Handbell

Handbell group, harpist to perform at church St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Annapolis will have performances by the Anacrusis Handbell Ensembles and harpist Diana Gumas on Feb. 24. Anacrusis is a community handbell organization of small ensembles from the Chesapeake Bay area. They have been featured at several handbell conferences in the Mid-Atlantic region. They perform quintets, quartets and duets, with occasional accompaniment by harp, keyboards and percussion instruments. Gumas is the harpist with the Maryland Symphony Orchestra and York Symphony Orchestra.

The student: Allison Fleming, 14 School: Elkridge Landing Middle School Special achievement: A talented athlete and artist, Allison plays goalie on a championship "A" league soccer team and plays softball. She is a painter and computer artist, performs in her school's handbell choir and is president of the Junior Thespians club. She is also a reporter and director for "Newsbreak," the school's student-produced daily TV show. Enrolled in Gifted and Talented Program classes, Allison says she received straight A's for her first quarter this year.

It was love at first sound when Tom Neuenschwander heard handbells ringing at a music convention 25 years ago.Since then, he has started handbell choirs around the county, in churches, senior centers and schools -- teaching students from ages 8 to 97.Neuenschwander spends three days a week after school at Brooklyn Park Elementary School -- where he has been the music teacher for 14 years -- teaching and rehearsing with fourth-, fifth- and sixth-graders....

As advertised, the newly orchestrated version of Robert Twynham's "Te Deum" arrived Sunday evening at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen with everything but the kitchen sink.This giant multi-movement setting had marching handbell processions, antiphonal choirs, brass, organs and television monitors everywhere to keep the widely separated musicians together.At first, some mighty impressive sounds came from all corners of the cathedral.Unfortunately, the inspiration did not hold up, and only about half of Twynham's "Te Deum" took flight.

It may not be as prestigious as the White House, but the State House has better acoustics for bell ringers.A last-minute official function for 1,400 at the presidential mansion forced the abrupt change of venue for the Carrolltowne Elementary Handbell Choir, which had been scheduled to perform Wednesday on the White House lawn.To make up for the loss of their much-anticipated performance, a parent and a state delegate hastily organized an Annapolis trip as a consolation prize for 23 fifth-grade students.

Thomas A. McCoy, a member of a handbell chorus called The Bell Stars and participant in races and basketball throws in the Special Olympics, died Tuesday of kidney failure at his home in Timonium.Mr. McCoy, who had Down syndrome, was 32 and had been known as Sam since childhood. The Baltimore native attended the Ridge School in Ruxton and then the Chimes Day Habilitation Center.He was especially fond of music, withdrawing tape recordings ++ on weekly trips to the Baltimore County Library and maintaining his own collection of tapes and recordings from which he could pick specific selections without being able to read the labels.

While all of the county's elementary schools are ringing in the holidays, Lisbon Elementary in Howard County is doing it with a little more resonance this year, thanks to an early Christmas present from the school's PTA.This holiday season, the Lisbon became one of the few Elementary schools in the county to own and play a three-octave set of handbells.Eleven 5th-graders have spent barely three months working together to create a kind of human carillon, a sound so polished that, without watching, it might be hard to believe it wasn't coming from a single instrument.

Sunday is Mother's Day, but don't wait until the last minute to do something special for mom. A variety of festivals will be happening throughout the county tomorrow.First, there's the annual Flower Mart sponsored by the Friends of the Village Auxiliary of Carroll Lutheran Village on St. Mark Way in Westminster. Take mom to breakfast between 7 a.m. and 10 a.m., then check out the bedding plants, hanging baskets, trash and treasure items, jewelry and baked goods.Breakfast costs $4.50 for adults and $2.25 for children ages 3 to 12. Flower Mart hours are 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Information: 848-5430.

Neighbors helping neighbors. That's the slogan of the 20-year-old all-volunteer organization, FISH of Howard County. In the simpler time of its inception, when fewer women were in the work force, FISH had plenty of volunteers. Now the telephone volunteer service is at a critical point, with a chronic lack of people to answer the phone. A new crop of volunteers is necessary for FISH's survival.FISH retains no paid staff. Thus, it relies on a large corps of volunteers -- two each day, or over sixty a month -- to continue.