three different boys come up with the cross. All are blessed.
1956: About 500 people watch divers make an apparently fruitless search for the lost ruby-studded cross, according to an Epiphany souvenir book published in 1964.
1970: Two divers are blessed after a cross goes missing. A second wooden cross is found first, then the first cross is retrieved.
1974: The ceremonial dove, the symbol of the Holy Spirit, flutters above the bayou and lands atop the bejeweled hat of Archbishop Iakovos. After the archbishop throws the wooden cross, no one can find it. He removes the gold cross from his staff and throws it - right into the hands of Nikitas Lulias, 19. Another boy later comes up with the wooden cross. Today Lulias serves as the metropolitan, a rank between bishop and archbishop in the Orthodox Church.
1999: Someone throws 22 fake crosses with "Bubba" written on them into Spring Bayou. Police find them before the event. Disc jockey Bubba the Love Sponge Clem, who had ridiculed Epiphany before the celebration, denies involvement.