Greetings, Area 12!

Congratulations to our newest board member Carol Flint, Secretary, and also to Kathy Arnold, returning for a second term as Treasurer. We are excited to have them join the board and are looking forward to working together. We would also like to thank Carol Pickford for her years of service as Secretary. We are glad she has agreed to stay on the board as Southern California Regional Coordinator. Also many thanks to Tessique Houston for continuing on past the expiration of her term as Past Chair to see this election through as Chair of the Nominating Committee. We appreciate her dedication and thank her for her many years of service to the Area 12 Board.

I also have good news: we are having another election! Scott McCleason of Nevada contacted me in late January expressing interest in running for Chair Elect. We invited him to attend our March board meeting* as a guest so he could see how we work and the sort of things we work on. 

After the meeting, he said he was still interested, so we have made arrangements with National to hold an election beginning April 1st. (Again, we know we are supposed to have two candidates, but National has advised us to hold the election with just one. We would be absolutely delighted to hear from anyone who is interested in serving on the Area 12 board, so if that’s you, please reach out!)

Our voting process is done securely online. The results we receive after the close of election only tell us the total number of votes cast and who they were for. All of us at the meeeting were quite surpised to learn that only 27 votes were cast in the election for Secretary and Treasurer! Further discussion revealed that many in the room had never received the email from National about the start date of the election or how to vote! Some subsequently found those emails in their spam/junk folders, but some did not. We encourage all members to periodically check their spam/junk folders as a matter of course, but also know that the link to the candidate information and voting instructions is included in this newsletter. 

Please set a reminder in your calendar to take a few minutes out of your day to cast a vote in this election. And if you don’t receive an email from National telling you that the polls are open, or reminding you that the end of voting is near, please reach out to me at chair.area12@handbellmusicians.org so we can try to troubleshoot this issue.

I hope to see many of you at upcoming events in Area 12 and across the country.

Secretary's Report

The board had a very productive meeting March 14-15 in Summerlin, NV, on the outskirts of Las Vegas. We were hosted by our Past-Chair Marci Nuoffer, and had the chance to tour Faith Lutheran Middle School & High School. It’s a beautiful campus, and now that the location for National Seminar in 2026 has been announced as being held outside of Area 12, we can finally announce we will hold our 2026 summer conference will be held in Summerlin on campus at Faith Lutheran. Amazing indoor facilities, covered parking, you will be impressed! 

We were pleased to welcome Scott McCleason as a guest to our board meeting. Scott was interested in finding out more about our board, and after the meeting, has confirmed his willingness to run for Chair Elect. We are grateful to have Scott run for this position, if you are a member of HMA, please look for voting instructions in this newsletter.

 

Area 12 will be hosting a table at Pinnacle, please stop by to see us if you will be attending Pinnacle, and be sure to watch for an announcement of the Area 12 photo.   

If you are a composer, please look for information about a composition contest for the 2026 conference. You’ll find more information in the next Overtones, and in the event bag at Pinnacle. Please reach out if you have any questions.   

Area 12’s next board meeting will be June 14th, please let us know if there is anything you would like to see added to the agenda.

Blessings,

Carol Pickford

Dear CenCal, 

Hello Spring! This year is already flying by as we approach Easter, Spring Rings, and mid-year concerts. I hope you and your ensembles will consider attending one of our local events, like the Bay Area Spring Ring in Sunnyvale on May 3rd. I will be attending with several members of Opus Handbell Ensemble and some of my own ringers as well. I would love to meet you and get to know each other.

One of our ongoing efforts is to compile a list of active groups in the region. And, for those with current memberships, I’d love to write an article featuring your ensemble (soloists, too!). Reach out and I’ll gather all the details; don’t worry, it won’t take very long!

By the time you read this, I’ll have just returned from the Coppers Classics event in Portland, Oregon with neighboring Area 10. It’s a three-day event to hone our skills and play a wide variety of challenging works. I’m really looking forward to focusing on nothing but bells for three days!

Have a concert of your own coming up? Don’t forget to submit it on the events page of the Area 12 website. Want to host an event but not sure where to start? Let me know and we can chat about what you’d like to see in the region.

How to Be Your Director’s

Favorite Ringer!

I always enjoy attending festivals and conferences. A most memorable festival was the 50th Anniversary of HMA held in Norfolk, Virginia. It was there that I took a class by Kevin McChesney about ways to become your director’s favorite ringer. I would like to pass along some of his ideas:

1) Be on time to rehearsals and performances.

2) Help with set up and clean up if needed.

3) Stance: one foot behind the other so you can move as you ring (front to back). 4) Bend at the waist to play mallets on bells on the table, pluck, or mart.

5) Stand up straight and keep your bells near your shoulders.

6) Martellatos should be no more than two tacos high off the pad.

7) Memorize the first few measures and the last few measures so that you can watch the director and be together.

8) Memorize and turn early on page turns. 9) Find places in the music to look up: repeated notes, shakes, ritards, a tempo, long notes, rests, when not ringing, meter changes. Challenge yourself to look up more each week.

10) When changing bells please weave or let a neighbor ring a bell for you.  

11) Take your music home and mark your score.

12) When unable to attend a rehearsal try to find a substitute. 

I hope this will be helpful for ringers wanting to get on the good side of their director!

Submitted by Cindy Ksiazek

From our Education Liaison

Every time I go to a music event, whether handbell related or not, I am always amazed at the amount of music knowledge that we have in Area 12. So many are ready and willing to share their knowledge with anyone who may be interested. We are so lucky to have these resources throughout our region and we want to connect them with you.  

Are you one of those music teachers or handbell directors who would be willing to share your musical experience with those who have questions? Whether you are interested in teaching handbell or directing skills at an upcoming event, or mentoring a handbell person wanting to learn more, Area 12 is looking for you!  

There is a brief google form now available on our website where you can submit this information privately to the Area 12 Board. This information will allow us to connect people who want to learn particular skills with people who want to teach them. You can submit your information using the following link: