Deb Spalding
This year marked the 98th year that volunteers from the congregation of the Incarnation United Church of Christ, formerly the Evangelical and Reformed Church of the Incarnation, in Emmitsburg have tolled their bell in memory of Veterans on Veterans Day (formerly Armistice Day). Ninety-three-year-old Emmitsburg resident, Thomas Hoke said, “When the armistice was, during the war, everyone rang bells.”
The church burned on February 26, 1950. During the fire, the bell fell out of the tower and cracked when it crashed to the ground. Church members Fred Wolfe, Henry Springer, Glenn Springer, Donald Crouse, and Allen Crouse rebuilt the church and installed a new bell in the tower.
Over the years, members of the Hoke family rang the bell until they passed or moved away. Fred Wolfe rang it for a long time until he passed away in the 1970s; then Tom Hoke took over the honor again. Tom’s daughter, Becky, has been ringing it for the past seven or so years. Tom is the official tick-tock time keeper.
Some of the Hoke family’s friends and relatives get together for the annual dedication, during which “God Bless America” is sung. They start at five minutes before 11:00 a.m. on Veterans Day, toll for five minutes with a tap (pull straight down on the bell rope and hold it) every ten seconds, and then ring continuously for three minutes.
Tom said, “I sit there and say ‘pull’, then watch the seconds, then say ‘pull’ again.” That’s just what he did on November 11, 2016.
Tom Hoke and his daughter Becky carry on the tradition of tolling the bell at Incarnation United Church of Christ in Emmitsburg on Veterans Day to honor Veterans.
