School Bell on display at Limerick School
When the one-room schoolhouses in the Town of Newstead were centralized and closed, some items from the schools were sold at auction. Fortunately, many local residents bought some cherished items and handed them down to family members.
This is the case with the school bell that was located on top of South Newstead school #8. Lucille Kruschke loved that bell, and it is said that she won it with a bid of $23! Lucille and her husband, Elwood, had a high lift put the bell up on their garage, where it would remain until the rope to the ring it broke.
Then the bell was removed from the garage and donated to the Newstead Historical Society, in the hope that it could be displayed. However, the bell’s size made it hard to display in a safe manner. Pat Rodriguez of the Newstead Historical Society contacted the Friends of Limerick Inc. about maybe displaying the bell at the Limerick school, at 6074 Cummings Rd. The Limerick School never had a bell on top of it, but it was from the same era as school #8.
It was decided that a structure would need to be built to house the bell, protecting it from the elements and keeping it safe while still allowing it to be viewed. The Friends of Limerick searched for someone to build a cupola.
A student at Akron Central School, Lucas Possinger, stepped took on the task. A Boy Scout in Troop 554, he was in search of a project to do for his Eagle Scout Award. With the help of his parents, Scout Master Kevin Martin and his fellow scouts of Troop 554, the cupola was completed. Lucas designed it, and his dad and scout master drew up the plans for its completion.
It was built at Luca’s house, then moved to the Limerick Site, where its roof was installed. Construction was completed on site July 7th and on Wednesday July 10th the bell was placed inside. On Friday, July 12th Friends of Limerick held a small gathering to dedicate the placing of the bell in honor of the several people who helped with the preservation of the bell; recognizing Limerick’s late board member Nancy Eckerson for wanting to have the bell visible and to honor the wishes of Lucille Kruschke. In the future, Friends of Limerick will hold another gathering when the concrete pad is completed, and the flagpole donated by Kathy and David Harrington is added.
Dale and Kevin Kruschke, sons of Lucille and Elwood, Lucas Possinger and his dad, Friends of Limerick Wynne Klingel and Pat Popielski, and Flora and John Leamer attended the small gathering. Flora and John donated the funds to build the cupula, out of her love for the bell and School #8. A video of Lucas ringing the bell and other pictures can be found on the Friends of the Limerick web page, Limerickschool.org.
All are invited to stop by whenever the Limerick is open to admire the cupula and to view the bell… and maybe even ring it!