TORRINGTON – The Goshen County Historical Society is known primarily for giving community members unique and enlightening monthly presentations regarding the vast and lengthy history of our county.

Once a month throughout the entire course of the fall, winter, and spring months the society meets to make a humble priority in ensuring residents are well aware of the sometimes-incredible stories hidden right under our noses.

As the society met Tuesday evening for what would be the last presentation until fall, the meeting interestingly took a unique turn in giving community members something soft, special, and even spiritual to begin the summer.

The society chose to give residents a short, but memorable musical evening by having the WyoRing Handbell Choir perform before all in attendance at the East Gate Baptist Church in Torrington.

When explaining why the society chose to finish their season with the locally-known choir, current vice, and soon-to-be sitting president Marge Myers put it simply.

“I chose this program because I love music,” Myers said. “I have heard these bell ringers play before and was very impressed. Where did they come from? Well, they didn’t just come out of nowhere.”

Soon after the introduction of the plans for the evening, the floor was given to local school district music teacher, Gary Glass, spoke on conducting duties for the night.

It should be noted Glass stepped in on short notice, as the choir’s usual conductor and leader was unable to attend the evening’s brief concert.

Just prior to the commencement of the musical event, Glass gave a brief history of both the local and international significance regarding the use of bells.

“Bells have been in existence for a thousand years,” Glass began. “They were used to signal the passing of time and to call worshippers to prayer. They were used to announce births, deaths, victories, and defeats. Bells indicated when shops should open, and when bread should be baked. The first bells were just simple chords hit with a simple stick. In Christian liturgy, bells were sewn on the garments of priests. By practicing all these patterns, folks would really upset their neighbors.”

The room was met with a bit of mild chuckling as the joke resonated with modern-day technology users.

“They were also allowed to practice in the warmth of pubs rather than chilly towers,” Glass continued. “The difference between American and European bells is Americans used plastic and rubber materials to produce the same effect. The largest tuned bell in the world is in the Riverside Church in New York City. What you are seeing here now is called the singing-bell technique, where they are using wooden dowels to get the bells to vibrate without actually striking it. And they have started the songs without me.”

The bell choir proceed to give a performance before their sitting audience, playing such classic songs as Fantasy on Kings Fold, Buffalo Gal Chopsticks, and America the Beautiful.

Among the several local musicians playing along with the choir was school district Human Resources and Public Relations Director, Holly Lara.

According to Lara proper practice, technique, and instrumental maintenance care is crucial in ensuring musical rhythms flow smoothly. Additionally, even the slightest discrepancy can throw the entire sound completely off.

The way Lara put it, although ringing a musical bell is a fairly simple and pleasant thing, the instruments themselves are incredibly intricate. 

“We use the Malmark bells which have plastic handles and rubber clappers,” Lara explained. “One of the things with the Malmark bells is they are not lacquered, as it would diminish the musical quality of the bell. Albeit you will notice we play without gloves, but we do wipe the bells after every practice. We have a technique called ‘thumb-down’ where we put our thumb down against the casing.’’

“These are techniques we have learned over the years,” Lara continued. “In 2011 we played at our area conference in Cheyenne. In attending the regional conferences, we came away from them with a love and enthusiasm for handbells. It truly is fun and you get a real feel for it, so we have learned a lot from this. In closing, we would like to thank Marge Myers, to pastor Tim Sparks for being a very generous host and we would like to thank our hero Gary Glass for stepping in to save the day. Thank you all very much.”

The sound of the musical bells ended shortly before 8 p.m. just as the numerous residents in attendance helped themselves to some light finger food and beverages. 

The evening proved to be an unpretentious and delightful experience to celebrate a successful, and beneficial year for the Goshen County Historical Society.

Monthly meetings will reconvene once again in the fall months.