Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, February 19, 1991 TAG: 9102190348
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARK MORRISON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Because it's there.
At least that's the main reason, despite what some who have made the climb might tell you.
Why else would someone risk life and limb, exposure to the elements and a snoot full of 90-year-old dust?
There aren't even any bells up there.
"It's fun," said Mary Ellen Scott, 33, program director at the church and a veteran climber. She has been up and down seven or eight times. "I have friends come in from out of town, and we'll go climb the church tower.
"Also, I like to see other people's reactions," she said on a recent Saturday morning as eight church members were preparing to ascend the structure.
Scott's brother, David, 35, admitted to being a little nervous for his first climb. "I'm not real fond of heights," he said.
But he wasn't about to let that stop him. He scaled the tower's seven levels of rickety steps and wooden ladders like a professional.
"It was all right except for the people kicking dirt down in my face from three levels above," he said.
Over the past decade, an estimated 200 people have taken the informal tour up the tower, according to church music director Richard Cummins. The climbs were first organized by the church's former pastor, the Rev. Bernard S. Via Jr. Now, Cummins leads the annual expeditions.
Cummins, 54, says he probably holds the record for times to the top - about 20.
"It gets easier," he said. "The first time I went up, it was a lot harder. I guess I was tense. I could probably do it in my sleep now."
Confidently, he added that no climber has lost life or limb to the unforgiving tower.
A few, however, have dropped out over the years once they realized what they had gotten themselves into. "Some people think they're going to come in and walk up steps, like it's the Washington Monument or something," Cummins said.
This climb is no cakewalk.
No children younger than 12 are allowed on the climbs, and Cummins goes over a long list of rules with each group before taking them up.
"I love to fly, so it didn't bother me at all," said church historian Buford Stanley, 66, who has been a member at Greene Memorial for 45 years. It was his first time up. "I've climbed the peaks in Colorado, so this was nothing."
Stanley was impressed by the tower's construction. "The fact that it is still standing struck me. It just seems so sturdy," he said.
Jim Dinger, 28, agreed. He loves history, old buildings and architecture, and he hopes to arrange for his family to take the tour next time they visit Roanoke.
"What I think is neat is the way they used to build these old buildings. I mean, look at the size of the beams. The effort was just enormous," he said.
Seeing the clock from the inside was another thrill, he added. "I really enjoy clockwork, especially grandfather clocks. I'd say this was the grandfather of them all."
The inside guts of the clock left the opposite impression on first-time climber Jack Musel, 57. "The size of it surprised me. It's so small. I thought it would be larger," he said.
The modest workings are encased in a wooden box not much larger than a shoe box, with four steel rods leading to the hands on each clock face.
And that's as far as Cummins takes you.
Above the clock there is only the cone-shaped steeple, with a series of never-used rungs leading into the dark and narrow point.
"You can go up there at your own risk. This is where my services stop," he tells his groups.
So far, nobody has been the daredevil.
The belfry is on the next level down - but don't look for any bells there. The 10 bells that once hung in the tower were removed in 1963. The chimes heard now ring via electronic carillon.
Either way, it's loud, especially for climbers who find themselves in the belfry as the carillon chimes, which happens every 15 minutes.
In the end, those who brave the journey up the tower usually come away with a feeling of accomplishment . . . and an official Tower Club certificate provided by the church.
Why?
Because it's there.
by CNB