Dudley church, tower beacons of local history.

Byline: Bill Fortier

COLUMN: SOUTH COUNTY NOTEBOOK

When I pulled up to the front of First Congregational Church on Center Road in Dudley last Friday morning, the thing that really stood out on the church's 78-foot tower was the big hands on the green clock said it was 10.

It didn't really matter whether it was 10 a.m. or 10 p.m., because it was 11 a.m.

It truly can be said that time stands still at the First Congregational Church.

In a way, that sums up the status of the clock and bell tower of the church, which is also known as Conant Memorial Church, because the money to build the church was donated by Hezekiah Conant in 1890. The previous church structure burned down, according to church pastor, the Rev. John R. White. If one really goes back in history, the site, which is right in the middle of the Nichols College campus, has been the location of a church since 1732.

"Back then, you had to have a church to have a town," Rev. White said.

It's safe to say that was long before the separation of church and state. It's also safe to say that the church and its clock and bell tower, which contains a time capsule from 1890, sit proudly on Center Road.

"This really is the heart of the community," Rev. White said of the church.

Mr. Conant made his fortune as owner of Conant Thread Co. in Pawtucket, R.I., because it was the largest thread mill in the country for a time, according to Thompson Boyd, church member and teacher of U.S. history at Shepherd Hill Regional High School. The Woodstock resident edited a book, "Looking Back - Short Stories about Dudley Hill."

South County Notebook would be remiss in not telling readers that Mr. Conant also worked at the Worcester County Gazette in his younger days.

Rev. White said he has given quite a few tours of the edifice that, according to Mr. Boyd, can be seen from certain hills in Woodstock.

The brick clock and bell tower look solid from the outside, but when you take a walk up the creaky steps to the top, you realize improvements must be made.

And that's where the active members of the church, numbering about 250, have stepped up - and we're not talking about walking up to the top of the bell tower.

It has been determined it will cost $400,000 to fix the clock and bell tower. Church member Debbie Grzyb, who is in charge of publicity for the fundraising effort, said $334,000 has been pledged, as of Friday, mostly by members of the church.

The co-chairs of the campaign are Steve Day of Dudley and Mimi Mumm of Oxford, according to Ms. Grzyb.

Rev. White, who has been pastor of the church for 10-1/2 years, said he is very proud of the members, many of whom will be paying their pledges over three years.

"Everybody realized if we don't repair the tower, we would have to take it down," he said.

Or worse, the tower may have fallen down.

Engineering tests, for example, showed that supports holding the bell on the top floor are weak and might fail, which would cause the bell to crash down into the tower's lower levels.

The planned work would reinforce the structural integrity of the building. The project is scheduled to begin in May and will take about three months to complete.

In an effort to reduce the load inside the tower, the 1,500 pounds of weights needed to operate the giant four-sided clock in the tower were removed about 18 months ago and stored in a lower level of the church.

Time, at least for now, is frozen at 10 because that's the time the Sunday morning service is held.

The bell that used to ring at the top of the hour 24 hours a day is now silent, which perhaps might make Nichols College students sleep better after a hard night of studying.

Rev. White, who lives in the church's parsonage with wife, Sarah, and their five children, says he misses hearing the bell.

"It took a little while to get used to it," he said.

The open air view from the bell's height is truly a thing of beauty.

Off to the south, the rolling, farmland of Northeast Connecticut can be seen, while parts of Charlton, Southbridge and Webster are also in view.

Truth be told, though, the top step before that level was more than a little rickety, and just a slight shuffle of your feet would cause it to move.

"That's why we're fixing it," Mr. Boyd said.

As far as South County Notebook is concerned, it's time to do just that.

Last Friday's late-morning grayish-white overcast in Dudley - the farmers used to call it a snow sky - portended the half-inch or so of snow that fell later in the day.

Last Monday, we woke up to an icy covering of snow, sleet and freezing rain.

The same thing, if we are to believe the weather forecasters, will happen this morning and maybe once or twice later this week.

Unlike last year, when winter didn't start until mid-January, the cold season seems to have settled in early this year. Just about every forecaster says that, by time Christmas comes, brown and not white will be the predominant color of the landscape.

Which made Friday night's little walk around the Prospect Hill area of Auburn all the nicer.

The sparkling, newly fallen snow contrasted very nicely with the flashing Christmas lights and, unlike some nights earlier in the week, it actually felt mild.

So, here's some holiday advice from your loyal scribe: turn off the television, step outside and take a walk.

You'll be glad you did.