Ringing of Peace Bell commemorated in Tiverton
By: Liz Dadson
November 18, 2023
Three generations of the Hutton family joined in the service to mark the 105th Ringing of the Peace Bell beside the Whitney Crawford Community Centre in Tiverton on Remembrance Day.
The Royal Canadian Legion, in partnership with Veterans Affairs, Canada, launched the Bells of Peace initiative Nov. 11, 2018, to celebrate the end of the First World War.
Bells were rung at sundown, starting in Newfoundland and ending in British Columbia. It was decided the time for ringing the bells was 7 p.m. Everyone is welcome to join in the ringing.
As the bells toll, people reflect on the Canadian Armed Forces members who continue to defend the peace and freedom we enjoy today, carrying on the tradition of those who have served so bravely since the First World War.
In 2018, marking the 100th anniversary, the bells were rung 100 times. The tradition has been continued in many communities. This year, to remember the brave people who fought in those wars, and those who continue to fight today for freedom and democracy, the bell was struck 105 times.
On the 100th anniversary, Tommy and Malcolm Scott and Charlie Kempers were recruited by Don Manary and Blair Kempers to ring the peace bell in Tiverton. They were doing it in honour of their many great-great relatives, who served in the World Wars, Korean War and other skirmishes where Canadians and other Allied Forces members fought and where many lost their lives or came home with terrible memories or scars.
This year, the Hutton family assisted with the service.
James Lorne (Jim) Hutton Sr. was a local veteran of the Second World War. He enlisted with the Royal Canadian Army in Walkerton, in September of 1939, at the age of 17.
Overseas, his rank was as a gunner with the 100th Field Battery, 5th Army Field Brigade. He served in England, France, Belgium, Germany and Holland.
At the end of the war, Jim returned home and in 1953, he and his wife, Irene, bought a farm on Concession 4 of Bruce Township where they raised five children. They and their families still proudly call the Bruce County area, “home.”
Three generations of Huttons assisted with the service, including Marg Hutton, Jim’s youngest daughter, who read “In Flanders Fields;” Jen Stark, Jim’s granddaughter, who recited the Litany of Remembrance; and James Hutton, Jim’s seven-year-old great-grandson, who rang the bell from 101-105.
The service featured piper Brenda Colquhoun, Eleanor Roppel reading about the Bells of Peace, two minutes of silence, ringing of the peace bell, singing of “O Canada,” and a prayer and benediction by Rev. Richard Warne of Knox Presbyterian Church, Tiverton.
James Hutton, 7, rings the peace bell in Tiverton, from 101-105, Saturday evening, Nov. 11; photos by Eleanor Roppel
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