Monday, July 12, 2010

For Whom The Bell Tolls



















Rob T. Bell is our "other Rob Bell" Hero! For all Wheaton couples who get that "ring by spring," ringing the Blanchard "Robert" Tower Bell is a way to announce it to the world! This 1,000 lb. bell was bought in 1872 to replace the cracked bell in the Blanchard Tower. The ringing of the Tower Bell was a more serious matter in its first decades, calling students to prayer, and announcing the beginning of the Spanish-American war in 1898 and the Armistice in 1918.

Eventually the mood of the bell lightened to one of announcing marriages, and most recently, engagements. For the last few decades, newly-engaged couples go "up the tower," to ring the bell announcing their engagement, leave their names on the tower wall and celebrate with friends. Couples often leave a page of photos for the Tower memory book, and have their names recorded in the "Up the Tower" list printed in the student newspaper, The Record. Alumni often return for wedding anniversaries to ring the bell again and find their names on the wall.

TOWER RING TRADITIONS:
Engagements = 3 sets of 7
Weddings = 7 sets of 3

LESSER KNOW TOWER RINGS:
Divorce = 6 sets x 66 (rung backwards)
Vow of Celibacy = 7 sets x 77
Same Sex Unions = 0 sets of 0 (unless Mel's bus horn is in the parking lot)
Nerds married to their computers = 1 set of 1
Mail Order Russian Bride = 3 sets of 3
Republican/Democrat Armistice = 70 sets x 77
Catholic/Protestant Armistice = 77 sets x 70

EVEN LESSER KNOW TOWER RINGS:
Everytime Friends are Friends Forever is played on the radio = 2 sets of 2
Everytime a Thomas Kinkade painting is sold = 3 sets of 4
Everytime Thomas Kinkade gets a DUI = 1 sets of 0
Everytime Dr. Phil uses the term "listening voice" minus the times Leland mentions "Milton" = 4 sets of 4
Everytime a student thinks he is the first to discover Jack Kerouac or Allen Ginsberg = 4 sets of 2
Everytime a student reads through the Old Testament = 100 sets of 100

1 comment:

  1. EVEN WAY LESSER KNOWN DRINKING GAME:

    See above...I'm confident you can figure it out.

    Ring your own bell.

    ReplyDelete