Salix St. Joseph bell reconditioned, to ring again

By RENEE WEBB
Content and Design Coordinator

After more than 30 years, the bell at St. Joseph Church in Salix is being prepped to ring once again.

According to Don Mohning, a member of the finance council at St. Joseph’s and coordinator of the bell refurbishing project, it was in the fall of 2024 not long after Father Shinoj Jose arrived at the parish when the priest inquired about the bell.

“It wasn’t ringable – basically the timbers that supported it were so rotted that there was fear if you pulled on the rope it would fall apart,” explained Mohning. “So, the bell hadn’t been rung for many years.”

He estimated that his sons may have been among the last altar servers who rang the bell and they are in their 40s.

Knowing that Father Jose would like the bell to ring once again, Mohning and the rest of the finance council set out to explore some options. Through discussions they determined it would be best to replace the manual “rope pull” with an electric driven striker.

Don Mohning led the bell project.

D“There would be a controller to make it possible to ring the bell automatically before Mass or set on an hour sequence,” he said. “We can also have a button to do a toll for funerals. All of that can be done with a push of a button as opposed to finding a larger person to be able to pull the rope.”

Mohning, who has led many aspects of the project, began researching online options for bell reconditioning and electric strikers.

“I found a firm in St. Louis called McShane Bell Co. I contacted them and got some price estimates on what a striker would cost and such,” he noted. “Based on our estimates for the cost of the striker, we knew we would have to run new electrical and hire a contractor with a big forklift to get the bell down, the finance committee decided we should start a fundraising project before we contracted with anyone.”

The fundraising process that began in December of 2024 was met with great support.

Margaret Wood, parish secretary at St. Joseph, said the parish was able to raise $35,000 for this project.

In the spring, the project was underway and by April of 2025 the parish had contracted with McShane Bell for the electric striker and Port Neal Welding of Salix was hired to remove the bell from the tower and bring it down. The bell was placed in what had been the former bus barn for the long-closed parish school.

“I then proceeded to take the bell apart,” said Mohning. “When I started cleaning it and looking at it close, the bell was cast by the McShane Bell Company of Baltimore, Maryland in 1887 – the very same company I am working with now.”

From the bell company’s 1887 ledger book, they sent him the information for the bell.

Bell company's ledger from 1887 recorded the order and shipment.

“It was purchased for the original wooden structure church in Salix by Father Griffin in 1887,” said Mohning. “It was purchased in December and shipped at the end of December. The shipping weight was 623 pounds – for the bell and the cast iron hammer and strikers.”

He pointed out that a cast iron yoke and a-frame were separate. With those pieces attached, he estimated total weight was 800 to 900 pounds.

By May, the project leader had disassembled the bell and sent measurements to McShane Bell. They also hired Metro Electric of Sioux City to start running electrical for the bell.

While Mohning did most the cleaning of the bell himself, he had Port Neal Welding sandblast and powder coat the yoke and a-frame portion in matte black.

“For the cleaning of the bell, I used warm water with Dawn (dish soap), double ought steel wool and a lot of arm strong (strength),” he said. “I had some sore arms – it took several days.”

While it took some muscle to remove the green copper corrosion, Mohning mentioned that he also took care to leave some of the character – the darker patina and even a message from 1908.

Unsure whether it was an adolescent fun-seeker or someone who previously cleaned the

Bell keeps note from the past.

bell, Mohning said using a finger to paint “as you can tell by the strokes” the words of the message state: “This was painted by J.E.M July 30, 1908.”

“Father asked me not to clean it off because it is the history of the bell,” he said.

After the cleaning, the bell was reassembled and weak/damaged timber in the tower was replaced with green-treated lumber. On Oct. 10, the bell was placed back in the tower that is approximately 25-feet tall.

By next month, McShane Bell will install the striker and striker controller. That step will complete the project.

Although St. Joseph Parish has had three churches, the bell has hung in two of them.

The St. Joseph Parish history published in The Globe on Feb. 7, 2002, stated that the parish which was established in 1869 built a primitive church in 1875 and soon after it was destroyed by a severe windstorm.

The church was rebuilt in the1880s and that wooden structure first housed the bell. Wood pointed out the present church was completed in April 1926.

“We are going to have a 100^th anniversary on April 26, 2026, with Mass with Bishop (John E.) Keehner, a dinner and some activities,” she said.

The approaching centennial of the church building provided added motivation for the bell project.

Mohning said this project is just one of several the parish has completed in the last few years.

Once the electric striker they in place, they plan to ring the bell for call to worship before Mass and at funerals or other special occasions at this time.

“Everyone is so excited to hear the bell ring again,” said Wood.

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