In 1995, a 2 octave set of Handbells were donated to the Rockville First United Methodist Church by Margaret Lash. There was great interest in playing the handbells. By the 1st performance in 1996 there were 8 players all from the church. Jump to the current handbell choir, The Parke County Community Handbell Choir, has been playing since 2005. At the beginning, Jerry Goddard was the director (approximately 7-8 years), and there were 9-10 ringers. After Jerry stepped down Mary Alice Barnes directed the handbells for 8 years.

Today we have 9 ringers and an honorary director, as we practice new music to share. We have members of 5 different churches in our group. Those churches are Nyesville Full Gospel, Rockville Baptist Church, Bloomingdale Friends Church, The Bridge Church, Rockville First United Methodist Church. COVID has been a challenge but we are slowly beginning to perform out in the communities. Prior to the COVID pandemic a youth bell choir was organized. We hope to get it going again soon.