The holiday season promises to bring joyful celebration with a free Christmas Concert for the community hosted by Norwich Grange featuring the The Hockanum Valley Ringers handbell ensemble on Wednesday, December 8, 7:30 PM, at Norwich Grange Hall.  

The 45-minute concert, conducted by Greg Fisher, will include a variety of holiday favorites such as "O Holy Night" and "Carol of the Bells," along with standards mixed in, including the classic "Syncopated Clock."

The Hockanum Valley Ringers handbell ensemble was started in October 2005 by Greg Fisher, who at the time was Music Minister at Trinity Lutheran Church in Vernon, CT.  He wanted to form a handbell group that could expand its repertoire beyond music typically found in a church setting, and to perform increasingly more difficult levels of music on handbells.  Members of the group come from towns around the Vernon/Manchester, Connecticut, area, and range in age from 16 to "over 70."  They recently released their first CD "Glad Tidings We Ring" on November 14, 2010, which contains 14 holiday favorites.

Norwich Grange Hall is located at 172 West Town Street, Norwichtown. (Exit 82 off I-395).  For more information, please contact Susan Kenney via e-mail at silkspray@gmail.com, or visit the Connecticut State Grange website at www.CTStateGrange.org.