WALHALLA — The hands of time on the distinctive historic clock atop St. John’s Lutheran Church on Main Street will begin to turn again, keeping Walhallans on time, beginning this Saturday.

The clock restoration team from Chapter 126, National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors (NAWCC) will return to town at 9 a.m. to complete the restoration of the 1880s E. Howard and Company timepiece that began earlier this year. That restoration has included extensive analysis and careful restoration in Eugene Volk's clock shop.

When the clock begins to keep time again it will be well into its second century of operation.

The newly crafted hands to be put in place on Saturday were finely crafted of cedar by Carlas Kennedy, noted craftsman of Arden, N.C. A giant lift will enable the restoration team to complete its task.

Eugene “Gene” Volk of Lake Toxaway, N.C, retired engineer and clock restorer extra¬ordinaire, serves as captain of a team of Chapter 126 that carried out the restoration of this clock as well as several others in the Oconee County area. Members on Volk’s team, include his wife, Barbara, Wayne Arcuri, Ed Cara, Bart Schmidt of Keowee Key and Louise M. Bell of Seneca.

Historic St. John's Church was erected in 1859, soon after the founding of Walhalla in 1850. The notable bell and clock tower was added in 1889. The model No.2 round top clock was manufactured by E. Howard and Co. in Boston, Mass.

There have been three such tower clocks in structures of historical importance in Oconee, all made by E. Howard and Co. and all erected from 1885 to 1899.

The first was in the tower of Seneca Baptist Church, corner of Townville and South Second streets in Seneca. This building was erected in 1885 and utilized by the church until 1924 when a new structure was built across the street. The clock works from Seneca Baptist were stored from 1924 to 2005 when they were rediscovered. The late Bruce Bell, a Seneca clock aficionado had kept an eye on the works for many years hoping to see them used in some way. Louise Bell, Bruce's wife, enlisted the cooperation of Bob Faires, director of the Seneca Light and Water Department and Volk, and the works were restored.

This historic bit of Seneca history is on permanent display in the Seneca Light & Water Department on the first floor of City Hall.

The E. Howard clock works from Clemson University's Tillman Hall were rescued from storage by Louise Bell and carefully and meticulously restored by Volk and his restoration team. The School of Engineering at the university assisted the team in the project. This $30,000 project is on permanent display in Flour Daniel Hall on the university campus. The tower clock on the Tillman Hall today is operated by electricity, whereas the original Howard clock was weight driven and required winding weekly.

Now all three of these historic circa 1890s tower clocks have been restored, put in running order or on display for the public to appreciate.

Besides restoration of these three tower clocks, Chapter 126 worked with restoration of the McClintock Clock at Seneca's Chamber of Commerce on Main Street in Seneca. After its restoration the team kept the clock in repair for over a decade. This clock is now in storage awaiting the skills of this team to erect it in a new location.

The Volk team is also working on restoration of the handcrafted Bruce Bell clock in Seneca's old city hall.

About ten years ago the NAWCC Volk restoration team restored 10 historic clocks at Fort Hill. More recently, following extensive renovation and preservation of the Calhoun Mansion, the team moved a historic clock collection back into the home. This collection from the John C. Calhoun and Thomas Green Clemson home was made from 1790 to the late 1890s. Especially interesting is the Howard office banjo clock that kept John C. Calhoun on time, as did the fine gold watch he was known to carry. These two timepieces are on display at the mansion along with the clock collection.