St. James Annual General Meeting

The St James Guild of Change Ringers met last Saturday, March 6, at the home of Derek and Jan Wilsden for the Guild's Annual General Meeting. At the proceedings, guild officers Mary Platt (Tower Captain), Kathryn Tucker (Ringing Master), Alice Gough Heilker (Secretary), and Chris Brown (Treasurer) were reelected for their respective positions. Charley Heilker will continue as Steeple Keeper, Diane Campion as Shirt Maven, and Jan Wilsden will oversee our social calendar, with help we hope. And Sally Karkula will take over responsibilities of Librarian. Thank you ALL for your willingness to serve. After the intensity of another election season, we dismissed the lobbyists and got to the real business of the evening -- a wonderful meal, catching up on friendships and news, and celebrating Cathy Brown's birthday (28th, I think). Thank you to the Wilsden's for sharing their home with us for the evening.

The AGM was preceded by a very special accomplishment. Will Eubanks, age 13, completed his first quarter peal. He is the first St. James' young ringers to reach this level. He rang the 595-lb #8 bell as tenor to 1260 changes of Plain Bob Triples. Congratulations to Will and to the St James instructors who have been working so faithfully with our young ringers. We look forward to many more quarter peals with Will.

NoGa Ringers Invade Charleston

On the weekend of February 19 through 21, most of the North Georgia ringers were happily ringing away in Charleston, South Carolina - I'm sure their home towers of St. James and St. Luke's felt bereft! Attending the biennial "Ring Around Charleston" were Lyn Barnett and Bill Buckner from Atlanta, as well as Cathy & Chris Brown, Derek & Jan Wilsden, Charley & Alice Heilker, Mary Platt, Jay Williams and Kathryn Tucker of Marietta. In the first photo, you can see Ray Gotko (an honorary member of the St. James' Guild) and Charley Heilker at the Friday night reception at the Cathedral. At the same venue were Jay Williams and Bill Buckner, also pictured below.

There was an enormous amount of ringing scheduled - at my last count, I had heard of 23 quarter peals slated, along with lots of general ringing. Rosalie Crouch, the organizer extraordinaire of the event, will soon have a final tally of quarters achieved. One of the quarters that I am certain was scored happened to be a significant one in which I participated. It was the first inside quarter for Alice Heilker - Plain Bob Doubles, conducted by the eminent Alan Regin. It was rung on a beautiful afternoon on Sullivan's Island, and very well-struck it was, too! Alice should be extremely proud of her performance.

From left to right: Paul Stannard, David Cornwall, Joyce Cornwall, Alice Heilker, Alan Regin and Kathryn Tucker.

On Saturday night, the Charleston ringers hosted a "Low Country" meal at Grace's parish hall. Before everyone dove into their food, the rector, Michael Wright, gave the blessing. And because it was one of the sweetest blessings I've ever heard, I will repeat it here for you:

Bless, O Lord, the food upon our dishes
As Thou, Lord, didst bless the loaves and fishes.
And like the sugar in our tea
May we all be stirred by Thee.

Sunday brought service ringing at all the towers except Stella Maris - there is no ringing on Lenten Sundays at the Roman Catholic church. After ringing at Grace Episcopal, there was a bell-themed service, as it was near the 10th anniversary of the installation of their bells. There was a handbell introit of Grandsire Triples and a beautiful "Canticle of Praise", written by The Reverend Canon Michael Wright of Grace, and whose subject was bell-ringing. The homily was also concerned with bells, nicely given by The Reverend Donald McPhail.
The last photograph was a charming one I managed to capture after the service ended. A quarter peal of Cambridge Royal had just begun, and these children were enthralled with the ringing. How well we all know that feeling of fascination, do we not?

Left to right: Lyn Barnett, Mary Platt, Phil Teague, Alice Heilker, Charley Heilker, Derek Wilsden, Jay Williams, Bill Buckner, Jeremy Johnson, Ted Clark, Jenne Johnson, Sawyer Gosnell, Judith Smith, Amy Bischoff, Jeanne Averhart and Joe Roberts. (Missing: Kathryn Tucker, photographer)

On Saturday, January 30th, 7 ringers from Birmingham drove eastward in search of other friendly ringers with whom to share a morning and afternoon. Thankfully, the doors of St. Luke's, Atlanta were opened and ringing began on time and in earnest.

One of the newest ringers from B'ham, Amy Bischoff, was able to participate in call changes, as well as some excellent tenor behind practice. And she's only been ringing since August 2009! Jeanne Averhart is conquering Plain Hunt on 5, as well as covering. Jenne and Jeremy Johnson rang Plain Bob Triples, and Jeremy worked on Grandsire Doubles, as well as call changes and excellent tenor behind. Phil Teague will be traveling to Charleston for the "Ring Around Ch'ston" weekend and wanted to hone his PB Doubles skills - he's hoping to ring a quarter inside while in South Carolina. Joe Roberts was a very easy-going man - filling in at tenor behind, trebling and working on PB Doubles. And their inimitable leader, Ted Clark, rang a sweet plain course of Cambridge Minor, as well as leading much of the ringing. And now it's time for lunch! Below you will see Derek and Charley enjoying the gifts of nosh provided by our B'ham friends.

While a variety of folks wandered in and out of the bell chamber, helping themselves to sandwiches, chips, fruit, cake and streusel bars, ringing continued in earnest. Jay Williams got a couple of chances to ring one of the St. Luke's bells; the long draft, however, proved to be a bit of a challenge for someone who is fairly new to ringing and blind, to boot. He took it all in stride and looks forward to his next visit to St. Luke's.

A quarter peal was attempted toward the end of the ringing session; Jeanne Averhart has not yet rung a quarter peal and was hoping that this might be the day. Sadly, it was not. Maybe it was the dreary, drippy weather; maybe it was the fatigue; or maybe it just wasn't the day. However, we will all do our best to see that Jeanne scores a quarter in the not too distant future.

Many thanks to the St. Luke's folks (Lyn, Bill, Judith and Sawyer) and especially to Sawyer who very capably led much of the ringing. Thanks to the Marietta people (Mary, Derek, Charley, Alice, Kathryn and Jay) who drove down to support the ringing. And kudos to the Steel City travelers for getting up at "chicken-thirty" (thanks for that wonderful phrase, Ted!) to drive to the ATL, providing food and giving us an excuse to ring for four and a half hours on a Saturday!

On the right, you will find Sawyer Gosnell, Ted Clark, Jeremy Johnson and Amy Bischoff practicing the Exercise.

L to R: Jay Williams, Diana Witt, Kathryn Tucker, Alice Heilker, Sally Karkula, Charley Heilker and Derek Wilsden

On a rainy, misty, spooky Halloween day, seven ringers gathered at St. James Marietta to attempt two different quarter peals: Grandsire Doubles and Grandsire/Plain Mixed Doubles. The first of Grandsire Doubles was being conducted for the first time by Kathryn Tucker, and it was Sally Karkula's first attempt inside. It was a valiant effort, and the striking was particularly good, but the conductor had a tough time keeping track of her 120's! "Stand" was called and a short candy break was enjoyed by all.
The second quarter had Jay Williams on the treble, a first for him - he has previously rung a successful quarter as tenor behind. Once again, the striking was good, but the ghost and goblins of this day seemed to be especially mischievous - the ringing never solidified, despite a couple of fresh starts. When Jay's wife Kathy showed up with pie and cake for Jay's birthday, we were all more than happy to trot down to the parish hall, sing "Happy Birthday" and dive into the goodies.
Thanks go to all the ringers who showed up on this haunted day and battled the ghoulies in the belfry - it was good practice for everyone!

Young Ringers' Wednesday Practice

It's not just school that has recommenced. We welcomed Chris, Will, Emma, and Kevin back to Wednesday's Young Ringers' practice. Although regular practices had halted for summer vacation, Will and Kevin kept their skills up by helping out with Sunday service ringing and ringing for weddings and funerals. With so many ringers traveling this summer, their help was essential in making all our ringing commitments. Emma and Chris, who spent much of their summer traveling and not ringing, had no problems getting right back into the swing of things. The group is keeping us busy as they tackle Plain Hunt and Plain Bob Doubles and continue ringing the Treble and Tenor during methods .

We just found out that the video about St. James and Change Ringing that Will wrote and produced for the contest Reflections placed first at the state wide level. To learn about the history of St. James Tower Bells and to watch and listen while they are rung, you can view Will's award winning video below. Will is also helping with the Children's Sunday School tours of the bell tower.

End of Summer Signals Return of MMI Practices

Summer vacations sent our band all over the world. You can read about Cathy and Derek's ringing vacation in England and Mary Platt's ringing trip to South Africa in earlier blogs entries. Between family vacations, visiting family and attending CCCBR meetings in England it has been hard to know exactly where Kathryn was at any given moment. She is our Carmen Sandiego. Sally 's family visited relatives in Sienna Italy where they had a glorious time and glorious weather. Sally got a family photo in front of the Colosseum in Rome. Dianna does so much exotic traveling during the year that she vacationed in New Hampshire for a change of pace.
So vacations are over and everyone has returned from the various ringing workshops/weekends in Pittsburgh and Hendersonville and the AGM in New York. Now that we are all back, we will be resuming our usual ringing schedule and that includes regular MMI practices. So advanced ringers, please CHECK OUT THE MMI PRACTICE SCHEDULE!!

BELLS!! in SOUTH AFRICA?

Yes indeed, and this year's Butler Tour undertook the challenge to ring all 8 of the change ringing towers in this vast and distant land. The tour, organized every year by Bruce and Eileen Butler of Philadelphia to visit and ring in as many of the thousands of bell towers around the world, included 7 other ringers from the US and Ireland for a 2 week adventure.

We gathered August 1 in Cape Town to officially begin our travels in and around the Western Cape. Our first towers were St. Marys (8 bells), Woodstock, and St. Georges Cathedral (10 bells), Cape Town for Sunday Services August 2. After several days of long drives through the wine country and lots of wine tasting, "hand-to-trunk holding" with elephants, petting big cats, and wonderful food at the area's many fine restaurants, we headed east toward Grahamstown. Our journey took us along scenic seacoast roads with a bit of whale watching, and more fine food in the delightful sea side town of Wilderness. In Grahamstown we shared a wonderful practice with the young ringers in their local band and enjoyed the bells of the Cathedral (10 bells) and then the monastery of the Order of the Holy Cross in Hillendale (6 bells). For all of us, these towers provided our first opportunity to ring quarter peals on the African continent.


A highlight of our trip came next, as we turned our attention to the long awaited safari experience. We spent 2 days in the "wilds" of Kariega Game Reserve rumbling over the landscape in a huge open land cruiser in search of giraffe, cape buffalo, rinos, hippos, lions, warthogs, every sort of antelope and bird imaginable, and much more. We learned so much about the wildlife and the environment of South Africa from ranger Shaun's vast knowledge and experience, and even better, no one was eaten alive.

After a day and night in Port Elizabeth and more scenic seascapes, we flew up the coast to Durban. There the ringers of St. Mary's Grayville (10 bells) welcomed us warmly at their evening practice. Sadly the bells of St. Pauls were not available. But we found much to see and enjoy in the city in a whirlwind tour of the Indian Market and the Botanical Gardens and more with our enthusiastic guide Just-Us.

From Durban, we headed north and inland for the last stop on our travels. We drove the long 8 hours through the Drakensburg Mountains and beyond to Johannesburg. After ringing in Fourways Gardens at All Saints (6 bells) and St. Georges (8 bells), Parktown, and facing yet another rental car breakdown, our 3rd car swap and traffic that makes Atlanta seem lightweight, we spent our last day together learning as much as we could about this "city of gold." Yet another outstanding guide, Kaeren, made the most of a morning drive through the downtown areas of the city, into Soweto and the Hector Pieterson museum, the Mandela home and much more.

Finally, it was time to end this "trip of a life-time," get in line for my 16 hour non-stop flight home, and hope for a return visit to grab that Durban tower we missed and once more enjoy the fine food, wine, land and sea scapes, and gracious hospitality of the South African people.

Mary Platt
August 29, 2009