Where is Wheaton North's victory bell?

It's been years since it was last seen, but some members of the Wheaton North High School community are hopeful the school's victory bell will reappear one day.

The likelihood of it showing up this weekend - in time for the school's 50th anniversary celebrations - is not good.

There is hope, however, that perhaps an alumni or two in attendance will know more about its whereabouts.

The story of the fabled bell recently resurfaced when organizers for this weekend's events began discussing school artifacts that could be put on display during school tours, which will run from 9 to 11 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 18.

Organizers reached out to retired English teacher and cross country coach Ronald Piro to learn more about the bell. He had researched the bell for an article that ran in the school paper 10 years ago, when North was celebrating its 40th anniversary.

"When it comes to Wheaton North, I can become very nostalgic," he said. "This was the first thing given to that building and it's just hard to see that gone. We're a society that does thrive on tear down and rebuild, but some things are worth the test of time."

In his research, Piro discovered the bell was donated to the school shortly after it opened in 1964, by the parents of 1968 graduate Jim Babb.

He said the Babbs received the bell from another Wheaton North parent, Ray McCall, who took it off a train in Tennessee when he did construction work there.

The bell was about waist-high, and heavy enough that it had to be wheeled around on a cart, Piro said. For about two decades it was rung when the Falcons won football, basketball and track victories.

Piro remembers seeing the bell on the football field when he was a student at the school in the 1970s. In the mid-80s, when he was working at the school, he recalls it being covered in dust and stored in a towel closet that his cross-country team would use.

Piro said he believes the bell was moved from the closet to a storage space under a staircase at some point. After that, he isn't sure.

"It's kind of a hard thing to leave unnoticed in your garage. I can't imagine getting it into a house," he said.

A few of Piro's former colleagues suspect the bell was carried away in temporary trailers that were used for storage outside the school during renovations.

Former librarian Jeri Ramp, who helped Piro with his article, said maybe one of the athletic coaches took the bell home upon retirement.

"I can't imagine who would know," she said.

Former principal Ralph Heatherington was leader of the school from 1995 to 2005, when the building was undergoing major renovations.

"I know that there were a lot of trophies and mementos and those types of things that were farmed out to families to hold onto while renovations went on," he said. "I don't know if the bell was part of that or not."

While he doesn't recall anyone ever mentioning the bell and never had a chance to see it himself, Heatherington said he understands the importance of locating such an item.

"That would be nice because it does have a tradition at the school and those types of traditions need to be carried on," he said.

Anyone with information about the bell can contact Wheaton North Principal Matt Biscan at (630) 784-7300. A surprise bell appearance at Saturday's celebration would be welcome, too.