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Bells Ringing Again in Stroudsburg

STROUDSBURG — After months of silence in Stroudsburg, some familiar bells are ringing again, just in time for Christmas. Bells rang out on Main Street for...

STROUDSBURG -- After months of silence in Stroudsburg, some familiar bells are ringing again, just in time for Christmas.

Bells rang out on Main Street for the first time in months, with a quick flip of a switch inside the Stroudsburg United Methodist Church.

"It's been a long wait as we waited for all of this to be done, and it's been very quiet around here, as you know,” said Pastor Bob Shank.

Back in September, Pastor Shank turned off the church’s Big Ben chimes when church members discovered the mortar on the bell tower was crumbling.

The costly repairs took time and still aren’t paid off, but somehow the church made it happen.

"Even the contractor has given us a donation which was really amazing to me -- I didn't expect that at all -- of $1,000 dollars which was great,” said Pastor Shank.

Michelle Roberts of Stroudsburg listened to the bells as they chimed again, excited to hear the silence broken.

"It's tradition, it's home. It's just something that belongs here. Stroudsburg, we need a little something sometimes,” said Roberts.

Although this project came in ahead of schedule and under budget, the church waited until now to flip the switch to ring in Christmas.

"When the bells go off, I'm hoping that people will remind themselves and hear the message of Christmas and it's a season of giving for everyone,” said Pastor Shank.

On the other side of Main Street, folks at Fitzpatrick’s Irish and Celtic Store agree, it’s great to hear the chimes again.

"It's just a very pleasant sound and when you hear it all the time, you just get used to it and stuff. It's just nice. It's very inviting,” said owner Paula Fitzpatrick.

The bells are back to ringing four times an hour.

"Just a nice homey feeling down deep in your heart,” said Roberts.

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