We made it a policy to ring the bells for tourists, but it is private property. Some just ring them, but we haven't had any problems.

The tower, the booklet and the names are listed. We know where the bells came from, and I think that is important. The book tells the story and has pictures of all the bells.

Trying to document that was a circus. I talked to former superintendents, teachers and students. I made a lot of calls. I have several theories in the book, and maybe one of them is true. The closest bell was the most difficult to document.

Bells are getting more scarce, and rather than seeing them in other parts of the United States, or in Bismarck or Fargo, I decided to keep them here. I wanted to keep the bells in this region of the state.

One needs to curtail something like this after getting a collection. But mysteries remain out there.

In an instant he became aware that the tourist was about to try his own peculiar brand of linguistics, which meant that he would speak loudly and slowly in his own language.