St. Armands Key Lutheran Church bell ringers meet again

“Did that ring a bell?” music director Michael Bodnyk asked the assembled musicians at St. Armands Key Lutheran Church.

Given that they were gathered for their first bells and chimes rehearsal since March, the quip elicited laughs from the group.

On Sept. 17, seven church members returned to ring their bells once more. Most had been part of the bells group previously, but there were a couple new members who were welcomed with exuberance and a quick jingle as they came in. 

“Thank you all for coming back,” Bodnyk said. “It’s so nice to see people again.” 

After getting everyone set up with their socially distanced bell and chime tables, Bodnyk invited them to shake it out a little bit. 

“Ring a little to get back into the zone,” he said as the church filled with cheerful clanging. 

With the number of people they had, the group could only cover two octaves instead of the usual three, but that didn’t stop them from getting back to their best-loved pieces. One favorite was “Jasmine Flower,” with which the group quickly got back into a groove. They were missing the table foam to deaden the bells’ sounds, so changes between instruments were loud and clear, but even still the group made headway on a new piece, “Ringing Large.” 

The group will meet weekly and quickly gear up to play during Sunday services, just like they did before the coronavirus pandemic.