Quarter peal band (L to R): Derek Wilsden, Cathy Brown,

Kathryn Tucker, Jay Williams, Alice Heilker and Charley Heilker.

On a cold Saturday, February 5th, St. James ringers met for their usual morning practice, but we cut it slightly short to begin a quarter peal. The band has been trying to stretch its wings a bit by attempting quarter peals on the Saturday practice days, when folks are available.

This Saturday, it was Alice Gough Helker's turn to attempt St. Simons Doubles - a method that had been tried before but not completed. Alice rang her first quarter peal inside (PB Doubles) last February at Stella Maris (Charleston), but had not scored one at her home tower. Cathy Brown was the conductor, and for the most part, everything went smoothly with good striking and few mistakes. We were very happy for Alice, and hope this bodes well for subsequent Saturday quarters!

By the way, directly after the quarter, everyone seemed to disperse like seeds in the wind and a photo wasn't taken. However, we remedied that by snapping the picture the next morning at Sunday service ringing.