About L.A.M.B.
The Lansing Area Ministry of Bells (LAMB) was founded in 1984 by Jane C.
Wright to promote the art of handbell ringing and to provide a structure to
support the Spring Ring, a local massed ringing event held in the Lansing,
Michigan, area each year in the late winter or early spring. Jane also founded the Capital City Community Ringers (now the Capital City Ringers,
Inc.) in 1984, and still directs this group. The Lansing Area Ministry of
Bells and the Capital City Ringers are officially sister
organizations. Jane, who is currently the Minister of Music at Westwood United Methodist
Church in Kalamazoo, was for many years the Minister of Music at Mt. Hope United Methodist Church in
Lansing and directed the handbell choir there.
L.A.M.B. sponsors two events annually; the Spring Ring and the Beginning Ringers & Directors Workshop, each spring and fall, respectively.
Spring Ring
The major event sponsored by the Lansing Area Ministry of Bells is the
Spring Ring, a gathering of about 250 ringers from about 25 churches each
year. We have had many well-known handbell directors and composers/arrangers as guest conductors of the Spring Ring, such as Arnold
Sherman, Tim Waugh, Douglas Wagner, Hart Morris, Susan Berry, Lee Afdahl, Bill Griffin, and Carl Wiltse, to name a few.
28th Annual Spring
Ring - 2012
Next Spring Ring: Saturday, March 17,
2012
Location: Waverly High School, Lansing, MI
Guest Conductor: Monica McGowan
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Monica McGowan of Lakeview, Minnesota, has just retired after 12 years as the Artistic Director of Twin Cities Bronze, the Minneapolis-St. Paul area community handbell ensemble. She has a Bachelor of Science in Music Education from Chadron State College, Chadron, Nebraska) and found her life's passion in handbells as a ringer, director, clinician and conductor. She served as the handbell director in Episcopal, Methodist and Lutheran churches for over 15 years, and has also been the Handbell Coordinator for the Week of Handbells at the International Music Camp. From 1995-2002, she served on the Area and National Board of Directors for the American Guild of English Handbell Ringers (now called the Handbell Musicians of America), and brings her background of education, teaching and extensive training in handbells and handchimes to the conducting podium or workshop setting for local regional, national and international conferences, clinics and festivals. In her "retirement", Monica will continue her work as a master technician at her Ringing Restorations handbell maintenance company. With her husband Joe, Monica plans to spend more leisure time at their ranch in the Black Hills of South Dakota.
She is conducting the Spring Ring for the second time, having been here previously on St. Patrick's Day, 2007.
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The following Spring Ring publications are available for
download; most are in .pdf
format:
Newsletter - Winter
2011
Repertoire for 2012 - (Revised 01/01/2012)
Registration Form - for Spring Ring 2012
Confirmation
Letter - Now avaialble
Director's Choir Assignments and Info - Now avaialble
Quick notes - Now available
Schedule for Saturday - Now avaialble
Floor Layout (know where
your group will be) Now avaialble
Repertoire
Reading Session music list - Now avaialble
Publicity Article
- for 2012
Map
to Waverly High School - MapQuest map with directions
Map to Waverly High School - in
.pdf format
Restaurant Guide for Waverly HS area
- in .pdf format
Additional articles:
Capital City Ringers newsletter: "Ring
Tones"
Michigan Ringer
article featuring Capital City Ringers' and LAMB's 25th Anniversary
Frequently Asked Questions Page
is here...
Beginning Ringers
and Beginning Directors
Workshops
LAMB also sponsors a Beginning Ringers Workshop and
Beginning Directors Workshop in late September each year. These sessions help new ringers and
directors gain confidence in their ringing ability and learn the various handbell techniques commonly found in handbell music.
Nicole Leppala, Music
Director at Hope Lutheran Church in DeWitt, Michigan, leads the
Beginning Ringers Workshop and Jane Wright leads the Beginning Directors Workshop. Kim and Lorraine Finison demonstrate basic handbell techniques as
well as advanced treble bell and bass bell techniques.
Next Workshops: Saturday, September 18, OR October 2, 2010 (stay tuned)
Location: Mayflower Congregational Church
2901 W. Mt. Hope Ave., Lansing, MI 48911 [click
here for map and directions]
Registration forms are available for download in .pdf
format:
Ringers Registration Form
Directors Registration Form
Map and Directions to Mayflower Congregational Church
Links
American Guild of English
Handbell Ringers (AGEHR)
Area V - AGEHR (Michigan,
Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia)
Capital City Ringers -
Lansing area community handbell ensemble & sister organization of LAMB
LAMB Board
The current members of the LAMB Board of Directors are:
President - Gary Masters,
handbell director, Grace United Methodist Church, Lansing
President-Elect - Laura Knudson ,
handbell director, First Presbyterian Church, Holt
Past President - Jennifer Scholes,
handbell director, University United Methodist Church, East Lansing.
Treasurer - Eileen Ellis, handbell director,
South Church, Lansing.
Secretary - Lorraine Finison, ringer, Capital City Ringers
and Mayflower Congregational Church, Lansing.
Member-at-Large, Webmaster, Go-fer,
& All-around Great Guy - Kim
Finison, Ringer, Capital
City Ringers & Mayflower Church.
Any questions about the Lansing Area Ministry of Bells and the events it sponsors should be directed to Secretary Lorraine Finison at
BellGoddess (at) hotmail (dot) com or by calling 517.321.3221.
Last update:
10/01/2009
Lansing
Area Ministry of
Bells
© 2003
All rights reserved
