Counting Down to the Bay View Week of Handbells!

We’re counting down to the Bay View Week of Handbells!

So, what is the Bay View Week of Handbells, and why is it something special for us? Why are we counting down the days until we get there? We’ll try to explain some of the magic here.

The Bay View Week of Handbells takes place every year in Bay View, Michigan. Just over a hundred handbell musicians gather together for several days of intense rehearsals, after which we perform a public concert. Donald Allured founded the Week of Handbells in 1978, and Carl Wiltse is the current director of the event. It’s for people who enjoy the challenge of spending time learning the music, and performing to a professional standard. And yes, even though the music is challenging and the rehearsals are intense, we still manage to have fun!

The Week of Handbells is part of our story

For us, the Week of Handbells is particularly special because of the role it played in our long-distance relationship story. Our story started several years ago when we met and became friends online. By the end of 2009 we were spending several hours every day “talking” on Facebook Chat. Our friendship turned into a relationship, and we began to make plans to meet in person for the first time. Our first “real life” meeting took place in August 2010, when Carla travelled from London to Chicago O’Hare. From there, we flew together to Traverse City, where we rented a car and drove to Bay View.

Here is a photo of us before the concert at our very first Bay View Week of Handbells.

Bay View Week of Handbells - Larry and Carla

Our second Week of Handbells

After our first in-person meeting in 2010, we had to wait a whole year before we could see each other again. During our months apart, we decided for certain that we wanted to spend our future together. We travelled back to Michigan in August 2011 for our second Week of Handbells. That was a busy week for us! Before the start of the event, we made a special journey to Miner’s North in Traverse City to pick up some rings. Then we drove to the Old Mission Point Lighthouse, where Larry proposed, and Carla said yes!

Mission Point Lighthouse

We announced our engagement to our friends at the Week of Handbells, at the evening reception after the first day of rehearsals. Here’s one of our favourite photos of us – taken by Kim Finison at Bay View in 2011.

Larry and Carla, by Kim Finison

August 2011 was also the time when our set of Malmark handbells made it across the ocean in Carla’s luggage. Larry transferred them to his suitcase for the journey to California.

After our week in Michigan in 2011, we went back to our separate homes, and soon after that we started the US fiancée visa process to bring Carla from England to California. Carla’s K-1 visa was approved at the end of May 2012, and the race was on to get everything organised for the big move. We managed to time it to coincide with the Bay View Week of Handbells in August!

Closing the distance!

August arrived, and Larry flew to England to collect Carla and her son, and the three of us travelled together to Chicago O’Hare. There, our onward flight was cancelled and we were forced to spend an uncomfortable night camping in the airport. Strangely enough, the makeshift camp was at Gate K1. That’s the same number as the visa Carla had applied for! Bay View Week of Handbells 2012 was a very special one for us, because, for the first time, we didn’t have to say goodbye to each other at the end of the event. It was an amazing feeling to be able to pack up our things and travel home to California together, without having to do that horrible airport goodbye stuff that’s so painful for long-distance couples.

Since then, we’ve been to the Week of Handbells twice more. To say we’re looking forward to the next one would be an understatement. Well, we’re counting down the days on our website, right? So yes, we’re excited!

Even without all the memories that make the Week of Handbells so special to us personally, it’s still an incredibly wonderful handbell event. We always tell people that if we could only go to one handbell event in a year, this would be the one we’d choose. After all, where else can you play handbells in an Auditorium that’s named after a Hall?

John M Hall Auditorium

And where else can you walk around during your lunch break and see houses like this one?

Bay View Victorian cottage

At the Bay View Week of Handbells, we have Tiara Tuesday!

Tiara Tuesday at Bay View Week of Handbells

We have the opportunity to play some exciting and challenging music, which each person works hard to prepare during the weeks and months before the event. That gives us four days to put together the finishing touches as a group, in time to give a superb concert on the Thursday evening.

Bay View Week of Handbells concert

Apart from the beautiful location, the exciting music and all the happy memories the Week of Handbells holds for us, we know that it’s the people there who make this event so special. Our annual trip to Bay View feels like a journey home; and the friends we’ve made there feel like family to us. For just a few days in August, more than a hundred people are brought together by the music of handbells. We wouldn’t miss it for the world.

Larry and Carla with Carl Wiltse

For more photos, see our Bay View Week of Handbells Photo Gallery. Watch our website and Facebook page for more information as we continue counting down the days to this year’s event!

A Snail’s Pace, for 5-8 Octave Handbells

A Snail’s Pace is an original composition. Larry wrote it with a plush orange-pink-and-purple snail in mind. This laid-back jazz piece will challenge you – but you’ll enjoy it!

Thanks to the friendly bunch of folks at Pierpont Productions, we’re able to bring you this video. It was recorded at the Bay View Week of Handbells concert in August 2014.

A Snail’s Pace is written for 5-8 octaves and handbells, plus 5 octaves of handchimes. It’s Level 5+. We think you’ll love playing it!

How to get the sheet music

If you’d like to play this piece, it’s available for purchase and download from Choraegus. Purchasing the choir copy of this arrangement gives you permission to print and maintain up to fifteen copies for your handbell group – so you only need to pay once. You can also buy an individual copy for your personal use only. Purchase also gives permission for performance, broadcasting, live-streaming and video-sharing online. See our licensing agreement for full details. Please remember to mention the title and arranger of the piece on video-sharing sites, social media and any printed materials such as concert programs.

Please note that our music is designed to be downloaded as PDFs, so you’ll be responsible for printing your own music, and you won’t receive anything in the mail.

If you haven’t purchased music online from Choraegus before, you might like to look at our step-by-step guide. We designed this guide to help you navigate the purchase and download process in a (we hope!) stress-free way.

Any questions?

If you have any questions about buying or playing our music, please contact us and we’ll be happy to help!

A Snail's Pace - Larry Sue handbell composition