Beth Davidson started ringing handbells in Duluth, MN, in 1972 and has rung nearly every year since. She discovered the joy of solo ringing in 1993, after attending her first national festival. She rang with Bells of the Cascades for a few years in the late ’90s before leaving to concentrate on her work with David Jordan in the duet team of Handbells Unlimited! She was a cofounder of “Solo/Ensemble Extravaganza,” the first national workshop for small group and solo ringing. Beth is married and has three grown daughters, three step-children, and seven beautiful grandchildren. By day you will find her baking and decorating cookies for her custom cookie business, GeeBee’s Cookies. Check out her cookies on Facebook and Instagram.

Cindy Gronbach began her handbell career while searching for a new church choir with which to sing. She started ringing at Savage Memorial Presbyterian Church in 1985. In 1989, she took a conducting class at an AGEHR festival, has been directing Savage’s bell choir since 1993, and has been directing the bell choir at Emmanuel Presbyterian Church since 2014. She is an accomplished solo ringer and has taught several handbell technique classes. Cindy has been ringing with Bells of the Cascades since 1991—the longest-serving member, and the only member who has been on every BOC cruise!

In addition to serving on BOC’s membership, cruise, and fundraising committees, Cindy grooms and boards dogs, and volunteers for the Oregon Humane Society. She also hand-crafts greeting cards. She enjoys spending time with her long-haired Dachshund and long-haired Chihuahua, and being in the yard watching the antics of her chickens, but never both at the same time. She developed an interest in canning and making homemade treats, so harvest season often finds her in her kitchen chopping and peeling vegetables and fruit to can. Her favorites are almost anything pickled! Her dream is to have a yard full of vegetables and flowers, but alas, thus far that has only been a dream.

Barb Hughes started playing piano and flute as a child and continued both into early adulthood. She played handbells for two years as a teenager at Church of the Covenant in Cleveland, OH and performed with that group at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. in 1965. Then she went about the rest of her life. In May of 2017, handbells called to her again and she joined the Salmon Creek United Methodist Church Exultation Ringers in Vancouver, WA, directed by Matthew Compton. With Matt’s encouragement, she auditioned and was accepted into Bells of the Cascades in August of 2017.

Barb works to maintain this website and send out emails on behalf of BOC, and is a current member of the BOC Board. With our web consultant, she is developing a new website to launch our upcoming 35th Anniversary season. She is a retired book editor, can recognize two spaces after a period from a mile away, collects frog figurines, and lives with her partner Mark and two cats. She adores her two daughters, one son-in-law, and two grandchildren, all of whom live entirely too far away!

Born and raised in Northeast Portland, Mar Markham began playing their first instrument (flute) in the 6th grade. Later, while playing baritone saxophone at Concordia University Portland, Mar learned that handbell choirs existed and joined the university’s ensemble in 2017. As a former dance team coach and choreographer, Mar’s favorite instrument by far is handbells because it combines both worlds of musicianship and movement. Mar joined Bells of the Cascades in Fall 2021, rang in Velocity Handbell Ensemble for a season, then returned to BOC in Fall 2023!

Having earned a Bachelor’s degree in Social Work in 2019 and a Master’s Degree in Higher Education and Student Affairs in 2021, Mar now works as a Disability Resource Specialist at Clackamas Community College. When they’re not ringing, you might find Mar hanging around the social dancing scene at Portland Lindy Society events, or spending quality time with their pets!

Nancy Patton started ringing handbells in the ’90s, when her mother encouraged her to give it a try. She had no idea what a handbell was, had never touched or seen one, but in her usual way, was determined to please her mom. And her mom was right—handbells are really fun to play, which is still true after all these years. Nancy never mastered a musical instrument in her youth so ringing handbells as a “group instrument” is a great joy for her! Now she considers herself a musician and honors her mother through her love of handbells.

Since 2002, Nancy has been a member of Bells of the Cascades. During that time, she’s been President, VP, and Secretary on the board. These days, Nancy oversees equipment, which is a perfect fit for her love of details and organization. And there’s a lot of equipment. When not ringing bells, Nancy works as a sales engineer for a legal software company in Portland, which mixes her high-tech background with her law degree. Nancy loves living in the Pacific Northwest, relocating to Portland from the San Francisco Bay Area over twenty years ago.

Andrea Schmidt joined Bells of the Cascades in Fall 2022. She grew up a farm girl in a central Kansas Mennonite community where music was highly valued. She began playing the violin at age 4, piano in grade school, band instruments in junior and senior high school, and finally the pipe organ. Besides singing and playing in the school band and community orchestra, Andrea participated in her church’s youth bell choir. She then attended Wichita State University and obtained a degree in music performance and education.

Over the years of growing up and moving to college in Wichita and eventually to the Pacific Northwest, Andrea has always made it a priority to find a church with a bell choir. When she’s not ringing handbells, she works as a dental assistant in Portland and spends her free time running, cycling, and working out at the gym. She also loves cats and coffee!

Jim Troisi has rung bells since 1996 when he joined a bell choir to understand how the heck a bell choir can make such beautiful music when everyone only plays a few notes. He’s still trying to figure it out. Jim joined Bells of the Cascades in 2009 and has served as the Bookkeeper and Cruise Committee chair. He currently is the BOC Board President and Treasurer.

Jim also plays in the Covenant Bell Choir at Lake Grove Presbyterian Church in Lake Oswego, OR. Jim’s retired from working many years at IBM as a third line software development manager and now volunteers as a substitute teacher for the Lake Oswego School District. Any free time he has left is spent reading, exercising, and working in his garden.