Independence Day will be on Friday this year, which I suspect means that many people will take the opportunity of a long weekend to travel. The other option would be to stay in the Boston area and ring and eat and ring and sleep and ring and eat and sleep and ring and eat. In addition to the two Harborfest listings for Old North (noon on the 4th, noon service ringing time on Sunday the 6th) and the picnic and ringing at the Advent for the 1812, there is the possibility of hosting a special tour for a group of people who will be attending the MENSA convention at the Sheraton hotel that weekend. The obvious time to me seems to be at practice time on the Saturday, or just afterward. The church has agreed with the possibility of this, so we will be charging for the tour (presumably the usual behind the scenes price) to compensate the church plus some more in case some ringers want to be reimbursed (as at a wedding). This might include a more math or puzzle focused talk than usual, and demonstrations, but not individual handling lessons. If enough ringers are around, though, maybe some of the tour members would like to learn at least as much as hunting on handbells. The exact format is clearly still in the planning stages, but I'm trying to make sure we'll have enough warm bodies on the end of ropes or holding handbells to make it possible.
Thanks.
Laura Dickerson