The Brussels Post, 1975-03-26, Page 2Amen
By Karl Schuessler
Bob French rang the Brodhagen Church
bells for me.
He wondered if he'd get himself into
trouble. And he did.
It didn't make any difference that we
checked with the pastor. He said to go ahead.
Ring the bells. Show me the ins and outs of
bell ringing way up in St. Peter's steeple
tower.
But within two minutes of the bells ringing,
the people st arted to phone up the pastor.
Why are the bells ringing? Did someone die?
I should have known. For bell ringing isn't
an idler's past time. A merry sport. Bell
ringing says something. It marks time. It rings
out news. It spreads the word around.
Bob French had already rung the bells twice
that Saturday. Once to announce the passing
of a member who died that morning. And then
at 6:00 to mark the end of the week and the
beginning of preparation for the Sunday
worship.
And now a third time for me. To show me
the ropes of bell ringing. Bob was willing.
Willing to pull his weight once again against
those two iron maidens named Maria and
Martha.
Bob's a man in his seventies -- and as he
likes to say -- with some snow on his roof. But
those white h airs don't stop him from
matching his • 135 pounds against the 1,000
pounds of the bells.
Bob's rung the bells for over five years now.
When his wife started taking over the care
taking duties at the church, Bob fell into a few
of the heavier jobs. And bell ringing was one
of them.
"When I first started," he chuckles, "I
wasn't very good. The whole neighborhood
had to be the guinea pig."
With a job like bell ringing, he couldn't go
off and practice all by himself until he
mastered them. Not at all. Practice was
performance.Performance was practice.
"You can sure bet I he'ard about it," he
says. But no more. He's mastered the ropes.
He spits on his hands. Rubs them together.
And grips fitsi the rope on the left With his
left hand. That's Martha, the big bell She's at
least 600 pounds. The boss bell he calls her.
Hegives the rope a pail. Gets her started first.
Then he grabs on to Mary's rope With his
right hand. The two bells are off and ringing
now. Gaining in momentum. Sending Out their
two sounds: In steady rhythm.
"They're jiving tioWo " Bob says. And the
sierses.sosiB.
sets Po
BRUSSELS
ONTARIO WEDNESDAY, MARCH 26, 1975
Serving Brussels and the surrounding community.
Published each Wednesday afternoon at Brussels, Ontario
by McLean Bros.Publishers, Limited.` 4
Evelyn Kennedy - Editor
Dave Robb - Advertising
Member Canadian Comm'unity Newspaper Association and
Ontario Weekly Newspaper Association.
Subscriptions (in advance) Canada $6.00 a year, Others
CCNIA, $8.00 a year, Single Copies 15 cents each.
eNA
CIRCULATION ,
• S S
Clean up the act?
Raises for elected officials, from school board
trustees to village councillors have been causing a
great deal of comment around the county these days.
We can see no objection to raises when they are
justified by increasing work loads or when public
salaries have lagged behind the cost of living and
• other people's pay increases for many years.
We do however object to elected officials using
what looks like rather fancy footwork to increase
their pay" in ways that aren't very obvious to the tax
payer. Two examples of this rather questionable
behavior by elected representatives were pointed out
by the editor of the Exeter Times Advocate in his
column last week.
Exeter editor Bill Batten says:
"In case you missed it, the Huron-Perth Separate
School board voted last week to pay themselves 16
cents per mile travelled on board business.
That, of course, is a rather fair price considering
the cost of gasoline, cars, upkeep, etc., but the
rather surprising aspect is that members receive the
mileage allowance whether they drive their own
vehicles or not.
So, if the board members decide to form car pools
to get to meetings or attend board events,' each
member in the car pool receives the 16 cents per
mile, despite the fact only one has the expense.
It wasn't a unanimous decision, as half the board
members felt it unfair, but the deciding vote was cast
in favor of providing the allowance regardlessof how
members travel.
What justification there can be for such a decision
is beyond our comprehension.
We wonder what board members would do if
teachers decided they should get paid regardless of
whether they teach or not. It's about the same
situation.
However, before you Protestants start laughing up
y our sleeve, we should point out that this has been a
common practice among county council members for
some time.
They too get paid for mileage regardless of how
they get to the meetings and several of them travel
together and each gets the mileage allowance.
In addition, we've been told that recently some
members of county council h ave been working out a
deal whereby they get paid for one and a half
meetings per day (night not included.)
Members decided that to get the full daily
stipened, the meetings had to last past 2:00 p.m. So,
now they start their sessions later in the morning so
they can continue past the magic hour.
They are then adjourned and some members take
off for committee meetings for the balance of the
afternoon where they receive pay for attending
another half-day session.
So, it would appear that residents of our area
communities don't have to look to Watergates and
dredging scandals. We appear to have some rather
dubious practices of our. own right at home.
Come now, ladies and gentlemen. Let's clean up
the act!"
Notre Dame, Paris, France
tone of little Maria comes first. Bong, then
loud Martha. Bong, And then Maria's
after-tone. Bong.
Bong. BONG Bong. Bob's in full rhythm
now. With five or six feet of the rope slipping
through his hands as the bell wheel takes up
his pull.
For a good five minutes Bob keeps those
Saturday evening bells going. For Mrs. Miller
who,diedihat morning he tolled out three runs
of bells.'On the first run he pulled on M aria
and Martha's ropes 40 or 50 times. That run
was to get the community's attention.
He stopped. Waited an interval. And started
up with the second run. With 40 more strokes.
And wait again.
And then the final run. the single bell--the
big Martha be11--to sound out the 59 years of
Mrs.Miller's life. Those are quick short pulls.
Almost as if he's trying to hold back the
sound. Letting only a foot of the rope go
through his hands this time.
I asked him if he ever thought about that
poem by John Donne when he rings the bells?
The one about don't-ask-for-whom-the-bell-
tolls-it-tolls-for-thee. ::
Bob knew the poem alright. But he didn't
have time for any such philosophy. He's got
enough to think about in pulling those ropes.
In keeping count. In keeping time. That's job
enough.
"This bell ringing was on the go long before
I was here", Bob says, "I just keep it going."
And tomorrow on Sunday he'll keep it going
once again. H e'll climb the bell tower and call
the members to worship. And then near the
close of the service while the congregation is
praying the Lord's Prayer, he'll ring the
Martha bell again:
That's the potato bell I told him.
He never heard of that one. I heardit from
my mother. She said all the women back h
ome knew when to put the potatoes on the
stove for dinner when they heard that bell.
He laughed, "it's unknownst to me, but it
Could make a good yard stick:
And he was right. Bob French's bell ringing
yardsticks many things. Probably far more
things than he ever dreams of.
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