Sleeping Giant English Hand Bell Ringers

A Short History

In the late fall of 2009, Fr. Dan Lapolla was able to procure a four octave set of Schulmerich English Handbells in memory of his mother , Helen. There are 49 bells in all.He also procured a two octave set of hand chimes from the Sisters of St. Joseph. His idea was simple: to encourage more people to become involved in liturgical music and worship of the Church. This idea was extended to the community, and we plan in the future to visit homes for the elderly at Christmas and Easter, as well as schools etc.

As a welcome blessing of this endeavour, some of the bell ringers have also joined our choirs. This is a double blessing.

We have two bell choirs at the moment: youngsters (as young as 6 or 7 yrs.); and an adult choir. The youngsters meet with Susan Ongaro, Debbie Wasylenko, Lisa Sgambelluri, Kathy Pankuch, Shirley McKenzie and others. The adults meet with Joe Talarico, Fr. Dan, and others. The children play differently, mostly chords; and the adults are presently working on hymns like: Amazing Grace, Silent Night, Jesus, Joy of Man's Desiring etc. They are also preparing some processional pieces like "Kol Slaven Nash" which is an old hymn from Russia (The Lord Goes up to Zion), and also a special piece for our hundredth anniversary as a parish which will occur in 2012.

We are thankful to Susan Carscadden-Mifsud, of the Bellesima Ringers and Handbell Graces in Southern Ontario. Susan is a special representative of Schulmerich Bells also. She came to Thunder Bay in 2009 to show us the possibilities with hand bells. Our parishioners were really impressed! They were already playing Silent Night in a few minutes! We are hoping Susan will be able to visit us again next year for a workshop.

Our handbell ringers group is registered with the Ontario English Handbell Ringers Guild and the American English Handbell Ringers Guild. We have access to all the information regarding events all over North America, as well as access to a miriad of music for all levels.

On November 27th we plan a Christmas Concert involving musicians of the parish: handbell choirs, instrumentalists, and vocalists.

We are really excited about the possibilities.

If you are interested, please call the rectory for more information.

Sincerely,

 

Fr. Dan Lapolla, c.s.

Pastor