July Fourth QP at St James, Marietta

St James', Marietta GA on 4 July 2011 (in 39 minutes)
1260 PLAIN BOB DOUBLES
1. Diane K Campion
2. Mary Platt
3. Jay Williams
4. Derek J Wilsden (C)
5. Charley Heilker
6. Alice Heilker
In celebration of July 4th!
First inside: 3.

Two Quarter Peals at St James

St James', Marietta GA on 9 July 2011, in 42 minutes
1260 PLAIN BOB TRIPLES
1. Alice Heilker
2. Kathryn E Tucker (C)
3. Charley Heilker
4. Mary Platt
5. Catherine P Brown
6. Quilla Roth
7. Matthew C Brown
8. Jay Williams
Rung in celebration of the birthdays of Rahne Tannent, Bill Rush, and the conductor.

St James', Marietta GA, on 10 July 2011, in 47 minutes
1344 PLAIN BOB MAJOR
1. Alice Heilker
2. Mary Platt
3. Kathryn E Tucker
4. Charley Heilker
5. Derek J Wilsden
6. Jay Williams
7. Sawyer Gosnell
8. Quilla Roth (C)
In memoriam Paul Ervin Engsberg, whose visionary efforts brought change ringing bells to the Breslin Tower of the U. of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee in 2003; died 6 July 2011.
First quarter of Major: 1,6.

Hugely successful Young Ringers Workshop at St James

Quilla Roth (Washington DC) led a four-day workshop July 6-9 for six of the seven young ringers of the St James (Marietta) Guild, and the four adult teachers of the weekly Wednesday evening class benefitted as much as the youngsters in my estimation. Quilla is due the most heartfelt thanks for her enthusiasm, skill, patience, hand-outs galore, and more, from
the Young Ringers- Cayla, Cicelia, and Emma, and Chris, Kevin, and Will; and
their Adult Teachers- Alice, Cathy (principal), Charley, and Derek.
The workshop addressed rope/bell handling issues, rounds and call changes, hunting 4 through 6, and the methods Plain Bob doubles and minor (including bobs) and Bastow Little Bob minimus and minor, according to each young ringer's ability to date. They were joined by other adult members of the Guild on Saturday morning.

Quilla's presence additionally helped the adult ringers to have a London Surprise Minor practice during the evening of the 7th, and the attempting of three quarter peals at the weekend. The first two were successful as shown adjacent to this post; an attempt at London resulted in non-rounds at the end of the first extent, but we continued on well into the third of the three parts of the second extent before a fire-up brought us to a "Stand!" - all amounting to another valuable practice of the method.

Digital Imaging Tune-up Clinic With Jim DiVitale: The New Book Has Arrived!

Digital Imaging Tune-up Clinic With Jim DiVitale: The New Book Has Arrived!

St. James AGM

On March 13th, members of the Guild of Change Ringers met at Mary Platt's new home for their AGM; afterwards, they enjoyed a delicious potluck dinner. The results of the election are as follows:

Derek Wilsden - Tower Captain

Cathy Brown - Ringing Master

Jay Williams - Secretary

Diane Campion - Treasurer

This is a complete turnover of executive officers, and we all look forward to the coming year of ringing.

We are grateful also for the following who will serve in the coming year in non-elected capacities:

Charley Heilker - continues as Steeple Keeper, and assumes the task as Assistant Ringing Master

Mary Platt - continues as Archivist

Sally Karkula - continues as Librarian

Kathryn Tucker - assumes the task as Social Director

Cathy Brown - continues as Young Ringers Ringing Master

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.

Running Ringers

Once a year St. James Episcopal Church has a huge fundraiser called the Wonderful Days of Winter 5K Race. Founded in 1974, Wonderful Days Preschool is St. James’ primary outreach to the Marietta community. Forty to fifty children from low-income families attend the preschool and their transportation, tuition, and two meals a day are paid for by St. James’ and other charitable organizations. Since most of their students are Hispanic and English is not their first language, Wonderful Days helps them become fluent in English and prepares them for elementary school. This year two of our ringers, Kathryn Tucker and Chris Brown, ran in the race while some of the less energetic ringers helped with the lunch that followed. It was a really nice morning, cold and clear, with no sign of our impending doom, that is the snow.