Chair

On a dark and stormy, long, long ago . . . . Well, it really wasn't all that dark and stormy. And to Skip Sluder it wasn't that long ago, only to the young people in his Junior Bells. A native of southern Indiana, he directs the handbell choirs at First United Methodist Church of Bloomington, Indiana. Born in Terre Haute, Indiana, — yes, it really was a dark and stormy because the power went out — he grew up a few miles south of Terre Haute in a small town, where he began accompanying services in my local church when he was in the seventh grade. Over the years he earned degrees in music education from Indiana State University (Terre Haute) and musicology from the Indiana University School of Music of Bloomington.

His handbell program—and handbell experience—began when he was asked to work with a children’s choir (note the singular at that time), Sunday school music, and oh, yes, the handbell choir at First United Methodist. (It was hard for him to say ‘no’ to the handbell thing because his daughter and wife were already ringers in the choir.) The handbell choir started with eight adults and young people ringing in a two-octave choir. The goal: To perform once a month in services. In the early years, it was a challenge to stay at least one step ahead of my ringers and to find music for them to perform. The program has grown from that one struggling two-octave ensemble to four choirs. The Chancel Ringers—the primary choir—ring five octaves of bells and four octaves of handchimes.

Skip has been married to his wife Liz for more than thirty-five years. They have two grown children, Kirk who is now married and studying at Indiana University and Elizabeth who is a lab technician in the Chicago area. Skip and Liz now share their home with five cats.

Chair-Elect

Denise Holmes of Marietta, Ohio is the new Chair-Elect for Area V.  She is a retired music teacher, having left the field of public education after 30 years of orchestra, marching band, general music, color guard, music appreciation and handbells in the Marietta City Schools - but not all at the same time!  During her retirement, she is working at her local Jo-Ann Fabrics and catching up on a lot of sewing projects that have
languished during those marching band years, as well as learning all of the inner workings of the Area V board.

She has been a massed ringing director at events in Columbus, Zanesville, and Marietta, Ohio, as well as Charleston, West Virginia.   Denise is a member of the Mid-Ohio Valley Ringers, an auditioned bronze-level community handbell ensemble based in Vienna, West Virginia, and (because she is retired) participated in Distinctly Bronze 2005 in Norfolk, Virginia. 

Secretary

Judi Rachwitz of Novi, Michigan, is a continuing member of the board of Area V. She was introduced to bells in 1987 and has directed the handbell program at the First United Methodist Church in Brighton for eight years. Rachwitz rings with Classical Bells, the professional bell ensemble based in Livonia, and teaches music theory and piano at the university level. For the past two years she has served as secretary for Area V and is thrilled to have the opportunity to serve with the fine people on the area board for another two years. She enjoys teaching classes at handbell workshops and festivals and being one of the few Ohio State Buckeye fans in Michigan.

Treasurer

Dale Miller is a native of Charleston, West Virginia.  His career has taken him from the public school classroom to full-time church music and youth ministry to becoming a seminar facilitator and personal coach.   He earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education, from Glenville State College, Glenville, W. Va., in 1975, and his Master’s Degree in Music Education, from Marshall University, Huntington, W. Va., in 1983.  He completed Seminary work at United Seminary, Dayton, Ohio, in 1997 when he was Ordained as a Permanent Deacon in the WV Annual Conference of the UMC.

Dale’s handbell experience began when he was Director of Music/Youth at First United Methodist Church, in Richlands, Virginia from 1987-1995.  There he directed the adult handbell choir and two childrens bell choirs.  While in Richlands, Dale served Area III of AGEHR, Inc., as the Virginia State Chair from 1991-1993.   He continued in full time church ministry as the Minister of Music/Youth at First Church United Methodist, Dunbar, West Virginia from 1995-2003, where he developed a graded handbell program with as many as five handbell choirs.  He served as WV Education Chair for Area V of AGEHR and West Virginia State Chair for Area V.

Dale serves as chairman and founder of the Greater Kanawha Valley Handbell Festival, which is held each spring in the Charleston area.  He has also served as clinician in three United Methodist Churches in West Virginia where there was a need for an experienced director to help the churches set up and begin new handbell programs.  In 2002, Dale was the guest director of the Washington, DC area private schools handbell festival in Manassas, Virginia.  He will be the guest director of the Morgantown Festival in the Spring of 2006.

Dale is currently the director and founder of the Kanawha Valley Ringers, a community based auditioned handbell choir which is in its third year of existence.  He is married to his wife of 32 years, Ann, who rings in the Kanawha Valley Ringers.  They are the parents of two college-age daughters, Christina and Catherine, who are also avid handbell ringers.

Currently the owner of his own business, Distinct Advantage, Dale is now a seminar facilitator and personal life coach with the Six Advisors™ Success System, where his clients experience a distinct advantage with his personal and professional growth programs.

Dale believes that the art of English Handbell Ringing allows persons to develop their musical skills, work together as a team, and, in many cases, express their faith journey.  He is a strong advocate of the use of handchimes and handbells in the music education curriculum in all levels of education believing this art form to be as valid as any other in helping students develop musical skills that will also be beneficial in their many other areas of study.

Being a part of AGEHR, Inc., has played a major role in Dale’s life.  He believes this organization is vital for the success of the promotion and development of this art form.  Having served in various roles as a member of the guild, Dale finds the organization to have been a tremendous resource for his own success as a ringer and director.  He is very excited to continue to promoting this organization and the art of handbell ringing by serving Area V as treasurer.

IN Chair
Susan Oxley became involved with handbells in 1998 when she founded and directed the handbell choir at her church for five years.   In 2003 she started a handchime program at her local elementary school, where she now serves as a volunteer director of one of the two handchime choirs there.  In 2004 she founded the handbell choir at her new mission church, Cross of Grace Lutheran Church, and this fall she started another youth handbell choir. Susan lives in New Palestine, just outside of Indianapolis, with her husband and two children, ages 12 and 10.

KY Chair

Sue Nimmo has served Immanuel United Methodist Church as a musician and worship director since 1980. She holds a degree in music education from Murray State University. Her responsibilities include the choral and handbell choirs, worship planning for traditional services, music classes and administration for the preschool program. She has membership in the American Guild of English Handbell Ringers, and currently is the Kentucky State Chair. She is also a member of the Fellowship of United Methodists in Music and Worship Arts and the Choristers’ Guild.

MI Chair

Doris M. Edwards, a resident of Livonia, Michigan, has been involved with handbells since 1965 and has served as the Michigan Chair for AGEHR since 1999.  She is director of handbells at Mt. Hope Congregational Church in Livonia, having served in that capacity for over 40 years.  She is a former member of “Classical Bells,” a professional handbell ensemble from the Detroit Metropolitan area.

Doris attended Michigan State University, Wayne State University, and Schoolcraft College.  Additional studies in music education are from Westminster Choir College with Katsumi Kadama and at Bayview Conservatory with Donald Allured.

She maintains a piano studio with over 40 students and is a member of the Livonia Area Piano Teachers Forum chapter of the Michigan Music Teachers Association.  She has served in many positions, culminating with presidency of this organization.  She is also a former past president of “Camerata,” a senior club of the Michigan Federation of Music Clubs.  Dois also taught through Project Piano at Schoolcraft College for over 15 years.  She has emeritus status as a Michigan state certified teacher in piano and holds the “Hall of Fame” award through the American College of Musicians.  She served her first church organist position when still in high school.

Doris has been married for 49 years to her sweetheart, has four grown children, two girls and two boys, and six grandchildren.  When not ringing or directing handbells, teaching piano or refinishing furniture, she can be found on the golf course.

OH Chair

Kerry Remp, Ohio State Chair, has been active as an ringer, conductor, teacher, composer and author in the handbell world for over 30 years. He has formed and directed numerous handbell choirs throughout Northeast Ohio. As an accomplished concert pianist and church musician, he is active in advancing jazz, gospel and latin musical genres into handbell and church music. He has numerous handbell compositions published by National Music Publishers, and is the author of Planning a Handbell Festival, a resource handbook available from AGEHR publishers for handbell coordinators.

WV Chair

Madeline Hill began ringing handbells 14 years ago when the late Carolyn Tenery formed her first handbell choir at Blessed Sacrament Church in South Charleston, WV. Currently, she rings with the Ringing Disciples church choir and in a quartet under the direction of Lois Coffey. She also rings in the Kanawha Valley Ringers community choir under the direction of Dale Miller. She has attended many festivals and workshops.

For the past four years, Madeline has been co-owner of two Liberty Tax Service franchises located in Clendenin and Dunbar, WV. She manages the Dunbar office while her business partner manages the Clendenin office. She has taught income tax classes for the past 10 years.

She lives in Alum Creek, WV, just south of Charleston with her husband, Bob, 6 dogs and 2 cats. They are the proud parents of 3 grown sons.

Education Chair

Jane Irvine has been involved with handbells since 1980, when composer/conductor Ray Lowther invited her to fundraise and start a handbell choir at her school. She is a 29-year veteran music teacher, general music k-8th grade, vocal music 5th- 8th grade and 2 auditioned 7th and 8th grade handbell choirs. She is organist and handbell director at the First Presbyterian church in Parkersburg, WV.  Jane and husband Tim (Irvine Camper Sales) have one son, Ross, who is a sophomore music industry major at Capital University in Columbus, Ohio (and a fine bass bell ringer!) She serves on the board of Artsbridge, an arts-support agency, and is a member of the National Society for Arts and Letters. She accompanies and arranges for "Just Us Friends", a Broadway-style ladies vocal trio. Her favorite activity of the week is ringing with the Mid-Ohio Valley Ringers, a bronze-level Community Choir.

Membership Chair

Amanda Walker is the Handbell Director of the Bells of St. Mary’s, where her choir consists of mostly High School and Middle School students and their parents. The students come from four different High Schools. She is also the director at Emmanuel Lutheran Church. Walker enjoys getting involved in ringing at different festivals and has traveled to Washington D.C., Cincinnati, Toledo, here in Columbus (OH), and Grove City, Ohio and recently to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, to ring. A member of her contemporary church choir, she also plays the cello. Walker is a Registered Nurse, working in Labor and Delivery, and loves being involved as Membership Chairperson for AGEHR Area V.

Financial Administrator

Lois Coffey directs the handbell program at the United Disciples of Christ Church in Charleston, WV. She is an active solo ringer, having performed in Area V events as well as for numerous churches and civic organizations. Lois has previously served as Secretary and Interim Treasurer of the Area V Board and as the West Virginia State Chair, and has been a clinician at several Area V events in the past. She currently serves as Financial Administrator for Area V. A graduate of the University of Colorado with a degree in accounting, she is employed by the Presbytery of West Virginia as the Treasurer.

TNT Editor

Leslie Miller first heard bells at her own church over twenty years ago.  She has been hooked ever since.  For the past six years she was the director of handbells at her home church, Northminster Presbyterian Church in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio and also Music director there for the past year.  She will be changing jobs come fall and will be working for St. Barnabas Catholic Church and their handbell program.  Leslie has attended many of the Area V guild sponsored events for the past 15 years, trying not to miss any of them.  She had the fantastic opportunity to attend the 50th anniversary of the guild two years ago.  Leslie got involved in small ensemble ringing ten years ago and now has groups from duets to full choirs meeting in her basement twice a week using her own 4 octave set of bells.  The groups ring in nursing homes, for the Salvation Army at Christmas, and other local events when invited to come.  She has been known to ring a few solos as well when no one is available to ‘come out to play’ with her!  She has attended the S.E.E. program in Colorado twice and has even gone so far as to find an event in the Lake Tahoe area to ring bells during the summer the past two years combining the trip with a visit with her family who live out that way. Leslie is the membership chair for the state of Ohio and has been the Tintinnabulator editor for the past year.

Webmaster

Lawrence E. Bunting’s interest in music began with piano lessons as a child. It continued with his participation in band and choir in junior and senior high school. While completing a BA in philosophy and sociology and a BS in physics and math at the University of Indianapolis, he sang with a madrigal group and was active in theater. After graduation, he taught physics at Shortridge High School in Indianapolis. Post graduate work in computer science and industrial management at Purdue University began his career in computers and furthered his interests in flying private airplanes. During my career in computers, Bunting earned a Certified Data Procession certification and a Fellow, Life Management Institute / Master certification. He also passed the Novell Certified Network Administrator exams. Serving twenty years in the Indiana National Guard, he attained the rank of captain and had many opportunities for leadership and sometimes heavy responsibility. Ringing handbells and singing in the church choir for the past sixteen years revived his love of music, as did two years of ringing with the Indianapolis Handbell Ensemble. Twenty-one years experience teaching computer science as an adjunct faculty member of a college has been a challenging teaching experience.