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 17 • Issue 5 • Fall 2024
Notes from the Chair
Greetings Area 11,
My name is Anne Kelley and I am your new Chair for our wonderful Area 11 Leadership Board. I’ve had the pleasure of serving as Chair Elect the past two years and serving our members in various different ways. I’m excited to work with our wonderful board to continue the great things we’ve established while expanding our Area with a few new exciting ideas!
September has been a month full of transitions as we welcome some new members on our leadership board. We thank you for your patience and understanding with all of our account and media changes. Our roster is as follows:
Past Chair: LeAnna Willmore
Chair: Anne Kelley
Chair Elect: Lynne Storms
Treasurer/Secretary: Jill Persichetti
Communications Chair: Nikki Evans
Desert Sub-Area: Nancy Roberts-Small
Mountain Sub-Area: Sara Oedekoven
Events Chair & CAMP Chair: Anne Kleve
Youth Representative: Tessa Taylor
C.H.I.M.E. Chair: Shirley Culp
Registrar: Lilly Hatch
We have a wonderful new board and some exciting changes coming up! As our National Mission states, we are committed to advancing the musical art of handbell/handchime ringing through education, community and communication. Our Board of Directors met the first weekend of September in Denver, Colorado to train our new board members and create a strategic plan for the next two years. We have four primary areas we plan to focus on: continue the philosophy of Better Together, Connect with more handbell/handchime musicians in our area, Educate all of our area musicians of the wonderful resources our Area has to offer, and encourage participation and communication in our area by promoting Membership with our events, social media, and newsletter. Overall, we want to connect with more handbell/handchime musicians and tailor our platform to best serve our community!
After engaging in some wonderful conversations, we came up with a few changes that we’ve already started implementing! One of our big changes is expanding our Ensemble Spotlight to a Member Spotlight so we can be more inclusive and highlight all different types of musicians, composers, solo ringers, educators, directors, and various types of ensembles in our Area! If you’re interested in nominating someone you know, check out our page and fill out our Google Form to be featured in an upcoming newsletter and on our website!
We have a few other changes coming to our Area, so you’ll have to stay connected with our newsletter and various social media pages to get updates when they happen! On behalf of our Leadership Board, we appreciate your time and dedication to Area 11. The best way we connect with people is through events. It takes a multitude of people to come together and run these events and there are so many of you that willingly host, teach, and make significant efforts at your own expense to provide a great service to handbells and handchimes within our states. Thank you for supporting our area and we cannot wait to show you what we’ve got up our sleeves in these next few months! As LeAnna Willmore mentioned in her first newsletter as Chair: “We are Better Together.”
Love and Bells,
Anne Kelley
Upcoming Events
Area 11 Ringers Camp
June 8-12, 2025 at Snow Mountain Ranch, Granby, CO
We’ve COMBINED our Young Ringers Camp AND our Adult Ringers Camp into ONE extraordinary camp for everyone of all ages(10+)!
This 5-day, 4-night event will take place in the beautiful and refreshing Rocky Mountains of Colorado. Throughout the week we will have plenty of ringing, participating in outdoor activities and many chances to hang out with an amazing group of handbell musicians!
Please Join clinicians: Sandra Eithun and Mitchell Eithun for Area 11 Ringers Camp 2025! Music selection announced soon.
Spring Ring
Utah Spring Ring 2025
$20 per ringer for members, $30 per ringer for non-members
Jordan High School
95 Beetdigger Blvd, Sandy, UT 84070
Clinician: Kathryn Jurado
Saturday, March 8, 2025
Contact: [email protected]
Wyoming Spring Ring 2025
Date: May 16-17, 2025
Location: Ramkota Hotel, Casper, WY
Clinician: Cathy Moklebust
Stay tuned for more information!
Colorado Spring Ring 2025
Arizona Spring Ring 2025
New Mexico Spring Ring 2025
$45.00 per ringer
$10.00 box lunch (optional) – Jason’s Deli sandwich – meat, veggie, gluten-free
Heights Cumberland Presbyterian Church
8600 Academy Rd., Albuquerque, NM 87111
Clinician: Marquise Usher
Saturday, March 8, 2025
8:00 a.m. – choirs arrive and set up in the gym
9:00 – noon – rehearsal
12:00 – 1:00 p.m. – LUNCH! Purchase a box lunch (preselection and reservation required. See
registration form) or bring your own. Some fast -food choices are nearby the venue, within
driving or brisk walking distance
$10.00 box lunch (optional) – Jason’s Deli sandwich – meat, veggie, gluten-free
1:00 – 3:15/3:30 – rehearsal, final run-through, change for concert
4:00 – Concert – massed pieces and solos!
Collaborative, cohesive, challenging, educational, skill-building, rewarding, and fun!
CONTACT: Nancy Roberts-Small
Desert Sub-Chair, Area 11, Handbell Musicians of America
[email protected]
(505) 263-2704
Bulletin Board
Malmark Chimes for Sale - Arizona
6 Octave Malmark Chimes for Sale in Tucson, AZ – Contact Margi Zearly for more information
ISO: Director for Community Handbell Director - Denver, CO
Smithtonians Handbell Ensemble is in search of a new Director beginning fall of 2024, for our group of 13+ dedicated ringers, playing five octaves. The ensemble, composed of auditioned ringers with multiple years of experience, was founded 40 years ago and has performed primarily in the south Denver Metro area to a wide range of audiences. We have concert seasons in early December and early May, with weekly rehearsals excluding the summer months. We play a variety of pieces from our extensive library, from the classics to contemporary to the eclectic. Education of the audience, in not only the techniques of ringing handbells, but also imparting the traditions and love of ringing, is a meaningful part of our mission. Contact Maribeth McKenna at [email protected].
ISO: Director for Church Ensemble in Johnstown, CO
The United Methodist Church of Johnstown, CO is seeking a handbell director starting this fall. Rehearsals are Wednesdays 6-7 PM and the group typically plays 2 pieces in worship the 3rd Sunday of each month as well as one service on Christmas Eve.
Please contact the church at 970-587-4444 or [email protected].
ISO: Director for Church Ensemble in Salt Lake City, UT
Our handbell choir of 12 people needs a new director! We rehearse on Monday nights 7-8:30 and play in church on the third Sunday morning of the month from September through May, We have 5 octaves of bells and a fun group. The church is at 17th and 17th. There is a stipend for this position. Interested? Please call Lisa Vitkus @ 216-965-5605 or email at [email protected].
Forte Workshop and Concert in Green Mountain Falls, Colorado
Join us on Saturday, October 12 and Sunday, October 13 at Church in the Wildwood, 10585 Ute Pass Avenue, Green Mountain Falls, Colorado for a workshop Saturday and concert Sunday afternoon! The workshop registration fee is $75 per ringer. The concert begins at 3:00 pm MDT and is free and open to the public. It will be an afternoon of enchanting music. A freewill offering will be accepted.
Fall Tune-Up Recap
Board Member Spotlight
Sara Oedekoven: Mountain Sub-Area Chair
Sara is a veterinarian in Cheyenne, WY. She has never lived more than 50 miles from Wyoming! Her favorite snack is apple strudel, and because of handbells, she has found a renewed love for music.
Nikki Evans: Communications Chair
Nikki is a substitute teacher and handbell soloist in Colorado Springs, CO. She loves rolled ice cream. Because of handbells, she has made lots of friends and traveled to lots of interesting places. She is unable to think of any part of her life that would be what it is now if she had never learned to ring.
CHIME Loan Program
NO JOKE, we have chimes to loan. If you know someone that is interested in starting a chime choir, or maybe you’d like to try that yourself, we can help! Area 11 has several sets of handchimes to loan. Just head over to our CHIME Loan Program page and fill out an application!
“The chimes have brought people together, young and old, with laughter and purpose at our church and we are so grateful!”
– Sue McConnell, Faith Lutheran Church, Woodland Park, CO
Getting to Know You
Getting to know you,
Getting to know all about you.
Getting to like you,
Getting to hope you like me.
This year, I am planning to do just that! One of my goals as Chair Elect of Area 11 is to get to know more handbell musicians in Arizona as well as those from across our geographically expansive 5-state area. It
will be a challenge, but one I’m looking forward to.
First, a bit about me – the first step in getting acquainted.
I am a retired educator who taught grades 6-12 and developed a program for gifted and talented students in grades 4-12 in coastal Maine. Later, I transitioned from the classroom to coordinating
educational programs in collaboration with the University of Maine, Arizona State University, the University of Arizona, and the Arizona Department of Education.
Today, my husband and I live in a 1937 adobe home in the heart of Phoenix. I sing in a local chorale, serve as a volunteer on the Board of Directors for Literacy Phoenix, chair a neighborhood committee of
volunteers working to save our century-old pine trees, and enjoy the camaraderie of a variety of friends and former colleagues. Several of the most adventurous things I’ve ever done include moving from rural
Maine to the city of Phoenix, earning my private pilot’s license, and ziplining on Catalina Island. One of my most rewarding accomplishments has been training dogs for careers as guide dogs for the vision impaired.
I have been a handbell musician since my mother was asked to form a handbell choir in my hometown church in Machias, Maine. A very generous donor gifted the church enough money to purchase three
octaves of handbells and all the equipment we needed. Mom (a music educator in the public schools) and I attended several conferences and concerts and decided we definitely had what it took to do the
job. I was a junior in high school, so lots of friends as well as church members were recruited. This summer, during my mother’s Celebration of Life in that same church, the original handbells were rung by a small ensemble of very dedicated individuals – “Amazing Grace” – indeed!
Since then, I have been a member of handbell ensembles in both Maine and Arizona. I have participated in many conferences and festivals acrosss the country. Handbells have also taken me to Ireland where I was a member of a touring group made up of handbell musicians from the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico performing in breathtaking cathedrals from Galway to Dublin. I’ve had opportunities to work with noted handbell directors including Kay Cook, Ellie Hodder, Debbie Rice, Kyle Webber, Kevin McChesney, Stevie Berryman, LeAnna Willmore, and many others.
Membership in Handbell Musicians of America has provided me a variety of experiences from selecting concert repertoire, conducting a church handbell choir, developing a love for the “big bells”, and improving my handbell skills. Most importantly, though, is the network of friends and colleagues I have cultivated within the handbell world. They have nurtured me with support, encouragement, confidence, trust, and friendship.
As Chair Elect, I also serve as Membership Chair. In that capacity I set several goals for myself to help you CONNECT, LEARN, and ENGAGE through an organization that is our voice for the art of handbell and
handchime ringing.
It’s a very ancient saying,
But a true and honest thought,
That if you become a teacher,
By your pupils you’ll be taught.
I hope you will teach and support me as I work to achieve the following goals during the next two years:
• Increase awareness of the benefits of membership in HMA
• Identify and interact with all handbell ensembles including school-based programs in Arizona
• Build a database of Arizona handbell ensembles to serve as a model for Area 11 states
• Encourage more men to participate in handbell/handchime ringing
• Identify schools that may be inactive to encourage them to reactivate their handbell programs
I’m looking forward to getting to know you.
Lynne Storms
Chair Elect
Handbell Musicians of America Area 11
Joyfully Ring!
News from National
College Ring-in will be held January 3-5, 2025, under the direction of conductor, Kathryn Jurado. This performance-focused event, designed for college-age and recent alumni handbell musicians ages 18-29, will be held at First United Methodist Church in Lakeland, FL. Participation is limited to 26 ringers, and early registration is encouraged.
Upcoming Board Meetings
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 an picture of the author in .jpg format.