By Mary O’KEEFE

Some near St. Luke’s of the Mountains Episcopal Church, located at the northeast corner of Rosemont Avenue and Foothill Boulevard, may have heard the chimes ring every Friday for 10 minutes beginning at 7 p.m. The bells are rung for peace and justice and as a reminder for people to stop and just listen to the bells. 

“We are hoping when people learn the reason for the bells they will take notice and, at minimum, have empathy for our neighbors who are marginalized and facing daily injustice,” stated Vanessa Ynda, a member of St. Luke’s congregation.  

It is also a time for meditation, a time to walk away from social media and the troubles of the day to spend 10 minutes to listen to the ringing of the bells. 

The chimes at St. Luke’s of the Mountains were donated to the Episcopal church in 1926 by the Watchorn family in memory of their only son, Emory, who served in WWI. He had volunteered and been assigned to pilot big three-engine Caproni bombers from Italy, crossing the icy Alps to bomb targets in Austria. The open cockpits of aircraft back then made life for pilots a hell of cold and chronic disease, and young Emory finished out the war with medals for bravery – and with mortally damaged lungs. Two years after returning physically broken from the nightmare of wartime Europe, the bright young son of the Watchorns died. 

Devastated, the Watchorns poured their considerable wealth into memorializing their son and, among other monuments established in the area, an automated chime system was donated to St. Luke’s in memory of their son. The Deagan Company of Chicago, makers at the time of the finest brass percussion instruments, built these chimes systems, according to historian Mike Lawler and writer Charly Shelton in CVW articles. 

The chime system ran for most of the 20th century, sounding the quarter-hour across Crescenta Valley with its echoing brass tubes and steel pistons, which were hung at a precarious 100 feet up in the bell tower of the church, according to Shelton’s article. 

But over its 100 years, the chimes continue to work hard and now are in need of repair but finding a specialist who can repair these chimes has been difficult. 

“The tubular brass chimes and fully automated ringing system look like something out of the mad scientist’s laboratory in the classic Universal Monster film ‘Frankenstein’ – but this technology actually predates that film by five years. As can be expected, there are not many people today who know how to work with this old and intimidating equipment. There is one repair technician out of Tennessee who travels around the country on a two-year circuit to repair the roughly 100 remaining chime systems, down from the 1920s when there were 400 in the U.S. alone, with numerous others worldwide. Most of the funds raised by St. Luke’s will go to the repairs and replacement of parts as needed,” Shelton wrote. 

Church bells have been used for a variety of reasons throughout history including calling people to worship, signaling events and as a warning. 

The bells of St. Luke’s rung on Sept. 11 in remembrance of the terrorist attack against the U.S. on Sept. 11, 2001. The bells rang as the Patriot Day motorcade began its trek through the Crescenta Valley. Now the bells ring to remind people to take a moment to think of others who need support and understanding. 

St. Luke’s celebrated its 100th anniversary last year and is still raising funds to support the church and to keep the bells ringing. 

For information on how to offer support visit www.stlukeslacrescenta.org or call (818) 248-3639.