Announcements Archive

I have been putting together the quarter peal report, with some help from Rick DePuy. Please, when posting qp's to Campanophile, will you be sure to put the North American Guild on that top line?

That way you can be sure that your postings will make it into the Clapper without a hitch.

I have responded to one tower that I've picked up their qp's. Are there any others out there who might not have included the North American Guild in their listing? Please email the editor ASAP. You have another day or two before the qp's go into the master document.

Thank you for your patience this first time round for me as editor.

Diane Amison-Loring

Bells' BBQ Bash - Philly Saturday, June 9 for ringing and celebrating the bells' birthdays. Please join us. RSVP by June 1.

Please join us in Orleans, MA at the Bell Tower of the Church of the Transfiguration on May 12th! This is a New England Area Meeting - but of course anyone is more than welcome. It will be a day of Open ringing - in the Open air! Cape Cod is beautiful, and not too hot this time of year.We lok forward to seeing old friends and meeting new ones, so please save the day and come ring our wonderful 10 bells!

Here is a basic schedule for the day:

10am - noon Ringing (coffee and snacks provided)
12-1 lunch Lunch provided (donations gladly accepted)
1- 2:30 Ringing
2:30 - 2:45 Break w/refreshments 2:45 - 5 Choral Evensong is at 5:15 which anyone is very welcome to attend

Please let me know by May 5th if you plan to come, so we can be sure of the count for lunch. thanks!

The Clapper deadline is approaching, and can be somewhat flexible for those towers with area meetings in April.

Please will all area representatives send me your information if you haven't done so already? Let's make this issue a great one! Photos are welcome. Please identify any people in the photos.

If any of you are working on articles and need research help, please let me know how I can help you.

Thanks.

Dove's Guide is available to download from the App Store. This is a free app which became available on March 10, 2012 for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad users.

North American peals and quarters are now displayed on nagcr.org!

Recent performances show up in a new widget on the home page, and as a new box on the mobile version. From there you can click through to the index of all performances by month, or to a page giving details of all of the performances reported last week. You can also go straight to the monthly index at the easy-to-remember http://nagcr.org/p.

We're getting our data from submissions through the NAG form over at Campanophile. We don't want to rush your submissions, so you have a three-day grace period: every Wednesday night, we'll automatically publish a new weekly report covering performances through the previous Sunday. Any submissions recived after Wednesday will be in the following week's report.

If you're subscribed to the RSS feed (or you get emails from Feed My Inbox), then you'll see the weekly report show up already--no need to subscribe to anything new. Hope you enjoy it!

The April deadline for the next issue is rapidly approaching.

Tower captains/representatives, please start to put together your news/pictures/anecdotes.

Who is working on an article for The Clapper? Please will you let me know so I can set aside the space in the coming issue?

Many thanks. I will send out more reminders as the deadline gets closer.

And, yes, I was once known as "the ringing nun"...

With sadness Steve Smith reports the unexpected and untimely death of Tim Hanna, a ringer at Christ Church Cathedral, Victoria, BC. Tim's obituary can be found at this link: http://www.mccallbros.com/timothy-james-hanna/

Our sympathies go out to the ringers of Christ Church Cathedral for their loss.

Ringing at the Old Post Office - Keep Calm, It Carries On!

Like others in the ringing community, Washington ringers were excited to hear earlier this month that the Federal Government’s General Services Administration (GSA) had selected an organization to redevelop the Old Post Office where the Congress Bells are housed. For some years we had monitored the ups and downs of GSA’s efforts to find a developer to turn the wonderful old building into a profitable enterprise.

Finally, last spring GSA issued a Request for Proposal (RFP). The bells and the Clock Tower where they are located were very minor items in the RFP. The bells were mentioned in the “Exhibits” section of the RFP, and the RFP specified that the developer must maintain “public access for the Clock Tower.” Proposals were submitted in July, and GSA announced the winning bidder, Trump Hotel Collection, on February 7^th.

During the proposal period, WRS met with GSA and provided both our concerns about how the redevelopment would affect the bells and ringing and our view that improvements in public access to the tower coupled with some bell-related modifications could result in making the site a more significant public attraction. Since the selection, Katie Emmons, the WRS Ringing Master, has talked with GSA’s Project Manager for the redevelopment. He supports our involvement as plans for the Clock Tower development move forward, and we’re working with him to arrange a meeting of all the parties after things settle a bit.

While we have concerns about the effect the redevelopment will have on our ringing at the Old Post Office, we believe that it can be an opportunity to highlight the Congress Bells and change ringing. We appreciate the NAG and wider ringing community's interest and concern, and we'll try to keep NAG informed as things progress.

Something to note is that construction is not scheduled to start until spring of 2014, so we don’t expect to see changes in the ringing schedule at the Old Post Office for some time. So do come visit!

Katie Emmons

Here is another way to celebrate Her Majesty`s Jubilee:

Pageant bellringers hope they won’t be sunk by floating belfry challenge

Valentine Low

February 16 2012 12:01AM

The bells that will peal out from the Thames for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee are being cast tomorrow, and the man in charge of ringing them is doing his best to sound confident. “I think the whole idea is totally bonkers,” Dickon Love said. “That is partly why I like it.”

If he is sounding nervous, it is for good reason: no one has ever tried ringing church bells from a floating belfry on the river before, a challenging exercise made more nerve-racking by the fact that the bells do not belong to the pageant at all, but to a church in the City of London . The £180,000 bells were commissioned by St James Garlickhythe, which has agreed to lend them before they are installed.

“If they end up at the bottom of the Thames , someone somewhere will have to provide the church with a new lot,” Mr Love said. “But they won’t end up at the bottom of the Thames ,”he added swiftly. “It is a very big boat.”

At the moment all that exists of the bells is a few large lumps of sand, clay, goat hair and horse manure. That is how the moulds for bells have been made for centuries: sand and clay to make the shape and take the heat of the molten metal, goat hair and manure to burn away and provide a network of tiny air passages so that the gases from the hot metal can escape.

This week, Nigel Taylor, head tuner at the Whitechapel Bell Foundry, has been applying the finishing touches to the moulds, stamping the inscriptions that will go on the outside of the bells letter by letter. There will be eight bells, the largest weighing almost half a tonne, and each one named after a member of the Royal Family: Elizabeth, Philip, Charles, Anne, Andrew, Edward, William and Henry.

The foundry has been in Whitechapel since 1570 and, before that, can trace its ancestry to a foundry run in Aldgate by one Robert Chamberlain since 1420.

Despite this heritage, no one has any idea of what it takes to ring eight bells on a floating platform. The boat will be as steady as they can make it. An Olympic-class barge called the Ursula Catherine, capable of carrying 250 tonnes, it will be pushed by a tug at the head of the flotilla of 1,000 boats taking part in the pageant on June 3.

However, Mr Love, a former master of the Ancient Society of College Youths, a bellringing society founded in 1637, said: “Our bellringers can detect movements in a belltower of a few millimetres. It upsets the movement of the bells. They will have to be very skilled in order to manage it. But you have to be able to take risks sometimes. Whoever thought this up is quite visionary. It is so English, so London . It will be something to behold.”

Sad news from Robert Lewis, about Harold Rogers. Many North American ringers knew Harold, and his late wife Olive. Harold had continued to lead a vibrant life, continuing to ring peals regularly, until his health started failing about a year ago.

From: Robert Lewis:

I am very sorry to have to tell you that Harold W.Rogers of Isleworth has died, aged 95, today (Friday, 17th February). His son Chris has asked me to pass on the sad news. He tells me that Harold passed away peacefully in the early hours of the morning.

Funeral details, once known, will be published in The Ringing World and elsewhere.

Washington Post column spotlights Trumping of OPOT bells!

Here's a talk about change ringing in Spartanburg, South Carolina. You'll have to scroll down a page or two to get to it. Sadly I suppose this is equally inconvenient for those in Charleston, Atlanta, Hendersonville and Raleigh, but maybe someone can make the drive. Does anyone know Caren Diefenderfer, who doesn't appear to be a NAGCR member?

While not named in this article, the coordination of the thirty towers ringing was arranged by Nick Jones, who used to ring in Atlanta and Marietta.

Bonnie Armstrong died on 3 Febrary, after a long battle with cancer. Bonnie was quite active in ringing in Hingham and Boston in the 1970s and 80s, and rang in the first peal on the bells at The Church of the Advent.

Here's an obituary from the Hingham Journal.

Intriguing news about the Old Post Office in Washington

http://tinyurl.com/8xcpvn9

Due to the annual ringing weekend held in Quebec May 25-28, we have changed the date of the Area Meeting planned here in Orleans at the Church of the Transfiguration. It was scheduled for the 26th and will now be May 12th instead. Hope to see lots of you here!

Winter issue of The Clapper now available.

Many thanks to Margaret Ketchen for producing this issue.

Click here to open the winter 2012 issue of The Clapper

News report about change ringing in hand in Ontario: http://www.brantfordexpositor.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=3445337.

Campanophile is back!

From Tony Parry: "The e-mail service is restored. It appears that the most recent Microsoft automatic security update managed to prevent the mailserver from restarting properly. Apologies for the prolonged downtown -- I was spending an internet-free week with my family in the UK."

Please note that the February 11 Area Meeting venue has been changed from DC to Trinity, NY.

More details on calendar listing.

Change-ringers chat list reports Campanophile temporarily down, and launch of "BellBoard" by Ringing World.

For those members who only get the electronic version of The Clapper you would not have received the green insert. This is the 2012 NAGCR Calendar of Events which is now available for downloading. This can be found in the calendar section of the website.

http://www.nagcr.org/meetings/2012.pdf

UPDATE - 7-TOWERS Ringing Festival APRIL 13-15, 2012

A couple of additional items:

• We've contacted a couple of fairly nearby hotels and obtained some generally competitive rates. They are:
  • LaQuinta Downtown Little Rock

617 South Broadway
Little Rock, AR 72201
501-374-9000, 1-800-753-3757, lq.com
Rate of US$65.00/night
(For those of you who attended our AGM, recall: NO BAR.)

• • Wyndham Riverfront

2 Riverfront Place
North Little Rock, AR 72114
501-371-9000, 1-877-999-3223, wyndham.com/hotels/LITNO/main.wnt
Rate of US$85.95/night
(Good bar - ostensibly convenient shuttle.)

• In either case, mention "Trinity Ringing Society" for the rate.

• We shall also be offering the always unique 7-Towers Festival polo in all the usual sizes. Please contact Mary Wilson (below) regarding your sartorial requirements.

The twenty-something iteration hosted this year by the inimitable Trinity-Little Rock ringers. Depending on the registration/interest, actual ringing will begin with our usual Wednesday (April 11) practice at 6:30 PM continuing through noon Friday (April 13) when the "actual" event begins.

Registration forms are now available at this website, with hard copies coming in the next issue of 'The Clapper.'

In the meantime, feel free to contact Mary Wilson or Porter Brownlee for additional information.

We look forward to seeing you!

Contact: Mary Wilson

Get automatic notices of news posted here at our website via "FeedMyInbox" . . .

See Dianne Cermak's easy to follow directions in our "Articles" section.

Seattle 2012 Anniversary Weekend moved to weekend of June 9th. This is later than our usual --

to fit better with the University of Washington schedule. Details to follow nearer the time. Contact TC Rebecca Woodgate for more information.

Somehow or other the Victoria report that was published in the Spring issue of The Clapper was re-published in the Fall issue. The following, prepared by Susan Benzon, is what you should have read, although I have amended or omitted parts which are now out-dated.

"Through the work and enthusiasm of Val Brown and Sarah Beukema, the Victoria band rings handbells once again. During the summer, Val spearheaded and instructed Thursday evening handbell sessions. Lately, Sarah has been both hosting and teaching at home in Metchosin. Sarah's daughters, Katerina and Alexandra, are learning too - their enthusiasm is quite delightful. Congratulations to the rest of the "hard core" group: Frances Quetton, Margaret Ketchen and Faith Magwood! They ring Plain Hunt on 8, Plain Bob Minor, and more...

Madeline Holden, returned for a while (hopefully, a LONG while) from Newfoundland, has thrown in her lot with the Thursday handbell gang. Back in the tower, as her ability in trebling to methods improves, Madeline is becoming increasingly useful to the band.

The decoration and re-carpeting of the ringing chamber has finished. Thank you so very much, Robert Mason-Hurley, for your generous donation towards improvements therein! Our Treasurer, Stephen Smith, used those funds both to replace our old clock, and to construct and set up a new set of brass coat-hooks on a wooden rail that matches the clock.

This summer and early fall we suffered more than usual from lack of ringers. Most of the Victoria band was here at the beginning of July, to celebrate our 75th Anniversary. Then, promptly, everyone went on holiday. Many thanks to bellringers from "away" for swelling the ranks, particularly in September.

The third weekend in September we rang for the Kingcome Inlet "Feast" held on the grounds of the cathedral. The purpose of the gathering was to raise money for a First Nations community on British Columbia’s central coast, wiped out by floods this time last year. Michael Batten, barefoot and wearing a colourful skirt, rang with us at the start of the proceedings. After ringing, Michael joined the Nisga'a dancers on the south lawn - for him, it must have been a very busy weekend. The ringers felt honoured to be included in what turned out to be an exciting, and moving, cultural event."

Helpful to learners: Thomas Alsbaugh's new YouTube video analyzes the movement of the sally as a bell rings. Watch it here.

New "Fall" issue of The Clapper now available here.

Much gratitude to Sally Cook for stepping up again as Interim Editor for this issue!

If you need help accessing The Clapper at this website or opening the PDF, please let us know:

Everyone is warmly invited to join us at Trinity Wall Street on Sat Dec 10th. Ringing will start at 11:00am and continue until about 5:30pm, with a break for lunch. All levels of ringing will be catered for. In the evening there'll be a group dinner at a nearby restaurant. If you plan to attend, please email Tim Barnes for further details.

In an attempt to make the Central Council more relevant to all association ringers and to draw your attention to the Central Council Website and the President's blog we were asked to share the following link.

http://cccbr.org.uk/council/blog/

So please browse the Central Council's site and send your thoughts and feedback to one of your 4 Central Council reps.

We're very happy to report that the bells of Washington Cathedral are ringing again! Following the final detailed engineering review of the Cathedral's central tower, the Cathedral gave the go ahead for ringing following the first service at the Cathedral since its closure after the earthquake of 23 August. On 12 November, the bells rang out for the first time since August, welcoming the ninth bishop of Washington following her consecration service. The Washington ringers are overjoyed, thankful, and profoundly grateful to be able to ring the Cathedral's beautiful bells again. The community on the Cathedral close has told us that they heard the bells as an “outward expression that all was well” despite the extensive repair and reconstruction work still to be done.

Katie Emmons, Ringing Master, Washington Ringing Society

The Bell tower at the Church of the Transfiguration will host an area meeting on May 26th, 2012. Please join us on beautiful Cape Cod for a wonderful time of ringing - out doors! Rest assured, we now have doors on the Tower so if it is rainy or windy, we will manage just fine!

Christchurch New Zealand
Posted by John Camp on changeringers - 
"The Guardian" reports:
"Christchurch to deconsecrate quake-damaged cathedral"
See:
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/oct/28/
christchurch-deconsecrate-quake-damaged-cathedral?INTCMP=SRCH>
What implications does this news have for the bells?

January 13-16, 2012. Please join us in Philadelphia

The Tower at the Church of the Transfiguration in Orleans, MA will host an Area Meeting on

May 26th, 2012. Save this date!

Brewster/Kent area meeting this Saturday, Oct 15. Contact Matt Bogen. Hurray for lots of ringing!

Smith College, Northampton, MA, selected as site for 2012 NAGCR AGM, August 17-19.

Interim reports of 2011 officers now available here for members.

October 8 Mid-Atlantic Area Meeting rescheduled for October 15 in Princess Anne Please see calendar entry for more information.

Once again the Guild's Book Service will be ordering Ringing World Diaries and Calendars for members. Please take advantage of this service. You may email me your order and then put a check in the mail or pay me in Toronto at the AGM.

Cheers, Bruce

Ringing World Diary 2012

To obtain a 2012 Ringing World Diary please send a check in US or CDN funds

payable to NAGCR Book Service to:

Bruce Butler

829 North 25th Street

Philadelphia, PA 19130

Standard – USD or CDN $11.50

Standard with Pencil in spine – USD or CDN $12.00

Leather – USD or CDN $19.00

Name

Address

Quantity/Which kind?

Ringing World Calendar 2012

This year the calendar features the Australian and New Zealand Association of Bellringers (ANZAB) to celebrate their 50th anniversary.

To obtain a 2012 Ringing World Calendar please send a check for $12.00 in US or CDN funds payable to NAGCR Book Service to:

Bruce Butler

829 North 25th Street

Philadelphia, PA 19130

Name

Address

Quantity

Add USD $2.50- CDN $2.50 for each item if you wish airmail (not really necessary at this time – September/October)

Total Amount Enclosed $

2010 Annual Report now available here, to NAGCR members.

Ring around Charleston, February 24 - 26, 2012.

4 towers, all levels, please join us!

NA ringers saddened by Jim Diserens' death, reported by son Brian.

In a message posted to ringing-chat on Sept 8, Brian Diserens wrote: "I regret to inform you that my father, Jim Diserens, died of a heart attack last night aged 79, while staying with us in Germany."

New "Summer" issue of The Clapper now available here.

Subscribers and print-version members, check your mailbox. Much appreciation to Sally Cook for editorial/graphic services!

If you need help accessing The Clapper at this website or opening the PDF, please let us know:

Due to Hurricane Irene, there will be no ringing at Trinity Wall Street on Sun. Aug. 28.

Washington, D.C. and National Cathedral shaken by 5.9 earthquake on 23 August 2011. Central tower pinnacles toppled. OPOT open for ringing; Cathedral closed.

The July 6 death of Paul E. Engsberg, devoted friend of change ringing and The University of the South, is regretfully announced.

Among Paul's many noteworthy contributions during his 42 years at Sewanee was his key role in the acquisition of the 8 tower bells ("Bentley Bells") for Breslin Tower (11-0-23, Whitechapel, 2003). A burial liturgy was celebrated on July 11, 2011 at All Saints Chapel with committal at the University cemetery. A special remembrance of Paul will be included in the Summer issue of The Clapper.

Yale University has put up exciting new details on the residential-colleges project and, in particular, the 190-foot tower that is planned.

Yale's development office now says that "[t]he tower will also be equipped with a traditional belfry—a counterpoint to the Harkness Tower carillon." Another page says that the tower will include "a bell ringing room where students can operate the 12 bells in the tower’s belfry."

The tower is pictured here, at the site of Yale's architects for the project.

Yale's architect has put up new renderings of the residential-colleges project. They show a tower that could be a lovely home for bells.

Charleston in the news

NAGCR AGM registration open through Sept 22. Registration form here. More information at calendar. Questions? Contact Olivia Gamache.

Abilene in the news

Interesting and well done article.

http://www.reporternews.com/news/2011/jun/21/bells-were-ringing-at-heavenly-rest-thanks-to/

Publication of the April 2011 issue of The Clapper has been postponed to an as-yet-undetermined date due to an unexpected death in our Editor’s family. The deadline for submissions for the July 2011 issue of The Clapper will also be postponed from July 8. We will update information on both issues here, once details are determined. We extend our deepest condolences to Baucum, his family and friends.

Marietta in the News.

Please join us in Washington DC to celebrate the 4th of July, with a pot-luck picnic at the Cathedral, peals and quarters! (Did I mention the WRS will be providing beer?) Simply click the link below to indicate your specific availability and interests. Also, it is very helpful, most importantly for locals but also for out-of-town ringers, to indicate if you are NOT available on the form link below (15 second process).

https://spreadsheets.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dFJfUGlNV0Z4MEF3czBaaDdualhCZ1E6MQ#gid=0

In order to place bands for peals/quarters, please have your form submitted no later than June 20. This will be the ONLY tool we will use for placing bands. Bands will be placed according to perceived best striking opportunities- requests for specific towers and methods most welcome (comment box at the end of the form) but we can not guarantee these requests will be honored. Out of town ringers, feel free to contact me directly if the June 20th deadline will be restrictive to making travels plans, and I can update you individually on the likelihood of being placed in a band based on current numbers. We will do our best to honor requests first come-first served.

We look forward to your joining us!

Alex Taft

Sunday Cathedral Tower Captain

Washington, DC

Christ Church Cathedral in Victoria British Columbia is celebrating the 75th Anniversary of the hanging of the bells! On the weekend of July 8-10th, come for open ringing, learning, sharing and fellowship with other bell ringers, no matter what your age or experience.

There will be an open house in the belfry and a lawn party on Saturday, July 9th from 1:30-3:30pm. All ringers are invited to attend a celebratory dinner at the home of one of CCC's ringers. For more details, please email."

Montreal area handbell ringers wanted! If you are a change ringer, or know of any -- NAGCR members or unaffiliated -- please send an email with your contact information.

At the request of Connie King, I am sending this message to let everyone know that New Castle will not be ringing this Saturday, May 14. We were unable to ring for a Day in Old New Castle this year, which is the following Saturday, and it looks as if there are not too many takers for the weekend before. We will re-think the May meeting for next year.

Trinity Wall Street in the news . . . see Krystl Hall's wonderful photos and read her ringing story!

Houston TX "striking competition champion ringers" in the news . . .

Trinity (Little Rock) Bellringing is in the news.

Check out the article in the May issue of Arkansas Life

http://www.arkansaslife.com/editions/digital/

The article begins on page 34.

Enjoy!

Shreveport in the news!

The note below outlines the planned ringing at Westminster Abbey for the Royal Wedding on Friday, and also provides details of a related TV program. David Hilling is the Conductor of the Westminster Abbey Company of Ringers. The NBC TV program he refers to is "Inside the Royal Wedding", to be broadcast this Wednesday at 8/7c.

http://www.nbc.com/inside-the-royal-wedding/

From: David Hilling

Sent: Thursday, April 21, 2011 5:26 PM

To: Tim Barnes

Subject: NBC Programme - Westminster Abbey

Hi Tim and I trust that you and your family are well.

Would you be able to get word out to NAG ringers regarding a broadcast by NBC on Wednesday 27th? A London film company has made a programme on Westminster Abbey for NBC that features interviews with The Dean, the Company of Ringers and the Master of the Choristers. Ringing coverage was taken both in the ringing chamber and in the bell chamber. In interview I referred to Abbey bells links with Washington DC and with Victoria Cathedral. As far as I know the programme will not be shown in the UK.

Concerning the Royal Wedding on Friday 29th, security not surprisingly is extremely tight and the ringers have to arrive very early. The wedding is at 11.00 and is due to last an hour and a quarter. We have permanent cc tv in the ringing chamber and on this occasion will also have a tv monitor. We will ring Stedman Caters prior to the service and commence a peal of Spliced Surprise Royal (2 methods) at service conclusion. I hope that you folks in NAG will be able to see a rerun of the programme at a sensible time.

As a first, the BBC has, at my suggestion, installed a camera above the bell installation so we can expect some coverage of bells in motion. Today's Royal Maundy service was broadcast live and included bells shots from pre and post service ringing.

Many thanks. Perhaps you would acknowledge though I trust that I still have your correct email address.

David

Victoria is celebrating the 75th anniversary of the hanging and first ringing of our bells, the weekend of July 9-10, 2011. Members of the North American Guild are invited to visit us and ring with us, but plans for the ringing are still fluid, as much will depend on how many of you accept our invitation. Please let me know as soon as possible if you plan to be with us. Please also see our announcement at Calendar posting. Faith Magwood [250-477-1186]

Christ Church Cathedral Guild, Victoria, B.C., regrets that it must cancel the traditional plans for Victoria Day ringing this year.

For a variety of reasons the meeting this Saturday, April 9 in Princess Anne has been cancelled.

RING-AROUND-NORTH AMERICA

On Sunday, May 1st, the North American Guild of Change Ringers will hold Ring-Around-North America, a special event to raise funds for the bell ringers of ChristChurch Cathedral, Christchurch, New Zealand. This event will feature sponsored performances - typically of a quarter-peal, but possibly longer - to raise funds that will be specifically dedicated to the assistance of the ringers of ChristChurch Cathedral. The event is organized by the NAGCR, and is greatly assisted in the administration of the funds by the two 12-bell towers in North America - St James' Cathedral in Toronto and Trinity Wall Street in New York City.

Towers which wish to participate will receive a full kit of sponsor sign-up forms and promotional material. Ringers (and other members who do not actually take part in a performance) will be asked to sign up sponsors (at, perhaps a penny-per-row), and to collect a check from them after the performance. Sponsor sheets and checks will then be sent to Trinity Wall Street, where they will be checked and, for Candian sponsors, passed on to St James' Cathedral.

In addition to the sponsorships and the ringing, there will also be a news story released (probably via the AP), and participating towers will receive a full press kit, along with some ideas about how to engage the interest of their local radio and TV news outlets.

The tower of ChristChurch Cathedral was destroyed in the earthquake that hit Christchurch on Tuesday, February 22nd 2011. Fortunately no-one was in the tower when it fell, but the bells plummeted to the floor of the tower, where they await recovery. Dr James Cooper, the Rector of Trinity Wall Street said "The sound of bells is an audible sign that the church is alive and well in the city, and it will be important to restore this sound to the streets of Christchurch". Lyn Barnet, President of the NAGCR noted that "Bell-ringers have a unique form of radical hospitality, welcoming each other to each others' towers. It is appropriate for us to reach out in this unique way to express our support and allegiance with the ringers of ChristChurch Cathedral". Mike Clayton, the Master of the Ringers at the Cathedral said " We are impressed with your ideas for fundraising and encourage you and any others to go ahead with any other schemes. Many thanks for your concern."

So what do we do right now? Be aware of this, and urge your local leadership to sign on. The Leaders of each tower and handbell group will be receiving a special notice in the next few days, with all the details about how to sign on, how to join in with the national press story, and copies of publicity and sponsor sign-up information.

Let's make May 1st a day to remember, and an solid expression of support for our fellow ringers 'down under'.

*Late addition*

The first few bells have now been recovered from the rubble, and seem to be in relatively good shape. Let's hope that the next bells will be in equally good condition.

Equipment failure at printing company has delayed mailing of the paper Clappers until Monday, March 14th.

Thank you for your patience.

- Baucum Matthews

See the great new issue of The Clapper at this website --

Photos are (almost all) now in living color! Well done, Baucum Matthews.

Register now for the Southern Cross Ringing Festival - (aka Five Towers Festival) April 29 - May 1, 2011. Lodging information now available.

Check out Campanophile to read about Don and Elisabeth in India.

www.campanophile.com/

Christchurch NZ Cathedral Bell Tower Destroyed -- FEB 22 Earthquake.

Changeringers list: "(ANZAB) has had confirmation from Anita Adams, the ANZAB secretary and a Christchurch resident, that all Christchurch ringers are safe. We don't yet know if the reports of people being in the tower at the time are true or not - communication is not easy - but certainly no ringers are dead or missing."

To make it easier to view this web site on your phone, there's now a mobile-optimized version at m.nagcr.org.

It contains all the same information and posts as the regular site, but is formatted to make it quicker and easier to find what you're looking for on a smaller screen. So next time you're in the tower or at the pub and want to look up a phone number or a practice time, give m.nagcr.org a try.

P.S. You can also use your phone post (or update) announcements and events. Just sign in using the link in the upper-right corner, or go directly to m.nagcr.org/upload.

Spring is in the air! Please join us for the Vernal Equinox Weekend here in Philly, March 18-20.

Make a fun-filled weekend out of the event. Leonardo is at the Franklin Institute, Capucci is at the Art Museum, Eastern State Penitentiary is open as is the award winning Please Touch Museum. And of course all the historical sights that Philly has to offer. Oh yes, we will be ringing too!

We do look forward to seeing many of you.

Cheers, Philadelphia Guild of Change Ringers

For registration form see the calendar portion of the website.

Regrettably, the scheduled Mid-Atlantic Area meeting in DC for Saturday, February 12 has had to be canceled. Unfortunately the anticipated attendance did not meet up with expectations. Perhaps this is due to all the bad weather that we have experienced this winter.

We hope to see many of you at the next Mid-Atlantic Area meeting in Philadelphia for the Spring Dinner.

Pittsburgh's annual ringing course this year is now fully subscribed, and we do not expect to be able to accept any further students.

Last week the New Haven Board of Aldermen approved a zoning change that will permit Yale University to build two new residential colleges. The project will include a 190-foot tower. Will the tower have bells? Yale hasn't decided.

Included with the printed copy of the latest issue of The Clapper was a copy of the 2011 NAGCR calendar. This is available in PDF on the website and I believe was not linked to recipients of the electronic version.

I am sorry to have to report that Bill Hall of Shepshed, Leicestershire, UK died this morning. For those of you that knew him as he traveled around North America you can find more information on Campanophile.

Trinity Cathedral in Miami featured by WLRN, NPR affiliate: "The ringing of bells is a sound you might associate with the holidays. . .

. . .with majestic church towers or with small European villages. So forget all of that. The bells at Trinity Cathedral in downtown Miami are a little different. Listen to the story by Alicia Zuckerman and Kenny Malone here."

GREAT PR, Miami ringers! Thanks to Kenny Malone for the story and for contacting the NAGCR for information. His request: "Tell your folks to storm our website and leave comments!"

Victoria ringing in the news . . .

Yale project almost over zoning hurdle: On Dec. 13 a New Haven city committee approved a zoning change to permit Yale's residential-colleges project to go forward.

The next and final zoning step is Board of Aldermen approval.

At the committee meeting, an Alderman asked whether Yale would put bells in the project's 190-foot, neo-Gothic tower. A Yale official said, "No decision has been made."

Ringing World Diary 2011 – Centenary Edition

To obtain a 2011 Ringing World Diary please send a check in US or CDN funds

payable to NAGCR Book Service to:

Bruce Butler

829 North 25th Street

Philadelphia, PA 19130

• Standard – USD or CDN $12.00

• Standard with Pencil in spine – USD or CDN $12.50

• Leather – USD or CDN $20.00

Add USD $2.50- CDN $2.50 each if you wish airmail (not really necessary at this time)

Name

Address

Quantity/Which kind?

Amount Enclosed

You can email me your order and then put a check in the mail.

Save the date: the 2011 Steel City Ringing Festival will be held 15–17 July 2011 at Southminster Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh. Please see our calendar entry for more details.