2009 Summer Reunion- view the photo galleries 6/15/2009 Author(s): Jay
Buckner
Summer Reunion, sponsored by Berea’s alumni relations office, brought together alumni from around the country, June 12-14, for a weekend of celebration, fun, renewing of friendships (and wedding vows in Danforth Chapel) and catching up on what’s new at Berea. Classes celebrating special reunions this year were alumni from the classes of 1939, 1944, 1949, 1954, 1959, 1964, 1969, 1974 and 1979.
On June 12, an event at the Loyal Jones Appalachian Center focused on the life and work of the late Jim Wayne Miller, a poet and pioneer in Appalachian literature and Appalachian Studies and a 1958 graduate of Berea. Miller is the featured author in the summer 2009 issue of “Appalachian Heritage,” a literary quarterly published by Berea college.
Another special event this year was the rededication of the Chimes in Phelps Stokes Chapel on June 13. The 10-bell Menelly Chime, installed in 1917, has been restored to its original sound and operation and began ringing again in December 2008.
Since its original installation in 1917, several changes had been made including electrifying the chime and replacing the manual keyboard in the tower with a small electric keyboard next to the organ in Phelps Stokes Chapel. The bells and clappers had also been altered, affecting the sound quality.
Dr. Edwin Broadhead, associate professor of general studies at Berea and a fine craftsman, restored and refinished a period chimestand (which contains the keyboard) for the project. Now back in the tower and played manually, the chime has also resumed ringing the familiar “Westminster Chime” sequence each hour.
