Ring the Bell!

There was an old song that had a lyric in it that went something like this "a bell isn't a bell unless you ring it and a song isn't a song 'till you sing it."

My take on the whole argument is that if you are a bell ringer, then you are going to ring a bell. To my way of thinking the way that I feel about ringing is that it is in my soul.

I was drawn to it. I rang tunes on handbells as a youth and I used to hear the bells of St. Mark's ring on Locust Street as I drove past in my car, in fact I used to drive down Locust Street on Sunday mornings hoping to hear them ring.

A friend invited me to the tower to "ring" 1997, before the bells at St. Mark's were restored. The proper term is that I was a chimer before i became a ringer.

During my first lesson in change ringing, I broke a stay at St. Martin's. This was during the lunch break of the Spring Dinner in 1997. I came back to learn despite the fact that the person who was giving me the lesson never gave me a moment of reassurance after the stay broke. Thankfully though, the other people in the tower were very nice. The next day I came to watch and didn't understand why a person in the tower at St. Martin's closed the drapes on me as I watched from the stairs. Yes I was hurt. I thought they didn't want me there. Of course, I learned later they were just trying to keep the heat in the tower.

Bruce taught me how to ring. It took a few months. The second time I rang rounds with the band I got the "initiation" that all Philadelphia ringers get when they first ring. I got used to getting hollered at quite a bit, but learned to holler back when I was irritated at the provoker.

Half a year ago the rector at St. Mark's introduced a lady to the tower captain who had been a ringer in the UK and she said she wanted to get back into ringing. The tower captain asked her to come up. The lady responded that she couldn't that day because she had an engagement. Every time the tower captain saw this lady in church she would hurry to the door as soon as service was over, before the tower captain had a chance to speak with her. We are still awaiting her in the tower.

In conclusion, it is my honest opinion that if you are going to be a ringer it is in your blood and you'll do it and nothing will keep you from it. Joining the NAGCR is another issue. If the person giving you lessons doesn't recommend you join up after getting to rounds, then there is something lacking in that teacher. When I joined they had just done away with some requirement that you be able to ring a plain course of Bob doubles or minor. I am glad they did do away with that requirement. But if you are so sensitive that asking the person that taught you handling or the person that taugh you how to hunt on handbell is too intimidating I really don't know what to say. Yes, sitting on the sidelines at practices is a pain, but the yellow book suggests standing behind the experienced ringers. Count along, see if you can keep place. It is a given that with 8 ropes (or 6 or 10 or 12) someone is going to occasionally stand out if there is a lot of people at an event or practice. There is always something you can study in those times. "An idle mind is the devil's playground."

I think the NAGCR membership requirements as they are should be left in place. In my opinion if you are a ringer, you are going to ring and if the words "associate member" and "sponsor" put a person off, then they didn't have it in their heart to start with.

Also i did have a few words at the end of Eileen Bulter's coments which are useful to examine.