Friday, January 01, 1999
World's largest bell will announce 2000
BY TERRY FLYNN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
NEWPORT — One year from today, the world's largest swinging bell will have rung for the first time, heralding the New Year and the new millennium with a ring for each of the world's time zones.
The Millennium Monument World Peace Bell, weighing 66,000 pounds, currently rests in a giant mold in Nantes, France, where it was cast Dec. 11. It will be shipped to New Orleans in the spring and make its trip to Newport by barge on the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers with stops at key cities for local viewing.
Wally Pagan, executive director of Southbank Partners which is directly involved in the Millennium Bell project, said Thursday the exact timetable for the bell's departure from France and arrival here is still uncertain.
“This is a very big thing in Europe, especially France, and I think the people who cast the bell want to be able to display it a few times there before it is shipped,” he said.
“Originally we thought it would leave France in March, but it might not be until April or even early May.”
Mr. Pagan said the mold probably will be broken away from the bronze bell in about a week, and then the polishing process will begin.
“We hope to have the bell hanging in a yoke when it comes up river on the barge, so everyone can see it,” he said. “We are tentatively planning for an arrival celebration around the Fourth of July.”
Millennium Monument Center officials have said they think their New Year's celebration will earn a special place in the minds and hearts of celebrants in every part of the globe.
The ringing is designed to bring a message of freedom and peace to all nations, all religions and all people as the new millennium begins. The ringing will be telecast and will include participants from all nations and beliefs, including leaders of church and state.
Native performances in native garb are planned to coincide with the ringing of the bell in each part of the world.
The commitment to freedom and peace is clearly inscribed on the bell's surface: The World Peace Bell is a symbol of freedom and peace, honoring our past, celebrating our present and inspiring our future. On the other side is a depiction of the three young children, of different nationalities, holding hands in front of a map of the world.
The ceremonies will begin on the morning of New Year's Eve, 1999, to coincide with the start of the New Year in the Pacific.
When the New Year is rung in for the eastern part of the United States there will be an even more elaborate ceremony, followed by a special ringing of the bell and a New Year's fireworks display.
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