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All four sides of the bell tower will have new louvers and they’ll be much bigger than the ones there currently but the same size as the originals.

The bell sits on these mounts inside the top of the tower. The attached rope drops down through several feet of rafters and ceiling and can be pulled by someone inside the church. The larger louvers allow for the bell to sound much, much louder and allows the sound to travel much further over the town.

Our bell reads (translated and expanded from abbreviation): Henry Stuckstede Bell Foundry Company St. Louis, Missouri 1911 Saint Mary Pray For Us

Our research has shown that all of the mid-sized bells struck by the Stuckstede Bell Foundry include this phrase “Saint Mary Pray For Us” while the large and small bells included different phrases. The date of 1911 indicates that this bell was not present in the tower when our building was purchased by Fr. Hoehn in December 1910, though we do not currently have any information on who purchased the bell or when it was installed, though it does seem likely to have been in the first years after Fr. Hoehn procured the building.

Of note, the car siding in the ceiling of the bell tower is the same as that found on the ceiling of the church interior.

In this image we get a good look at one of the new louvers. These take our bell tower back to the original look and allow for our bell to ring out louder and further over the town of Mokane.