HANDBELL MUSICIANS OF CANADA |
handbell musicians of canada lifetime achievement award recipientsMorna-June Cecile Morrow received the Honourary Lifetime Achievement Award during the Annual General Meeting on September 17, 2022. Details of the award presentation and details of her remarkable achievements can be found here. Alison Elizabeth Wood received the Honourary Lifetime Achievement Award on November 22, 2020 during the virtual Joint Board meeting of newly elected HMC Board of Directors and HMC Interim Board of Directors. The award presentation citation for Alison Wood can be found here. Handbell Guilds of Canada Lifetime Achievement Award RecipientsFred A. Merrett, Clifford Plume, and Carol Petrie were the first three recipients of the Handbell Guilds of Canada Honourary Lifetime Achievement Award. Anne Hill, HGC Chair, and Alison Wood, HGC founding member, presented the awards at the final massed ringing concert performance of Ringing Link 2011. John Nelson, Sr. received the Honourary Lifetime Achievement Award 'Builder Category’ at the opening Gala of IHS 2016 Vancouver. Alison Wood, founding member of HGC, gave the speech and Patsy Andrews-Vert, Chair of HGC, presented the award which was accepted by John Nelson, Jr. in memory of his father. The award presentation speeches for each of the recipients are below. FRED A. MERRETT (RL2011)
CLIFFORD PLUME (RL2011)
CAROL PETRIE (RL2011)
JOHN NELSON SR. (IHS 2016)
The Handbell Guilds of Canada Lifetime Achievement award is presented to those who, through their tireless efforts, helped in the founding of the Handbell Guilds of Canada. Although technically John Sr. was not involved with the foundation of the entity we call The Handbell Guilds of Canada, in reality he did just that. It was John Nelson Sr.’s work, effort, and vision that were responsible for the proliferation of handbell sets and ringing in Western Canada in the sixties and seventies, and he had the dream of a national guild before anyone else did. Early in the 1960’s, John became a sales associate for Schulmerich Carillons at a time when they were the only bell manufacturers in North America. After selling a carillon to the University of Alberta and the Alberta Legislature, he became interested in the sets of handbells that the American company was developing. He sold a few sets to churches in the area, and it was in his own church that he and a Music Superintendent in Calgary Schools saw the potential of handbells as a tool to teach music. John went right to the grass roots, the schools, especially in Alberta and Saskatchewan, and convinced them that they could not have quality music education programs without handbells. This took tenacity and patience, I can assure you, but by 1976 there were over 100 sets in the schools of Alberta’s two largest cities. John used to tell the story of one of the first Schulmerich corporate sales meetings he attended. At this meeting, one-by-one the reps stood up, introduced themselves, named the region they served, and tried to impress with how many sets of bells they had sold that year. Many stood up, introduced themselves and said that they had sold 2, 3, or maybe 5 sets. Not to be out done, John stood up, introduced himself and quietly stated that he had sold 56 sets. I’m sure all eyes were on John at that point and I’m also sure that he is still chuckling to himself. John dreamt of the day that Canada would have a handbell guild and take its place in the handbell world. To that end, he invited Donald Allured to Calgary in1983 and offered a workshop to the church ringers and teachers, many of whom had not had much in the way of formal training. The participants, who came from British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan, learned how to aim for excellence, and at every break John and Don discussed how to form a guild with the participants. Canada is a huge country and the few places with bells were hundreds of miles away from each other. Each tended to have a unique character that represented a certain region. By the end of the day, though, John had contracted Don Allured to a Festival a year later, and promised there would be a Canadian guild by then. Within a few weeks John had found Board members, and at one all-day meeting, bylaws were written, and all Alberta’s requirements for forming a Society were met. John was determined that no time would be wasted and, rather than putting it off when the realization that the necessary witness was forgotten, the school janitor was asked to witness the event and documents. The first Canadian Guild, the Alberta Guild, was formed in 1983 with John as its first President. Saskatchewan ringers were also at that meeting, and followed suit shortly after. John Sr. had many other credits to his name:
John Sr.’s love of handbells was not an individual passion. The Nelson family became involved and applied their very individual strengths and talents to handbells. John’s wife, Carol, directed many fine handbell choirs and set the bar very high in the performance of handbell repertoire. John Jr., you have had the opportunity to conduct many handbell festivals and massed ringing events, using some of your knowledge passed on to you by your father. Music, and specifically handbells, is a Nelson family affair. To quote Emmy Okazawa-Bortolin “John Nelson Sr. was the reason all of us in Western Canada are even ringing as he was responsible for introducing bells in AB and the rest of Canada. He was responsible for the sale of so many hundreds of sets of bells and carillons. Although not necessarily as well-known as a ringer or director, he was always present at festivals across AB and Canada with his expertise on bell maintenance.” John Nelson Jr. and Debby, I ask you to come forward to receive the Handbell Guilds of Canada Lifetime Achievement ‘Builder Category’ Award in your father’s honour. Alison Elizabeth Wood received the Honourary Lifetime Achievement Award on November 22, 2020 during the virtual Joint Board meeting of newly elected HMC Board of Directors and HMC Interim Board of Directors. The award presentation citation for Alison Wood can be found here. Handbell Guilds of Canada Lifetime Achievement Award RecipientsFred A. Merrett, Clifford Plume, and Carol Petrie were the first three recipients of the Handbell Guilds of Canada Honourary Lifetime Achievement Award. Anne Hill, HGC Chair, and Alison Wood, HGC founding member, presented the awards at the final massed ringing concert performance of Ringing Link 2011. John Nelson, Sr. received the Honourary Lifetime Achievement Award 'Builder Category’ at the opening Gala of IHS 2016 Vancouver. Alison Wood, founding member of HGC, gave the speech and Patsy Andrews-Vert, Chair of HGC, presented the award which was accepted by John Nelson, Jr. in memory of his father. The award presentation speeches for each of the recipients are below. FRED A. MERRETT (RL2011)
CLIFFORD PLUME (RL2011)
CAROL PETRIE (RL2011)
JOHN NELSON SR. (IHS 2016)
The Handbell Guilds of Canada Lifetime Achievement award is presented to those who, through their tireless efforts, helped in the founding of the Handbell Guilds of Canada. Although technically John Sr. was not involved with the foundation of the entity we call The Handbell Guilds of Canada, in reality he did just that. It was John Nelson Sr.’s work, effort, and vision that were responsible for the proliferation of handbell sets and ringing in Western Canada in the sixties and seventies, and he had the dream of a national guild before anyone else did. Early in the 1960’s, John became a sales associate for Schulmerich Carillons at a time when they were the only bell manufacturers in North America. After selling a carillon to the University of Alberta and the Alberta Legislature, he became interested in the sets of handbells that the American company was developing. He sold a few sets to churches in the area, and it was in his own church that he and a Music Superintendent in Calgary Schools saw the potential of handbells as a tool to teach music. John went right to the grass roots, the schools, especially in Alberta and Saskatchewan, and convinced them that they could not have quality music education programs without handbells. This took tenacity and patience, I can assure you, but by 1976 there were over 100 sets in the schools of Alberta’s two largest cities. John used to tell the story of one of the first Schulmerich corporate sales meetings he attended. At this meeting, one-by-one the reps stood up, introduced themselves, named the region they served, and tried to impress with how many sets of bells they had sold that year. Many stood up, introduced themselves and said that they had sold 2, 3, or maybe 5 sets. Not to be out done, John stood up, introduced himself and quietly stated that he had sold 56 sets. I’m sure all eyes were on John at that point and I’m also sure that he is still chuckling to himself. John dreamt of the day that Canada would have a handbell guild and take its place in the handbell world. To that end, he invited Donald Allured to Calgary in1983 and offered a workshop to the church ringers and teachers, many of whom had not had much in the way of formal training. The participants, who came from British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan, learned how to aim for excellence, and at every break John and Don discussed how to form a guild with the participants. Canada is a huge country and the few places with bells were hundreds of miles away from each other. Each tended to have a unique character that represented a certain region. By the end of the day, though, John had contracted Don Allured to a Festival a year later, and promised there would be a Canadian guild by then. Within a few weeks John had found Board members, and at one all-day meeting, bylaws were written, and all Alberta’s requirements for forming a Society were met. John was determined that no time would be wasted and, rather than putting it off when the realization that the necessary witness was forgotten, the school janitor was asked to witness the event and documents. The first Canadian Guild, the Alberta Guild, was formed in 1983 with John as its first President. Saskatchewan ringers were also at that meeting, and followed suit shortly after. John Sr. had many other credits to his name:
John Sr.’s love of handbells was not an individual passion. The Nelson family became involved and applied their very individual strengths and talents to handbells. John’s wife, Carol, directed many fine handbell choirs and set the bar very high in the performance of handbell repertoire. John Jr., you have had the opportunity to conduct many handbell festivals and massed ringing events, using some of your knowledge passed on to you by your father. Music, and specifically handbells, is a Nelson family affair. To quote Emmy Okazawa-Bortolin “John Nelson Sr. was the reason all of us in Western Canada are even ringing as he was responsible for introducing bells in AB and the rest of Canada. He was responsible for the sale of so many hundreds of sets of bells and carillons. Although not necessarily as well-known as a ringer or director, he was always present at festivals across AB and Canada with his expertise on bell maintenance.” John Nelson Jr. and Debby, I ask you to come forward to receive the Handbell Guilds of Canada Lifetime Achievement ‘Builder Category’ Award in your father’s honour. |