A Unique Look at MEMO's Discover Medfield Day [Video]

It took Carl Ciancarelli 31 years as a Medfield resident to climb the stairs to the top of the bell tower of the on North Street, which was the highlight of this year’s trip to MEMO's Discover Medfield Day.

“I’ve never been in a church steeple in my life and I’ve always wanted to know what it looked like and now I know,” said Ciancerelli. “And I’ve never been so close to a bell when it rang.” ().

Ciancarelli and friend, Linda Cabela, were two of several people who took advantage of the guided clock tower tours as part of this year’s Discover Medfield Day, organized by MEMO.

“We started doing this several years ago,” said David Maxson, Medfield resident and official Keeper of the Clock, appointed by the Board of Selectmen, for the First Parish Meeting House, established in 1651. 

The 30-minute tour, for which participants were required to sign a waiver, began with a brief overview of the building’s history – the current structure is the third to be built on the site, was erected in 1789 and is on the National Register of Historic Places – and an explanation of the clock’s early 1900s timing mechanisms. 

After a quick stop on the meeting house gallery (balcony) – which overlooks the gathering place of today’s First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church with its pews from the early 1900s and stained glass windows from the late 1800s and early 1900s – the tour went back further in time as folks climbed the narrowing unfinished stairway for a behind-the-scenes look at the inner workings of the clock’s hands.

The town has been responsible for maintaining the clock since 1801. 

According to Meeting House history, a four-faced clock was installed in 1861 to replace the pendulum clock. The weights that drove the pendulum were hung from chains that allowed the weights to dangle in a wooden channel all the way down to the ground. The keeper of the clock had to raise the weights every week. The clock weights, pendulum, and channel were visible during Saturday’s tour as was the slate steeple that toppled into the eaves of the building during the hurricane of 1938, where it has remained ever since. 

“For 50 years, there was no spire,” said Maxson. 

A new spire and a dove of peace weathervane was installed in 1988. 

Tourists were able to stand in the clock turret and see the clock’s mechanisms in action and could also look out through the opening in the turret to the thousands of people gathered below for Medfield Day.

One more climb up a ship-ladder into the belfry, and tourists were blessed with a birds-eye view of the Meeting House grounds through louvered panels. Maxson rang the bell for visitors to experience the close sound of the bell as it resonated throughout the structure. 

“It was fun and exciting; I’m glad I did it,” said Cabela. “I was very nervous [about the climb] but I’m glad I did it.”

Though there was no cost for the tour, donations were accepted for the upkeep of the building.

Other Medfield Day activities included more than 100 vendors that offered goods and services to Medfield residents, including school groups and sports, civic and community organizations such as the Lions Club and Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts, historic organizations such as the Lowell Mason Foundation, dog adoption agencies, banks, realtors, photographers, contractors, politicians, places of worship, grocery stores, the public library, the senior center, “green” vendors, newspapers, clothing, jewelry, accessories, doctors, dentists, orthodontists, and of course, Medfield Patch.

There was also a performance stage, food vendors, and a farmers' market.

For the children, there were games and inflatables in “Kids Alley,” hair braids and feathers, face painting, bubbles, doll clothes, snow cones, novelties and toys, and free caricature drawings.

The hosted its annual , which included over 100 runners and was won by Andy Gardiner of Dover. Complete results can be found at coolrunning.com.

This was the 32nd anniversary of the event sponsored by the Medfield Employers & Merchants Organization.

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