St.Francis of Assisi Episcopal Church
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| Linnie
M. Barger Carillon St.Francis of Assisi Episcopal Church |
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Organ maker and church musical director William "Bill" Barger donated a 19-bell Meeks, Watson & Company chime in honor of his mother, Linnie Mae Barger. The bells were installed in an open frame in April 2003 and first played on Easter Sunday.
Another bell was added in 2005 and six more in an expanded frame in 2006, making the instrument a carillon that was first played on June 30, 2007 for visiting carillonneurs attending the GCNA Congress in Sewanee. The instrument was dedicated on September 30, 2007 by Richard Watson following the blessing of the new bells by the Bishop of East Tennessee.
A 27th bell was added in 2010.
References
1999 Linnie
Mae Adams Barger (23 Apr 1916 - 26 Sep 1999) grave
2007 "A New Carillon in Tennessee: St. Francis of Assissi Episcopal Church, Ooltewah,' by Rick Watson, Carillon News, 78 (11):8 (November 2007)
2010 "Meet
the New Honorary Members," by Rick Watson, Carillon News,
84(11):7 (November 2010)
Mr. William H. Barger is an organ builder, a partner in Barger & Nix
Organs of McDonald, Tenn., and longtime Director of Music at St. Francis
of Assisi Episcopal Church in Ooltewah, Tenn. Mr. Barger is the donor of
the Linnie M. Barger Memorial Carillon of the Church of St. Francis of
Assisi. This instrument began as a 19-bell chime, with a baton keyboard;
through Mr. Barger’s enthusiasm and generosity, it was soon enlarged to 20
bells, and then, just prior to the Sewanee Congress in 2007, it was
further expanded to 26 bells; and a bus trip during that Congress allowed
members to hear and play it. A 27th bell is currently on order with makers
of the instrument, Meeks, Watson & Company of Georgetown, Ohio. Mr.
Barger has become a fine arranger and performer on the carillon; earlier
on, he studied with the late Laura Whipple at Sewanee. Mr. Barger was
recommended for honorary membership by Richard Watson, who presented Mr.
Barger with his framed certificate at a dinner in Chattanooga, Tenn., on
July 7.
St. Francis of Assisi Episcopal Church Chime, Ooltewah, Tennessee, by Meeks, Watson & Company | Carillon |
© 2023 Morris A. Pierce