After ringing over the community for 150 years, the East Boothbay United Methodist Church bell stopped ringing last winter when the assembly supporting it broke due to weather.

The church obtained a $23,625 estimate from a contractor specializing in steeple and bell repair. The estimate includes re-roofing the belfry's floor and adjacent roofing. Church officials are working with the Maine Steeples Fund to obtain a grant to pay for half of the repairs.

The fund asks its grant recipients to restore their steeples and belfry in accordance with the standards of the National Registry of Historic Structures.

"The (East Boothbay United Methodist Church) is prayerfully asking the residents of the Boothbay community to consider making a donation to help our small church pay for the necessary repairs so that it can, again, ring over our community on Sunday mornings and at other important times," wrote East Boothbay UMC member Hal Moorefield. "No gift is too small and any amount is appreciated. All contributions to the church are tax deductible."

The bell's origins date back to a Boston foundry started by Paul Revere in 1792. The bell is bronze and weighs about 1,000 pounds. Embossed on the bell is "1875. William Blake & Co., formerly Henry N. Hooper and Co. Boston."

According to church officials, Hooper was an apprentice of Paul Revere and his shop foreman who assumed control of the foundry  in 1828. Hooper sold the foundry to William Blake in 1869, and Blake continued to cast bronze bells until the 1880s.

After a detailed inspection of the church's steeple and bell assembly, the fund issued a report which found that “East Boothbay United Methodist is a lovely structure … which has benefited from an obvious high-level stewardship throughout its life. It has played a continuing important role in the community, and its history is well-documented. Having been an integral part of the East Boothbay community for over 162 years, the church’s steeple even appears on NOAA's (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) marine charts of the area as an aid to mariners," wrote a Maine Steeples Fund official.

Church officials offer any and all donors the privilege of ringing the restored bell on Sunday mornings at 10:30 a.m. when services begin. All donations should be sent by check to East Boothbay United Methodist Church, P.O. Box 11, East Boothbay, ME 04544 with the words "Save the Bell" on the check.