The Wesley Bell Ringer 2019 summer tour - Day 4 - Louisville KY to Jefferson OH

After a fantastic concert in Louisville, The Wesley Bell Ringers loaded the bus (they are now at expert status on loading & unloading - BTW) to head to Jefferson Ohio.  Almost 400 miles from KY to OH, so the day was spent mostly on the bus with a fun lunch stop in the German Village area, a suburb of Columbus giving the kids an opportunity to try a non fast food lunch.  The choir has received a large amount of mail from friends & family back home & a good amount of the choir & chaperones have begun to receive letters from cousin Zelda which have been read to the group each day after bank time & devotionals with Ed.  Thanks cousin Zelda for keep us all up to speed with the goings on in your world!  

Carter sharing his letter from cousin Zelda to the group.  

Bananna Sock twins!

Jefferson United Methodist Church was the venue for day 4 & was an incredible experience for both ringers & audience.  Reminiscent of playing Christmas concerts played in Copperton, UT back home, the choir was treated to a full house of audience members & the audience was treated to a fantastic concert.  In Jefferson, the choir & chaperone group were sent home with an amazing group of hosts having the opportunity to see what life looks & feels like in a small town, country life setting.  The Wesley Bell Ringers gained an invaluable friend base in Jefferson & already can't wait to go back & play there again.  THANK YOU Jefferson Ohio!

Jefferson United Methodist Church

Concert #4

Father - daughter moment

Marco & his fans

A future bell ringer is born!

Pamela answering questions after the concert

Emery moving to Ohio from SLC recently came to Jefferson to see her friends

Carlynn & Steve with Pamela.  Salt Lake City friends in Ohio at the right time.  

The Wesley Bell Ringer 2019 summer tour - Day 3 - St Louis MO to Louisville KY

Day three was a smaller driving distance day, so The Wesley Bell Ringers had a chance to see some sights on the journey from St Louis to Louisville.  1st stop was to see The Arch in St Louis.  Though not enough time this trip to go inside the museum, gift shop, & take the ride to the top of the Arch, the choir did enjoy seeing it up close & personal & of course time for a few photos. 

Hello from St Louis

WBR group photo #???

soaking it all in

  

Until next time St Louis

After lunch & naps, The Wesley Bell Ringers arrived in Louisville KY at the Louisville Slugger museum & factory.  The choir had the opportunity to learn about baseball history, hold the actual bats of legends such as Babe Ruth, & took a tour of the actual working baseball bat factory.  With trees harvested (and replanted) in PA & the bats made at the factory in Louisville, our tour guide told an awesome story about this great American made product.  At the end of the tour, the choir was gifted individual mini bats as souvenir as memory of Louisville.  

What The Wesley Bell Ringers did at their concert in Louisville! 

Play BALL!

Swing CONNOR

Home run Tif!

Pulling into Christ Church United Methodist was the surprise of the day.  Christ Church United Methodist is the largest Methodist Church in KY & from our experience, is the FRIENDLIEST church in KY.  Home of 5 hand bell choirs, the congregation & community was excited to welcome The Wesley Bell Ringers into their home & treated the choir to an amazing dinner before the concert.  The Wesley Bell Ringers played an outstanding concert to their largest audience of this tour hitting tough notes & showing off their unique Wesley Bell Ringer equipment & techniques. Because of the presence of a bell choir community, a little extra time was taken before tearing down for the night to answer questions & show off unique bells.  

Another beautiful church

The Wesley Bell Ringers taking time out to learn about the signs & symbols of church

Barrett killing it!

Pleasing the crowd during the last piece

Showing a fellow bell ringer how The Wesley Bell Ringers do it.

Jacob answering bell questions

Special guests tonight were Sheryl Scott who attends both Christ Church United Methodist and CMUC back home in SLC & her mom Judy Blair.  Judy is 99 years old & told the choir that she just recently retired from bell ringing.  She is so beloved at CCUM that they named their bell room in her honor.  

"Hello Rusty!"  from Sheryl & Judy.  

THE WESLEY BELL RINGERS LOVE LOUISVILLE & CHRIST CHURCH UNITED METHODIST!  We will be back.  

The Wesley Bell Ringer 2019 summer tour - Day 2- Omaha NE to St Louis MO

The Wesley Bell Ringers started day two bright & early  - rested, showered, & feeling proud of how amazing days .5 - day 1 have been on tour & we all agree that sleeping in a bed is 100 times better than sleeping in the bus!  

In order to get to the East Coast, day two was another long day on the bus, traveling almost 500 miles from Omaha to St Louis MO.  No excursions or adventures were planned for this day which turned out to be a good thing as the choir found out 1st thing this morning that the route planned to St Louis would be detoured more than 65 miles as a large portion of the interstate was closed due to flooding.  It is one thing to see flooding on television, but driving by & seeing hotels, gas stations, & homes with water up to the roof lines was humbling, to say the least.  

Activities such as card games, yearly cross stitch projects, sleeping, & sharing snacks & stories filled the day as The Wesley Bell Ringers traveled east.  This group knows how to keep busy! During the trip to St Louis, The Wesley Bell Ringers experience and incredible act of kindness at the lunch stop in  Missouri.  Chaperone Carl & a group of bell ringers chose Carl's Jr as their lunch of choice.  In line, a customer noticed Carl & Connor's bell tour shirts & shared that he had served as chaperone for several youth trips in his time & could appreciate the undertaking (and expense) of a tour such as this.  He handed Connor a $100 bill saying "please put this towards a lunch or expense for your group & have a great tour."  The Wesley Bell Ringers are appreciative of this gift & look forward to finding a spot along this tour to pay it forward in some way, shape, or form!

Rachel learning to cross stitch

Serious Uno happening on the bus today.

Enjoying some quiet time

SMILE! 

Look...no cell phones

Theo thinking about the next bell concert, right?

Jacob enjoying his time on the bus

Cross Stitch is FUN

The Wesley Bell Ringers - recipient of a random act of kindness

The Wesley Bell Ringer's pulled into their second concert location - Christ Church United Methodist & were excited to play in such an amazing church.  Constructed in 1925, CCUM was unlike anything the choir has seen so far.  Thank you CCUM for an incredible night - from food to friendship, St Louis was amazing!  Tonight ringer Pamela had family from St. Lois in attendance.  Megan also had family come to the St Louis concert.  The Wesley Bell Ringers LOVE visitors!!!

Christ Church United Methodist - St Louis

Concert #2

Wesley Bell Ringer, Pamela & Chaperones Carl  & Tif and their St Louis family.

The Wesley Bell Ringers Summer tour - Day 1.5 - Waking up on the bus & 1st concert

The overnight bus trip was a success!  The Wesley Bell Ringers slept, we think?!  As the group woke  up in North Platte Nebraska, everyone was excited to get more than 600  miles behind us, the longest of the bus days.

A quick breakfast & a chance to freshen up was welcomed & in usual Wesley Bell Ringer style, a fun photo opportunity was found.

With quite a few miles still needed to go to get to Omaha,  today's adventure was in Seward NE for a visit to THE WORLDS LARGEST TIME CAPSULE!

Never too old for a Dino ride

1st group photo of the tour - The World's Largest Time capsule - Nebraska

When in Nebraska....

Anticipation was high as the choir got to the first concert site - St Thomas Lutheran Church - will everyone remember their unloading jobs?  Will everyone be successful in getting everything off the bus?  Will everyone survive the experience?!  YES to all!  Not only did the Wesley Bell Ringers do a fantastic job unloading & setting up, they played an amazing concert AND participated in a worship service prior to the concert.  The night was great & between the worship service & the concert, the choir saw a great crowd.

This first concert was special not only because it was the first Wesley Bell Ringer Summer 2019 concert for 12 of the 16 ringers, it was special because The Wesley Bell Ringers welcomed their summer tour visitor - Dave Haun!  Ringer #64 (we think) who drove almost 900 miles on his motorcycle to attend the concert.  He does it every year & The Wesley Bell Ringers would not consider their summer tour a success without having Dave in the audience.  Thanks Dave!

The Wesley Bell Ringers had even more family/friend fans at the concert in Omaha - Anna's great aunts Mary & Susan and great uncles Doug & Phillip & cousin David who all live in Omaha were at the concert.  It was great to meet them.  Holden's family from Lincoln, Shirley, Taylor, Felix, Corey, and baby Keaton were also at the concert - 2nd year in a row for this group.  Barrett connect with family friend Danette & kids who originated in Salt Lake City & were members of CUMC we also part of tonight crowd.

After the concert The Wesley Bell Ringers & Chaperone group were divided up & sent on our way with our host families - for many, this is the best part of the day.  The opportunity to participate in the lives of new friends is an experience unlike any other & is the reason The Wesley Bell Ringers have been able to have these summer tours.  Thank you Omaha host families.  We hope to return the favor when you travel to Salt Lake City!

St Thomas Lutheran Church, Omaha Nebraska

Awesome concert this way

1st concert was a great success

Ed, Dave, & Katie  - Thanks Dave!

Holden's Lincoln Nebraska family!  Meeting baby Keaton (2mnoth old) for the 1st time

Family Friends of Barretts

Anna's Omaha family

Anna & cousin David

The Wesley Bell Ringer 2019 summer tour - Day 1 - overnight on the bus -SLC to Omaha NE

And so it begins….all of the planning, organizing, worrying, & anticipating & like a breeze, The Wesley Bell Ringers are on the bus & settled in for this two week journey across North America. 

The send off from Christ United Methodist Church, HOME was incredible!  Family & friends were there to lend a hand & some much needed moral support as for 11 of the 16 bell ringers, this will be their 1^st Wesley Bell Ringer summer tour.  Though packing up the bus for the first time can be a daunting task, this group worked together & in record time (almost an hour) had every cargo bay filled with equipment & every possible space inside the bus organized with bells, personal items, & SNACKS!  With a special send off by Pastor Rusty Butler, The Wesley Bell Ringers & chaperone group hit the road headed to their 1^st stop on Saturday 6.8.  Omaha Nebraska.  

1st packing trip for Carter

Happy to be starting this tour

The Wesley Bell Ringer's BIGGEST FAN - Thanks Rusty for sending us off!

See you in two weeks! 

The Wesley Bell Ringers & Chaperone crew!  Thanks everyone for sending us off!