HARDWICK – A committee of four disinterested Hardwickians gathered at the Memorial Building on Friday, November 22, to count votes for the Hardwick Academy/Hazen Union Alumni Association’s (HA/HUAA) poll asking whether to move the old Hardwick Academy bell to the bell tower at Hazen Union School or leave it in Hardwick Memorial Park, where it has hung since 1976.
Association members had strong opinions on both sides of the question, so the Hardwick Historical Society (HHS) agreed to serve as a neutral party to receive the ballots and organize the count.
photo by Patrick Hussey
The HHS received 369 envelopes which remained unopened until Friday when Elizabeth Dow, Andrew Gilbert, Eric Remick and Sarah Remick opened and counted them with Hardwick Community Television videoing the counting process. Several envelopes contained multiple ballots so the 369 envelopes yielded 372 ballots.
The results were slightly greater than three-to-two in favor of moving the bell. The count showed 218 responses for moving the bell, 149 for leaving it in place and five indicating no preference.
Almost 56% of the ballots were returned as HA/HUAA had mailed 689 ballots to all Hardwick Academy (HA) alumni on October 3. The post office returned 109 as undeliverable. Fifteen intended recipients had died. The committee was able to identify better addresses and re-mailed 86 of the ballots, resulting in 666 good ballots sent out.
Not long after members of the Class of 1970 had removed the bell from its tower in the soon-to-be-demolished HA building, the Hardwick Gazette reported in a June 18, 1970, article that the school board released a statement reading in part, “We [school board] therefore willingly pass over to your care (Class of 1970) and all living HA alumni, who may have heard its sounds, the bell, now removed and safely placed in the school basement.”
Over the past few years the HA/HUAA has debated the topic of moving the bell, but could come to no consensus. With the above quote in mind, the HA/HUAA decided to poll all living HA Alumni to decide the bell’s future. “This discussion has been going on for the last couple of years,” said Mike Clark, president, “. . . it just seemed like the correct thing to do was to give our HA alumni a say in the bell’s future.”
Each HA alum was sent an envelope with three pages of information. The first page explained the reason for the vote. The other two presented arguments written by supporters of each side of the issue.
photo by Patrick Hussey
Through most of the twentieth century, students rang the Academy bell in celebration of important sports victories and other celebratory occasions. The faction in favor of moving the bell hopes that the tradition will continue at Hazen. The newly erected bell tower at Hazen has room for two bells so the Academy bell could join the Greensboro High School bell that now hangs there.
The HA/HUAA plans are to place signage at the Hazen Union bell tower acknowledging the Class of 1970 and its important role in the bell’s history. “We want to respectfully make this project a “working together” transition,” said Clark. “Our hope is, ultimately, to create a new place of honor for that bell that we can all be proud of.”
To date, however, the association has no plans for exactly how a transition will take place.
The Meneely Company in West Troy, New York cast the Academy bell in 1868. At the time, it was one of the most renowned bell companies in the country. Their bells are prized for exquisite tones and extended sound carry. Many are still ringing loudly throughout Vermont. The bell was placed in the Hardwick Academy bell tower when it was constructed in 1892.
