By Lorri Jenkins and Brenda Sweet

In our last article, we ended with the question “What is the Blue Stem School Bell?”  The school bell on the roof of the Enon Community Historical Society Heritage Room is from the Blue Stem School (1867-1917). The bell was manufactured by the American Bell Foundry Company, Northville, Michigan, prior to 1867. It is a 22 inch diameter bell with a 20 inch pull wheel.

The Blue Stem School, build in 1867, was located on .71 acres, opposite the present intersection of Haddix Road on the Dayton-Springfield Road, toward Fairborn. Around 1917 the bell ceased to call the students to class and the school was closed. The students were taken to the Enon School by bus.
The school was torn down in 1934 and the bricks sold for $35. They were used to build a house on Black Lane. The bell was salvaged by Charlie and Martha Hahn who installed in on their farm home in 1936, at which time the present cupola was built to protect it from the weather.  When Holiday Valley was developed in 1967, their home was moved and the bell and cupola again installed on the roof of their new garage a 4 Danzig Lane. August 10, 1987 the bell was donated to the Enon Community Historical Society as an artifact of the Blue Stem School.

The bell and cupola were restored and installed by Warren Lyon and Bob Fowble on the roof of the Heritage Room on September 4, 1987 for future generations to enjoy. The bell and cupola were raised to the roof of the Heritage Room with Mad River Township equipment operated by Ross Wise.

The bell had not rung for almost 50 years; however, on September 17, 1987, at 4:00 p.m., the bell was rung 200 times in participation with a national bell ringing ceremony, in recognition of the 200th anniversary of the signing of the Constitution of the United States. The bell was rang again to officially open the 8th Annual Enon Apple Butter Festival at 10:00 a.m. on October 10, 1987 buy Martha and Charlie Hahn. It was rung most recently on June 9, 2009 by Martha Hahn's son, Calvin Hahn, during the filming of the documentary of her life of 100 years. 

Trivia Question: "What Natural Disaster hit Enon in 1833?"

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