Our Bell Tower at St. Charles Borromeo was designed and fabricated by long-time parishioner Reg MacDonald. He was initially approached about the project by his step-mother Dorothy MacDonald in the late 1970s when she asked him to build a tower to house the bell from the original St. Charles Church.
Mr. MacDonald agreed to this request and submitted his design for the tower to the St. Charles Building Committee which accepted it.
According to MacDonald, the tripod and triangular base and bellhousing symbolize the Holy Trinity, the base of our Catholic faith. The two triangles of the base and bellhousing are offset to form a Star of David symbolizing the roots of the faith in the Old Testament. The bell itself is a symbol of the Word of God. The ringing of church tower bells summon the faithful to prayer and announce the Word of God.
The twelve-spoke wheel at the center of the tower symbolizes the twelve Apostles and was originally to be embolized with the phrase "Sursum Corda" which means "Lift up your hearts."
When the tower was complete it was erected by Bill Driscoll and Larry O'Shaunessey.
For the Diocese of Helena Millennium celebration, each church was asked by the Bishop to submit a quilt square representing their parish. Our own artist Tom Costich drew a likeness of the Bell Tower on our square and nimble fingered Jean Driscoll embroidered it for us. A great symbol of St. Charles Borromeo Parish!