From the Chair . . . TWICE TOLLED TALES Area 2 Twice...
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Greetings from the Area 2 Board! The first weekend of October, the Area 2 Board met for the first meeting of the new term. Twelve people were present including four past chairs, one chair- elect, one chair and many decades of service and dedication to Area 2. Decades. We shared meals and took the opportunity to get to know each other a little better. We found out how very small the world really is through family and geo- graphical connections we didn’t know we had. We reviewed the successes of the past two years in Area 2 and began planning what Area 2 events and programs will look like in the next two years. And we remembered past Area 2 board members who are no longer with us. Sitting in the room together, I couldn’t help but marvel and appreciate the countless hours of volunteer time each has already given to Area 2. We need your help to continue the legacy of Area 2. Contact me ([email protected]) or any Area 2 board member to find out more about volunteering today. You may not be ready to sit on the board but there are many ways to volunteer. Take a look at the articles in this issue of Twice Tolled Tales to see where you can be a part of your Area 2. Workshops for the winter and spring of 2016 are in the works. National Seminar is coming to Area 2 this July in Rochester, NY. The 2016 summer event, Challenge(R)ing, will be held in several locations in August. And planning for the 2017 Festival Conference in Scranton, PA is underway. Attend an event. Volunteer to host a workshop, or come early to help setup. Help locate or haul equipment. Be a part of your Area 2 and make your mark! Happy Ringing! Jill Fedon Jill Fedon . Please Forward and Share! Attention Directors – don’t forget to forward all Area 2 emails and Twice Tolled Tale issues to your ringers. As members of your choir, they are also members of Area 2. Help keep them in the Area 2 loop and encourage them to be active participants in their handbell community. From the Chair . . . From the Chair . . . From the Chair . . . Area 2 Twice Tolled Tales TWICE TOLLED TALES November 2015
Transcript of From the Chair . . . TWICE TOLLED TALES Area 2 Twice...
Greetings from the Area 2 Board! The first weekend of October, the Area 2 Board met for the first meeting of the new term. Twelve people were present including four past chairs, one chair-elect, one chair and many decades of service and dedication to Area 2. Decades. We shared meals and took the opportunity to get to know each other a little better. We found out how very small the world really is through family and geo-graphical connections we didn’t know we had. We reviewed the successes of the past two years in Area 2 and began planning what Area 2 events and programs will look like in the next two years. And we remembered past Area 2 board members who are no longer with us. Sitting in the room together, I couldn’t help but marvel and appreciate the countless hours of volunteer time each has already given to Area 2. We need your help to continue the legacy of Area 2. Contact me ([email protected]) or any Area 2 board member to find out more about volunteering today. You may not be ready to sit on the board but there are many ways to volunteer. Take a look at the articles in this issue of Twice Tolled Tales to see where you can be a part of your Area 2. Workshops for the winter and spring of 2016 are in the works. National Seminar is coming to Area 2 this July in Rochester, NY. The 2016 summer event, Challenge(R)ing, will be held in several locations in August. And planning for the 2017 Festival Conference in Scranton, PA is underway. Attend an event. Volunteer to host a workshop, or come early to help setup. Help locate or haul equipment. Be a part of your Area 2 and make your mark!
Happy Ringing!
Jill FedonJill Fedon
. Please Forward and Share! Attention Directors – don’t forget to forward all Area 2 emails and Twice Tolled Tale issues to your ringers. As members of your choir, they are also members of Area 2. Help keep them in the Area 2 loop and encourage them to be active participants in their handbell community.
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Back to Bells, September 2015 Area 2
Last March at the Area Leadership meeting in Dallas, Executive Director Jenny Cauhorn announced a Guild-wide plan to reactivate unused sets of handbells titled, “Back to Bells.” Free workshops, to be held in September across the nation, were aimed at inactive bells sets and programs, thus hoping to increase membership in Handbell Musicians of America. The Guild provided advertising as well as the curriculum and did all registration through the National office. The following locations in Area 2 hosted workshops: September 12th, 2015 St. John’s Lutheran, Poughkeepsie, NY Susan Guse Mount Hope UMC, Aston, PA Eileen McIntyre September 19th, 2015 Allegheny Evangelical Lutheran, Mohnton, PA Nancy Maier and Ron Bellamy Webster Presbyterian Church, Webster, NY Jackie Anderson and Diane Dick Dewitt Community Church, Dewitt, NY Pam Spirko September 26th, 2015 Mt. Lebanon United Methodist, Pittsburgh, PA Nancy Lutz It is too early to evaluate the effect of “Back to Bells” with respect to increasing membership in Area 2 or at the national organization level. Nonetheless, the materials provided for the participants were of excellent quality and useful with all skill levels. The participants were eager to learn new skills and techniques and took home plenty of new ideas and inspirations. The “Back to Bells” workshops within Area 2 were a success!
National Seminar 2016 being held in Area 2!
Handbell Musicians of America is holding their 2016 National Seminar in Rochester, New York. The dates are July 12th – July 16th, 2016. There will be a need for handbell sets – especially 5 octave sets and chime sets. Anyone in Ar-ea 2, especially in the Central – Western New York area, willing to loan your bell and chime sets for this event, please contact Jackie
Anderson at [email protected]. Cell phone 585-703-2381. National will also be looking for other instrument needs. Those exact needs are not known at this time, but should be identified by January or February 2016. Any help in obtaining bell sets will be greatly appreciated! Jackie Anderson
National Seminar 2016 Local Liaison
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Area 2 Board Members received the following note from SaraJane Cipperly, daughter of Shirley Bellinger, in late August. Shirley was known to many of us in the bell ringing world up and down the East Coast, including members of the New England Ringers. During the aftermath of Hurricane Irene in August 2012, Shirley reached out to help churches in the Catskill area of New York. Many ringers attending the Hudson Valley Handbell Festival the following year remember helping Shirley’s church, Schoharie Presbyterian Church, restore their damaged handbells.
It is with equal parts sorrow and joy that I say that my mother, Shirley Bellinger's, work here on this earth is done and her pain and burden is relieved. She passed quietly and peacefully on Friday, August 21st, 2015 surrounded by her family - that which was most important to her. All she ever wanted in life was a family and a wonderful job she did. We are joyful in the knowledge she will join her Lord in heaven as well as her son and her mother. Shirley was a bell enthusiast. She had a passion and joy for the instrument and played both in NY and FL until her health kept her from it. But, it brought her great joy to know that her church’s youth choir could attend the Area 2 Youth Festival in June 2015. Shirley was memorialized on Saturday, September 19th, 2015 at Schoharie Presbyterian Church (Schoharie, NY). And yes! Bells were a part of the service per her request.
Area 2 Remembers
two of our friends and
Co-Directors/Ringers.
In Memory
Of
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RoseMarie Wildman March 8, 1926 – June 2, 2015
RoseMarie Wildman (pictured with Eiko Cornelius and Abigail Gray) had a profound effect on the early days of handbell ringing in the Hudson Valley. Her choirs participated locally, nationally, and interna-tionally; having attended all but one (after 9/11) of the International Symposia from 1984 until her
retirement in 2008. Those choirs continue to participate under the leadership of her alumna. One of her highest honors was the invitation to be a guest conductor at the handbell concert in Minato Mirai Hall, the “Carnegie Hall” of Yokohama, Japan.
Mrs. Wildman began the handbell program at the Congregational Church in Chappaqua. She led the bell choirs at Emanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church in Pleasantville for 24 years. Concurrently she traveled into NYC to conduct the Riverside Ringers while working briefly with the ringers at the Katonah Presbyterian Church. RoseMarie served the AGEHR, now HMA, as Area II secretary from 1983 – 1985 and national secretary in 1988 and 1989. Somehow she found the time to teach a senior chime choir in Mt. Kisco.
While a member of the 40 year old Hudson Valley Handbell Festival planning team, she initiated the idea, still in practice, of financing that festival by collecting free will offerings for handbell centered charities as well as to cover concert costs. For Rose-Marie, handbell ringing was an act of worship, service and a process of community building.
RoseMarie started the Riverside Handbell Festival at The Riverside Church in New York City 37 years ago. Those annual concerts continue to bring together some of the finest ringers on the east coast under the direction of nationally and internationally respected conductors. RoseMarie led her very last bell rehearsal at Kendall on Hudson from her wheelchair just two weeks before she died peacefully in the Kendal skilled nursing unit in Sleepy Hollow, NY. In her wake she has left a deep tradition of generosity, selfless mentoring, teaching and encouraging many present day musicians and directors.
The Area 2 Festival of 2015 was dedicated to RoseMarie. A memorial service honoring her life was held at The Riverside Church on June 23
rd with three full bell
choirs comprised of RoseMarie’s students, friends and colleagues ringing under Abigail Gray, Riverside’s bell director and a former student of RoseMarie’s. A second service was held on September 19 where RoseMarie had lived at Kendal on Hudson in Sleepy Hollow. The residents’ bell choir she started there rang under Eiko Shimazu Cornelius, another of RoseMarie’s alumna.
RoseMarie is survived by Lynn, her husband of almost 60 years, their two sons and four grandchildren. Memorial donations can be made to Emanuel Lutheran Church, 197 Manville Road, Pleasantville, New York 10570. Please add ‘Wildman’ in the
memo line.
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Save the Date! Area 2's 2016 summer event, Challenge(R)ing, will be an opportunity for you to challenge yourself to stretch beyond your current ringing level. Multiple ringing levels will be available. The one day event (with optional Friday night activities and stay over) is scheduled for Saturday, August 6, 2016. Locations and conductors are still in the planning phase and will be finalized in the near future. Stay tuned for more details soon! Interested in hosting or helping with the event? Email Jill Fedon at [email protected].
Meet the New Area 2 Workshop Coordinator
As a new member of the Area 2 Board, it is my honor to serve as Workshop Coordinator for the upcoming term.
Originally from New Jersey, I currently live in upstate New York in the foothills of the Catskill Mountains, just outside Oneonta. Having a background primarily in dance and choral, I was excited to be introduced to handbells when we moved to this area 21 years ago. While I have some piano and organ training, I found handbells to be a unique experience, especially the aspect of sharing “the instrument” with other ringers. I learned ringing from our church bell choir director and other members of our group.
At the time, our church had several bell choirs, from beginners to a specialty ensemble which only rang for weddings and funerals. As life affects us all, our numbers dwindled. We had the good fortune to be able to have a couple of our ringers attend Pinnacle in Nashville a few years ago and thought this would be a great way to really learn more about handbell ringing and to revitalize our groups. Four of us attended that year of the flood and we came home with a renewed sense of being and the joy of ringing in our hearts.
While I don’t consider myself a director, I know I can teach and that is how I approached my first experience as Handbell Director for our church. We have fun and always want to learn what our bells and handchimes can do to enhance our worship service.
In the business world, I have had experience setting up and coordinating workshops, training sessions and conferences. What better way for me to move ahead than to blend these two into one position – coordinating workshops for handbells!
Pam Spirko will be staying on and assisting the Board. I appreciate her experience. Our immedi-ate goal is to revitalize the workshop program in Area 2 and reach out to our members offering sessions which are of interest to you, as ringers.
I am excited about our future and look forward to meeting many of you.
Bea Mooney
To help us understand and provide the best options for your group, please take a few minutes to complete a survey by following this link: http://goo.gl/forms/5PkqiPa575
It is important that we hear from you in order to provide a program that is of interest to you and that will be well attended.
Please contact me with any questions or to share ideas for a workshop! [email protected] or phone 607-829-5507
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AREA 2 2017 COMPOSITION CONTEST
2017 Young Ringers’ 2017 Festival Conference Festival Composition Composition Prize: $1000 Prize: $1000
- An original handbell composition suitable - An original handbell composition suitable for Young Ringers’ massed ringing. for massed ringing. - 2-3 octaves, AGEHR level 1+ or 2- - 3-5 octaves, AGEHR level 2 – 3 - Optional handchimes or other instruments - Optional handchimes or other instruments may be used may be used - Intended playing time not to exceed 3 min. - Intended playing time not to exceed 4.5 min
Deadline – April 25, 2016
1. Please use HMA/AGEHR publication Handbell Notation and Grading System as a reference guide for all compositional
notation.
2. Composers may enter as many manuscripts as they wish, but each one is to be sent under a separate cover.
3. To enter send a PDF file and MP3 Audio of the piece. The manuscript of the piece should include title, category, bells used chart, optional instruments, and duration. DO NOT INCLUDE THE COMPOSER’S NAME ON ANY PAGE OF THE MANUSCRIPT. Prepare a cover letter containing title, intended playing time, composer’s name, address, and a telephone number.
4. Decision of the judges is final. Area 2 reserves the right to select entries that, in its sole judgment, are suitable for its
festivals’ purpose. .Area 2 reserves the right not to award a prize in either or both categories.
5. Winning entries will be performed at the 2015 Young Ringers’ Festival and Festival Conferences.
6. Area 2 will request a suitable dedication line when the composition is published. Area 2 reserves the right to be the sole dedicatee.
7. Winning compositions may not be presented or played in any festival, area or local, prior to the 2013 Area 2 Young Ringers; Festival and Festival Conferences.
8. Area 2 adheres to copyright laws. Copyright obligations and adherence to copyright laws is expected of all composers.
9. Entries must be postmarked by Monday, April 25, 2016
Send to Jill Fedon at her home address: 199 Broad Street
Washington, NJ 07882 For questions, contact Jill Fedon via e-mail: [email protected]
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New Jersey
Karen Jennison Zion Lutheran Church Oldwick, NJ 08858
Michael Semancik Bloomingdale, NJ 07403
Debbie Boyle South Plainfield, NJ 07080
Kimmy Lawton Martinsville, NJ 08836
New York
Sharon Neary Greece U. Methodist Church Rochester, NY 14626
Melody Laun Churchill Memorial U. Methodist
Boston, NY 14025
Alex Whitaker Twelve Corners Presbyterian Ch Rochester, NY 14618
Bill Fiore Poughkeepsie Day School Poughkeepsie, NY 12603
Tracey Melville Central Presbyterian Church Caledonia, NY 14423
Mary Carlson 1st Presbyterian Society/Pittsford Pittsford, NY 14534
Anita Meserole Lindenhurst, NY 11757
Nicole Schwalbe Kaye White Lutheran Ch of the Resurrection White Plains, NY 10549
Kathleen Briggs Wilmington, NY 12997
Maralena Dropp Oghden Hillcrest U. Methodist
Binghamton, NY 13901
Pennsylvania
Amy Clink Bible Baptist Church
Benton, PA 17814
Deena Hopkins Souderton, PA 18964
Melanie Baker Christine Byrnes Margaret Harkins Isabelle Murphy Linda Unangst Church of the Messiah Lower Gwynedo, PA 19002
Melissa Kenton St. Paul’s Lutheran Church
Sarver, PA 16055
Ellen Draegert Ambler, PA 19002
Cloud Ssu-Yun Wang Uniontown, PA 15401
Carolyn Mosser York, PA 17403
New MembersNew MembersNew Members
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Next TTT deadline is January 15January 15January 15, 2015
TWICE TOLLED TALES is published four times per year for the membership of AGEHR Area 2.
Publication dates for 2014 are February, June, September and November. The deadline for articles and photos is the fifteenth day of the month prior to the publication date; these will be included as space permits. It is preferred that articles be sent in the format of Microsoft Office 2003 (or later) Publisher as an email attachment. Articles may also be sent in MS Word format (2003 or later) or in hard copy form, typewritten. Photos are always welcome. All information for publication and advertisements should be sent to the editor with TTT newsletter in the subject area:
Kathie Bittenbender [email protected] 292 Founders Way 717-697-6257 Mechanicsburg, PA 17050
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PLEASE DISTRIBUTE THIS ISSUE TO YOUR RINGERS.
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A Wonderful Time of the Year
Sunday, Dec 6 | 4:00 PM Carroll Community College | Westminster, MD
Synergy
April 15–16, 2016 | New Windsor, MD Dr. William Payn, Guest Conductor
JuBELLation
April 30, 2016 | Mt. Airy, MD Larry Henning, Guest Conductor
All of Me
Saturday, June 4 | 7:30 PM
Carroll Community College | Westminster, MD
W E S T M I N S T E R R I N G E R S . O R G
For more information contact Debbie Henning [email protected]
737 Holland Lane, Westminster,
MD 21158 (410) 848-5482
2015 Ringers Workshop
Join us for a half or full day of handbell
classes, a mini concert and lots of fun!
Saturday Oct 3, 8am–3pm
9th grade to adult
Mt. Airy, MD
Full day $40, Half day $25
BeforeBefore
After
Before
Afte
2015 Classes
Bass Bell Techniques High Bell Techniques
More Than Just the Beat Tips for Improving Sight Reading
Coordination Conundrums Moving Along with Mallets
Put Your Best Foot Forward: Handbell
Processionals Ringing Techniques for 2015
www.area2.handbellmusicians.org
Chairman
Jill Fedon [email protected] 908-835-1491 199 Broad Street Washington, NJ 07882 908-835-1491
Chair-Elect
Jeffrey Clouser [email protected] 5133 Field View Drive Mt. Joy, PA 17552 717-314-5606
Treasurer
Chris Braden [email protected] 328 Queens Court Ridgewood, NJ 07450 201-447-2751
Secretary
Gail Posey [email protected] 120 S. Main Street Yardley, PA 19067 215-280-5737
Past Chair
Susan Guse [email protected] 53 Marges Way Hopewell Junction, NY 12533 845-227-7696
Membership
Nancy Maier [email protected] 429 Bowmansville Road Mohnton, PA 19540 717-445-5729
Education Chair
Bob Ward [email protected] 99 Sunny Brook Circle Highland, NY 12528 845-691-2124
Workshops and Mentoring
Bea Mooney 4537 County Route #14 Treadwell, NY 13846 [email protected] 607-829-5507
Historian
Cynthia Reineke [email protected] 75 Old Red Mill Road Rensselaer, NY 12144 518-368-6514
Communications Coordinator
Diane Dick [email protected] 9433 Johnson Road Middleport, NY 14105 716-628-0548
Special Group Liaison
Joyce Klinck [email protected] 380 Selby Place Blue Bell, PA 19422 Romania Liaison
Richard Pinkerton [email protected] 799 Washington Road Pittsburgh, PA 15228 412-841-3937
Webmaster
Bob Reineke
[email protected] 75 Old Red Mill Road Rensselaer, NY 12144 518-256-8944
Newsletter Editor
Kathie Bittenbender [email protected] 292 Founders Way Mechanicsburg, PA 17050 717-697-6257
Area II Board Members 2015—2017
APPOINTED POSITIONS
EXECUTIVE BOARD
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July 7-10, 2011 Area II Festival Conference
Kutztown University Kutztown, PA
Debbie Rice, Director Arnold Sherman, Masterclass
April 2, 2011 Nittany Valley Handbell Festival
State College, PA
David Harris, Director
Contact: Gail Ritchey 814-234-1655
July 5-7, 2011 Area II Young Ringers Festival
Kutztown University Kutztown, PA
Ron Bellamy, Director
Check updates at the area website: www.area2agehr.org
April 9, 2011 Western PA Handbell Festival
Wilson Christian Academy West Mifflin, PA
Howard Moser, Director
Contact: Kathy Hayes 734-235-0202
May 14, 2011 Challenge Ring
Webster Presbyterian Church Webster, NY
Ron Bellamy, Director
Contact: Betsy Barr 315-524-3816
April 30, 2011 Hudson Valley Handbell Festival
Nyack, NY
Deborah Rice, Director
Contact: Rex Holden 631-567-8913
Check updates at the area website: www.area2.handbellmusicians.org/Events/
AGEHR Area 2 BELLETIN BOARD
March 12, 2016
Lancaster-Lebanon Handbell Festival Alan Reese, Director
Church of the Apostles UCC
Lancaster, PA Ron Bellamy, Host
Contact: Jeff Clouser
717-397-1012 (church) or 717-314-5606 or email: [email protected]
July 26-30, 2016
17th International Handbell Symposium Vancouver, Canada
Website: www.ihs2016vancouver
April 2, 2016
Nittany Valley Handbell Festival Fred Gramann, Director
State College High School
State College, PA
Contact: Gaily Ritchey [email protected] 814-234-1655 814-883-3022
Website: www.nittanyvalleyhandbellfestival.org
March 12, 2016
Hudson Valley Young Ringers
Sparta UMC Sparta, NY
Contact: Yvonne Roux [email protected]
Website: www.hudsonvalleyhandbells.org
August 6, 2016
Area 2’s Challenge(R)ing
