by Brenda Eastman, Outgoing HA/HU Alumni President
HARDWICK – The Hardwick Academy (HA) Bell, apart from HA yearbooks, is the last tangible touchstone for HA alumni and families to their Hardwick Academy lives and history. For most of us, it reminds us of some of the best friendships and times of our lives – perhaps, an HA teacher who made a deep impression and influenced the course our life took. For all of us, HA represents the formative period of our lives.
For some Hardwick families, it’s more. Their loved one never stepped beyond Hardwick Academy and is forever young at HA. I think of those beautiful young souls and of their families as I write.
When my brother Ransom “Tink” Eastman, HA Class of 1958, died tragically in the week before his graduation night, my parents needed to look for a burial plot. All of the Eastman family were buried in Sanborn Cemetery in East Hardwick. But Mom and Dad chose to bury their son, “Tink” in the Hardwick Main Street Cemetery. They chose the lot at the very far edge, the one closest to Hardwick Academy, where the sound of the Bell could be heard.
This year the newly recreated HA/HU Alumni Association began thoughtful conversation about legacy planning for the HA Bell.
The beautiful, high quality Meneely Bell is 257 years old and we the alumni of Hardwick Academy are also growing old.
Our youngest and last graduating class members are approximately 71 years old this year. Life expectancy at this age is another 13-16 years. Many more of us are much older. Many of us in the younger tier of HA alumni are shocked and saddened by the loss of numerous classmates each year.
We are grateful to the Class of 1970 for their courage in saving the bell and devoted efforts to preserve it. Their story is, and will, always remain an honored Hardwick legend. We know they polled Alumni at previous alumni banquets in the early ’70s before placing the bell in Memorial Park. We are indebted to them.
We, as an Alumni Association Board, feel it is time, as we are aging and our numbers are dwindling, to take the pulse again for what is now the best plan for the perpetual care of the bell. There is energy within this HA/HU Alumni board to present the option of moving the bell to the grounds of Hazen Union School.
Personally, my initial reaction was a conservative one, keep it as solely Hardwick history. However, I now see very positive reasons to consider Hazen Union as its setting.
These include, returning the bell to high visibility in the community and hearing it regularly rung in celebration. The current Alumni Association is a fusion of HA and HU Alumni. You saw that, and met these fabulous young HU Alumni if you attended our Alumni Reunion this past summer.
These are the children and grandchildren of HA alums. Our community, our celebration of their, and our school life is intertwined now. If the bell were to be moved, a plaque recalling the Class of 1970 rescue would be prominent.
I have said in meetings that, if a move to Hazen Union grounds is to be considered, it requires an understanding that the bell still belongs to alumni, rather than being the property of Hazen school itself. Thus, there could be no later disposition of it without the oversight of alumni.
We feel it is time now, 47 years later, to again ask HA Alumni what they would like to see as the legacy plan for the bell.
Our plan is to mail ballots describing options. The Class of 1970 has been invited to participate in creating the ballot to represent their position. These votes will be returned to the Hardwick Historical Society and independently tabulated. We aim to conduct a fair and unbiased polling.
