DID IT REALLY RING? A Legend...
By Don Spring
The small band of faithful parishioners stood in the early cool of a Texas Panhandle summer morning on August 7, 1921, gathered before their beloved church building. An early morning thunderstorm had swept through the small town and an errant bolt of lightning had found the tall bell spire on the Union Congregational Church building. The rampaging fire was quickly wiping out the work of a dedicated group of pioneers who, in 1908, had secured a loan from the Congregational Church Building Society of New York for $770 with which to build the first church in Friona. The original group had been comprised of folks of many denominations, but the Congregationalists were the only group to agree to finance the new venture.
With fervor, the original members worked hard to organize a viable church and dedicated the building on May 23, 1909. By the early nineteen-teens they had secured a pastor and had made the small church a working, ministering congregation. Now the incessant flames licked skyward from the lovely stained glass windows that lay broken and melted on the floor of the burning structure. Also inside were two pianos, a baby organ and several piles of coal. Although insured for $1,000, building donations helped make up the difference in reconstruction costs along with a $775 construction grant.
More importantly, to some, than what was inside was what was above, in the spire. The small bell had called the membership to services each Sunday and was used for important functions at other times such as weddings and funerals. As the small group huddled together in the wee morning hours, the spire weakened and came crashing down. As the bell hurtled toward the basement, it was reported by some that it tolled several times. Others reported that it was just a lovely story and that the bell didn’t in fact, ring at all. I suspect that the bell rang very clearly in the hearts of some of the gatherers because when the new church was planned, the bell tower was a prominent part of the architecture, and a new bell was ordered from C.S. Bell Company at a princely sum of $375.00 and is still used at the new church today. Sometimes the things that stir the heart override the pragmatism of the mind. I really suspect that was the case for the church bell.
We will celebrate the Centennial of our town this coming year and to kick off the yearlong celebration, we will toll the bell at midnight on New Years Eve. We invite you to celebrate the history of Friona with us at that time and to relive the story of the bell.
We also invite all churches in the City of Friona who have bell towers to toll in our Centennial year on Sunday, January 1, 2006 at their morning services.
Note: The adobe chapel, which replaced the first frame structure, was dedicated on June 17, 1923 and now houses the Parmer County Historical Museum. Please send comments, questions or suggestions about Friona’s Centennial Moments” to: Darla Bracken fridarla19@yahoo.com.
