The Luray Bells
On Sunday we went to hear the bells at the Luray Bell Tower. Every summer from June through August they play the bells on Saturday at 7 and Sunday at 3. According to the website, all performances are subject to change.
After the performance we, along with some other people, stood at the door and waited for the carillonneur to come down. He came down and after a little talking wondered if we wanted to go inside. In the bottom floor there is a practice console and some other random things. He then told us that the night before the tower had been broken into. Nothing was really hurt other than a window and the trim to the upstairs door. After the thief broke in he realized he couldn’t get out and called 911. After giving us a brief history and some facts about the tower he asked if we wanted to go upstairs, which was a perfectly ridiculous question. He took us and the others that wanted to go up to the very top floor where the actual console was. It was a lot of stairs and was quite hot at the top. He gave us more facts and let us ask questions and even ring the bells. One of the facts was if it has more than 23 bells it is a carillon, less than that it is a chime. Dad asked if he would play something and he did. It was really cool (not in terms of temperature). At the end he said he would love if more people would come so if you’re ever over by Luray…