I made a video (my first!) of my recent visit to Taylor's Bellfoundry in Loughborough, England; it was part of the many activities planned during the Central Council's annual meeting, which was in Derby this year. If you're interested in seeing a bell being cast, watch the following (copy and paste URL):

http://tinyurl.com/2ao42l3

Enjoy!

Happy Birthday, USA

Left to right: Kathryn Tucker, Mary Platt, Emily Heilker, Alice Heilker, Derek Wilsden, Jay Williams, Cathy Brown (c), Charley Heilker

On July 4th, we gathered for a quarter peal in honor of America's 234th birthday. The tenor was solemnly tolled 13 times, the group gathered after last-minute water breaks and then set off to ring Grandsire Triples. After three false starts, the decision was made to snuggle under the comfortable blanket of Plain Bob Triples, hoping to score a quarter celebrating the many, many July birthdays that we have here in Marietta. Below is the note that goes along with the successful quarter peal:

Birthday Compliments to the United States Of America (July 4),Charley Heilker (July 4), Rett Walker (July 5), Alyssa Motylinski (July 6), Kathryn Tucker, Bill Rush, & Rahne Tallent (July 13), Shelley Tallent (July 14), Alice Heilker (July 20), Mary Platt (July 27).

We were all feeling well-nourished on this day - the night before, Chris and Cathy Brown had hosted the traditional Fourth of July barbecue and the food was both copious and delicious. Many of the guests meandered over to the "Root House" for first-row seats to the City of Marietta fireworks display, thanks to the Browns, who paid for two large tables; the money went to help fund the Root House projects.

It was a wonderful holiday, and we are very thankful for the freedom to ring as a united group, in various states of joy here in America.

St Luke's AGM

The St Luke's AGM meeting was held this evening. If you wish, please contact Sawyer for a copy of the minutes.

St. James End of Season Social

The ringing season seems to parallel the school season - ringers are abundant in the fall, disperse a bit during the Christmas season, re-assemble in the spring and then a major diaspora occurs at the beginning of summer. So a social event was planned for May, before people took off for the four corners of the earth, enjoying summer breaks.
On May 1st, St. James ringers gathered at the log cabin clubhouse of my neighborhood - it is roomy, comfortable and has a handy kitchen for last-minute food preparation. We enjoyed mac-n-cheese, meatball sandwiches, green salad, fruit salad, chips and all sorts of other yummy dishes. Music played in the background as we talked, laughed and enjoyed our two resident babies: Rahne and Ridley Tallent, Mary Platt's beautiful grandchildren, ages "almost two" and 5 months, respectively.
Thank you to everyone who made this party possible, and happy travels to all, wherever you may go this summer.

Thundering Bells in Birmingham

Amidst lightning, thunder, rain and wind, intrepid ringers from St. Luke's, St. James' and St. Paul's in Birmingham gathered for a day of ringing on Saturday, April 24th. Six North Georgia ringers (along with Louise Booth, our volcano refugee from England) drove to Birmingham to support a day-long practice and quarter peal attempts: Lyn Barnett, Bill Buckner, Charley Heilker, Mary Platt, Kathryn Tucker and Derek Wilsden. All of us ringers from the Atlanta area were impressed with the wonderful progress that so many of the ringers in Birmingham have made - may it continue to be so!

We were treated to a lovely lunch, which included barbecue chicken, salads, fruit, delicious side dishes and desserts - we ate while watching the lightning flash, trees sway and rain pour down. Some folks even felt a bit of rain sneaking in to the ringing room through the rope holes!

Below is a photo of the quarter peal band for Plain Bob Doubles - a first for Jeanne Averhart, after a few practice attempts in the past!Derek Wilsden (c), Bill Buckner, Jeanne Averhart, Ted Clark, Kathryn Tucker and Mary Platt

Special Practice this Tuesday.

At St Luke's, with the visiting peal band, starting at 7(ish). Please let me know if you have special requests, or things you wish to continue to work on that you may have started with this Monday's practice. If nothing else, I hope to focus on ten bell methods while we've got the opportunity, but I also think that we're going to dedicate some time to Cambridge Major and London Major, or even Royal if we're feeling adventurous. Just let me know.

-Sawyer

Ringers Pull Weeds, Not Ropes

Left to right: Jan Wilsden, Alice Heilker, Kathryn Tucker,
Diana Witt and Derek Wilsden

"Clean up, clean up, everybody everywhere
Clean up, clean up, everybody do your share"

All moms and dads of a certain age know that song - it's the Barney "clean-up" song and we gritted our teeth every time our tots listened to it on the TV. However, it is appropriate to quote it in this case - on Saturday, March 27th, five St. James ringers took to the soil instead of the bells, complying with a request made by the parish secretary, Paige Bushart, for all hands to help clean up around the church in anticipation of Easter crowds.
It was a cool, breezy Saturday; however, we stayed warm by digging up weeds, pruning trees, laying pine bark and generally making ourselves useful. We missed our ringing, but knew we were doing something very worthwhile - contributing to the welfare of St. James, the church that makes our ringing possible.