Peggy Griffin, Methodist Orphanage Class of 1953, remembers when the bell was mounted on top of the orphanage’s laundry building. The girls who worked in the dining hall were assigned to ring for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It was a privilege to be chosen as a ringer, Peggy says, and she got to be one of them.

“We were 12 and 13 years old – probably less than 5 feet tall,” she says. “The bell had a long rope hanging about 5 feet from the ground. To pull the rope required a big jump to grab hold – and then the rope would jerk you back up when it rang.”

“People told us they could hear the bell for miles each time it rang,” she says. “Sweet memories.”