Rare handbells, once slated for the fire, resurrected, to be dedicated next month
They lay untouched and silent in the attic at the former Covenant United Presbyterian Church in Butler for at least 50 years, so church officials considered having the 25 or so old handbells melted down to sell the brass.
Enter the sweet, yet no-nonsense Nancy Slezak, handbell choir director for four decades at Hill United Presbyterian Church just 1 mile away, whose longtime love for ringing saved the old instruments from the furnace.
Slezak explains that a while back, she and a handful of others were invited by Covenant officials to view the rare Petit & Fritsen handbells languishing in the church’s third floor.
Covenant moved in the summer to a smaller sanctuary at Trinity United Presbyterian Church on South Duffy Road in Butler Township. The Trinity congregation worships at a larger sanctuary at the church.
Slezak said the Petit & Fritsen handbells were in old metal cases that did not serve to preserve them and the antiquated leather grips were shot.
“I picked up one of the bells when I first saw them, and when I held the handle, the whole bell just dropped to a 45 degree angle,” she said.
As a music-loving church, Covenant officials decided to give the bells new life by offering them, free and in their as-is condition, to Hill U.P.
Next, Slezak had to convince church elders to not only accept the three octaves, or 25 bells, but also to pay for their refurbishment.
Slezak was up to the task, because the Rev. Leigh Benish, pastor at Hill U.P., said elders — who didn’t care a whit about handbells at the beginning of Slezak’s 30-minute appeal — were sold by the end.
“It is very exciting to watch,” Benish said. “(Slezak’s) enthusiasm for all of this is causing a lot of enthusiasm in people who don’t know about handbells at all.”
After the session’s approval, there was the matter of removing the bells from Covenant’s attic.
Not one to trust anyone else to handle the musical relics, Slezak; her husband, Norbert; and her brother, Bob Scott — none of them spring chickens — moved the bells down the three floors themselves.
“It took us about a half a morning,” Slezak said. “Both of the guys have problems with their knees, and it was hot.”
The bells were then delivered to professional refurbisher Christopher Brewer, who owns The Music Note music shop in Ben Avon, Allegheny County.
“I call him my new best friend,” Slezak said of Brewer, with whom she has exchanged dozens of text messages and calls since the bells were delivered in June.
In addition to cleaning the bells, sending them out of state to be tuned, and ordering new leather handles from a foundry in England, Brewer is outfitting the Petit & Fritsen bells with new clappers that, unlike the originals, will not extend past the mouth of the bell.
Slezak explained that European handbells have clappers that extend past the bell mouth, but American models do not.
“The ringing technique is very different,” she said. “It’s very hard on the wrist (to play the European way).”
She said the $17,000 refurbishment will be completed soon.
A public dedication ceremony will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 8, at Hill U.P. Church, where the bells will be joyfully played by the church’s handbell choir.
One ringer, Mark Hall, of Center Township, is the only person in the ensemble to have touched these Petit & Fritsen bells before.
Hall, a 1962 graduate of Butler High School, grew up attending Covenant Church and recalls ringing them in the youth choir as a high school student.
Hall said, according to his 97-year-old sister-in-law, the Petit & Fritsen bells were purchased in the 1950s for the youth group at Covenant.
“I remember them well,” he said of the old bells. “I think it’s great that they’ve been saved. It’s kind of a rebirth of these bells. They’ll have a second life.”
It is not known where the bells came from or how old they are, but Slezak said Petit & Fritsen was started in Holland in the 1690s by two men with those names.
“They are very old Dutch bells,” Slezak said.
Because of their condition, Covenant U.P. donated the bells to Hill U.P.
“We knew what we were getting when we got them,” Slezak said. “We are not only preserving the bells, we are preserving the history of Covenant U.P. Church.”
She said instead of using the cumbersome Petit & Fritsen name when discussing the bells, their transfer to a new home or their refurbishment, they have been given a loving nickname.
“We call them the ‘Covenant bells,’” Slezak said.
She said the Hill handbell choir, which boasts 14 to 16 ringers, will practice with the refurbished bells for about two weeks before the dedication event.
The Covenant bells will peal alongside Hill’s set of Schulmerich bells and Malmark ChoirChimes — Slezak hopes.
“We are very curious to find out, once we get them, if we can ring them together,” she said. “You can’t use all bells together.”
Slezak said the Hill handbell choir is thrilled to get the Covenant bells.
“We are so excited to get these bells,” she said.
If You’re Going
WHAT: An Afternoon of Peace and Harmony handbell dedication and performance
WHEN: 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 8
WHERE: Hill United Presbyterian Church, 501 2nd St., Butler
COST: Free
INFO: Dedication of and performance using the Petit & Fritsen handbells donated to Hill U.P. by Covenant U.P. and extensively refurbished. Refreshments will be available.
