In March of 2006, the Congregational Church of Laconia purchased a 3 octave set of Malmark handbells with donations from church members who purchased a bell either in memory of or to honor someone. The bells were played for the first time a few weeks later on Easter Sunday.
By the fall of 2006, there were 17 people interested in ringing bells, so 2 groups were formed, one playing all 3 octaves and the other playing 2 octaves. Musical backgrounds vary from folks who have little or no music reading experience to those with formal music training. The age range of the ringers represents 3 generations and we now have enough ringers so that both choirs can play 3 octave music! This spring we also added a 3 octave set of handchimes.
Besides playing for worship, the groups have participated in the Lakes Region Mini-Bell Festival held in November and for the past 2 years have presented a program of Lenten handbell music with 2 other local church handbell choirs. Thanks to the Lakes Region Festival Scholarship and the AGEHR Bradford Scholarship, 7 ringers along with the director look forward to attending the AGEHR Area I Festival/Conference in Orono, ME in June.