2025-27 Area 6 Board
Chair
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.
Chair-Elect
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 is currently the handbell director at Grace UMC in Hunstville, AL. 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 and 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.
Treasurer
Ruth Howald is a retired actuary, who has been involved with handbells for over 35 years. She has rung with church choirs in Minnesota, Maryland, California, and Alabama, occasionally directing as well. She has also rung with community choirs in Maryland and Alabama, and is a former treasurer of Area 6. She works part-time as the database administrator at Riverchase UMC and enjoys the additional challenges of being the “special projects” person. She, her husband Scott, and their two cats, live in the Chattanooga area.
Secretary
Carole Millard fell in love with handbells in 2003, when she joined her church handbell choir after her dad told the director she would love to learn how to play. He was right! She auditioned for the Metropolitan Bells in 2008, and has been a member ever since, serving as secretary, vice president, and currently as the president. A retired medical technologist, Carole and her husband Greg enjoy traveling, watching movies, and hanging out with their family.
Past-Chair
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.
Alabama State Chair
OPEN
Arkansas State Chair
Lisa Hester, joined the Area 6 Board in October 2023. She is Director of Music, Worship Arts and Organist at Pinnacle View United Methodist Church in Little Rock, AR. 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. She is the only certified United Methodist Musician in the State of Arkansas. Prior churches she has served include Village United Methodist Church in Hot Springs Village, St. Paul United Methodist Church and Primrose United Methodist Church, both in Little Rock.
Lisa is the current Past-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, AR, where her early years included being a student accompanist for the Junior High and Senior High choirs at Benton High School, and many years as accompanist at her home church, Benton First United Methodist Church. Other music ventures included being the Chairperson for the Arkansas Conference of the United Methodist Church Children’s Choir Festival, Camp Dean for Music Camps at Camp Tanako, near Hot Springs, Music Director/Accompanist for the Saline County Royal Players’ production of The Sound of Music, Godspell and Scrooge, the Musical in Benton.
Louisiana State Chair
Mary Caldwell has served as the Area 6 Chairperson from 2003 – 2009 and from 2015 – 2019. She is serving in the role of Past Chair for Area 6 from 2023 – 2025. She served as the Louisiana Chair from 1999 – 2003. She has been a member of AGEHR and Handbell Musicians of America since 1991. Mary served as the Director of Music Ministries at Broadmoor United Methodist Church in Shreveport, LA, from 1996 until retirement in 2011. She has served as a clinician at several local and state handbell festivals. She has conducted the Red River Ringers, a community handbell group, and is currently the Director of the Carillon Ringers at Broadmoor UMC. Mary holds a Masters Degree in Choral Conducting from Northwestern State University, Natchitoches, LA. During that time, she took two Master Classes in handbells at Concordia University in Mequon, Wisconsin. She studied Handbell Performance with Kay Cook and Handbell Conducting with William Payn. She has a Bachelor of Music Degree, emphasis in Sacred Music in Voice, from Centenary College of Louisiana. Mary currently resides in Shreveport, LA, and works part-time as the Director of the Noel Food Pantry.
Mississippi State Chair
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.
Tennessee State Chair
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.
Membership Chair
Neri Beaver grew up in Northwest Pennsylvania. Attending the Area 2 North Hills Handbell Festival was a childhood highlight! (She attended her first festival at 3 weeks old and hung out under the table while her mom rang in rehearsals!) Neri’s mom was a handbell director and Neri learned to ring at a very young age along with her older siblings. In fact, it has been a family joke that none of them were allowed out of the womb unless they agreed to ring bells! In adulthood, Neri worked closely with soloist and composer/arranger Sue Garton to learn solo ringing. When Neri moved to Knoxville and searched for a handbell choir, this led her to meeting her now-husband Les. Currently Les and Neri serve on the committee for Smoky Mountain Ring (Knox Area Handbell Festival), ring together with the Concord United handbell choir, and Neri teaches the children’s handbell choir. Neri is eager to become even more involved with the Area 6 community. Outside the handbell world, Neri has earned a Master’s Degree in Counseling Psychology/Infant Mental Health Counseling. Currently she is working towards licensure in Tennessee for Marriage and Family Therapy.
Communications Chair / Webmaster
Melissa Emerson is Director of Music Ministries at Calvary United Methodist Church in Nashville, where she oversees a vibrant multi-faceted ministry which includes vocal choirs, handbells, and brass. She holds a Bachelor of Music in Horn Performance and K-12 Teaching Certificate from The University of Iowa, and a Master of Sacred Music with an emphasis in Choral Conducting from Boston University School of Theology. She is an accomplished French horn player, and in her spare time competes in triathlons.