Sue Clement began playing the clarinet in the fifth grade on an instrument given to her

by her paternal grandfather, who was a locally well-known honky tonk piano player in

in the 20's and 30's.  She played clarinet in the band and the saxophone in dance band

in junior high, and continued with the clarinet in high school, along with both clarinet and

flute in the marching band.

She began ringing handbells at the Prince of Peace Church in 1984 and had the honor

of participating in the handbell choir at Paul and Susan's wedding in 1987.  Sue was

one of the founding members when RiverBells was first organized in 1998.  She loves making music and feels

that RiverBells is a very accomplished group, presenting her with great challenges and opportunities.

Sue has been a registered nurse for twenty-six years.  She worked in ER and ICU at Sutter General Hospital

for twenty-one years.  She now teaches CNA and LVN for Grant Adult Education and EMT for Solano

Community College. Sue loves her teaching jobs.

Her family has five living generations, including her 98 year-old grandmother, and is a very important part of

her life.  Her son, Rick, is an owner/operator with his own trucking company.  Rick has two sons. Her daughter,

Veronica, is also a registered nurse in Grant's Pass, Oregon.  She has a son and a daughter.  Sue spends

most of her vacations with her children and grandchildren.  She enjoys taking her grandchildren to amusement

parks and loves the roller coaster.  Sue is an avid reader and enjoys movies. Her hobbies include counted

cross-stitch and gardening.  She is also a San Francisco Giants fan and attends as many games as possible.

Susan Coddington-Allen began ringing handbells in 1971 in Columbus, Ohio and

performed her first solo in 1973.  Susan joined the Army Band in 1975, playing alto

saxophone and bass clarinet in the 8th Infantry Division Band in Germany.  In 1979, she

left the regular army and joined the California Army National Guard as a member of the

59th Army Band in Sacramento.  In 2001, she retired from the military after serving 25

years.  Susan is currently playing bass clarinet in the Sacramento Symphonic Winds

and alto saxophone in an SSW quartet.  Susan has also substituted on bass clarinet

with the California Wind Orchestra.

Susan has been a member of the handbell choirs at First Presbyterian Church, Napa; Westminster

Presbyterian Church, Sacramento; and Prince of Peace Church, Sacramento.  She was the Assistant

Handbell Director at Westminster Presbyterian Church for two years and then served as Director at St. Mark's

United Methodist Church in Sacramento from 1985 to 1990.  Susan is an instructor at the Zephyr Point

Handbell conference in Lake Tahoe, specializing in 4-in-hand instruction.  She was the Event Coordinator for

the Sacramento Spring Ring from 1989 through 2004.

Presently serving as the Personnel Manager, Susan has been ringing with RiverBells since its inception.

Susan is happily married to Paul Allen, founder and director of RiverBells.  She is the step-mother to Paul's

children, Aaron and Amber Allen.  She is the grandmother of Mason, Madison and Maxson Allen, children

of Aaron and Aurora, daughter of Amber.  When she’s not busy with music and work, Susan enjoys camping

with Paul throughout the year.  They have a 24-foot travel trailer in which they camp year-round.  Some of their

favorite destinations are Death Valley National Park, Yellowstone, and southern Utah.  Susan also enjoys

reading and is a member of a book club with her husband.

September Hope has been drawn to bell music since she first attended church as a

little girl and wanted to ring the tower bell.  In high school, she played the glockenspiel

and joined the Sacramento Area Marching Youth Band and later became a recruiter

and instructor for elementary and junior high kids with the desire to join the band and

learn the glockenspiel.  Later, she intended to join her church choir and, instead

became a member of the bell choir.  She began attending workshops, conventions and

handbell classes and found herself assuming the roles of director, teacher, coach,

recruiter and instigator for local workshops, conventions and local handbell groups.

September was the Handbell Director at Advent Lutheran Church in Citrus Heights for seventeen years and

was honored to be the Area Twelve Northern California Representative of the American Guild of English

Handbell Ringers for three and a half years.  Last year, she received her own two-octave set of handbells,

which has brought more opportunities to reach out to communities, friends, families, retirement homes and

convalescent hospitals.  September loves to see people who thought they had no musical ability actually play.

"It’s so exciting to see their faces the first time they ring and realize ‘Hey, I’m making music! I can do this!’”

Serving as our Concert Liaison, September appreciates the privilege of being a member of RiverBells.

Although handbell ringing has grown, developed and become more sophisticated over the years, to her the

important thing is that it has always been and remains a great deal of fun.

Pamela Jenkins was first introduced to handbells at the age of ten, when her church

received a three-octave memorial set.  She was one of eight children chosen to

become members of the handbell choir.  Pamela has performed as a professional solo

ringer for twelve years as Nightbells with her own three-octave set.  Originally from

Muncie, Indiana, Pamela is the youngest of nine children.  She graduated from Indiana

State University and later earned her MBA in Business Administration.  She is

employed as the Chief Financial Officer for Anheuser-Busch.

Pamela joined RiverBells in 2002 with 25 years ringing experience at all octaves of handbells and chimes,

along with her solo ringing experience.  Pamela serves as RiverBells' Treasurer.  She and her husband, Rick,

have one child, Michael and live in Vacaville.  Pamela enjoys cross-stitch, golf, waterskiing and motorcycle

riding in her spare time.

James Menezes began playing clarinet in the 5th grade and was a member of the

marching and symphonic bands through his school years.  When James he was in the

8th grade, Paul Allen introduced James to handbells.  That same year, he joined Paul's

handbell choir, The Bells of Peace, at Prince of Peace Church and rang with them for

about four years.  James earned his B.S. in Electronic Robotic Engineering from ITT

Technical Institute and is employed by Anacomp, Inc. with their Vendor Support Group.

His responsibilities include the service and maintenance of tape libraries and storage

area networks. James and his wife, Trina, have been married for 16 years and he

enjoys music, radio-controlled cars and robotics in his spare time.  Following a six-year hiatus from handbells,

James joined RiverBells in 2005 and appreciates being part of a group of skilled and genuinely helpful

musicians.

JennyMay Moore began her musical education on the piano at age four, thanks to her

grandmother, a piano teacher.  That same year her mother introduced her to handbells.

She later began playing the flute and also participated in a percussion group in high

school.  JennyMay majored in music education with a focus on voice for three years at

the University of Redlands, Chico State and Sacramento State.  It was at Sacramento

State that she met her husband, Jason, who was a fellow member of the marching

band.  JennyMay later completed her B.S. in Business Management at the University of

Phoenix, Sacramento campus.

Her musical experience also includes two years with New World Sound, a Bahá’í acappella ensemble that she

eventually directed.  JennyMay worked with the Sacramento Area Bahá’í Youth Workshop, incorporating dance

into their performances.  She hopes to complete her degree in music education and someday teach at the high

school level.  JennyMay and Jason have a daughter, Mariah. JennyMay enjoys her performances with

RiverBells and looks forward to rehearsal every week.

LuAnn Radford started playing the violin in the third grade and began singing in the

seventh grade.  She was first introduced to handbells in 1979.  For LuAnn, as with

many other people, handbell ringing provides both physical and emotional therapy.

When ringing, she concentrates completely on the music to the exclusion of outside

distractions.  Following a performance or rigorous rehearsal, she feels a great sense of

calm.  Even though LuAnn is one of RiverBells’ most proficient four-in-hand ringers and

is an accomplished solo ringer, she says that what she enjoys most about the group

is the challenging music and the sense of camaraderie among the members.

LuAnn is a domestic engineer, or as she puts it, a jack-of-all trades.  She helps at a local preschool as a

substitute teacher’s assistant.  She and her husband, Jim, have two young children, Jacob and Sara.  LuAnn

serves as PTA President, Scholastic Book Fair Chairperson, Preschool Class Chairperson, Tiger Cub Scout

Leader, Daisies and Brownies Leader and Room Mother for Jacob’s first grade class.  She is involved in

many types of crafts and teaches a crafts class for senior citizens at a local community center.

Mercedes Riggleman attended elementary school in Karlsruhe, Germany.  After her

family moved to the Sacramento area, she first met Paul Allen, RiverBells’ Director,

when he was her music teacher in junior high school.  Mercedes received her

bachelor’s degree in psychology and sociology from Black Hills State University in

South Dakota and later earned her master’s degree in social work from Sacramento

State.  She is employed as a social worker for Child Protective Services for

Sacramento County.

Mercedes has played the tuba professionally with both The New Traditionalists and with Stan Mark and The

River City Stompers.  She also performed with Zi Zenter and Stan Mark, professional jazz musicians.  She

has been a member of RiverBells for five years and enjoys the challenge presented by the level of music which

RiverBells performs.  Mercedes and her husband, Daniel, her high school sweetheart, live in Sacramento and

enjoy swimming, jet-skiing, motorcycle riding and their dogs and cats.

Crystal Skinner has been playing handbells since the seventh grade.  She received

her B.S. in Environmental Science and Ecology with a minor in Math and Computer

Science from Sierra Nevada College.  Crystal went on to earn her MBA in Business

Administration with an emphasis in Human Resources from the University of Phoenix.

She is currently employed as a claims assistant at Tanner Insurance Brokers in

Pleasanton.  She and her husband, Bryan, have two children, Aramis and Andromeda.

Crystal enjoys bowling and going to soccer games.  She appreciates the opportunity to

meet interesting people and make new friends, which RiverBells provides.

Sandi Walker-Tansley began her musical experience in the fourth grade with the flute.

She also sang harmony in a church choir known as the "Little Folks" and has been an

alto ever since.  In high school, she joined the church handbell choir and later toured

northern California and southern Oregon with the handbell choir from San Joaquin Delta

College.  After one performance in Brookings, Oregon, the kids in the audience

crowded the stage and asked the performers for their autographs.  Sandi appreciates

groupies, but hasn’t experienced them since that time.  Her most exciting handbell

memory is performing in the lead rank of the Marching Handbell Choir at the 1988

Tournament of Roses Parade.

Sandi earned her B.S. Molecular Biology with a minor in Chemistry from Sacramento State in 1991.  She

joined the Robert Mondavi Winery staff in the laboratory later that year, and learned wine-making from the

grape up.  In 2002, Sandi left Mondavi to start a new endeavor, Lodi Winery Laboratory, the first independent

wine laboratory in the Central Valley.  As the only employee, she serves as the lab manager, technician and

chief bottle washer. Sandi has been a member of RiverBells since its inception and currently serves as the

President of the organization.

Raquel Walkin is presently RiverBells' youngest member and is already an

accomplished musician.  She began playing the piano while still in kindergarten and

now also plays the alto saxophone, clarinet, flute, trumpet, violin, drums and bass guitar.

About six  years ago, Raquel participated in an introductory handbell class offered by

Paul Allen, through the Elk Grove Adult Education Program and joined RiverBells upon

completion of the class.  The high point of her musical experience, thus far, is having

qualified on the alto sax a member of the symphonic band at her high school.  Raquel

attends Cosumnes River College, which affords her the opportunity to continue

ringing, much to the relief of the group.  She enjoys the wide range of music performed by RiverBells.

Wendy Williams comes from a musical family.  She played flute in the band and sang

in choirs all through her school years.  She has very fond memories of her high school

jazz choir.  Wendy graduated from Sacramento State University in 1997 and is

employed as a registered Civil Engineer for the City of West Sacramento, where she

worked her way up through the ranks, starting as a student intern twelve years ago.

She and her husband, Mark, live in West Sacramento with their two terriers, where she

has filled her house with penguins.

Although she rang handbells in a youth choir as a child, Wendy only began handbell ringing in earnest six

years ago.  She enjoys the musical challenges presented by performing with RiverBells, and knows she can

always count on the group for a few good laughs at their weekly rehearsals.  She attends handbell workshops

whenever and wherever possible.  Using the knowledge and skills she has learned from those workshops,

Wendy has become RiverBells’ “Kinetic Engineer,” leading the group in perplexing physical warm-up

exercises to help improve the group's movement and coordination and also serves as their Events

Coordinator.

Elisabeth Atkinson

Naomi Schmidt

Carol Baltzel

Derek Hoeven

Tracy Husmann

Gladys Imperio

Sara Ziegler