by Ron Mallory, Area 10 Youth Coordinator

     Last summer, I visited Sea World in San Diego as part of a family vacation. (What does that have to do with handbells? Read on!) In the morning, we attended the park's Sea Lion Show, which had a television theme. First, the park's two seals, Clyde and Seamore, joined their human trainer in acting out scenes from "CSI." Next came a series of TV commercial spoofs. One segment led seamlessly into another until we were treated to a segment called "Dancing with the Pinnipeds," which culminated in a group of walruses, seals, otters, and humans together re-creating the famous music video of Psy's "Gangnam Style." It was a blast!

     After lunch, we went to the Shamu Show. The great orcas leapt from the water, then swam over and splashed part of the audience. They leapt from the water again, and swam over to splash a different part of the audience. And then they did the same thing again. And again. All this was accompanied by a pre-recorded musical backtrack.

     Thinking back on both these presentations at the end of the day, I realized that, while the Shamu Show is what Sea World is most famous for, the Sea Lion Show was actually much more fun and engaging. Why? Both did a great job of showing off what these intelligent animals were capable of. But the Shamu Show did so simply as a sequence of one "trick" after another, whereas the Sea Lion Show displayed the animals' abilities in the context of a story-and that made the presentation much more engaging.

     I also realized that most handbell concerts I've attended have been much more like the Shamu Show than the Sea Lion Show. We play a piece of music, talk a little, play another piece of music, talk a little more, and repeat. Maybe there's a "theme" to the concert which loosely connects everything together, but it's basically just a series of "tricks" presented one after another.

     Are there more effective ways we can present our music to engage with our audiences? Maybe we can learn a thing or two from Clyde and Seamore and find ways to create a story with our music, or to incorporate choreography, costumes, and staging into our shows. As you plan your spring performances with your community, church, or school handbell choirs, I encourage you to think creatively about ways to give your audience a little something extra!

     After a long wait for Oregon's Area 10 newly refurbished Malmark loaner chimes, Georgia Roelof and ringers from Congregational Church of Lincoln City are enjoying these beautiful and fun instruments. This congregation is one of two 2014-2015 recipients of our loaner sets. Congregational Church has a vibrant music program with organ, piano and vocal choir. A year ago they started a handbell ensemble thanks to the gracious loan of an available 3 octave handbell set belonging to a neighboring church. Now that Congregational has had opportunity to experience both bells and chimes, they are ready to start planning fund raising to purchase a 3 and 1/2 or 4 octave Malmark handbell set - new or used.

     George has lots of experience with handbells. She served for 27 years as a volunteer teaching beginning handbells at Katonah Presbyterian Church, Katonah, New York. After that she was hired as Handbell Director at Convent of the Sacred Heart in Greenwich, Connecticut. She brings not only her directing skills to the Oregon Coast, but great enthusiasm and a dedication to our art form.

     If you know of a set of Malmark handbells that have been abandoned to a storage closet and would like a new home, contact Georgia, gbroelof@outlook.com.

by Shosh Meyer, Oregon State Chair

     Clarkston United Methodist Church has been enjoying one of the area's handchime sets. We play once a month for our church services, and we have used the chimes several times for this. The picture is from the warm-up session before we played February 22. We played a beautiful arrangement of "As a Deer", in which we all used the chimes. Our congregation really enjoyed it--we got many comments after the service. The chimes add a wonderful new dimension to the enjoyment of handbells. Before we return the chimes this summer, we hope to use the chimes for classes for the older kids in our vacation bible school. Thank-you so much.

Barbara Dertinger, director of Bells of Praise

at Clarkston United Methodist Church

     In 1990, a group of church music directors in Portland got together with the idea of starting a handbell choir outside the church setting. They wanted to ring music that couldn't be rung in the traditional church setting. Without the pervasiveness of the Internet (it wasn't popularized until 1994), the founders of Bells of the Cascades (BOC) didn't realize that community groups were forming throughout the United States: Bells of the Sound was founded in 1989, Raleigh Ringers and Sonos in 1990, and AGAPE Ringers in 1992. Twenty-five years later, community groups are popular throughout the country, and the Area, providing an additional opportunity for musicians to ring.

     I first picked up a handbell in 1993 in a community group. Then, when I moved to Oregon in 1997, I started ringing with Bells of the Cascades, another community group. Despite never being a member of a church group, one of the things that has stood out over the years is how intertwined the church bell choir and community bell choir are within the greater handbell community and our local communities. Most ringers get their introduction to handbells in churches. Community groups often perform and rehearse in churches. Many ringers in community groups also ring or direct in church groups.

     Despite the close connection between church and community groups, often the underlying purposes of church and community group are different.   In addition, many community groups are self-sustaining and rely on concert proceeds and donations for their funding. This necessitates more of a focus on performing and they often seek places outside the church to perform. However, these differences actually support the church musician as well. Just as the skills learned in a church choir can be used in a community group, the increased focus on performance can also enhance musicians in the church group.

     Handbell Musicians of America strives to support handbell musicians regardless of where they ring. The success and influence of community groups within the greater handbell community is celebrated at the Handbell Musicians of America Pinnacle Event being held July 15-18, 2015, in Dallas, TX. While the event has a professional/ community slant, its focus is to help all handbell musicians reach their personal best in performance. For more information on Pinnacle visit pinnacle.handbellmusicians.org.

     Speaking of performing, the number of performances at Pinnacle is greater than at other national events. Rather than having to travel around the country to see top handbell performing groups, you can go one place and see several. In addition, this year, you get the chance to go "inside" three very different community handbell groups: Sonos, Raleigh Ringers and Agape Ringers. For those of you interested in the inner-workings of community groups, you'll have the opportunity to spend four hours learning how the particular organization operates.

     But, you don't have to go to Dallas to get involved in community groups. Area 10 has over 16 community groups, at least one in every state in the Area. These community groups exist for a myriad of reasons and include ringers at all levels. Even if you're not interested in ringing with a community group, community groups are often looking for volunteers to help with events, management, publicity, and any number of other things. As you support your local community group the handbell community as a whole strengthens. Even if it's just to attend a concert, I encourage you to seek out the community groups in your area and support them in whatever way you can.

Brian Parrott

Treasurer, Area 10 (treasurer.area10@handbellmusicians.org)

President, Bells of the Cascades (president@bellsofthecascades.org)

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Saturday, March 28 - 3:00 pm, Phyllis Tincher, handbell soloist, and Sean Rogers, pianist/organist, in concert at Community Presbyterian Church, 5391 E. Main Street, King Hill. This concert is sponsored by the Presbytery of Boise. RingPraiseMinistry.org

Thursday, February 26 - Sunday, March 1 - Distinctly Bronze at the Hilton Portland with Dr. William Payn.

Sunday, March 1 - 4:00 pm, Distinctly Bronze Final Concert at the Hilton Portland, 921 SW 6th Ave, Portland. Dr. William Payn will be conducting.

Saturday, March 7 - Bell Trees in Worship and Concert workshop with Barbara Brocker, 10:00 am - 3:00 pm, Westminster Presbyterian Church, 1624 NE Hancock Street, Portland. See article above or contact Anne Stevenson, astevenson628@comcast.net.