The generosity of a donor helps the Nativity of Mary Parish (St. Mary’s) restore their historic bells! In early 2021, Carol Berner decided to make a generous donation to complete the bell restoration project. The donation is in honor of her late husband who passed just last year.
St. Mary’s, which is in Janesville, Wisconsin, was very special to Carol’s husband, Thomas Berner. He had been a lifelong member, actually graduating from the church school.
With the donation of $35,000 for repairs, new bell ringing equipment now allows the historic 74 year old Meneely bells to ring!
“There’s something comforting about that, to know, no matter where I am, if I hear church bells, that’ll bring my family back to me.” Carol stated in this article by The Janesville Gazette. Furthermore she remarked, “I just thought it would be a perfect tribute to a very devout, longtime family of the Church.”
The Verdin Company was hired to manufacture and install the new equipment. Verdin technicians were working on-site six flights up in the tower, about 100 feet above the street. They installed the bell ringing equipment such as…
- Clappers and clapper assembly
- Outside striker
- Swinging bell ringers
- Verdin’s DBC 870, a digital control to ring the bells
- And other parts of a bell
The outside striker is on the largest of the bells and a new clapper in the middle bell. Overall, all three of the historic bells got new swinger assemblies with other parts, such as bearings, on the smallest bell. These new additions were able to help break the silence and play songs for the community once again.
We are very grateful to hear this amazing feedback from Monsignor Daniel Ganshert,
“Everything is working well and we couldn’t be happier with the finished product. All of you and your on site technicians were outstanding… thank you for bringing back our Bells of St. Mary here in Janesville – we know that the Angelus , once again, is reminding all of us here of God’s gift of love in Jesus Christ.”
At Verdin, above all, we love to see the impact of church bells on a community and to know our work is used to call the people to church.
