In Plymouth, an historic bell will ring at 9 o’clock tonight in commemoration of residents who died of COVID-19.
The bell is housed in the belfry of the National Pilgrim Memorial Meetinghouse on Town Square.
Bobbi Clark has more:
Bill Keohan, who Chairs the Community Preservation Committee, says he received a request to ring the bell for a special purpose.
“We did receive a request from the Chairman of the Board of Selectman and the Chairman of the Board of Health to ring the bell on New Year’s Eve. The town bell is rung, obviously to tell the time of day. But, often the Selectmen will make a request that it be rung in times of celebration.
This ringing will be solemn. It will be rung 101 times to reflect the number of lost souls during COVID-19.”
And this bell has an interesting history:
“The last bell was recast around 1801 by Paul Revere. That bell lasted until 1894. There was a fire in the Fort Meeting House, a wooden building at that location. The town bell fell into Town Square and was damaged and had to be recast again in 1894 and it was a recast by Paul Revere’s son.”
The empty chair memorial set up last month on the Town Hall lawn to honor residents who died of COVID-19 will come down this week.
But, the Selectmen have requested that the town bell be rung on the fourth Sunday of each month at 4 o’clock to continue to recognize the lives lost to the pandemic.
This policy will continue until the threat of COVID-19 subsides.
