Bell named director of Scottish Heritage Program

James M. “Jimmy” Bell, one of the most skilled bagpipers in the country, has been appointed the new director of the Scottish Heritage Program at Lyon College.

In this position, he also will direct the college’s pipe band and teach bagpiping. He succeeds Will Muirhead, who left Lyon in June to begin a piping program at MacMurray College in Jacksonville, Illinois.

Bell comes to Lyon from Largo, Florida, where he was working in emergency room administration at a local hospital. He has many years’ experience as a piping instructor and pipe major in New Jersey, his home state, and Florida, where he has lived since 1990.

Bell said one of his goals at Lyon is to “create an atmosphere where the student can receive proven instruction in all aspects of piping, drumming and dancing, while remembering first and foremost that they have come to Lyon for a first-class academic experience.”

Bell grew up in a piping family. He started as a highland dancer at age 4 and won numerous awards. At age 10, he began taking piping instruction from his mother, Shirley Morrison Bell, a champion dancer and piper. Mrs. Bell was the first North American dancing judge to be invited to judge the World Championships in Cowal, Scotland, in 1973.

His piping lesson were later taken over by his father, Pipe Major George M. Bell, who was trained by two of the foremost bagpipers of the 20th century, Robert G. Hardie and Donald MacLeod, both from Scotland. Bell’s father formed and led the Kenmure Pipe Band, a grade 1 band that won nine eastern U.S. championships in 10 years. Bell began playing with the Kenmure band in 1970.

Bell has won all major solo awards numerous times in the Eastern and Southern U.S. pipe band associations, both as a piper and amateur grade 2 drummer. He also has won several North American Championships, both in solo grades and as pipe major of the grade 1 Parlin and District Pipe Band, which he formed in 1980. The Kenmure and Parlin bands dominated the Eastern United States Pipe Band Association competitions for 20 years.

After he moved to Florida, he formed the Thunder Bay Pipe Band and took his students from grade 5 to grade 3 level.

Bell is a sitting judge for the Eastern and Southern pipe band associations and the Amalgamated North American Pipe Band Association. As a graded judge, he is qualified to judge all aspects of solo and band competitions. He has served as a judge at the Arkansas Scottish Festival at Lyon many times.

Bell’s wife, Elizabeth, has been working in human resources while training to become a registered nurse. The Bells have two sons, David, who will attend the University of Central Florida this fall; and Jonathan, who will be in the eighth grade.

Author Robert Short to give lecture Sept. 8

Robert Short, author of “The Gospel According to Peanuts” and other books of popular theology, will present a lecture in conjunction with this year’s convocations theme, “Faith and Ethics in the Professions,” at 7:30 p.m. Monday, September 8, in Nucor Auditorium. Admission will be free.

Short, a native of Texas who now lives in Little Rock, is an ordained Presbyterian (U.S.A.) minister who also has worked as a professional actor. He has a B.A. degree from Oklahoma University, a Master of Divinity degree from Southern Methodist University. He also holds a M.A. degree in English from North Texas State University, a master’s degree in theology and literature from the University of Chicago and a M.A. degree in systematic theology from Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois.

“The Gospel According to Peanuts” was the No. 1 nonfiction best seller of 1965 and is one of the top 10 all-time religious best sellers in the U.S. with more than 10 million copies sold. Short has traveled extensively, presenting programs on the Christian values found in popular culture, literature, and art.

Stinson article published in Bach publication

An article by Dr. Russell Stinson, the Josephine E. Brown Professor of Music,  has recently been published in the 2002 edition of the Bach-Jahrbuch, the oldest periodical in existence dedicated to the music of J. S. Bach. The title of the article, which is printed in German, translates as “Mendelssohn’s Great Trip: A Contribution to the Reception History of Bach’s Organ Compositions.” At the invitation of the American Guild of Organists, Stinson lectured on the same topic at the Region VII meeting of the group, held in San Antonio, Texas, in June. While in San Antonio, Stinson also served as guest organist at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, where Lyon music graduate Donnie Duncan ’96 is director of music.

McCurley named assistant coach, sports information director

Monty McCurley has been named assistant men’s basketball coach, sports information director and assistant women’s volleyball coach at Lyon College

McCurley succeeds Quinn Wooldridge in those positions. Wooldridge resigned in July to become a head boys’ basketball coach at a high school in McAlester, Oklahoma.

McCurley is a 1996 graduate of Arkansas State University in Jonesboro. He previously served as an assistant basketball coach and head golf coach at Izard County High School in Brockwell. Prior to that, he served as a student assistant at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway. He was a part of two NAIA national tournament teams while at UCA, and reached the finals in 1992.

First women’s soccer season kicks off Sunday

(More photos below)

After three weeks of practice in the August heat, Lyon College’s first women’s soccer team is ready to kick off its inaugural season at 1 p.m. Sunday against Hendrix at Huser Field.

So is head coach Derek Nichols. “I’m excited about it,” he said. “We’re ready to play.”

The Pipers have been practicing two or three times a day since August 11, Nichols said, and now “the team is ready to see what it’s really about.”

Nichols’s two major concerns as the season opener approaches are a lack of depth and a lack of experience. The Pipers have only 16 players on the squad and one of them will be unable to play because of injury. With 11 players on the field, that leaves only five pairs of fresh legs on the sideline. “We’ve been working hard on conditioning,” Nichols said.                           

Inexperience is to be expected with a first-year team. Nichols expects to start 10 freshmen and one sophomore in Sunday’s match.

On the plus side, Nichols said, “We have a lot of players who can play different positions, which will help our flexibility in what we can do.”

The Pipers’ first opponents, the Hendrix Lady Warriors, are in a rebuilding year, Nichols said. “They lost a lot of players to graduation last spring,” he said.

In the TranSouth Conference, Nichols said the team to beat is Berry College, who finished fifth in the national tournament last season and was ranked No. 1 in the nation at one point. Recent polls have put them at No. 12. After Berry, Nichols said Lee and Cumberland universities should have good teams.

Other in-state (non-conference) rivals on the Pipers’ schedule this season are Harding, Ouachita Baptist, Ozarks and the University of Central Arkansas.

Nichols came to Lyon in January as the college’s first women’s soccer coach. He also is assistant coach of the men’s soccer team, the Scots, which is starting its second season at 1 p.m. Saturday against MacMurray College at Huser Field. The Scots will play Hendrix at 3 p.m. Sunday after the women’s match.

Upon his arrival, Nichols began recruiting student athletes for his first-year program. His first signee was Amanda Fore of Central Arkansas Christian in North Little Rock. Fore was goaltender and captain of the CAC team that was state semifinalists the last two seasons.

Next came Claire Wetzel of Little Rock Central. Wetzel won all-state and all-region honors as a defender for the Lady Tigers, who won the state championship last spring. (Wetzel is injured and won’t be able to play in the opener Sunday.)

In April, Nichols signed Melissa Cox from Rogers High School and Allison Morrison from Mount St. Mary’s in Little Rock. Cox was a member of the 2002 regional championship team and in 2000 she was named all-state and defender of the year on her team. Morrison’s Mount St. Mary’s team was a state finalist in 2000 and a regional finalist in 2001. She has played for the Little Rock Futbol Club, which have been state champions since 1998. Morrison has also been a member of the Arkansas Olympic Development Team in 2002-03.

Elizabeth Kierna of Greenbrier and Amanda Pickett of Mountain Home signed to play at Lyon last May. Kierna was captain of her high school team and earned all-region and all-state honors as a midfielder. Pickett, a forward, won the most valuable player honor on her team as a senior. Her Mountain Home High School team won a regional championship when she was a junior.

The high school recruits that followed include Alexis Raley of North Little Rock, Christina Bass of Lubbock, Texas, Erin Hensley of Central Arkansas Christian, Martha Seilenga of West Monroe, La., and Betsy Anderson of Tupelo, Miss.

Raley, a midfielder, was North Little Rock’s most valuable player. Bass, a midfielder and forward, earned newcomer, defensive and offensive player of the year awards for the team she captained for two years. Anderson played midfield for a Mississippi state high school championship team last spring. Her club team, the Jackson Futbol Club, also won a state title. Hensley played midfield and defender for CAC and Seilenga played midfield and forward at West Monroe.

Other members of the team include Jocelyn Gantt, a sophomore from Jacksonville; Morgan Presley, a sophomore from Batesville; Danielle Rinke, a junior from Coal Hill; Colleen Somers, a transfer from the University of Texas at El Paso; and Valarie Wylie, a junior from Benton.

Christina Bass	Melissa Cox	Amanda Fore	Jocelyn Gantt
Erin Hensley	Elizabeth Kierna	Allison Morrison	Amanda Pickett
Morgan Presley	Alexis Raley	Danielle Rinke	Martha Seilenga
Colleen Somers	Betsy Anderson	Claire Wetzel	Valarie Wylie

Dr. Bruce Johnston, vice president for student life, said: “Ed Mosley and Elaine Severs (assistant director) lead a talented staff who provide enrichment courses, laboratory experiences, and an array of co-curricular pursuits. Lyon College is very proud of this outstanding program. Students from this region develop the skills and confidence to succeed as they complete high school and enter college.”

The program serves a five-state region that includes Arkansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Texas and New Mexico. Eighty percent of the students come from Arkansas, Mosley said.

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