SASKATOON — A new bell was installed at St. John’s Borden in 2025.
The bell was cast in Rome, New York, and was originally for the parish of All Saints, Radisson, in 1912. When that church was deconsecrated, Cyril Saunders brought the bell to St. John’s, Borden, but the belfry was found to be too small for it.
After waiting in Cyril’s shop for several years, the parish of St. Augustine’s in Rosthern said it needed the bell, so it was moved to Rosthern and installed in the St. Augustine’s belfry. Then, when St. Augustine’s was deconsecrated, Cyril Saunders and a group of people, including Lucas Saunders and Mel Brooke, removed the bell. It then spent some time in Cyril’s shop again until Cyril and his family and friends were able to mount the bell in its new and, hopefully, final location in the St. John’s, Borden churchyard.
To install the bell in its new home in the Borden churchyard, Lucas and Emily Saunders lifted the bell into place and Archie Wainwright made the rope for the bell. It was blessed, in its new location, by the Right Rev. Chad McCharles, Bishop of Saskatoon, on Oct. 19, 2025.
