The Area 10 Board of Directors developed an award program to honor those who have
given an extra effort to the advancement and promotion of handbell and handchime ringing in
Area 10. The award will be presented at the June 16-18 Area 10 Conference in Spokane, WA.
Past recipients include Marcy Winters, Bobbie Benjamin, Marlene Anderson, Blanche Kangas and Nancy Hascall.
The Nomination Committee selected Cyndy Patterson to receive the 2023 Distinguished Service Award posthumously. The Award was presented to Cyndy's son, at the Area 10 Conference during the Saturday evening concert.
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Cyndy Patterson served on the Area 10 board as Treasurer, 1998-2002, as Secretary, 2013-2016, and as Oregon State Chair, 2018-2020. Cyndy attended National Seminar yearly, honing her skills as a handbell musician. She also participated in Distinctly Bronze West since its inception in 2008, and other advanced ringing events around the US and Canada.
In the early 1990s, Cyndy began her directing career with Shepherd’s Bells, the combined handbell choir of Central Point and Medford Presbyterian churches. She was a founding member of Tintinnabulation, a handbell ensemble at the Medford church. Cyndy was a handbell solo artist and was a founding member and co-director of the Rogue Ringers in Medford Oregon in 2007. As a director of bell choirs, she championed the art of handbell ringing in her choirs and through teaching at Siskiyou Summit Handbell and AREA 10 conferences.
Cyndy constantly worked to improve her ringing skills and shared her knowledge freely. She was truly an inspiration to many in Area 10 and beyond. Unfortunately, Cyndy passed at the end of March 2020 from pancreatic cancer. She is missed.
