Carol Petrie Memorial Award

Past recipients

Shannon Archibald, Burnaby BC - presented by Lorna Lawrence, HGC Chair at Ringing Link 2005 (Penticton BC)

History of the Carol Petrie Memorial Award

The Carol Petrie Memorial Award was initiated to acknowledge the contribution of Carol Petrie (Saskatchewan, 1949-2000), to the handbell community. Announced by the Handbell Guilds of Canada board in 2004, the Memorial Award was originally intended to support youth who wanted to attend the triennial Ringing Link event.

The Ringing Link is a national handbell festival in which choirs (handbell teams) from all over Canada come together to ring en masse. The festival offers excellent conductors, interesting workshops given by handbell experts, individual and group performances, and the chance to meet fellow ringers who share the love of this musical art form. Ringers of all ages and abilities are welcome to attend and the programming allows for these differing abilities and interests.

The Ringing Link was the vision of Ron Vert of Starbuck, MB and was conceived when Manitoba formed a provincial guild. Vert suggested a ‘ringing link’ among the guilds across Canada who were working toward the formation of a national guild. The idea was supported by the ﬁve guilds of the time — British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Ontario — and resulted in speeding up the process of making the Handbell Guilds of Canada a formal entity.

The ﬁrst Ringing Link was hosted by the Saskatchewan Guild in 1998 led by Carol Petrie. Ringing Link festivals have continued to be hosted by the existing provincial guilds across the country, including: Edmonton, AB (2000), Winnipeg, MB (2002), Penticton, BC (2005), London, ON (2008), Calgary, AB (2011), and again in Winnipeg, MB (2014).

CAROL A.M. PETRIE, 1949-2000

Biography by Tracey Boyle McDuﬃe

Carol Petrie was an accomplished pianist. Her earlier training began via her mother, a pastor’s wife, who would sit with Carol at the piano and have her sight-read from the hymnal. Apparently, her mother was prone to turn the page mid-hymn, leaving Carol to dive straight into the next selection. Her faith in Carol’s music abilities had her remove the window from the second story of the house so that a grand piano could make its entrance into the life of their family. Carol went on to become a professional music educator. Carol trained at the Manchester Royal College of Music, the Education Department of Birmingham University, furthering her education later at the University of London, England and the Roosevelt University of Chicago. Her career took her in various directions which would include acting as a consultant with Yamaha, secondary and elementary school music teacher, Arts Education Consultant for the Saskatoon Public School Division, and much work as a church musician and director of various community musical groups. In 1999 she was awarded the Outstanding Achievement Award from the Saskatchewan Music Educators’ Association. Carol’s special interest was handbells. She was President of the Saskatchewan Guild of English Handbell Ringers, an active member within the Canadian Guild of English Handbell Ringers, and arranged and hosted the First Annual Canadian National Ringing Link Conference. Carol was selected to represent Canada at international symposia on three occasions. She invested much of her time, talents and energies in handbells, directing school groups; the ﬁrst community bell group, Zodiac Tapestry; and at St Martin’s United Church in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

We lost Carol after a battle with cancer on July 20, 2000. Carol was a human being of eternal hope — not only in the abilities of those around her, but in the future and in the goals she set for herself and her beloved music-related groups and endeavors. As a participant in this shared love for music one couldn’t help but be sparked by her passions, captured by enthusiasm, and held up by her faith, optimism and grand expectations. Carol was a leader whose legacy lives on in both her musical groups and in the leaders that she has had a hand in creating and inspiring.