To the editor:
At the early 1970’s Hardwick Academy-Hazen Union reunions, alumni were asked where they wanted the Hardwick Academy (HA) Bell to go and, in 1976, the Alumni Association put it in Memorial Park. The names of that Alumni Association Board are engraved on the inside of the cupola where the bell rests.
There has been interest the past few years by many HA and Hazen Union alumni to have the bell moved to Hazen. Like the Alumni Association then, we want to give all HA alumni the opportunity to decide.
Why are only the HA alumni being sent a ballot? Because the Hardwick School Board, in June of 1970 in a prepared statement, gifted the bell to “All Living Hardwick Academy Alumni.”
The Alumni Association goals are, No. 1: To ensure that there is a long-term plan for the care of the bell, and No. 2. To give all Hardwick Academy Alumni the opportunity to vote
With that in mind, earlier this year we invited Hardwick Academy alumni Jeannine Young, Annette Gann and Orise Ainsworth to a meeting with the focus being the long-term care of the bell. We knew they were strong supporters of keeping the bell in Memorial Park.
We also know that a bell committee at Hazen, consisting of Hazen staff, students, and alumni, had put together a long-term care plan.
The Alumni Association would support the care and preservation of the bell in either location, depending on the outcome of the vote.
Mike Clark ‘72
HA-HU Alumni Association President
