The Wesley Bell Ringer 2022 Summer Tour Day 3

San Francisco, CA to Alameda, CA

June 13, 2022

Day 3

Ringer Blog

Today we woke up in our cute hotel in San Francisco and then headed to Alcatraz. It was so cool to see the prison where inmates lived for 29 years, although some of them were kind of creepy. A lot of us also completed the Junior Ranger Booklets. Then we walked over to Pier 39 where we all ate lunch. The clam chowder and baguette that I ate were super good until Augs dropped the baguette on the ground. After lunch we were able to walk around to all the cool shops and see a fire juggler. Now we are on the way to the church we are performing at tonight in Alameda.  Rachel

Loading the bus to head to San Francisco in the morning

Alcatraz Tour

Junior Rangers at Alcatraz

Exploring the pier in San Francisco

Twin Towers Methodist Church in Alameda

Colton and Lilly talk with Andy Nelson, a member of CUMC from 1961!

Elaine Scott and her 99 year old mother Mary Scott a member of CUMC in the 1990's

Jenn with Rachelle, a high school friend and her mom Joannie

It was a great concert in a church with great acoustics

Chloe and Jonas met with their Aunt, Uncle, Cousins and Grandparents!

The Wesley Bell Ringer 2022 Summer Tour Day 2

Sparks, NV to San Francisco, CA

DAY 2 

June 12, 2022

We are on our way to San Francisco! This morning we met at the church in Sparks, NV and packed the bells. The ringers already have it down, we were packed quickly and then we were on our way. It was primarily a drive and sight-seeing day, and we were all looking forward to a hotel stay tonight. 

After packing up we traveled to San Jose and on the way, we got to see some interesting places. We went to the Jelly Belly factory and then we visited The Winchester House (https://www.winchestermysteryhouse.com/sarahs-story/). The ringers enjoyed exploring the many rooms in this unique building. We then ate dinner in the area and then stayed in a hotel in San Francisco. The ringers enjoyed going up and down the steep hills in San Francisco! The ringers are a great group who are all getting along well together, you have amazing young adults!

Ringer Blog:

Today we had an early start in Sparks, and then we went straight into California. The drive was really pretty along the Targhee River and even though it was raining, it was a nice, easy drive. We made a quick stop at the jelly belly factory and we went to the gift shop which was really fun. Our driver Dave LOVES jelly beans. Then, we went to the Winchester Mystery House today and that was crazy. It was a maze of rooms (160 to be exact), and thousands of windows, it was cool to learn about Sarah Winchester and her home. Then we ate dinner and explored San Jose a little bit before getting on the bus to go to our hotel for the night. Lilly

We are in California!

The Jelly Belly Factory

Winchester Mystery House

The bass row at the Winchester Mystery House

Garden at the Winchester House

Megan and Rachel

Dinner Time!

Relaxing at the pool!

Swimming Fun

The Wesley Bell Ringer 2022 Summer Tour Day 1, 

Salt Lake City, UT to Sparks, NV

And off we go, under the rainbow!

 Day 1

June 12, 2022

Tour has begun! After meeting at 7:00 a.m. at the church on Saturday, we packed up and after and prayer with Pastor Rusty we embarked on our journey. It was a long drive from SLC to Sparks, Nevada but all went well and there was a lot of time for everyone to settle in. We ate lunch in Elko and then a short break got us into Sparks with plenty of time for a rehearsal followed by a taco dinner provided by the church. The concert was wonderful and the kids were amazing as they played for our audience. The evening was a combination of host homes and hotel rooms, and everyone arrived ready to go this morning. We packed up and the bus went under a rainbow as we left for San Francisco. Everyone is doing well and having a great time!

Ringer Blog: Zooey

Today was so much fun! We spent 7 hours on the bus but it felt like 2! It was so fun having so many easy-going people in the group! We stopped in Elko for lunch and had some good times with friends. It was a good start to an awesome trip!

St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Sparks, Nevada

The entire group!

    

                                                        Loading the bus for the first time!

Jen and Zooey met with Greg and Taryn, Zooey's Aunt and Uncle at the concert.

Tia Middlestadt with Marysia and Rachel

The bank

Wes and CP helped the ringers learn to load the bus.

Pastor Rusty gave us a warm send off- thank you!

All the stuff was loaded and ready

Chaperones, check!

Announcing 2022 Summer Tour

2021 Summer Tour (COVID Style)

Posted 6/2/21:  Join us at Christ United Methodist Church June 13th at 10:00am…

"The Wesley Bell Ringers will be celebrating Wesley Bell Ringer Sunday in person this year on June 13th. We are so excited to get back into church and ring for you. We are a diverse group with varying comfort levels and vaccination statuses. We are asking for the congregation to support us by wearing masks in service on June 13th. While we realize that local and church mask mandates and general comfort levels have relaxed, we as a choir have decided to continue wearing masks to make sure that each ringer feels safe and supported for the rest of this year. As the Director, I ask for this consideration from our congregation to show the youth of CUMC and our surrounding community that we care! Please join us in worship on the 13th and wear your masks!"
- Katie Lay, Director of The Wesley Bell Ringers

Wesley Bell Ringer Sunday

Ever since my first Wesley Bell Ringer concert, I'd always wondered what it would be like to be one of the teenagers ringing in front of me. I was so certain that when I finally made it into high school I would be a Wesley and go on the big summer tour and do all the dinners, rummage sales, and retreats. When I was finally old enough to join, I was so excited to play harder music, meet new friends and be a part of something as amazing as this organization. After the busy Christmas my freshman year, we started to prepare for our spring ring event and our much anticipated summer tour. We got new music, readied ourselves for the busy coming months and then: Boom. The world came to a screeching halt. “Two weeks of spring break!? No way!!'' I said to myself. But little did I know. 

I was sad to have no spring ring, and to not be able to meet for bells twice a week anymore, but I just sat and waited. Those two weeks turned into four, and those four weeks turned into 8 and before any of us knew it, the tour had come and gone. I missed bells, I missed my friends, my directors, the congregation, and I felt robbed of all the hard work we had done to prepare for the tour. I was angry, sad and it felt like the spark I felt for bells went out temporarily. I wanted to give up, I could've given up. But when we were told we could start back up in the fall, I knew that I couldn't.  I knew that we all had to keep this organization alive. I knew in the back of my mind that it wouldn't be a normal year with our classic activities and concerts. And we all knew that tour was most likely not an option, but we were all prepared for that. The group of kids standing before you are some of the most amazing, persevering, hard working people I know. Being able to stick with the choir over these last 14 months when you can't be certain about what next week will even look like is a truly remarkable feat. But every single week, we all come together for our four hours of rehearsal and we pretend that nothing is going on outside of those music room doors, everyone comes in with a smile on their face ready to ring, and it always made those sad days of online school trapped in our rooms just that little bit better.

The Wesley Bell Ringers have been an organization in this church for 57 years, and just this past Wednesday at our annual birthday dinner, the choir received its 500th ringer.  Five hundred teenagers have made a commitment to this choir over all these years and still here we are today, on our Wesley Bell Ringer Sunday performing in front of you again.  Another year without a tour is definitely a disheartening feeling. Another year of hard work with no big reward at the end. Most people would throw the towel in after having that happen two years in a row. But all of these kids and the hundreds of alumni who came before them know the real reason behind the magic of the choir... the real beauty of this organization isn't the big exciting tour in the summer, it's the laughs shared at every single practice. It's Anna making a joke and Katie not being able to control her laughter on the podium in front of us. It's the new friends you make every single year and getting to meet people you otherwise would never have crossed paths with.  And it’s the feeling inside when the whole choir finally gets that song to sound the way it should.  Most people will never get to experience something like this, and yet all of the teenagers in this room will walk away from their high school years thanking themselves for not walking away and giving up even in the hardest of times.

-Lily Chidester, Sophomore

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Posted 6/8/21:  We are excited to announce The Wesley Bell Ringers summer concert schedule! With the pandemic still coming under control, we have decided to forgo our 2021 summer tour plans to travel out-of-state. Instead, we will be performing locally in Utah during the last week of June. We hope to see you in the audience!

Posted 6/25/21:  Back on the bus, y'all! Ready for a fun day on our local mini tour!  Throughout the week, we will perform at several local churches taking precautions like masking, social distancing, and playing outdoor concerts.  We will also manage to have a few fun activities to make it feel like a "real tour" including renting a movie theater, having a pool party, going zip lining, and rafting the Weber River.

Holladay United Church of Christ

St Paul United Methodist Church

Rafting the Weber River

During 2021, CUMC posted almost all Sunday sermons on the website so folks who could not attend in-person were able to view online at home.  Masks were encouraged for in-person attendees when COVID numbers were high and The Wesley Bell Ringers were among those taking extra precautions to keep the community safe.  We had to get creative this year for fundraising events, even skipping the Spring rummage sale, switching to online formats for some performances and finding alternatives for keeping traditions alive.  For the birthday dinner, we postponed several months and had it catered on the church's front lawn.  For the rose dinner, we reserved a restaurant that allowed our group social distancing and for the home concert, we asked the congregation to mask and hosted the cookie reception outdoors.  

The Wesley Bell Ringer

2021 Home Concert