In light of the CDC recommendations and the safety of our staff, the Mahanay Bell Tower will not have tours available until further notice. We look forward to welcoming visitors when the time is right to offer the tours again. Please enjoy the songs and chimes of the 47 bells from the comfort of your own homes and yards.
Thank you for understanding.
The Mahanay Bell Tower may be closed for the season, but this is a great time to get your season passes for 2020. Passes are available for individuals for $15 each. Adults 19 yr. and older are the only ones who would need to pay because generous sponsors pay for those 18 and younger.
The season pass would allow the individual to enjoy the Mahanay Bell Tower as many times as they would like through the year of 2020. People who frequently take family and friends to the tower would truly benefit from these passes. At $3 admission each time, it would only be 5 trips for the entire year to make this pass totally worth it!
Purchasing the pass also supports the Bell Tower Community Foundation as they work to provide great staff and marketing of the tower to the state and beyond. Please consider purchasing a pass or two for friends or family. They are available year-round at The Welcome Center at 201 E Lincoln Way.
As always, appointments can be made up until the opening in May by calling the Jefferson Chamber of Commerce at 515-386-2155.
The Mahanay Memorial Carillon Tower will be a location for several holiday activities this season. Each Tuesday and Thursday between Thanksgiving and Christmas, Tower Tunes Live concerts will be played from 5:15 – 5:30 p.m. by local musicians. These musicians will choose their own music so listen for a wide variety of holiday tunes while shopping in Jefferson.
The schedule is:
Tuesday, Nov. 26 – Pat Richards
Tuesday, Dec. 3 – Lois Last
Thursday, Dec. 5 – Rick Morain
Tuesday, Dec. 10 – Rhena Lane
Thursday, Dec. 12 – Yvette Bardole
Tuesday, Dec. 17 – Wendy VanderLinden
Thursday, Dec. 19 – Danille Curtis
On Thursday, Dec. 5, Santa and Mrs. Claus will visit with children in the Paul Nally Observation Deck of the Bell Tower from 6:45 – 7:30 p.m. as part of the Christmas Tree Lighting activities in Jefferson.
The Tower also celebrates the holidays with Christmas bells that light up in the observation deck of the tower. Board member Craig Berry worked on restringing the bell frames with LED lights to be a beacon of Christmas throughout the holidays in downtown Jefferson. These lights can be seen for miles as people approach the community.
Chews Jeffersonis the catchy title of a new event of the Promotion Committee in coordination of the Mahanay Bell Tower’s Tower Tunes Liveconcerts. This is the third year of the daily live concerts from 12:15 – 12:30 pm with local musicians sharing their talents by playing the carillon. An idea emerged to draw people to eat their lunch while listening to the concerts near the Tower. It is like Java & Juice, only bring your own lunch and it is on Wednesdays!
The Promotion committee contacted local eateries to offer a take-out special on Wednesdays in June. One restaurant each Wednesday would be the featured spot for people to stop in and get a $5 take-out lunch. Call ahead to have it ready for you. Then head to the Bell Tower Plaza, Thomas Jefferson Gardens, or Sally’s Alley to enjoy the concert during lunch. Everyone is invited to “Chews Jefferson” on Wednesdays.
Lynda Cochran and Angie Reese-Heuser are chairing this event for the month of June working with restaurants in the Main Street District. Debra McGinn is helping with publicity. The Promotion committee plans to work with the Chamber of Commerce to see if other restaurants around Jefferson would be willing to offer a $5 take-out meal on a specific Wednesday during the rest of the summer.
The Mahanay Memorial Carillon Tower is now a full four octave 47 bell instrument with the additional bells installed before the 2017 Bell Tower Festival. A truly unique experience for musicians with at least two years of piano experience is to play the digital keyboard located just one floor up from the lobby. In the past two years, 40+ local and visiting musicians have shared their music at the “Tower Tunes Live” daily concerts from 12:15 – 12:30 p.m. These concerts are played live each day from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Since the musicians choose their own music, many people eat their lunch near the square and try to name the tunes played by the musicians.
Throughout the entire year, three songs are played on the bells digitally after each hour so visitors always have a chance to hear the Carillon Tower. The Westminster Chimes chime on each quarter hour with each hour sounded as well.
A music committee from the Bell Tower Community Foundation have been organizing these concerts through an online calendar. Musicians who would like to be contacted should email mahanaybelltower@gmail.com or contact Becky Greiner, Pat Richards or Peg Raney with contact information. Check out the schedule on the Mahanay Bell Tower Facebook page or at the website www.mahanaybelltower.org. See the Image Gallery of our Mahanay Maestros!
Two of our Bell Tower staff have become certified tour guides. Joyce Kurth, newest member of the Tower staff, and Pat Richards, Tower staff coordinator, attended a day-long session on tour guide training put on by Iowa State Extension in early April. They worked through the guide book they were given to fine-tune their tour-giving skills. In early May, each gave a sample tour to Diane Van Wyngarden, ISU Extension Specialist in Tour Guide Training and Certification at the Mahanay Bell Tower. Diane commented that she thoroughly enjoyed the tours, learned more about what we have to offer tourists in Greene County, and thought we were far and above many other towns in Iowa! And….Joyce and Pat are now officially certified and working on a list of tips for our staff. Congratulations to both of the ambassadors to the community!
We are so pleased to introduce our Mahanay Bell Tower staff for 2019 with many returning for multiple years. These ambassadors for the community are often the first people visitors meet and feel so welcomed.
The Mahanay Memorial Carillon Tower will open officially for the 2019 season on Saturday, May 4th. Hours will be 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. each weekend in May and then daily beginning Memorial Day weekend. With the increased visitors during the month of September, the Bell Tower Foundation Board decided to remain open daily for the month of September and weekends in October. The Tower is also available by appointment by calling the Greene County Chamber & Tourism office at 515-386-2155. Pat Richards continues as the Tower Staff coordinator with an experienced group of staff returning for the 2019 season.
The Mahanay Memorial Carillon expanded to 47 bells on Memorial Day weekend in 2017. The Mahanay Music committee has a list of musicians with at least 2 years of piano experience to volunteer to play the bells for the daily Tower Tunes Live concerts from 12:15 – 12:30 p.m. These concerts will begin on Memorial Day weekend and continue through Labor Day weekend. Musicians can choose their own music. The bells are played on a digital keyboard connected to the bells. The musicians who played last year enjoyed the experience of playing such a large instrument. Becky Greiner, Peg Raney and Pat Richards are collecting names and contact information for anyone wanting to be added to the list. Musicians can also email mahanaybelltower@gmail.com An electronic calendar will be sent out for musicians to choose when they would like to play.
2019 Season Passes will again be available at the Mahanay Tower for $15. This allows the individual to visit the Tower for the entire year.
The website www.mahanaybelltower.org and Facebook page are also kept up-to-date with information and pictures about the Mahanay Bell Tower. The Bell Tower Community Foundation encourages people to check these out and share with visitors.
Santa & Mrs. Claus will arrive in Jefferson at 6:15 pm on Thursday, Dec. 6 at the Thomas Jefferson Gardens. Everyone is invited to watch this annual tradition! They will light the community Christmas tree in the Gardens at 6:30 pm. This tree will remain lit through the Christmas holidays. Santa & Mrs. Claus will then make their way to the Mahanay Memorial Carillon Tower to visit with youngsters and their families from 6:45 – 7:30 pm. With the lights of the bells in the observation deck, this is a special location for kids to tell Santa their Christmas wishes. The admission to the Tower is free for all during this special evening!
Local musicians will play the Mahanay Memorial Carillon during the Christmas season. On Tuesdays and Thursdays between Thanksgiving and Christmas, special Tower Tunes Live Concerts will be played from 5:15 – 5:30 p.m. Musicians involved are Rick Morain, Pat Richards, Danille Curtis and Bonnie Orris. Each musician will select their own music so expect a great variety of wonderful holiday music.
