(Left to right) Fred Fulkerson, Dave Clark, and parish maintenance minister Kelly Ward are seen in the choir loft of Sts. Joseph and Paul Parish on Aug. 6, 2024. The three worked with a team of parish volunteers to repair the church’s historic bell. ELIZABETH WONG BARNSTEAD | WKC

BY ELIZABETH WONG BARNSTEAD, THE WESTERN KENTUCKY CATHOLIC

This past summer, several volunteers helped repair the historic bell at Sts. Joseph and Paul Parish in Owensboro.

Kelly Ward, the parish maintenance minister, told The Western Kentucky Catholic that during an evening Mass in June, it was discovered that the clapper – the metal shaft inside the bell to strike the sides and make it ring – had fallen out of the church bell, which had been made in 1890.

Considering how many stories up the belltower is in the church – which itself was built in 1887 – the clapper fortunately did not fall through the ceiling of the parish entryway.

Volunteers are seen from a floor above as they work to repair the damaged historic bell at Sts. Joseph and Paul Parish in Owensboro. COURTESY OF DAVE CLARK

Ward said it is customary for him to ring the bell after each Mass. But during that particular Mass, “all of a sudden we heard this loud noise” – which was the clapper falling through to the next level.

He coordinated with Bill Blincoe, the Diocese of Owensboro’s director of project and risk management, to find a company that could do the repair. Unfortunately, the company wasn’t able to complete the project, leaving the bell in limbo.

That’s when the parish’s dedicated volunteers who rose to the occasion.

Parishioners Dave Clark, Fred Fulkerson, Don Kelley, Scott Lashlee, John Soldo, and Chuck Istre worked with Ward to put the repaired clapper back inside the bell. They completed the project on July 9.

Ward said the bell, unlike many church bells in the diocese, has two options for ringing: an electric system that rings automatically at set times, and the traditional, manual setup that involves pulling ropes to ring the bell. In the manual system, one rope is used to ring the bell after Mass, and another is used for ringing the bell at funerals.

The historic bell at Sts. Joseph and Paul Parish in Owensboro, which was repaired by volunteers this summer. COURTESY OF DAVE CLARK

Ward and the bell have a special history together, too. In 2020, at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Gov. Andy Beshear encouraged all churches to ring their bells every day in unison. Ward rang the parish’s bell for those long, difficult days (and was even featured on CNN for his dedication).

Now, thanks to the teamwork of parish volunteers, Sts. Joseph and Paul’s bell will be able to ring for years to come.

“We wanted to fix it for good so you wouldn’t have to fix it again,” said Ward. “Everything here relies on our volunteers; they take ownership of it. We wouldn’t be able to do any of this without our volunteers.”

Fred Fulkerson, a volunteer at Sts. Joseph and Paul Parish in Owensboro, is seen in the church belltower while a team of volunteers worked on repairing the historic bell. COURTESY OF DAVE CLARK

Originally printed in the September 2024 issue of The Western Kentucky Catholic.