Wow! Where did the last month go? Maybe it was because Thanksgiving was late this year, or maybe we didn’t plan ahead enough. It seemed as if November was here one minute, then December was going by, faster than we could keep up with it!

We had a fun and interesting holiday performance season, and managed to escape without having to make any long trips in bad weather. That’s no mean feat in Michigan winters! Many of our Christmas performances are booked months ahead. That makes it impossible to predict if the weather’s going to be cooperative or not.

Our 2019 holiday performances

Our 2019 holiday performance season began the day after Thanksgiving, with our first of two performances at the Kerstmarkt. This annual Christmas market in Downtown Holland is a definite highlight of our holiday season. The bells seem to add something magical to the atmosphere at an outdoor holiday market. We hope to be back again in 2020!

An exciting new event for us was the Santa and Reindeer event at the Otsego District Public Library. We met Felix the Fox there!

We were pleased to present another holiday performance at the Gary Byker Memorial Library in Hudsonville. This was our second time at the Christmas program there, and we hope to return in December 2020. It’s always a popular, entertaining and educational Christmas event, run by the Friends of the Library.

A holiday handbell program at the GRAM

We had an exciting opportunity to present a handbell duet concert at the Grand Rapids Art Museum, as part of their Light the Night event. The audience was small but appreciative, and had not been expecting us, since the event had been given an air of mystery and advertised only as a “holiday bell music performance”. People were pleasantly surprised at the amount of music that can be made with only eight bells at a time, and we chatted with audience members afterwards and explained more about the history and techniques used in playing our instruments.

Another performance with the Zeeland Community Band

We presented several handbell duet programs to residents at senior living communities again this year, and also joined the Zeeland Community Band for their annual Christmas concert.

Our handbell ministry activities

We continued our handbell ministry through Advent and Christmas, and shared our music with churches in Holland and Grand Rapids. We also went on a road-trip to Glenview, Illinois. It was a new experience for us to do fierce battle with Chicago traffic!

Playing Christmas music for the Salvation Army

We gave ten hours to help raise funds for the Salvation Army of Holland, MI, and enjoyed playing Christmas music at D&W Fresh Market – our fourth year there! In recent years, some of our friends have questioned our decision to support the Salvation Army. However, we are always encouraged to hear from people who have received invaluable help from the organization here in West Michigan. This happens every year; people stop by the Red Kettle to tell us that the Salvation Army was there to support them at a time when they most needed it. We are constantly reassured that the local organization is doing amazing work in this community.

The New Year has arrived, and as we look back at the 2019 holiday season, we’re looking forward to the new adventures 2020 will bring.

We’d like to thank the following people and organizations:

The Kerstmarkt in Downtown Holland, MI
Cherry Republic of Holland, MI
D&W Fresh Market, Holland, MI
The Salvation Army of Holland, MI
Otsego District Public Library, MI
Zeeland Community Band
Waterford Place Assisted Living, Jenison, MI
Friends of the Gary Byker Library, Hudsonville, MI
Sunset Retirement Communities, Jenison, MI
Grand Rapids Art Museum, MI
Third Reformed Church of Holland, MI
The Village at the Pines, Grand Haven, MI
Wespath Benefits and Investments, Glenview, IL
Christ Memorial Church, Holland, MI
North Park Presbyterian Church, Grand Rapids, MI

We’d like to thank everyone who helped to make this holiday season bright for us. If you booked us for a performance or Christmas program or wrote a review of our performance – thank you. To all those who offered us coffee or a meal, chatted with us, or prayed for our safe travels – thank you. If you took the time to say thank you or send us a card – we appreciate you. If you liked our Facebook page, emailed us, bought and downloaded sheet music from our music site, or purchased a copy of The Bass Ringer’s Notebook – we appreciate you too! 

We hope 2020 will be a happy and healthy year for you all!