The WHEN was 1963, the WHERE was Lansing, Michigan, and the HOW was the offer by someone in the congregation of the Central Methodist Church to give $150 for ”something” for the youth program of the church.  I still will never forget sitting in staff meeting on a Tuesday morning in probably April or May of that year, when the Associate Minister brought up this offer.  There was dead silence for a moment, then this M. of Music who had never held or rung a bell in his life said, “How about handbells?”  I was given the OK to explore it.  I started by calling my grad school classmate at Union Seminary, Bob Hieber, then AGEHR President, at a large church over in Grand Rapids, asking him what to do.  The 1963 National was in Detroit that summer so he recommended my attending it, which I did and got hooked.  Came back to my church, discovered Schulmerich bells in the Cokesbury catalog.  Called the store in Chicago - they had a set sitting on the floor there which they promptly sent me - two octaves for $595.00.  A year or so later when the 3rd octave became available, I ordered it, and that C4 seemed so huge to me.I got several choirs going that fall, and two years later when I moved to First Methodist in Lake Charles, LA, and formed the Wesleyan Bell Choir was when things started to progress.

 2.     WHAT FORMAL MUSICAL TRAINING did you have prior to working with handbells?

 Formal training started with organ lessons (at age 14) at First Presbyterian in Cass City, MI, where my dad was Pastor.  Entered Alma College, Alma, MI in 1939 for college where I did organ and conducting studies.  Uncle Sam delayed my graduation until 1945, upon which I entered the School of Sacred Music at Unioin Theological Seminary in New York.  Two very inspired years there got me a Master’s Degree in Sacred Music.  Courses were all in church music but no handbells. Doris Watson had formed bell choirs at Brick Presbyterian Church in the city, but I didn’t know anything about it at the time.

 3.     WHAT is your favorite handbell composition, and WHY is this work meaningful to you?

 Favorite handbell composition has to be The Creation, with Sharon’s Song and In Thee, O Lord, Do I Put My Trust (the anthem in memory of my son, Lee) very close to it.  The Creation is meaningful because it was written to an inspiring text by James Weldon Johnson.  It is a 13-minute work and was composed essentially in two sessions a few weeks apart, having been completed at the cottage in Bay View in 1985 and performed later that summer.  The Westminster Concert Bell Choir played it on tour my last year at the school in 1988 - with much feeling and color.

 4.     WHAT ADVICE would you give to someone who is just starting to work with handbells?

 Do everything you can - via workshops, texts, and attending concerts by the better choirs – to learn the “fundamentals” of GOOD bell technique and above all, the Musicianship prerequisite to conducing a truly musical performance.

 5.     HOW LONG have you been a member, and WHAT has The AGEHR meant to you?

 I joined the AGEHR in 1963 and membership has provided a background of workshops and concerts sponsored by the Guild, with many teaching and conducting responsibilities related thereto, all of which have given me opportunities to emphasize how important the Musicianship which applies to all fields of music must also apply to our work in handbells.  The Guild is still struggling with this to some extent, but they are hoping to get more and more recognition and acceptability in the world of music at large.

 6.     WHAT POSITION(S) have you held in The AGEHR, and WHEN did you serve in each position?

 I was an Area Chairman of the “old” Area VII (LA, AR, TX, NM, and OK) and was instrumental in the realignment to the 12 Area we have now.  (We had nine Areas then.)  Became President-Elect in 1971, President 1973 - 1975, Past-President 1975 - 1977. Served during the time a national office site (Dayton) was selected and an Executive Officer (Andy Flanagan) hired.

 7.     WHAT FUTURE do you see for handbells?  More to the point, WHAT do you think MUST HAPPEN in order to elevate handball ringing to the level of public support and recognition enjoyed by community orchestras, choral ensembles, and the like?

 Handbells are here to stay and will do so well into the future.  But acceptability as a legitimate ensemble is still severely limited by lack of attention to the three basics of handbell performance: eliminating mistakes, eliminating colorless playing with little or
no dynamic change, and ignoring note values with regard to stopping the sound at the right time according to the printed score, in other words, damping at the right time on shoulder or table. Also, Directors and their Choirs need to be more conscious of the visual aspect of their performing, being aware that this is Choreography to good handbell playing.  Few musical ensembles really lend themselves to this but handbells do and choirs need to make much more of it than they normally do.  This is where good taste is so important, because movement and its gracefulness purposes to enhance performance, not distract from it.  The term “musical art” is part of our motto and in those works is a built-in standard to be oberved by us all.  -  Don Allured