THOMAS ALEXANDER: I’m a retail associate at the Rush, NY, Post Office.
JONAH ALEXANDER: I’m a retail sales associate at the Medina, NY, Post Office. Thomas is my dad. We both began our Postal Service careers as seasonal employees in the Northwest Rochester, NY, Processing and Distribution Center.
THOMAS: Playing music is something our family has long shared together. We played folk music for a while. I mainly played guitar and bass, my wife played the hammered dulcimer and Jonah played drums.
Back when I was in grade school, my mom’s church had a small set of handbells that nobody was using, so my four siblings and I borrowed them. We only performed one time, but it left me with a special memory that I would think of from time to time.
Then, a few years ago, I was looking for a way to get back into music. That’s when I learned there was a bell choir looking for ringers. I went and gave it a shot and then encouraged my wife and Jonah to join.
Our choir, the Erie Canal Ringers, has 13 bell ringers. I’m responsible for three or four bells; Jonah handles six or seven.
JONAH: I mainly play the bass bells, which are larger in size.
THOMAS: Some are larger than your head.
Our music varies. We’ll play movie themes, old and new popular music, and we even did a Macedonian folk piece in 7/8 time.
While performing, bell ringers read the music, pick up the correct bell, ring it and then place it back down — often in rapid succession. It’s challenging, but it’s also fun.
JONAH: We have music sheets in front of us that look a lot like piano sheet music but with a lot more notes. A piano player would understand the notes but would say, “I don’t have that many fingers.”
THOMAS: The family aspect of this is the best part. Jonah lives 60 miles away, but we rehearse every Tuesday night in Brockport, NY, which is halfway between my home and his. That lets me see him every week, which has been special.
JONAH: Ringing bells gives me the chance to hang out with Mom and Dad, and to get a little taste of home each week. You don’t know how much you’ll miss something until you don’t have it anymore.
Also, we get to travel for performances and perform in interesting places.
THOMAS: We serve the community through this hobby as well. Our last concert raised $1,400 for a local historical building damaged by a major fire.
We get together, make a little music and bring some good to our community.
“Off the Clock,” a column on Postal Service employees and their after-hours pursuits, appears regularly in Link.
