Wednesday, Jul. 30, 2008

UGA's Chapel bell will be ringing for first game

The University of Georgia's beloved Chapel bell, which is at an Ohio foundry for repairs, will be shipped home soon and in place for the start of football season.

The bell itself, which fans ring after Georgia victories, is ready for shipment now, Verdin Co. Vice President Dave Verdin said. But other parts to support it in a newly built tower won't be ready until next week, he said.

The Verdin Co., in Cincinnati, is one of the few companies that does this specialized bell work, said Tom Satterly, UGA's physical plant assistant vice president. The tower is being built by university workers and will look like the old one, he said. It will be installed behind the university chapel on North Campus early next month.

The bell, removed this spring for the repairs and refurbishing, will be in place before the Aug. 30 home game against Georgia Southern University.

"It's gonna look terrific," Satterly said. "A lot of pride's going into constructing this tower."

The bell, cast in 1835, will look and sound pretty much the same, Verdin said. But it's been sandblasted and polished, and the broken crown at the top was strengthened, he said. The clapper, which actually rings the bell, also was replaced. The new one is bronze instead of the original steel, Verdin said.

"It might be a little more melodious," he said.

Ringing the Chapel bell after a Georgia victory - and especially a football victory - is an old tradition at UGA. After major victories, the bell often rings throughout the night and can be heard for miles as students and fans celebrate. A line forms, and people take turns pulling the rope and ringing the bell.

Stebin Horne, president of the Middle Georgia Bulldog Club, said he remembers ringing the bell as a child with his father and grandfather. He looks forward to his son, who is 2, ringing it in a few years.

"And when you're 5 or 6 years old, you're holding on for your dear life," Horne said. "The rope pulls you 5 or 6 feet up in the air."

It's unusual to hand ring a bell these days, Verdin said, and almost unheard of to allow "just anybody" to ring it by pulling a rope "to their heart's content."

The bell "gets 10 years' use every time you guys win a ball game," he said.

It certainly got some use last year, when the football team beat the University of Florida 42-30 in Jacksonville, Fla. The bell was rung so hard that it fell from its perch but was caught by a wooden platform installed just below it for safety. It's a good thing, since the bell weighs 700 pounds.

"Ironically, the same weight as (head Florida football coach) Urban Meyer's ego," Horne said.

Temporary fixes were made, and the bell was reinstalled for the rest of the 2007 season.

But the old tower dated back to about 1913 and was taken down after the season. The new tower, as well as the infrastructure that holds the bell in place, will be engineered to modern standards, Satterly said.

Restoration of the bell and replacement of the various parts, with the exception of the tower itself, cost about $14,500, including shipping, Satterly said.

To contact writer Travis Fain, call 744-4213.