A new bell will replace the broken original that has rung at sunset in Pass-a-Grille since 1997.
By JADE JACKSON LLOYD
Published May 5, 2004
ST. PETE BEACH - For seven years, residents here have tolled a bell to celebrate the sinking of the sun, its rays casting sorbet ribbons over the horizon.
Last week, though, the bell fell. The accident left it cracked and without its ring.
Some loved that bell so well, they penned a poem about its plight. The first few lines tell only part of the story:
The bell fell...
And after, it was not well.
There was a crack,
And of sound it did lack.
Though friends really tried,
The bell died.
Now, the bell is back. Sort of.
A local resident has found a new bell that will take its first ring at 7 p.m. Friday, during a dedication ceremony at the Seaside Grille. The restaurant, at 10th Avenue and Gulf Way in Pass-a-Grille, will stay open late for the public event.
The poem is part of the invitation to the ceremony.
* * *
The story of the bell starts with Cleo Robertson.
Robertson, a Pass-a-Grille native and resident for a combined 25 years, said a hotel served as a community center of sorts in the 1940s and 1950s. People played cards, talked and watched the sunset, Robertson said.
"It was a hangout," she said Tuesday. "When I retired and came home in 1994, there was no hotel and there was no community. Nobody was gathering. My middle name is Belle ... and I decided we would put up a bell and ring it every night."
Robertson, 65, found the bell at an antique store. She rallied SeaSide Grille proprietor Bernie Johnson to stay open later, serve food and put the bell on his property.
Finally, she gathered her friends on March 27, 1997, for the start of what became a daily occurrence. She and several others formed the Clapper Club, a group that ensured someone was always there to give the bell a ring.
Every night since, from "one to 30 and 40" residents, vacationers and snowbirds have met there.
"It's not a large group of people who gather, but I've heard people across the island say they listen for the bell," she said. "There's a sense of we have one voice at one time a day. It's a thank you for the day."
Some have formed friendships. All sign the guestbook, which boasts notes and messages written by people from 37 countries, Robertson said.
"We have births, deaths, marriages and divorces of the same people," Robertson said, laughing. "It's become a sweet tradition."
Last week's fall almost ended it, Robertson said.
She said a young Coast Guardsman was playing with the bell and making people angry.
As she walked toward him, he pushed the bell one final time and it crashed to the ground.
"We were there the night it broke," Kay Peterson, a 60-year-old bell devotee and St. Pete Beach resident, said Tuesday. "It was very disturbing. It was very upsetting that it broke."
"Down it went," Robertson said. "But there are no mistakes. I had to find another bell."
* * *
Despite the loss of its star player, the bell-ringing ceremony has continued in the past week, just on a smaller scale. Someone has still been there every day, but with a hand bell - nowhere near the same experience.
"We didn't want the tradition to go away," Peterson said. "We were afraid if we waited too long to replace the bell, it would."
So what to do?
Ah, the Universe stayed true
And right out of the blue...
A new bell flew...into our arms.
Robertson scoured Tampa Bay antiques dealers to find a new bell with which to herald the sunsets. On her 25th and last call to a Tarpon Springs shop, she found it.
Born in Ohio in 1886, the new, $250 bell almost obliterates any thoughts of its predecessor. The Gulf Beaches Historical Museum will reimburse Robertson for it.
Ultimately, the broken bell story ends well.
So, now we have a new bell
And it is really swell.
We hope you'll join us at this
Event because the new bell rings so well.
Will the old ringer be missed? Not at all.
"The new one has a fine tone," Robertson said. "It's like getting a grand organ after you've had a player piano."
