Spire soars above new temple
Rochester NY Democrat and Chronicle 22Oct99 D1
By Bennett J. Loudon: Democrat and Chronicle

MANCHESTER, NEW YORK -- In spite of the fact that the LDS Church made no formal announcement of the placement of the Angel Moroni on top of the spire of the Palmyra New York Temple, about 200 people learned of the 30-foot, 13,000 pound statue's installation and showed up to watch. "I think if we had announced it we could have had 2,000 to 3,000 people. That's the part that scared us," said LDS Church spokesman William Sherwood.

Church leaders didn't announce the placement of the statue because of concerns over safety for the crowds coming to a potentially dangerous construction site and because of traffic concerns.

Among those coming to the site were Kathryn Mauer, who arrived with her husband, Peter, and 10-year-old son, Tyler. The Mauers drove four hours from Delhi, in Delaware County, New York, to see the placement. She said that she was pleased to have a temple so close, "It's important to us because this is where the church got started and we don't have a temple that is within a day's drive." Mauer's son Tyler also seemed to appreciate the importance of the moment, "It's a once-in-a-lifetime thing to see the Angel Moroni going up on the 100th temple."