Page B10 —————— 100% B.C. OWNED & OPERATED The Castlegar Sun Wednesday, September 20, 1995 Any man’s death diminishes me, for | am involved in mankind, Ask not, therefore, for whom the bell tolls, It tolls for thee.” John Donne: Meditations lt is 9:45 a.m. and the quiet of the sunny spring morning at Westminster Abbey is suddenly shat- tered by the clamor of the Abbey bells in the Pfitzer Memorial Bell Tower announcing the 10:00 a.m. High Mass. They are not shy, these Abbey bells. They can be heard as far as eight kilometres away across the Fraser Valley; as far in fact, as one can see the high bell tower in which they are housed, Their story is an interesting one and bound closely with the story of the Abbey itself. It begins in 1948 when the bell foundaries in Britain were returning, after the war, to their ancient art of cast- ing bells rather than cannon, and were making a vigorous bid for customers everywhere. A sales- man, therefore, from the historic Whitechapel Bell Foundary, in London, called in 1948, at the Benedictinese, first y, Westminster Priory, at Deer Lake Burnaby. He wanted to talk with the then Prior, (later Abbot), Fr. Eugene Medved, about the purchase of a peal of bells for the yet-to-be-built Abbey in Mission. In the course of this discussion, Fr. Prior Eugene learned that there were two kinds of church bells—Continental bells, which remain stationary while being struck with a hammer, and English bells, which are connected to a wheel which makes a full circle each time a bell is rung. The latter bell has a fuller, rounder sound. Since this was to be a purchase involving twelve Niagara Frozen ORANGE JUICE 12/341 ml. Ocean Spray CRANBERRY COCKTAIL 3.78 Litre Kellogg's Frozen EGGO WAFFLES Reg or Blueberry Mott's CLAMATO COCKTAIL Reg. or extra spicy 1.89 Litre 3 Variety Pack PRIMO SOUP 6x525 ml. Mainstay Bathroom Tissue KLEENEX ULTRA SOFT COFFEE 24 roll pack ao . g. tin Fresh from our bakery FRENCH BREAD 450 g. MACINTOSH APPLES New crop 1.30 kg. Maple' Leaf COOKED BONELESS HAM HAMS Fresh from our deli Toupie Style 100 g. 61 kg. Olympic Canada ‘A’ Grades beef from Nicola Valley All fresh BEEF 25% off reg. price. For your convenience counter prices will be reduced by 25% at the checkout register. erac| We now accept NM | Accessible Debit Cards 2717 CoLUMBIA AVE., CASTLEGAR 365-5336 t d pounds of finely tuned bells, a major financial consideration, Fr. Eugene, ever-cau- tious, went to Britain and the continent to see for himself. The Whitechapel Bell Foundary, which had been in business since 1570, and which had cast the Library Bell in 1752, and London’s Big Ben in 1858, got the bid. The bells were delivered in 1951, but another six years had to pass before the tower to accom- modate them was built, the bells lowered into place by a crane, and officially dedicated, with all due ceremony, by Abbot Eugene. The casting, tuning and mounting of such bells is strictly a job for expens. There are ten of them, and all have names. They stan’ with ‘Maria’ at 602 Ibs. Then through ‘St. Patrick’, “Saints Mau- rus and Placidus’, “St. Gr y". “St. Michael and the Angels’, “St. Eugene’, ‘St. Thomas Aquinas’, *Holy Spirit’, “St. Bede’, and finally to the heavy weight, ‘St. Benedict’, at 2863 Ibs. Before leaving the foundary they were all tuned to the key of E major—a process achieved by shaving off tiny amounts of the bronze form inside of each bell—a job which makes piano tun- ing look casy Like their medieval counterparts, says guest- master Fr. Mark Dumont, to whom I owe much of this information, the Abbey bells ring out for early morning Mass, noon prayers, Vespers, and evening prayers, as well as on feast days and spe- cial occasions such as funerals for the monks and the election of a new abbot They were rung also this year, at the special request of Mission City on the 50th anniversary of V.E. Day. For the sake of guests, they are not rung at Lauds, the first prayers of the day, which comes at 5:15 in the morning. Ask not for whom the bell tolls OVER MY SHOULDER JOHN CHARTERS Unlike their medieval forerunners, and unlike most contemporary bells on the continent, the Abbey bells are played in ‘change ringing’, i.e the pealing of bells in ever-changing sequences, a procedure developed in post-Reformation Eng- land, where there are now over six thousand bell towers, In all of Canada there are only six; three in British Columbia, inéluding Holy Rosary Cathedral in Vancouver, Christ Church Cathedral in Victoria and, of course Westminster Abbey in M which is lly, the only 10 bell ‘peal’ in Canada. Change-ringing, as Fr, Mark notes, is both an art and a science, requiring years of practice, and is ¢omplicated by the fact that one person is needed to ring each bell. Moreovet, each ringer must both listen carefully to his own bell and keep a close eye on the ropes of his fellow ringer in order to avoid ‘clashing’ — i.e. sound- ing af the same time as another ringer. The first change on the Abbey bells was rung in 1973 by a visiting English group and is known to ringers as the 5040 Cambridge Surprise Royal. It took three hours and three minutes to complete; not a job for the inattentive or for weaklings. The tall, graceful Pfitzer Memorial Tower, which houses the bells, was built in honor of Patti Pfitzer Reynolds, the beloved wife of the late Fr. Bede Reynolds, formerly a geological engineer who on his wife’s death became a priest and a Benedictine monk. Like the rest of the buildings which were also designed by the Norwegian architect, the late Asbjorn Gathe. It is the first such tower to be built of reinforced concrete. At its base is a crypt for Patti's body and a small chapel where Fr. Bede would say Mass. Not the quietest resting place, but certainly a unique one. Incidentally, Fr. Mark is a member of the well known pioneer Dumont family, early settlers in the Kootenays. Postscript, and dedication of this column to a special young friend: While I was writing this column at the end of my May teaching session I had a young lady caller, Cindy, a Mission City ‘95 grad, who had visited us briefly in Castle- gar while on a school band tour of the Koote- nays. I had promised at the time to show her around the Abbey. She was tall and blonde, pretty and veracious. generous to a fault and a true sweetie with a voice to match, and was looking forward to a career in music. She was delighted, therefore, to have been asked to sing ‘at the late August wedding of her piano teacher, and our mutual friend, Maria. We did the tour, as promised, and she enjoyed it, but she fell totally in love with the abbey bells. Two weeks before the wedding Cindy and two other grads were struck at a Mission crossroad, by a truck. The young man, the driver of the light car was paralyzed, his girl friend suffered broken bones and facial cuts requiring plastic surgery, while Cindy, with massive injuries, died four days later. We drank a toast, to Cindy, at Maria’s wedding, and today a great mass of floral tributes and cross- es mark the place of her death, while the Abbey bells still sound the reminder, “Ask not for whom the bell tolls.” And each time I hear the bells I will remember one sweet, young life and a voice silenced forever. My thanks to the congregation of St. Rita’s for their prayers on behalf of our friend. = College Continued from BS Counselling 365-1273 for more information. Sept. 27. Heart saver CPR “A”, now called Heart- saver starts Sept. 27 and a Driver Training course that includes in- car driving lessons begins Sept. 27. For details, or to register, con- tact Continuing Education at the Castlegar campus. The Counselling office at the Castlegar Campus has scheduled evening counselling sessions for the month of September to assist anyone unable to get to campus during regular business hours. Appointments lasting 45 min- utes may be booked through the receptionist for Wednesday evenings, Sept. 20 and 27 from 6- 9 p.m. Contact Student Services at — While Quantities Last — Sale dates: Sept. 20 thru Sept. 23 Thank you Woodland Drive Estates for choosing us as your concrete supplier. CONCRETE — Galt Castlegar 365-2430 >= IE Get cooking Oct. 10 is the start date for a Level III Cooking program spe- cializing in a la carte and banquet cuisine at the Nelson campus. Cooks with provincial certifica- tion to Level Il, or three years cooking experience are eligible for admission. Sponsorship may be available from Human Resources Canada for qualified applicants. For details, contact the Nelson cam- pus admissions office. 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