Call it a ringing return.
On Dec. 10, Barrie business owner and resident Eric Eastman presented Essa Township council with an antique church bell that had been missing for 38 years.
The bell, once mounted to an outdoor brick-and-cement monument at the Essa Township administration centre along Simcoe County Road 21 outside Baxter, was reported stolen in late 1987. At the time, Ontario Provincial Police launched an investigation, but the bell was never recovered.
Eastman told council members and township officials the long journey to its return began about 15 years ago during a vacation he took to Atlantic Canada, when a chance conversation led to an unexpected discovery.
“I met this older man during a trip in New Brunswick — he asked if I had heard of a community in Ontario called Baxter, which I said of course because I went to public school there when I was a kid,” he said.
“This man said he and his wife were given this bell from Baxter years earlier by another couple — this little church-type bell. I did some research on a missing bell from Essa, and I discovered this bell went missing. I managed to get in contact with the couple who had it, and I had been talking with them for years about trying to get the bell back.”
Eastman said the couple never knew exactly how the bell made its way from Essa Township to New Brunswick, but they were reluctant to part with it. Earlier this year, after learning the couple had died, Eastman began working with their estate to retrieve the bell.
Eventually, he was told he could have the bell if he was willing to travel to the eastern province to collect it. In September, Eastman and friend Wes Ayranto, a Barrie realtor, drove to New Brunswick and brought the bell home.
“I wanted to return this piece of history to Essa,” Eastman said. “I knew it belonged here, and I felt a responsibility to see it come back to the community where it started.”
Ayranto said he wanted to help his friend, knowing the return of the bell would be meaningful for the township.
“Eric talked about how long he’d been working to return this bell, and it was clear he wanted to do the right thing,” Ayranto said.
“Helping him bring it back felt like the right thing to do.”
Mayor Sandie Macdonald said she was surprised and grateful when she learned the bell had been found and would be returned.
“This is a great way to end 2025,” she said.
“What Mr. Eastman did to bring this back here — he got rid of the Christmas Grinch and brought in the best Christmas gift — our missing bell.”
The bell was originally used at St. Peter’s West Anglican Church from 1862 to 1982 before being relocated to the monument. Township officials say plans are underway to reinstall the bell in early 2026.
