NORWICH – Some people collect stamps, others post cards, comic books or coins. For lifelong Norwich resident and BOCES Special Education Aide Leann Hagen, it’s bells. And to call her collection impressive is an understatement, to say the least.

With over 3,240 collectable bells currently decorating her front porch, living room, dining room, main entryway and stairway, Hagen’s passion for the hobby first began in 1981. Since then, her collection has grown to include bells of every shape and size, some as small as a thimble, others the size of a football. From glass to ceramic, copper, brass and wood, if they can make a bell out of it, Hagen’s got it.

She’s even got one particularly unique bell made from the ashes of a Mount St. Helens eruption.

“You can’t really just dust them,” said Hagen of her enormous collection, which she tries to wash and clean at least twice a year. “The only real problem we have is that we’re starting to run out of room.”