BONNYVILLE – The original bell from St. Anne’s Chapel in Bonnyville, which has a history dating back close to a century, was recently relocated to the Bonnyville and District Museum.
According to information from the Bonnyville and District Museum, the bell was cast in France in 1932. It was commissioned by Monsieur Fenouil and inscribed with the name of his daughter, Suzanne Fenouil Destrube, who led the effort to build the original chapel in the Rife District.
The Rife District is located about 25 km southwest of Bonnyville, near Highway 28.
According to Madison Vadasz, a technician with the museum, the bell was initially inside St. Anne’s Chapel. When the chapel was moved into Bonnyville and situated across from the local elementary school, the bell was taken out of the chapel and placed at Camp St. Louis, a Catholic-led summer camp located on the shores of Moose Lake.
The old St. Anne’s chapel, Vadasz said, was moved to the museum a few years ago. The bell has now been reunited with the chapel.
“I think it’s great to have that part of history and the original bell that belonged in that church here,” Vadasz said.
The bell is around two feet in height and quite heavy. Staff, she said, have a stand that they are hoping to put this piece of history on, so it can be displayed to the public.
Given its uniqueness, Vadasz believes people will want to stop by the Bonnyville and District Museum to see the historic bell.
“It’s pretty interesting because it did come from so far away,” she said.
The bell is important to the history and culture of Bonnyville as the area not only has a significant Francophone population, but a large Roman Catholic population as well.
“It’s from France . . . we have a lot of French Canadians in Bonnyville . . . So, it’s a big reflection of the kind of people that founded Bonnyville and started Bonnyville and live here today,” she said.
