Lori Fenton, Chair, started ringing handbells over 35 years ago at her church. She currently rings with the Des Moines Concert Handbells as well as her church bell choir. In true bell-addict fashion, she has participated in several national ringing events over the past 15+ years including the Bay View Week of Handbells, Distinctly Bronze East and West and Virtuoso, an advanced ringing event sponsored by the Raleigh Ringers. She toured Italy with Desert Bells and attended the International Symposium in Vancouver in 2016.
Lori is also a vocalist and sings with numerous groups in Des Moines including the Des Moines Vocal Arts Ensemble, Des Moines Community Orchestra and her church choirs.
Lori is currently serving as the Vice President for the Des Moines Concert Handbells and previously served as Treasurer and President for the the Des Moines Vocal Arts Ensemble. She co-chaired her company’s United Way Campaign for two years.
Her day job is as a Finance AVP with Global Atlantic Life & Annuity in Des Moines. In addition to handbells, she is addicted to all things Disney, wine, and cats, currently sharing her home with five of them, all named after composers.
Chris Peck, Past Chair, was introduced to handbells during his middle school / high school years at King of Kings Lutheran Church in Gardner, Kansas, with Kipp Willnauer. Chris went on to earn his Bachelor of Arts from Bethany College (Lindsborg, KS) where he had the opportunity to learn from educator, Bethany alum, and Malmark representative, Eunice Tarum. His senior recital included handbells, both as a soloist and a composer.
Chris went on to teach band and choir in public schools in Kansas and Iowa for several years. He has been involved with church music for the past twenty-plus years in various churches throughout Kansas, Iowa, and Nebraska. For the past five years, he has served as Director of Choir and Bell Choirs at Trinity Lutheran Church in north Omaha, Nebraska. Chris is also the Choir / Chime Choir Director at Eastmont Towers, a retirement community in Lincoln, Nebraska. Chimes have been a recent addition to the activities available at Eastmont while he has been involved there.
Chris rang for several years in the Omaha area bell choir “River City Ringers”, under the direction of Joyce Miller, and is currently ringing in the Lincoln area bell choir “Bell-issimo”, under the direction of Nancy Youngman. Chris is an accomplished handbell composer / arranger of about 10-12 published handbell pieces.
Chris has served Area 8 and the general handbell world in various capacities. In the early 1990s, he worked behind the scenes at a few Area 8 summer conferences helping shuffle equipment around to various rooms and helping with whatever necessary. He also served a term as the Area 8 Education (or Chime?) chair. In the later 1990s, he served a term as Iowa’s chair. He also spent a couple summers as one of the directors of Intergenerational Handbell Camp, in Parkville, Missouri.
When Chris is not directing bells or choir, or driving a school bus for Lincoln Schools, Chris is training for his next marathon. He is currently training for his first 50-miler, in October.
Chris is married to his wife, Melissa, and live in Lincoln, Nebraska (Go Big Red!) where they enjoy their small family of rescued cats and dogs.
Nancy Blackwell, Chair Elect, has been involved in handbells for 25 years – starting with her involvement with the Thanksgiving! Church bell choir, Joyful Noise. She later earned a spot in the Omaha community choir, River City Ringers. Throughout the years she attended every Area VIII handbell festival taking classes and performing in Bronzefest. Her enthusiasm for the art form has recently led her to embrace events like Distinctly Bronze West (2022 and 2023) and the upcoming Bayview Week of Handbells this summer.
Within River City Ringers, Nancy’s commitment extended beyond performances. Serving on the board from 2013 to 2019, she assumed the role of secretary and helped develop the organization’s bylaws and ringer handbook. Returning to the board in 2022, she is currently serving as board president.
Nancy also dedicates her time to a board position in an international organization focused on providing faith-based support to individuals grappling with mental health challenges and their families. As well as the board position she has been serving as a group co-facilitator for a decade.
When Nancy is not ringing, she thrives in her role as a computer programmer at an insurance company. She finds joy in quilting, reading, and cherishing precious moments with her family, especially her new grandson, whom she delights in spoiling.
Laura Kastens, Secretary, is a retired University of Iowa administrative assistant who lives in Tiffin, Iowa. She came to handbells as a young adult just out of college with a music ed degree from the University of Illinois in hand. The church she attended (Prospect Heights Community in Prospect Heights, IL) wanted to start a handbell choir so she volunteered to learn as much as she could about the instrument and set about recruiting ringers. That was more than 40 years ago. Since then, she has served as director at Missouri United Methodist Church in Columbia, MO, and in her current position at St. Andrew Presbyterian Church in Iowa City, IA, she directs four ensembles, including an adult beginners’ group, an advanced women’s ensemble, an intergenerational family group, and an advanced adult choir. She also rang with St. Mark’s United Methodist church in Bloomington, IN when she lived in that community. Currently she is a member of RiverBend Bronze based in the Quad Cities.
Since retiring she finds herself agreeing with her parents that retirement is busier than her working years! An active clarinetist, she fills her days playing in the New Horizons band during the year and with the Cedar Rapids Municipal band during the summer, playing pickleball, taking Senior College classes at the University, ushering at various venues, reading, and walking.
Tamara Kofron, Treasurer: I am a life-long resident of Cedar Falls, Iowa, except for a brief few years when I lived in North Carolina.
I graduated from the University of Northern Iowa in 1984 with a BA in Administrative Management. I am the Business Manager for Modern Builders, Inc. in Janesville, Iowa, and have been employed there for over thirty years.
I started ringing handbells around 1990 with my home church and have been hooked ever since. I’ve been solo ringing since about 1995 and have had the privilege of duet ringing with Carolyn Jensen (also from Cedar Falls) since about 2008. In addition to the solo and duet ringing, I’m a member of the handbell choir at St. John Lutheran Church here in Cedar Falls. I currently direct the handbell choir at my home church, First Christian Disciples of Christ.
In addition to attending various local bell events and our Area 8 handbell festivals, I’ve participated in several national events such as HMA National Seminar, Distinctly Bronze East and West, and SEE (Solo and Ensemble Extravaganza).