The Bell Tower Community Foundation is coming off one of their best years to date in 2018.

President Carole Custer says they had a nine-percent increase in visitors to the Mahanay Memorial Carillon Tower with a total of 6,544 people. The bell tower also hosted seven large tour bus groups, along with church groups and several students visited during the year. There were 35 musicians that played the live 48-bells during the daily concerts and on the special Labor Day concert that featured students from Iowa State University and a professional musician, there were 200 people that attended. Custer notes that there was a $2,000 increase in revenues with a total of $14,832. Jefferson Hy-Vee sponsored the youth admissions for 2018.

Custer laid out the 2019 goals for the bell tower. She says they are looking for this year’s youth admission sponsor. They are also working to add more tourism information to their website and they asked the County Board of Supervisors to work with an architect to replace the elevator in the tower.