Greetings from the Area 2 Board! The seasons of gratitude and giving are here. That often means a busy time of special concerts, services and events for many choirs. In my church, it also means Commitment Sunday and an opportunity to pledge how we will give of our time, talents, and treasures. Have you ever contemplated your gratitude and giving as a handbell musician? My gratitude for the handbell community is unending. The love, mentorship and friendship I found in my church handbell choir and director some 30 plus years ago had a profound influence on who I am today. The handbell community is the most welcoming, encouraging and inclusive group of musicians I have ever met and it is there that I know I belong. Through handbells, I have found my passion, vocation and closest friends, as well as an opportunity to give back to the community that has shaped and supported me. As the busy holiday season approaches, consider pausing for a moment to reflect on the gratitude you have for your handbell community. How can you use your talents as handbell musicians to give to others? Perhaps it is through music ministry at your place of worship, or through directing a choir or two. Maybe your choir shares their music in nursing homes, schools or malls this holiday season. Make time to attend a local handbell concert. Can you support handbell musicians at the local, regional or national level? Consider giving the gift of ringer membership, a scholarship to a ringer for Festival, or a donation to Area 2 or National’s endowment in honor or memory of a dear ringer or director. Or maybe, just maybe, you would like to share your time and talents by volunteering for Area 2 events or serving on Area 2’s board. Handbells are a gift. How will you share that gift with others? Please be sure to see updates regarding our 2017 Festival and Young Ringers’ Conferences at Onondaga Community College. Registration packets will be mailed out and available on our website in January 2017. We hope to see you there! Happy Holidays! With gratitude, Jill Fedon Jill Fedon From the Chair . . . Area 2 Twice Tolled Tales November 2016 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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From the Chair - Handbell Musicians of America Area 2area2.handbellmusicians.org/files/2016/11/TTT-November-2016... · Handbells at Emmaus Road The Handbell Choir at Emmaus Road Lutheran
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Greetings from the Area 2 Board! The seasons of gratitude and giving are here. That often means a busy time of special concerts, services and events for many choirs. In my church, it also means Commitment Sunday and an opportunity to pledge how we will give of our time, talents, and treasures. Have you ever contemplated your gratitude and giving as a handbell musician? My gratitude for the handbell community is unending. The love, mentorship and friendship I found in my church handbell choir and director some 30 plus years ago had a profound influence on who I am today. The handbell community is the most welcoming, encouraging and inclusive group of musicians I have ever met and it is there that I know I belong. Through handbells, I have found my passion, vocation and closest friends, as well as an opportunity to give back to the community that has shaped and supported me. As the busy holiday season approaches, consider pausing for a moment to reflect on the gratitude you have for your handbell community. How can you use your talents as handbell musicians to give to others? Perhaps it is through music ministry at your place of worship, or through directing a choir or two. Maybe your choir shares their music in nursing homes, schools or malls this holiday season. Make time to attend a local handbell concert. Can you support handbell musicians at the local, regional or national level? Consider giving the gift of ringer membership, a scholarship to a ringer for Festival, or a donation to Area 2 or National’s endowment in honor or memory of a dear ringer or director. Or maybe, just maybe, you would like to share your time and talents by volunteering for Area 2 events or serving on Area 2’s board. Handbells are a gift. How will you share that gift with others? Please be sure to see updates regarding our 2017 Festival and Young Ringers’ Conferences at Onondaga Community College. Registration packets will be mailed out and available on our website in January 2017. We hope to see you there! Happy Holidays! With gratitude, Jill Fedon
Jill Fedon
From the Chair . . .
Are
a 2
Twice Tol
led
Tal
es
Nov
ember
2016
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.
OCC has an air-conditioned ringing floor and classrooms.
The campus is easy to navigate and has dormitories on property.
Parking is convenient and unrestricted.
It is going to be a spectacular venue for an exciting and inspiring event! Plan to join us!
Page 4 Area 2 Twice Tolled Tales
Page 5 Area 2 Twice Tolled Tales
November 2016
Handbells at Emmaus Road
The Handbell Choir at Emmaus Road Lutheran Church in Levittown, Pennsylvania has played an important role in blending 3 congregations into one. On Christmas Eve 2011, Resurrection Lutheran in Levittown held their final worship service before closing the doors due to financial difficulties. In January 2012, the congregation began worshiping with Emmaus Road Lutheran Church in Fairless Hills, PA, a congregation recently blended from Christ Lutheran in Levittown and Trinity Lutheran in Fairless Hills. After much planning and discernment, we became the third congregation to formally merge with the other two congregations forming The Emmaus Road Lutheran Church. Shortly after the merger, the newly formed congregation began renovating the building in Levittown, with plans to worship in the Fairless Hills setting until the renovations were completed in 2014. During this time, the small Handbell Choir from Resurrection went into hibernation. The only church of the three with a bell choir, we didn’t want to push our traditions on the newly merged congregation. Following several church-wide planning events, it was decided to begin a new handbell choir, comprised of folks from all three congregations. In January 2013, the Emmaus Road Lutheran Church Handbell Choir began ringing at the Fairless Hills site. After several weeks of advertising (a handbell tree, a four-in-hand demo, and personal invitations) folks were asked to commit to three evenings of exploration and rehearsal. Seventeen people came to our first rehearsal to learn about bells and how to ring them! The response was overwhelming – we had to use our four octave set of handbells and our three octave set of handchimes to accommodate all of our ringers! The choir rang together at worship for the first time in February 2013, ringing Margaret Tucker’s Processional from her Processional and Bell Chime. In October 2013, the Bell Choir rang for the final service at our Fairless Hills location (which we sold) and then packed the bells and moved to our location in Levittown. In November, we rang with the newly renovated pipe organ for the first time. Following months of renovation to the sanctuary, during which time we worshipped in the newly renovated “Gathering Area,” we finally returned to our bright and beautiful sanctuary celebrating the final move with – ringing – of course! In addition to enhancing worship on a regular basis, the Handbell Choir has been honored to ring for a number of special occasions in our church, including the Retirement of a beloved pastor and the Ordination and Installation of our new pastor. Each year we perform in both a June and a December Concert with the congregation’s Brass Band, A Wing and a Prayer, with the offering given to our Youth Scholarship Fund. We also go Christmas Caroling with members of our vocal choirs, singing and ringing for shut-in members and in retirement communities in the area. When we share the story of our successful merger with friends and colleagues, the Handbell Choir is always one of the first things folks talk about. The new friendships forged among members of the three congregations were the result of our time spent learning to ring together. There is nothing like the bond formed as ringers learn a new piece together, prepare for worship together, and support one another in life’s adventures – both celebratory and heart-breaking. The Emmaus Road Handbell Choir brought folks together in the choir and in the pews (or the chairs, as we replaced our old pews with new, comfortable chairs), as we shared our progress and our musical success with the congregation. The Bell Choir has truly been a blessing to our congregation and to the ringers of our newly formed Emmaus Road Lutheran Church. P.S. – If anyone has a creative name for our “new” handbell choir, we would welcome your suggestions! Please send to [email protected]. submitted by Gail Posey
Page 6 Area 2 Twice Tolled Tales
Way to go Gail !
Page 7 Area 2 Twice Tolled Tales
Here is your chance to share your own handbell news with the rest of Area 2!
Have you just had an excellent concert? Celebrating a milestone anniversary of your bell program? Done something really “outside the box”? Did you attend a workshop or festival and want to share your experience? Have you done some community outreach?
Use this opportunity to “brag” about your accomplishments! Send us your stories and photos (or video) to share with the rest of our Area 2 members. By submitting your information and media, you are granting the Area permission to share in TTT, on our website, or on the Area 2 Facebook page. It is assumed that you have written permission for us to publish the images from all parties involved (or their parent/guardian if they are under the age of 18). Spread some handbell love across the area! Document who, what, where, when, and why. Then, with the subject line “Ring Your Own Bell”, Email your submittal (including photos) to your Area 2 Communications Coordinator at:
[email protected] We will let you know when and where we will be sharing your special story.
This fall, Area 2, H.M.A., offered six FREE workshops to help churches get
handbells out of the closets and start, or restart, handbell programs.
Each four hour workshop included
instructions on basic ringing, recruiting ringers, repertoire and ringing with less than a full choir.
Area 2 would like to thank the following clinicians and the churches that hosted Back to Bells:
Jeffrey Clouser at Westminster Presbyterian Church, Lancaster, PA
Diane Dick at First English Lutheran Church, Lockport, NY
and Sackets Harbor Presbyterian Church, Sackets Harbor, NY
Jill Fedon at Trinity United Methodist Church, Hackettstown, NJ
Susan Guse at St. John’s Lutheran Church, Poughkeepsie, NY
Gail Posey at Emmaus Road Lutheran Church, Levittown, PA
New Jersey
Bethan Neely
Faith Presbyterian Ch Princeton, NJ 08540
Sarah Camillo Berlin, NJ 08009
Linda Bachman North Brunswick, NJ 08902
Kimmy Lawton
Martinsville, NJ 08836
Pennsylvania
Haydon Goer Schulmerich Bells LLC
Hatfield, PA 19440
Donnalee Loux Lincoln University, PA 19144
Jacqueline Garden-Marshall Grace Baptist of Germantown Philadelphia, PA 19144
Rob Riker
Moravian Acad. Upper School Bethlehem, PA 18020
Jane Ellen Knotek
Zion UCC (Liberty Bell) Ch
Allentown, PA 18101
Ginny Cairns
St. Johns UCC
Chambersburg, PA 17202
Kyle Weary
Silver Spring Presbyterian
Mechanicsburg, PA 17050
Karen Campomizzi
Orwigsburg, PA 17961
New York
Kathy Nagel
St Paul Lutheran Church & School N. Tonowanda, NY 14120
Lorraine Nelson Wolf
Freedom Plains Presbyterian Ch
LaGrangeville, NY 12540
Nancy Miller Newburgh, NY 12550
New Members
Page 9 Area 2 Twice Tolled Tales
TWICE TOLLED TALES is published four times per year for the membership of HMA Area 2. Publication dates for 2017 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
Are you planning your own local handbell workshop or event? Please consider applying to have your event endorsed
by Handbell Musicians of America.
An Endorsed Event is an event that is presented by a member or member organization of Handbell Musicians of America. To qualify, your event must be educational in nature such as a festival, conference, seminar, read-ing session, or a workshop. Stand-alone performances and concerts are not eligible for endorsed status. However, concerts that occur during your event are considered part of its educational nature.
There are many benefits to you and your organization when your event is endorsed:
General Liability Coverage
Property Coverage for Loaned or Borrowed Equipment used by the event presenter for the benefit of the event as a whole
Inclusion in the Handbell Musicians of America Event Calendars on our website and in each issue of Overtones
A web link from the event calendar listing to your website to provide more
event details
Access to the Handbell Musicians of America membership data to direct market your event to handbell enthusiasts
For detailed information regarding the benefits, criteria, and application process associated with an endorsed event visit the website: http://handbellmusicians.org/events-networking/events/sponsored-endorsed-event-information/