Tara Jeffrey
After 12 years of silence, the bell at Sarnia’s St. Joseph’s church is ringing again.
“We thought we’d never see it back up,” parishioner Laura Hardy said of the historic Bell, which rang for the first time on Christmas Eve in 1928.
The Knights of Columbus Sarnia Council purchased it that year for $1,000 from Baltimore, Maryland.
It continued to ring for 79 years – signifying the beginning of mass, and tolling at every funeral – before the parish was forced to deconstruct the deteriorating bell tower in 2007.
“We were heartbroken when they took it down,” said Hardy, noting that the 1,280-lb bell was taken to be stored in the church rectory, before that building was taken down last year.
In the meantime, parishioners launched a capital campaign to bring their beloved bell back to service.
Then-pastor Father Steven Savel directed caretaker Chris Burley to spearhead the project, which has seen the construction of an enclosure just outside the 91-year-old church’s entrance at the corner of Stuart and Devine Streets, highlighted by new landscaping and revamped front steps.
“We’ve had all kinds of corporate contractors, volunteers, and parishioners just doing this out of the goodness of their own hearts,” said Hardy.
The bell, now enclosed by a protective fence, still has its original wooden wheel, which will be used to ring 15-minutes before Sunday mass, as well as the toll function used for funerals, with longer time between strikes in order to recite prayers.
A special ceremony was planned for Sunday.
Hardy’s mother Donna, known to many as the church’s own resident historian, said she’s delighted to hear the echoing rings in the church where she was baptized 84 years ago.
“It’s a beautiful tradition,” she said. “Even the neighbours here are excited to hear that bell ring again.”