Three quarters of a century later, this event rings a bell
A church bell that was missing for about three-quarters of a century has finally found its way home. It was rededicated Aug. 9.
The story of the bell, told in the Aug. 5 edition of the Harrison County Times-Reporter, stated that the Modale United Methodist Church bell was removed when the bell tower came down. The church was enlarged and remodeled. The church was rebuilt, and the bell ended up being tossed into a scrap iron pile.
Paul Watkins, who served on the church rebuilding committee, hauled off the pile, and the Watkins family held on to it for 75 years.
The bell came back to the church, and Aug. 9 marked the first time in all that time that the bell was rung as part of a service. And the man who rang that bell, now in his 90s, had that role as a boy. Jim Brandriff came from Eastern Iowa for the festive occasion.
