LEWISTON — It’s ding dong gone.
The ceremonial bell that has rung in Androscoggin County Chamber of Commerce breakfasts for years — and used to bring chamber President Chip Morrison running home for dinner — went missing a month ago.
The chamber’s put out a call for its return. Please.
Chamber staff last saw it the evening of the annual dinner in January at the Ramada Inn.
“The bell is somewhere in the neighborhood of 60 years old,” Morrison said Friday. “It is the bell my mother used to call my brother and I in from playing when we had to go home for dinner.
“When she moved from independent living to assisted living, she had to downsize her possessions,” he said. “The only possession I wanted was the bell.”
Instead of letting it sit at his home, Morrison opted to use it the last five or so years to ring at chamber events, “breakfast, after hours, annual meeting — whenever members are socializing before an event, it’s to get their attention,” he said.
After it fell apart from age, Churchill Barton at Brettuns Village restored the bell a year ago. It’s between 7 and 9 inches tall with a wooden handle and golden base.
Staff noticed it missing before the latest chamber breakfast when it wasn’t in the usual event bag. Morrison worries it might have been accidentally knocked into the trash.
Anyone who finds the bell can contact the chamber at 783-2249.
kskelton@sunjournal.com
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- The Androscoggin County Chamber of Commerce’s ceremonial bell, from President Chip Morrison’s childhood, has been missing since last month. They’ve put out the call for its return.
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