Greetings from the ‘we(s)t’ coast of Canada! It’s been a pretty damp season. But even the rain could not stop us enjoying the highlight of this quarter, which was our visit to The University of Washington in Seattle to celebrate the installation of the newest bells on the West Coast. It was an honor to be with Gordon Peek, the donor, on the day that his dreams were finally realized, and with Rebecca Woodgate to celebrate her success, During the ceremonies the drizzle started to come down at the same time as the speeches began, but despite this, it was a thrilling occasion and excitement was in the air.
There was a fine showing from both the Victoria and Vancouver towers. The Victoria contingent sailed in graciously on the Clipper whilst our two youngest ringers, Celia Chan and Rhonda Gaidica, awoke at the crack of dawn, (a heroic effort at that age) and endured a four hour bus ride in order to join the fun. Alan Ellis barely made it in from the UK before he leaped into his car to drive south, and the rest of us stayed overnight and enjoyed the rousing post ringing party in the pub! The weekend was well organized by Rebecca and the Seattle ringers. They were wonderful hosts and the bells were lovely. It was a weekend to remember!
We are looking forward to many more ringing exchanges (and parties) between the three towers.
We enjoyed yet another VSCR Annual Dinner at the Vancouver Lawn and Tennis Club, This has become a lovely tradition for us. The date coincided with a visit from some of the Seattle ringers who came up for a teaching and hand bell session. After an exhausting day in the tower they joined us for good food and wine and we had the opportunity of honoring Rebecca for her tremendous achievements. She is one of us and we are very proud of her!
For various reasons our attendance has dropped off recently. Our younger ringers Celia and Rhonda are studying their textbooks these days instead of their methods and we miss Jim McDowell, one of our most regular ringers, who worked so hard to make a success of the NAG Vancouver Annual General Meeting. He wished to have more time to concentrate on his artistic pursuits. However, we have recently had a most welcome addition to our band – Omer Angel has returned to live in Vancouver after spending the last two years in Toronto.
Our special rings included a quarter peal of Grandsire Triples to celebrate Dick Waterman’s 65th birthday and the ringing of the Cathedral bells simultaneously with all the other bells in Canada, on Thursday morning 4th July to congratulate Quebec on it’s 400th anniversary.
Fortunately, we have not been asked to ring for as many weddings this year (24 last year), so we are enjoying a more relaxing summer, but we are always grateful for that steady stream of out of country visitors that help our ringing immeasurably and keep us up to date with all the ringing gossip.
So here’s to relaxing summer days, good visits, good ringing and a break from the rain!
Eve Munns, Vancouver