Whether sprinting across campus, eating at Dutch Hollow or taking class, members of the Union community can hear the Memorial Chapel chimes playing a song each day at lunch time.
“It varies from our alma mater, ‘Ode to Old Union,’ to church songs and hymns, to ‘Take Me Out to the Ball Game,’ simple songs that resonate well through the sound of the bells,” said Mara Powers ’09, who shares the responsibility of playing the Union chimola with Alex Handin ’10.
Powers and Handin take their place in a long line of Union chimers. Though the bells toll automatically on the quarter hour each day, the lunchtime tunes hold a cherished place in Union history.
Chimes players have been part of Union since its founding, when students honored to take the job earned free lodging and the chance to leave class early. The tradition continued through 1970, when Peter Smith was believed to be the last of that class to ring regularly.
The chimola was largely untouched for 30 years, until David Stone ’06 revived the chiming in 2002, learning the ropes from Smith. This was made possible because of Ed Moulton ’37, who loved the sound of the bells so much he started an endowment that year to ensure the tradition continues. Moulton himself was paid $150 by President Dixon Ryan Fox in 1937 for a year of service at the chimes.
Today, Powers and Handin take turns in the tower. This term, Handin rings Mondays and Tuesdays; Powers rings Wednesdays and Thursdays. They switch every other Friday and for special events.
Both bring musical backgrounds to the job.
Powers, a sociology major, has a minor in music and has played piano for 10 years. Handin, who has not yet declared a major, plays piano and violin, sings and participates in the Union College Orchestra, Choir and Jazz Ensemble. “There is a set of levers that you push down that’s similar to the fashion in which you play piano,” he said.
Handin found his way to the chimes job through his friend, Robert Larimore ’07, who held the position last year.
“At first, hearing the passage through the pitch black attic sounded dreadful,” he remembered of his initial climb up the steep, dark stairs to the chapel’s belfry. Now, he says, being at the top of Union’s world “is a unique experience. When you walk up the bell tower, it’s like walking into a different world.”