"Ring out the old, ring in the new!" proclaims the inscription on the first of nine bells given to Cornell University by Jennie McGraw and played at the university's inauguration day in 1868. And on Monday, June 8, starting at noon there will be a celebratory chimes concert on Cornell's Arts Quad to usher out the old -- the bells are being removed from the tower and sent off to Ohio to be tuned, not to be returned to campus until next spring.

The Cornell Chimesmasters, taking advantage of their last opportunity for an entire year to play, will be offering a final hour-long concert, and Cornell's Office of Human Resources will provide Cornell Dairy ice cream and representatives of Maintenance Management, the Cornell Recreation Connection and Communication Strategies will be serving it up. A tent will be made available, and the chimes will ring, regardless of the weather.

With McGraw Tower undergoing massive restoration and reconstruction to counteract a century of weathering, the bells will be sent away and tuned as a set for the first time. In addition, one of the chimes will be replaced and two others added. And when the bells are returned to the refurbished tower next summer, they will be repositioned to provide improved sound projection.

Project manager James Bucko of Cornell's Maintenance Management department, says the 21 chimes will be returned to campus in time for Commencement 1999, when they will be played on a specially constructed stand, similar to one used at Cornell's opening ceremonies in 1868. They will not be replaced in the tower until the summer of 1999.