Advertising Policy
Advertising is accepted from vendors, performance groups and individuals as well as for performance and educational events not directly sponsored by Area 11.
Rates are listed here.
Volume 19 • Issue 4 • Fall 2025
Notes from the Chair
Greetings Area 11,
Every September, a new chapter begins for Area 11 as our Board of Directors holds an annual in-person meeting to plan for our upcoming year. This year, our Board met at our 2026 Ringing Up! Festival location at the Embassy Suites and Conference Center in Loveland, Colorado. From September 12-14, we spent time finalizing upcoming events, planning for the future, and dreaming about some short, medium, and long term goals for our upcoming Festival and Area. It was a productive and inspiring weekend connecting with our Festival Committee, C.H.I.M.E. Chair, and celebrating our 5 states.
Over the course of the weekend, we expanded upon our Strategic Plan and decided to enact the following things:
- Host a Virtual Directors Seminar on November 8, 2025 from 9:00 am – 12:00 pm. This event is going to feature two presentations and a roundtable discussion led by Anne Kelley and LeAnna Willmore. You can register for the event on our webpage here:
- Create an opportunity for youth ringers by hosting a Youth Workshop in each of 5 states. This one-day event will provide youth ringers an opportunity to prepare and rehearse pre-decided music with a local Area 11 Clinician. We are going to pilot this event in Arizona this upcoming spring and expand it to all of our states in 2027.
- Moving forward, we will offer two Area 11 Camps. Starting in 2027, we will host a Youth Camp in Utah and continue our traditional Intergenerational Camp in Colorado.
- Update our Website to make all of our Event pages more informative and information for Site Hosts and Event Chairs more readily accessible.
- Show our appreciation for our Area 11 Leadership by acknowledging our current and past Area 11 Leaders on our website.
There were many other ideas, conversations, and decisions discussed, but these are a few specific updates that you’re going to see this upcoming year. Our Board also welcomed our brand new Chair Elect, Sharon Schmidt. Sharon joins our board with a wealth of knowledge, great questions, and a desire to learn and serve our Area.
As I enter my last year as Chair, I’m overwhelmed with joy and excitement for this upcoming year and the future. We have some really exciting additions and our entire board is looking forward to seeing how these additions help continue our mission to expand the art of handbell and handchime ringing. These new events not only bring new opportunities to serve and connect to our members, but it also brings an opportunity to get involved and help shape the history of these new events for our Area. If you’d like to get involved, please don’t hesitate to reach out to myself or one of our Board Members. We’ve got some inspiring events to look forward to and I can’t wait to see how these continue to serve our handbell community. I hope everyone has a wonderful Fall Season, and I’ll see participants at our Directors Seminar in November.
Love and Bells,
Anne Kelley
A Memo from the Chair Elect
What do Thunder and Mountain Chic have to do with Area XI?
Sept 12-14 was my first Area XI board meeting, and both those topics were discussed as well as the amazing things Area XI is doing in 2025-2026! Our board meeting was held at the Embassy Suites & Event Center in Loveland, CO – site of the 2026 Area XI Festival “Ringing Up.” Thunder (the Bronco’s mascot) was present at a fund-raising event for an equine
therapy non-profit, and we took a break to see him. Along the way through the Event Center, we saw many versions of mountain chic. My husband and I were attending a gala in Golden the next week, and I had asked the group what a mountain chic dress code meant. I learned that my Midwest wardrobe is not really up for the challenge as I don’t have boots, a proper hat, or that many sequins!
In addition to those two living-in-the-west items, I learned how Area XI provides so many resources for you, our members. Did you know that in 2026, there are at least 16 in-person
events – 15 at the state level plus the June Festival. One of my tasks, which will serve to educate me about the Festival format, is to create a bullet-point description of Festival and what benefits it offers to handbell musicians in Area XI. Watch for that when Festival registration opens.
Area XI Ring of Fame
Another duty of the Chair-Elect is to collect nominations for the Area XI Ring of Fame. The Area 11 2002-2004 Board established the Ring of Fame to recognize exceptional service and commitment to handbell/handchime ringing in general.
You can learn more about the selection criteria here: https://area11.handbellmusicians.org/ring-of-fame/
Do you know someone who has made exceptional contributions to our art? You can nominate them! The link above contains links to both a digital and PDF nomination form. Nominations are due by January 1, 2026. If you have any questions about Ring of Fame, please contact me.
Year |
Ring of Fame Recipient |
| 2006 | Phyllis Anschicks – Colorado (Posthumously), Ed Duncan – Utah, John Faris –Arizona, Everett Hilty, Colorado. |
| 2008 | Gail Downey – New Mexico, Tom Waldron – Utah. |
| 2010 | Dr. William Wood – New Mexico. |
| 2012 | Doug Benton – Arizona, Roy and Jennie Blomquist –Arizona |
| 2014 | Marcy Hontz – Arizona and Roxanne Hammond – Colorado |
| 2018 | George Cannon –Wyoming |
| 2022 | Kay Cook – Arizona |
| 2024 | Claudette Rothwell –Utah |
Until next time, just keep on ringing!
Sharon Schmidt
Upcoming Events
Virtual Director's Seminar
Virtual Director’s Seminar is an exciting new addition to our event repertorie. This online event is for directors of all exerience levels.
Topics will include music selection, ringing assignments, and tips for teaching bell techniques, as well as a roundtable discussion for sharing ideas.
Anne Kelley and LeAnna Wilmore will have more formal presentations, while Sharon Schmidt will join for the roundtable discussion.
For more information and to register, visit our website at https://area11.handbellmusicians.org/directors-seminar/
Date: Saturday, November 8th
Time: 9:00 am – 12:00 pm MST
Location: Your computer on Google Meet (link will be sent after registration)
Read and Ring 2026
Read and Ring is a fun event to get together to sight read music. As an added bonus, music purchased at Read and Ring will not have shipping cost. Music for each state’s Spring Ring as well as the Area 11 Festival will be available for purchase with this added cost savings.
Date: Saturday, February 21, 2026
Locations: At least one location in each state will be announced
Save the Date – Festival 2026!!
June 11-14, 2026 in Loveland, CO
Our fantastic Festival Committee is working hard to bring you a variety of workshops and concerts for our 2026 Ringing Up Festival.
Dave Harris will be our clinician. The festival location will be in Loveland, Colorado with a great view of the Rocky Mountains. Loveland is only a one hour drive to Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park if you want to do some sight seeing while in Colorado.
Festival will be hosted in the Embassy Suites Loveland ConventionCenter with great facilities to use during your stay.
We plan to have registration open soon. Hope to see you there!
Ringing Up 2026 Festival Information
Registration coming soon
Bulletin Board
ISO: Director for Community Handbell Director - Denver, CO
ISO: Director for Church Ensemble in Salt Lake City, UT
ISO: Ringers at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Sandy, UT
Looking forward to ringing in 2025 with you!
Kate
ISO Director: Church at Litchfield Park - AZ
The Church at Litchfield Park is seeking a handbell director starting this fall. Our historic church is located in a beautiful suburb, west of Phoenix. Rehearsals are once per week and we play during worship once a month, plus Christmas Eve. We have a five octave set of handbells, plus chimes. If interested, contact the church at 624-935-3411 or by email at [email protected].
Fall Tune Up
Ringer’s Camp 2025
Camp 2025 was held June 8-12 at YMCA Snow Mountain Ranch in Granby, CO. The event was a wonderful success with 25 advanced ringers from all over Area 11 plus Kansas, Wisconsin, and Michigan. Clinicians- Sandra Eithun and Mitchell Eithun led us in mass rehearsals as well as six educational workshops including “More with Less”, “Revisiting Techniques”, “This…. Is…. Jeopardy”, and “Handbell Charades”. We also enjoyed downtime with the exhilarating summer tubing hill, traditional waterfall hike, and campfire with smores!
Ringers Camp 2025
Crazy Hat Day Group
Working with Mitchell
Tubing Hill
Summer Tubing Hill
This Is Jeopardy
Silly Sock Day
Rehearsal
Lego Sandy
Lego Mitchell
Hike to the Waterfall
Group Hike
Crazy Hat Day
Charades
Charades 2
Camp rehearsal
Waterfall Picture
Board Member Spotlight
Mountain Sub-Area Chair
Andrew was born in Goa, India but after 5 months, he decided he didn’t like the food and promptly moved to Sandy, Utah. Okay, he was adopted and moved to Utah where he grew up. His Mom made him take piano lessons when he was in 3rd grade. He then took up percussion in 7th grade and started playing handbells after high school at Hilltop United Methodist Church, and in 2011, became the director of the adult choir. He played in the percussion ensemble and marching band at the University of Utah. He’s played at Distinctly Bronze, Area 11 festivals, and the Great Christmas Ring at Epcot, and is the current Utah Spring Ring Chair. He works full time as a Paramedic to sustain his music hobbies. He currently resides in Herriman, where he lives with his dog, Austin, a German shepherd that’s NOT spoiled at all.
CHIME Loan Program
Thanks to the response regarding homes for our chime sets, the following groups will be enjoying chimes for the 2025-26 season:
- Heritage Elementary School in Centennial, CO
- Verde Valley Ringers and Running River Charter School in Sedona, AZ
- United Methodist Church in Casa Grande, AZ
- St. Michael the Archangel Catholic Church in Aurora, CO
- Sts. Peter & Paul Catholic STEM School in Wheat Ridge, CO
Please be aware that chime sets are still looking for homes in New Mexico, Utah, and Arizona for the upcoming season. If you are interested, please complete the Area 11 C.H.I.M.E. Loan application at CHIME Loan application.
Joyfully Ring!
News from National
Pinnacle places its primary emphasis on the performance elements of handbell artistry. The event also focuses on the organization and maintenance of various types of ensembles. While Pinnacle may have had its beginnings as an event designed primarily for Community Ensembles, it is important to know that Pinnacle 2025 is for all people who perform with handbells – ringers, directors, church groups, professional ensembles, community groups, soloists, school groups, and more. Hear ten musician showcases by ensembles from the United States and abroad, attend nine classes over three days, visit handbell and musical businesses in Handbell Commons, attend a lunch banquet with award presentations, and spend time with fellow handbell musicians.
Newsletter Archive
Click here to see any of our previous newsletters starting from 2012.
Articles for Newsletter
Want to share an exciting experience or tips and tricks with our handbell community?
Deadline to add articles for the newsletter is the 25th of the previous month. Articles may be submitted to the Communications Chair in .doc format and with a picture of the author in .jpg format.