Since the dawn of the Christian Age people have used bells for a variety of tasks. They ring out hours and days. They announce people arriving for visits at our doors. They announce joyful events to the Community around us. They announced joyful and sad events.

In 1890 the Catholic people of the Hickman area erected a new church under the patronage of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. At that time they saw fit to establish a bell way up in the spire of this Church building. It was a brand new bell, recently cast in Louisville, Kentucky. It weighed more than 460 pounds. It stayed there as long as that building lasted. More than that, it stayed in the parish from the beginning of this rededicated parish.

That bell hung in the Church steeple and announced to the town when the Catholic Community gathered to praise God. It pealed with delight to announce the marriage of many parishioners in those eighty-seven years. It sadly tolled the death of many Popes; it gladly pealed the election of many Popes. It sadly tolled the death of many of those who placed it there. It sadly tolled the death even of those who made it toll.

That beautiful bell became an old weathered bell. As it aged, it continued its appointed task of announcing to Hickman a host of events in the Catholic Community. It was part of us; it was one of us. One hundred years ago, this bell announced the dedication of Sacred Heart Parish. Ever since the old Church building was pulled to the ground this faithful bell has been in the Church garage.

Today we recall the events that began our history of Sacred Heart Parish. The people of the Anniversary Committee recognized the place this bell had in our midst. Few things are as nostalgic to a parish as the sound of its own familiar bell. Today this bell stands at the corner of the Church parking lot with a new support. It will stand here and remind us of our heritage as it forms the center of a monument to our first century of faith at this location in Hickman. Once again, this old bell, as old as the parish itself, will mark events that are important to Sacred Heart Parish.
                                      Father Martin Hayes      1990