It was back in the previous century when Don’s hometown church in Alamogordo, NM bought a four-octave set of handbells. With these new instruments, the church’s music director decided to start four or five separate handbell choirs, one for each age and stage of the congregation. Don joined the church’s high school bell choir when he was in ninth grade.
That was the beginning of a lifelong joy of playing handbells. It was also the beginning of stretching his music reading abilities. At this point, Don had been playing trumpet for many years and the bell choir director decided that the ideal position for Don would be in the bass. After taking a few years off for college, Don was introduced to Central United Methodist Church and its bell choir by his best bell ringing friend, who, a few years later, he married. Don and Nancy have been married for 35 years and can say with confidence that a love of handbells is one of the best things to have in common. They play ensembles together and even occasionally stand next to each other when they ring.
Together, Nancy and Don have played in, organized, and helped run two international bell festivals in the United States (Albuquerque and Orlando), as well as numerous local and area events. They are looking forward to participating in the next US international event. They have carried equipment and luggage for Manzano High School Royal Bronze handbell choir from the east coast (Buffalo, NY) to the west coast (Seattle, WA and Sacramento, CA).
Don and Nancy joined Enchantment in 2002, during its second year. They played, entertained and educated, built muscles and memories, and hauled a lot of stuff during their first stint with Enchantment, but they needed to find a little respite in 2008 as their two boys entered their high school years. Don and Nancy returned to Enchantment in 2021, where they are looking forward to making more memories and more fantastic music.
Don and Nancy have two boys who are both very good handbell musicians. Both Eric and Glenn started ringing in first grade, in a school-based handchime program, which was created and directed by Nancy. They continued ringing in a school handbell choir through eighth grade. Both participated in Central UMC youth ringing choirs. Eric and Glenn are now ringing with the adult handbell choir at Central UMC bell choir as their college schedules allow. During the early days of COVID, when schools, businesses, and churches were shut down, Don, Nancy, Eric, and Glenn kept handbell ringing at the forefront of their church’s music scene by providing bell music rung virtually from their dining room.
Don is retiring after 37 years of service at Sandia National Laboratory as an Electrical Engineer at the end of 2021. Don and Nancy are looking forward to some travel time and continuing to ring bells in Area 11 and international events across the country.
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