Posted on 07/16/2026 1:02:51 PM PDT by qwerty1234
WILLIAMSBURG — A Burgy resident and his children are having a towering problem trying to sleep at night, saying the hourly, around-the-clock chimes that emanate from the Haydenville Congregational Church bell are disruptive for his family.
“It’s really loud. In the daytime it doesn’t seem it because of all the noise, but at nighttime, laying in bed, it’s like jarring — jarring,” High Street resident Mike Ambs told the Select Board on Tuesday. He said he is a light sleeper and that his four children have also been awakened by the bell.
Ambs is asking the board to direct the church, at 143 Main St., to mute the bell between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m.
Other residents along High and Pine streets, however, said this week that they enjoy hearing the bell even in the middle of the night.
...
Ambs, a Pennsylvania native who has lived throughout the country, moved to Williamsburg about seven months ago and lives roughly 1,000 feet from the church. He said silencing the bell at night is a “quality-of-life” issue.
Several residents interviewed along High and Pine streets described the bell as charming and a longstanding tradition.
“I’m 90 years old, and it’s been ringing for 90 years, and it’s no problem,” Pine Street resident Bernard Bachand said. “It don’t bother nobody.”
(Excerpt) Read more at gazettenet.com ...
Dear FRiends,
We need your continuing support to keep FR funded. Your donations are our sole source of funding. No sugar daddies, no advertisers, no paid memberships, no commercial sales, no gimmicks, no tax subsidies. No spam, no pop-ups, no ad trackers.
If you enjoy using FR and agree it's a worthwhile endeavor, please consider making a contribution today:
Click here: to donate by Credit Card
Or here: to donate by PayPal
Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794
Thank you very much and God bless you,
Jim
I dare him to object to the coming Moslem call to prayer.
If you do not like something just take your happy butt and go skipping down the road to the next place that will annoy you just as much.
Because the problem is you.
Church officials should say: “Why, we haven’t had anyone ring those bells in years.”
Then James Wan can write a screenplay about the restless souls who ring the bells to summon legions against the people against whom they have a grudge. Including the whiners who complain about church bells.
Stayed at an Airbnb in France across the street from a church and the bells rang all night. Asked the owner what is up with the church bells he said - What bells.
I think the correct solution is to measure the bell’s volume and compare it to the town’s noise ordinances. Under - he’s wrong. Over - he’s correct.
It removes the subjective factor.
Yeah, really. Cars with speakers baying out the mussie call to prayer ... five times a day ...
A guy I once dated owned a house in one of the ‘bubs of Milwaukee. Near the airport. VERY near the airport. Needless to say that romance didn’t go anywhere because I could not live a life around the air traffic and he wasn’t moving. It was LOUD and constant.
I don’t know how people stand it!
Ringing bells wouldn’t bother me, but I prefer birdsong and mooing cows, myself. ;)
I thought modern church bells could be programmed not to ring during the overnight hours...
“Bell has been ringing for 90 years, family moves into town a few months ago and wants everyone else to bend to his desires. Screw him.”
Agreed
>>I thought modern church bells could be programmed not to ring during the overnight hours...
Thats not really the point though, is it?
Yeah! And I want those trains that run through our town two or three times a night stopped! Or at least their horns! Who cares if the night owls can’t hear them coming? And the neighborhood dogs! And MY dogs! They bark right in our ear if they hear a noise outside! I want all noise stopped!
Both sides have facts on their sides.
It clearly does bother someone.
It has been doing this for multiple decades. Everyone in this area has known it.
These people moved into the neighborhood well after its been doing this. Maybe more homework needed to be done before deciding to move into this area.
They can petition, but it also can also be defended and rejected.
90 years, so what? Sounds like the townies have been cowed into silence or they don’t live close enough to the church to be effected. . It’s downright rude for the Church to have that thing clanging around the clock. Does the town not have noise ordinances between say, 10 PM and 6 AM? Sounds like that would be a good solution if they put those hours into effect.
> Cars with speakers baying out the mussie call to prayer ... <
Five years ago that statement would have confused me.
But not now. I live in an old rust belt mill town. And Muslims are moving in. I don’t get the attraction. I suppose it’s part of some grand strategy.
Anyway, you’re right. They will actually park their cars in store parking lots, and blast out the Muslim call to prayer.
This will not end well. Either the Muslim wolf will kill all the stupid sheep, or the stupid sheep will form militia units and push back. As of now, I’d bet on the wolf. But you never can tell.
Guy looks the part
I see nothing wrong with him asking the board to consider turning them off at night. I guess if one has lived with it all one’s life, it becomes something you don’t even notice; but it would drive my husband crazy, and he’d never get used to it. we’d have to move.
(And I’d wonder how healthy it is - the impact on one’s quality of sleep - to be hearing that in your sleep all night.)
Exactly.
And walk away with his head still attached.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.