The Niagara Bethany Handbell Choir marked 50 years in Niagara-on-the-Lake by reuniting youth ringers and alumni who have kept its music and charity work alive.
The May 3 anniversary concert at Bethany Mennonite Church brought current members, former ringers and the adult ensemble players, known as JuBELLation, together around one local legacy: a youth music program founded in 1976 by Ella Dick that still performs across Niagara and raises money for children’s causes.
Director Tracey Frena said the choir’s purpose reaches beyond performance.
“For many of these young musicians, joining the choir is about more than learning to ring bells: it’s about building confidence, teamwork and a sense of purpose through giving back,” said Frena.
Frena began ringing with the choir in 1981 and has directed it since Dick retired in 1995. The choir’s motto, “Children Helping Children,” guides its charitable work. This year, money raised by the choir supports Pathstone Mental Health.
The choir performs with four octaves, 44 handbells and 44 handchimes. Its repertoire reaches from sacred hymns and classical music to Disney favourites and original compositions.
Sunday’s program included “The Sound of Music” medley, “Joyful, Joyful, My Grandfather’s Clock,” “It’s a Small World,” “Beauty and the Beast” medley and “Abide With Me.” Current youth ringers performed alongside JuBELLation and a 50th anniversary handbell ensemble.
Forrest Miller, the concert’s emcee and a former choir member, said the anniversary was a celebration of Dick’s founding work.
“We’ll both try to remember and participate in her original vision and legacy,” said Miller, adding that Frena continues that work “with passion.”
Miller and his sister, Michelle, were part of the original singing choir and the second handbell choir. He recalled tours, former members and the way the choir pushed young musicians toward lifelong musical work.
He named Brian Dunn and Jonathan Dick, former members who continued in classical singing. Dunn later performed in “Phantom of the Opera” for more than a decade, Miller told the audience.
“They were inspired in those early days to have a love for music and to continue,” said Miller.
The strongest sign of that continued connection came in 2015, when alumni formed JuBELLation for Bethany Mennonite Church’s anniversary. The adult choir grew from former youth ringers who wanted to keep performing.
Frena said that adult ensemble is representative of the youth choir’s timeless reach across generations.
The choir has performed at churches, retirement homes, weddings, Christmas concerts, school assemblies and Niagara events, including Niagara-on-the-Lake’s Candlelight Stroll and the Strawberry Festival.
Its history also reaches well beyond town. The choir has rung for the Queen Mother (Queen Elizabeth II’s mother) during NOTL’s 1981 bicentennial celebrations, travelled to Haiti to support Grace Children’s Hospital and performed at Westminster Abbey, Expo 86 in Vancouver, Germany and Canada’s Parliament buildings in Ottawa.
The next test for the choir is the same one it has carried for five decades: keeping young ringers involved long enough to pass the bells to another generation.
