2023-25 Area 6 Board

Gary Bynum has been involved in handbell programs since the fourth grade.  His experience with various church choirs lead to his involvement in the founding of The Metropolitan Bells, Chattanooga’s advanced community handbell ensemble, in 1993.  After ringing in the group for 10 years, Gary assumed the role of music director, a position he still holds today.  He is co-chair of the annual Chattanooga Area Handbell Festival, Performance Coordinator for Handbell Musicians of America’s National Seminar, and Associate Director of Music at Christ United Methodist Church in Chattanooga. Gary holds a BS in Computer Science from the University of Tennessee and a Masters of Business Administration from UTC.  He is a lifelong resident of Chattanooga and is Manager of Marketing Operations for BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee.

Les Beaver has been ringing handbells since 1991 while in college where he also marched drums in the band and participated in the theatre department.  Since that time, he has rung with choirs in Nashville and Knoxville.  For thirteen years he directed The Rings of the Lord at Bearden United Methodist, and now sings and rings regularly with Concord United Methodist Church while subbing at many other churches.  He and his wife Neri serve on the board for Smoky Mountain Ring (Knox Area Handbell Festival) and are presently organizing a new auditioned community choir in the Knoxville area which they hope to have up and running in late 2023.  Les has a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Mississippi State University and is currently a Senior Electrical Engineer for Knoxville Utilities Board.  In his free time, he enjoys reading, hiking, and working with the local Boy Scout council.

Becky Price started playing bells at Jones Memorial United Methodist Church in Chattanooga over 25 years ago, and began ringing with the Metropolitan Bells in 2008, becoming a member of the Metropolitan Bells Quartet in 2011. She has served as the Metropolitan Bells treasurer for several years. She retired two years ago after an almost 40-year career in accounting. Her hobbies (besides ringing bells of course) are traveling, knitting, hand-dyeing yarn, sewing, and painting. She and her husband, Ken, have two adult children that they love to hang out with.

Beth Wilson is, first and foremost, a self-proclaimed “bell hog”. Beth was born and raised in Central Arkansas, where she is an active member of several handbell choirs and ensembles along with serving on both the Arkansas State and the Area IV Handbell Boards. After graduating from Hendrix College with a BA in Psychology, she returned to play, teach and direct handbells in her home church, Searcy First United Methodist Church. Inspired by Beth’s love of handbells, her husband, daughter, and son-in-law all have become handbell enthusiasts. She oversees the legal research department for a well-established financial institution in her hometown. She lives with her husband of 11 years and enjoys her grandbabies, her fur babies, and lake days.

Heather Batchelor has been feeding her love of handbells for 40+ years, beginning in elementary school. She has been ringing with the advanced, auditioned community handbell ensemble, HERITAGE RINGERS of Huntsville, since 2006 and served as the Associate Director of Traditional Worship and longtime Director of Handbells at Asbury Church in Alabama. She has trained with numerous internationally acclaimed handbell gurus, including Nick Hanson, Michael Glasgow, Fred Gramman, Cynthia Dobrinski, Valerie Stephenson, Joel Raney, Lee Afdahl, Dave Harris, Andrew Duncan, and Shane Kennedy. Heather’s multi-faceted artistic experiences include serving as an accomplished vocal soloist, conducting orchestras and musical theater, directing vocal ensembles, arranging handbell music, performing handbell solos, choreography, writing prayer and liturgy, public speaking, playing orchestral percussion, and beautifying worship spaces. She also has extensive expertise in event planning. Heather is especially excited about her new project as Founder and Artistic Director of ENCHANTED BELLS IN MOTION, a traveling handbell group playing a wide array of music genres in sometimes non-traditional venues to help introduce handbells to the mainstream and to empower all generations of musicians.  Originally from TN (with stints in Indiana and Bordeaux, FRANCE), she holds a BS degree in Marketing from Tennessee Tech University, where she was a vocal scholarship recipient and sang with the premier vocal chorale at the university. When not exploring the quaint streets of Paris, trudging up the hills of Ireland + Scotland, or cruising the Caribbean, Heather resides with her husband in the north Alabama area.  She has 2 grown sons and one daughter-in-law and is a foodie and avid reader. She also enjoys writing, 5Ks, and traveling the world to experience new foods, music, and cultures.

Lisa Hester is Organist and Accompanist at Village United Methodist Church in Hot Springs Village, AR, and also serves as the Communication Coordinator for the church. In 2019, Lisa received certification as a United Methodist Church Musician from the Arkansas Conference of the United Methodist Church after completing education requirements at Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, IL. Prior to serving at Village UMC, she was Director of Music Ministries and Organist at St. Paul United Methodist Church in Little Rock where she directed the St. Paul Ringers. In earlier days, she was active in the handbell program at her home church First United Methodist Church, Benton, Arkansas. Lisa is the current Chairperson of the Arkansas Chapter of the Handbell Musicians of America and is a member of the Handbell Musicians of America, The Fellowship of Worship Arts, the Presbyterian Association of Musicians, and the American Guild of Organists. A self-taught organist, Lisa is a lifelong resident of Benton, and has held other church music positions in Benton, Bryant, and Little Rock, Arkansas, along with working in community music offerings such as being the Music Director/Accompanist for the Saline County Royal Players’ production of The Sound of Music, Godspell and Scrooge, the Musical.

Barbara Williams has had a love of handbells since Madeline Woodland directed her church bell choirs. She was jealous because she was unable to attend the daytime (only) rehearsals as a busy young mother with a full-time career in teaching.  She was blessed to know Madeline and sing in her Chancel Choir during that time. Eventually, she was able to join the bell choir when on sabbatical from teaching, and later, when an evening bell choir was added. She took advantage of opportunities to travel to local, regional, and even national festivals and smaller events with her choir.  Through the years, she has rung under some awesome handbell musicians, composers, and conductors: William Payne, Don Allured, Felix and Martha Lynn Thompson, Cynthia Dobrinski, William Griffith, Fred Gramman, Jason Krug, Grieg Ashurst, David Harris, Michael Hellman, Ed Rollins, and Stephanie Rhoades.  What a wonderful world of music! Most of her music training and experience came as a vocal musician, singing with church, community, and semi-professional chorales, most notable the New Orleans Vocal Arts Chorale (NOVA) from 2001 to 2020.  She was a chorus member, sometimes soloist, and board member of that organization, working primarily with Dr. Meg Hulley Frazier of Loyola University. In 2013, Barbara’s church bell director moved and she assumed that role. She immediately went to the AGEHR/HMA website to join and connect with the handbell community.  A few months later Barbara and one other ringer attended the Hattiesburg Festival. She am a strong proponent of HMA; it offers a full range of resources and opportunities for handbell musicians. This membership has allowed her to grow as a musician, particularly as a director and has provided great experiences for our ringers as well. She is excited to return to the Area 6 Board for another term as Louisiana State Chair. She hopes the Board can reach out to more handbell musicians and recruit more ringers and choirs in Louisiana where music is so much a part of the culture.

Dr. Paul McGahie originally learned about handbells as an undergraduate student at Westminster Choir College in Princeton, NJ, when Don Allured first came there to teach courses in handbell ringing and composition. This was the start of a life-long love for handbells that has brought him to his present focus on composing music for bells. Publishing under the nome de plume “Paul Douglas” he has several works published and in the process of being published by From The Top Music and AGEHR/HMA. After serving full-time for 15 years “Dr. Paul” is now semi-retired and serving part-time at First Methodist Church of Pascagoula, MS, where he leads the 11-ringer Handbell Ringers and the PraiseRing handbell quartet, in addition to the Chancel Choir and All4One men’s quartet. Dr. McGahie lives with his wife Jeanne, their dog Lacey and their cat Snuggles “out in the boondocks” where they enjoy gardening and other outdoor pursuits.