It’s a passion that turned into a family affair for bell ringer Carol Benesh.
Two decades ago, Benesh was invited on a tour of the bell tower of Knox Metropolitan Church. She saw other bell ringers in action and was hooked.
“This is really neat,” she said. “I would like my children to learn this.”
Benesh became a student herself. On Monday she completed the final step before her graduation — a performance in the bell tower she visited 20 years ago.
“I’m not a person who likes the limelight,” Benesh said. “I know my audience is out there, but they don’t know I’m here.”
In medieval times, bells communicated warnings of enemy attacks. Now, they act as a call to Sunday service, or announce marriages or deaths in the community.
“These are very primitive medieval instruments,” said master bell ringer Wayne Tunison. “As they got more and more meditative they invented these mathematical patterns called changes.”
These changes are spelled out on cards the bell ringers follow like sheet music. Some say the mixture of movement and sound make for a mystical experience.
“You become sort of the cogs of a spiritual clock,” Tunison explained.
Graduation ceremonies are a longstanding tradition among bell ringers. It announces to the community that skills from medieval times are being carried into the future.
