Adam Prudhomme
Editor
Church bells will ring out across Greater Napanee this Easter Sunday at noon as a show of appreciation for those working the front lines in the battle against COVID-19.
The idea came from Napanee’s Anne Turnbull, who was brainstorming ideas for how she could show her gratitude. A longtime member of Trinity United Church, she says inspiration struck with Easter just around the corner.
“The restaurants are donating food, people are making masks and taking them to the hospital, not just in our area, but everywhere, and the hotels are giving up their rooms to the transport drivers,” said Turnbull. “I thought, what can I do? I am confined to my house, I’m on 24-hour oxygen so the doctor strongly advised me not to be out. So I thought, what can I do? A lot of people are in the same boat. Then I remembered for years our church bells haven’t rang. I thought Easter Sunday was always the highlight. You’d get on your best clothes and go to Sunday service.”
The added symbolism of the hope associated with Easter celebrations made for perfect timing.
She then turned to her friend Deb Lowry to help spread the word. One major hurdle was cleared pretty quickly-Greater Napanee Mayor Marg Isbester agreed to lift any noise restrictions that normally prevent the bells from ringing.
From there it was a matter of reaching out to all the local churches and getting them to agree to participate.
The first was Rev. Elaine Kellogg of the Grace United Church.
“She was so positive about it, she was quite willing to ring it herself,” Turnbull said of the reverend.
It was a similar reaction from St. Patrick’s Catholic Church and Trinity United.
“Churches are closed and people feel like they’re being abandoned by their churches,” said Turnbull. “But those who really believe, it doesn’t matter if you’re in a building or not. That’s the way we can say thank you, not just to the man upstairs, but all the frontline workers. This is definitely undenominational. I’d love to see it go cross country.”
Shalane Kelsey has put together a poster for the event and has already reached several communities across Canada who will be holding similar celebrations.
When the bells ring on Sunday at noon in Napanee, residents are encouraged to stand on their balconies, lawns or driveways and cheer for all frontline workers.
“There’s so many people that are so grateful for these frontline workers that have no way of expressing it,” she added.
With help from her friend Brian Calver, she’s hoping to get a drone video uploaded to social media that shows residents across town cheering and showing their support.