I heard my first handbell at a Chorister’s Guild Seminar in Colorado in the mid 60s. the first experience of actually playing a handbell was at a workshop in the First Presbyterian church of Orange where Larry Ball was minister of music. A couple years later, in 1968, our minister, Richard Kendall, at the First United Methodist Church of Orange, California, where we, my husband Wesley and I, were actively directing the music program, contacted us with a "great idea". A member of our church had some money she wanted to contribute to the music program of the church and he had suggested to her that handbells would be a great addition to that program. Of course, with our regular choir work, four children of our own, lots of farm work for Wes, etc., neither Wes nor I thought we wanted to take on another project, but Rev. Kendall ordered three octaves of bells anyway and had them delivered to our home. As I took the bells from their plastic bags and put them in the new cases and of course rang each one, I was hooked. The beauty of the bells and the glorious sound was an immediate "come on" for me to take on that extra project.

In the mid sixties, there was very little music published for handbells, therefore, requiring the adaptation of piano or vocal music to the use of bells. Who would I ask to play them and where would I find them? I started with 10 junior high and high school boys from the church, knowing that their voices would be changing and they might lose interest in the vocal choir. We all learned together - very slowly - and the first year we played one number, an arrangement of "Silent Night" for a church service during the Christmas season. Not having too much to do, some of the boys lost interest and some very observant girls decided they would like to try playing the bells also. Soon, we had a choir of 13 ringers - 7 boys and 6 girls. They began to suggest music to play and ideas of what we could do to make the choir more exciting. I arranged hymn tunes and a more varied kind of music like "Syncopated clock" by Leroy Anderson, Handel’s "Water Music", and the "Overture to The Messiah" by Handel. We were asked to perform at various organizations and churches throughout Southern California, and we played music from Bach to Bacharach. The rest is history. The "kids" wanted to take a tour and play for their relatives in different churches throughout Southern California. The first tour was in 1970. Following the success of that event, their next suggestion was "let’s go to Hawaii". It seemed impossible, but what seemed impossible to me at that time was just a challenge to make it happen - which we did. That was 1971. the Peace Ringers, as we called ourselves, made a tour each year until 1977, covering nine western states including Hawaii, several East Coast states in 1976, and British Columbia. Twice we were asked to play at the Southern California Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church at the Redlands University where we played our favorite processional - "Bell Jubilee" by Ellen Jane Lorenz - for over 2000 people!

After our 1977 tour, Wesley and I decided to retire from the United Methodist Church. In 1978, I was asked to direct the handbells at the Trinity United Presbyterian Church of Santa Ana, California. That choir was called "Prism of Light", and we toured each year from 1980 to 1984. I contacted William Payn, a well-known composer of handbell music, and asked him if he would arrange a suitable three-octave processional for this choir from his excellent composition called "Prisms". He did and titled it "Prism of Light". We had some great bass bell ringers in both of these choirs, and William Payn composed another piece called "Nova", dedicated to me, with lots of bass bell work throughout. It was later published but in an abridged version from ours. The ringers from both choirs had some wonderful experiences and played for many enthusiastic audiences.

The only formal (or paid) music training I had in my earlier years was an accumulation of about three years of piano lessons. The music director in my elementary school, junior high, and part of high school in Leavenworth, Washington, was a graduate of St. Olaf’s Choir School in Minnesota, which gave me a good foundation for great music. I did a great deal of accompanying from grade 7 throughout school and later years before handbells. In high school, I studied voice with Horatio Cogswell, professor at USC. After marriage to Wesley Marquart, a choral director, in 1944, I learned much about choral work and had the privilege of attending many workshops of the Choral Conductor’s Guild, learning many things including conducting. I also directed children’s vocal choirs from 1944 to 1976. After high school, I studied organ with Clarence Mader, master organist at the Immanuel Presbyterian church of Los Angeles. In the late 1970s, I studied music at Santa Ana Community College, completing courses in Music Theory and Piano and taught handbells at the College.

On of my all-time favorite compositions is "Bell Jubilee" by Ellen Jane Lorenz because my choir, The Peace Ringers, used that number as their processional and sometimes as a closing recessional at all our concerts and on all our tours. At an Area XII Festival in Fresno, California, under the direction of David Davidson, 500 ringers processed in through four different doors of the auditorium to "Bell Jubilee". What a sight and sound and what a thrill to the Peace Ringers and to me to hear that performance and feel partly responsible for the use of that number. Also, "Prism of Light", taken from "Prisms" as mentioned above, was another favorite. I have too many "favorites" to list them all.

My number one bit of advice is to be prepared. A director must be enthusiastic and excited about the challenge of working with his or her ringers. Whether they are children, teenagers, or adults, if the director is lukewarm about the job and only half-heartedly wanting to take it on, he or she will fail. A favorite motto of mine, generally speaking, is "A parent’s life is a child’s pattern book", thus "As the director is, so is the choir".

My number two suggestion: when choosing ringers for your first choir, try to pick members who are musical, can read music, and have a good sense of rhythm. All of those features may not be possible. Some love music and have a good sense of rhythm but cannot read music. I put a large staff on the blackboard identifying the lines and spaces by music note and also by bell name and number. I spent 10 minutes at the beginning of each rehearsal for six weeks going over notation and learning about count, measures, note values, etc., for my beginning choir. That is a must!

My number three suggestion would be to attend as many workshops or conferences, both local and national, as possible - before and after starting a choir. At the suggestions of Erma Bassett, director of a good performing bell choir in Laguna Beach, I started taking my choirs to Area and National Festivals in 1970. The opportunity to hear active handbell choirs with different stages of talent was very helpful in molding my ability to acquire exceptional musical sounds from ordinary music, including expression, nuances, tempos, etc., gaining perfection in performance rather than just playing notes.

Another must is dedication. Member must agree to attend all rehearsals and all performances when they sign up for the choir. A missing member at these occasions is like a missing "s" or "t" on a typewriter or a significant key on a piano. Start out with firm convictions. Have goals for the choir - places to perform their music after learned: worship services, rest homes, retirement centers, service clubs, mobile home parks, etc.