Newsroom

Information for the Press – MEDIA KIT
Free Cowbells at Carrera de San Rafael
AMGEN Tour of California will Ride to the Sound of Cowbells
Cowbell.com Facts - Company History
Downloadable high resolution photos - MOEN Bells and happy people having FUN
Bio of Elisabeth Halvorson, founder of Cowbell.com
2002 Olympic Press Release - Audiences Clamor for Cowbells at Olympics

Press Coverage Selection: Past Articles and Radio

Radio Interview: Serves You Right® February 18, 2006
'Bell Lady' Halvorson Cheers Olympic Athletes, Voice of America, February 2006
The 'bell' of the Olympic Ball - The Record, Thursday, January 26, 2006
Cowbell.com Wins Olympic Product Prizes - Marin Independent Journal, June 5, 2002,
She never asks for whom the cowbells toll, San Francisco Chronicle, July 7, 2002
A Norwegian-American Entrepreneur who sets Olympic spirit ringing, Norway Times, April 11, 2002
Entrepreneur brings Old World tradition to Vail 99, Vail Daily, July 12, 1998
Bell Choir Product Launch, Salt Lake Tribune, April 25, 1998
2002 to Clang with Cow, Goat and Sheep Bells, Salt Lake Tribune, March 4, 1998
Nordic Connections (aka Cowbell.com) introduces MOEN Bells to U.S. Ski Industry
National Public Radio - As it Happens - February 8, 2002

Free Cowbells at Carrera de San Rafael

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 14, 2007

MEDIA CONTACT:
Elisabeth Halvorson
Cowbell.com
415-924-8663
info@cowbell.com

Feb18/19 at event, cell 801-201-0709 

AMGEN Tour of California will Ride to the Sound of Cowbells

Cowbell.com Invites Spectators to Make Some Noise!

  

CORTE MADERA, Calif. – When the AMGEN Tour of California sweeps through the state this February, fans lining the course will be able to cheer on the cyclists with souvenir cowbells made especially for this event by Cowbell.com, distributor of fun and cowbells to sporting events, fundraisers and businesses.   

The official AMGEN Tour of California cowbell is a specially engraved MOEN bell decorated with a high-quality black, woven wrist strap for easy noise-making. MOEN Bells of Norway  became world-famous as the “cowbell-clang heard ‘round the world” at the Lillehammer Olympics in 1994 and were also the official cheering bells of the Salt Lake and Torino Olympics. 

Only 600 official cowbells, in two sizes (2-3/4 inches high and 4-1/2 inches high), will be sold from the official Tour Merchandise truck, making the bell a prized collectible.  Add your favorite racer’s autograph and you’ve got gold. 

Whether alone on a rural road, or in chorus with thousands of others at the finish line, cowbells create an atmosphere of excitement, add intensity to the competition and make any event that much more memorable for its spectators. “There is nothing like cowbells to pump up the crowd and bring the cyclists into the final stretch of each long day,” says Elisabeth Halvorson, founder of Cowbell.com, who relishes her ability to bring fun and excitement to events. 

The sound of cowbells has been a major part of sporting events and a key motivator for athletic competitors around the world for centuries. MOEN Bells were first produced in 1922 and are still made of iron and coated with brass recycled from spent ammunition cartridges on Norwegian military practice ranges.  Since they debuted beyond the pasture, they have been one of the most popular souvenirs at the Olympic Games.

Various teams, sponsors and communities along the route have ordered smaller, painted bells from Cowbell.com to add pep and happy noise-making to local events along the AMGEN Tour of California route. 

The official AMGEN Tour of California cowbell is available online at http://amgentourofcaliforniastore.com/product_info.php?products_id=126 and along the route.

 

About Cowbell.com

Cowbell.com adds panache to any event with specialized bells and unique ribbons that can be used as jewelry, noisemakers, decoration, or collectibles. The expert on the history and symbolism of bells, company founder Elisabeth Halvorson helps businesses, fundraisers and other organizations “ring in” excitement.  Cowbells make spectators into participants and heightens the animation and exuberance of any crowd.  The catchphrase “more cowbell” has become a popular slogan and pop culture phenomenon since being featured in a Saturday Night Live sketch with Will Ferrell and Christopher Walken.  For more information, go to http://www.cowbell.com and http://www.cowbell.com/newsroom.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Elisabeth Halvorson
Cowbell.com
415-924-8663
info@cowbell.com

Feb18/19 at event, cell 801-201-0709

###



"Every time a bell rings, an angel gets its wings, so in this business I have a lot of guardian angels!" Elisabeth Halvorson, owner of Cowbell.com, ringing up sales for the US Ski Team at World Cup Aerials and Freestyle events at Heavenly, South Lake Tahoe, CA, March. 2004.
Photo: Tom Kelly, USSA

Cowbell.com Facts



PRODUCT BACKGROUND
MOEN Bells were recognized by the world in 1994 at the Lillehammer Winter Olympics in Norway, but enjoy a much longer legacy. In 1922, Tobias Moen produced the first MOEN Bells in the picturesque town of Moi on the west coast of Norway. The bells are cut from iron sheets, formed and coated with brass recycled from spent ammunition cartridges from Norwegian military practice ranges. Each achieve a unique patina. Bells are a popular tradition at European sporting events where their distinctive cheerful clamor applauds athletes. The bells have come a long way from their original use of helping farmers find their animals lost in mountain pastures.

COMPANY HISTORY
In 1996, Elisabeth Halvorson began researching the possibility of turning her Olympic dreams into a business. Halvorson had watched Jimmie Heuga and Billy Kidd become the first Americans to medal in an alpine sport in 1964 and resolved to her parents to one day be in the Olympics herself. After a stint as a ski bum in Utah, acquiring an MBA, and working as a marketing consultant from the Norwegian government, Halvorson started her Olympic business, cowbell.com. Halvorson had learned about MOEN bells while working for the Norwegian Trade Council in San Francisco. After visiting the factory in Norway and doing some research of her own, she determined that there was potential for the bells in the North American ski and recreational industries. MOEN Bells were introduced to the North American ski industry during the 1997 Outdoor Retailer Show in Salt Lake City. While Halvorson did not follow in her heroes’ footsteps, she did find another way to participate in the Games and to cheer on the athletes she had enjoyed watching from a young age.

PRODUCTS
MOEN Bells are made and engraved in Norway. Sheets of iron are formed into bell shapes and then coated with molten metal recycled from spent ammunition cartridges. Custom engraved bells are available. The price for a MOEN Bell ranges from $15 to $186.

The product line consists of: Salt Lake 2002 Olympic Winter Games Cheering Bells, Plain Bells, Official Cheering Bell of the US SKI TEAM, Official Cheering Bell of the US Snowboard Team, Sterling Silver Micro Cheering Bell Necklaces, Custom Engraved Bells with your logo or message, Lillehammer Olympic Cheering Bells, Beaver Creek 99’, Vail 99’ Cheering Bell, and World Alpine Ski Championships 1999.

-more-

FOR INFORMATION OR TO ORDER
Contact Cowbell.com by phone, fax or e-mail:
Phone: 415-924-8663
Fax: 415-945-1812
E-mail: info@cowbell.com
Web: www.cowbell.com
Mail: 85 Granada Drive, Corte Madera, CA 94925


Holly Rudin-Braschi, Co-Hostess and Stephen Valentino, Host
 
Serves You Right® Radio
www.syrradio.com
 
Aired on Cable Radio Networks Saturdays 3-4 PM PST
to over 28-million homes nationwide

Log onto www.crni.net

Click here to listen to Part 1
Click here to listen to Part 2


OLYMPIAN RACKET FROM THE
OFFICIAL OLYMPIC COWBELL

National Public Radio - As it Happens

Here's a question. If two mittens clap in the stadium does anybody hear? Here's another: What's a Canadian spectator on the Mogul ski course to do when Jennifer Heil goes bouncing by?

Muffled mitten applause just won't do. Grab your cowbell and start ringing 'til the... um.. skiers come home with gold. Cowbell.com is the official supplier of cowbells to the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. Elizabeth Halvorson is founder of cowbell.com and she's in Corte Madera, California.


THE "BELL" OF THE OLYMPIC BALL
Thursday, January 26, 2006

By MITCH KAPLAN, Staff Writer

Sometimes childhood dreams come true. Sometimes they come true in a different form than we could imagine. Which is how Olympic dreams and cowbells can be connected.
Yes, cowbells.

At least that's Elisabeth Halvorson's story. Liz, aka the Bell Lady, grew up in Ridgewood and lives north of San Francisco in Corte Madera, Calif. She was bitten by the Olympic bug at the age of "about 7, when I first watched the Innsbruck Games on TV. I was so excited I decided right then I wanted to be in the Olympics."

Her Norwegian-born parents took the family skiing regularly, and Liz describes herself as having been "a pretty good skier, but at race camp, the speed of the downhill freaked me out. I ended up being an instructor and the youngest national ski patroller in the nation at age 15."

After college, she ski-bummed in Alta, Utah, worked in Norway for an airline and finally moved to San Francisco to earn an M.B.A. The Olympic dream had faded.

Then came the cowbells.

Working as a marketing consultant for the Norwegian Trade Council, she learned of Moen, "a little bell company in a tiny Norwegian town" that was producing cowbells with the Lillehammer Games logo. They proved to be Lillehammer's most popular souvenir.
Ski Tip of the Week

Remember in driver's ed, being taught this rule: The faster you drive, the farther down the road you must focus? The same applies to snowsliding. Focus on where you're going, and think three to five turns ahead. Practice this on an open, gentle slope. Pick out an object -- a pole, tree, flag, etc. -- that's 100 yards downhill. Ski three-quarters of the way to that object while keeping it in focus.

Laid off, she was consulting independently when the idea hit. She visited the bell people.
"I knew that Salt Lake was coming," she says. "I knew Salt Lake from being a ski bum. I knew the ski industry. I'd always wanted to be in the Olympics. I was consulting for Norwegian companies, helping them succeed in the U.S., and could help Moen. It felt like everything that had happened previously led me to become the 'Bell Lady.' "

Halvorson became the official supplier of Salt Lake Olympic-logo cowbells. And, she came away with gold. "We were the No. 2 selling product in Salt Lake behind Roots berets," she happily reports. "If you watch the video race footage, you hear bells in the background."

Halvorson's bells won three Salt Lake Olympic President's Awards -- out of a dozen awarded -- including one for best sporting equipment, even though they were used by spectators. Liz Halvorson was an Olympian.

Which begs one question: Why cowbells at ski races?

"They're the way spectators communicate with the athletes. Skiers can't hear mittens clapping," Halvorson jokes. "But, seriously, athletes have told me that it helps them perform. They hear the bells, and get this swell of pride, adrenaline and enthusiasm."
But why cowbells? Why not, say, jingle bells? Because early ski racing in Switzerland was done primarily by dairy farmers on slopes that served as summer grazing grounds. Their families used the cowbells -- each of which had a distinctive, identifying sound -- to cheer them on.

Liz Halvorson's bells are used as souvenirs for major company events and to raise funds. The New York Stock Exchange has twice rung them at closing; the Ridgewood High band has sold them as fund-raisers.
And now she's supplying Torino Olympic bells that can be bought by non-attendees on her Web site (www.cowbell.com), at USOC Spirit Stores, or in mid-February, on QVC cable television.

"The beauty of this item," she says, "is that it's a memento of an event, but you can also use it at events like your kid's soccer game."

Or to fulfill an Olympic dream.


MOVERS & SHAKERS
Cowbell.com wins Olympic product prizes.

Marin Independent Journal - Wednesday, June 5, 2002

Corte Madera-based Cowbell.com won three President's Awards from the Salt Lake Organizing committee for the Olympic Winter Games of 2002 for its official licensed products used at the Olympics.

The awards were for "Best Sports Equipment," "Best Art Product" and "Most Representative Use of SLOC Look of Games." The winners were chosen from more than 100 product submissions from the 67 licensees for the games.

Cowbell.com principal Elisabeth Halvorson said the company has imported and marketed more than 30 tons of MOEN bells from Norway since 1996.



Audiences Clamor for COWBELLS at OLYMPICS!

NATIONAL STORY PITCH/ FOR USE THROUGHOUT JAN/FEB 2002

It’s a quiet winter sports fact: Mittens don’t clap! According to Elisabeth Halvorson, founder of COWBELL.COM, another fact: When Olympians hear the roar of the crowd, it helps their performances.

Answering the need to help cheer-on the athletes at the Salt Lake 2002 Olympic Winter Games, Elisabeth became an official licensee in 1998. Since then she has supplied literally tons of cow bells with the Salt Lake Olympic logo.

There’s no doubt about it: you always know when Elisabeth is in the crowd.
“Hey, don’t fight it, just get out there and ring! Make some noise and save your vocal cords at the same time,” says Halvorson. “Have FUN! That’s what it’s all about. Support the athletes, ring your bell and have a great time as a spectator.”

Elisabeth Halvorson has been a regular at Olympic test events where she has been providing children with “loaner bells” to ring and explaining Bell Ringing Etiquette.

“Bell ringing etiquette is good sportsmanship: Number one is to have FUN, two, is to ring for everyone, three, is not to ring in anybody’s ear. The kids light up when I tell them the rules…they know they can handle it”, adds Halvorson.

To date, Cowbell.com has imported more than 20 tons of MOEN Bells from Norway. The bells are engraved with logos including the Salt Lake 2002 Olympic Winter Games, Olympic Torch Relay, US Ski Team and others. They are cut from iron sheets, formed and coated with brass recycled from spent ammunition cartridges from Norwegian military practice ranges. Each achieves a unique patina.

MOEN Bells were recognized around the world in 1994 at the Lillehammer Winter Olympics in Norway. But, the bells enjoy a much older legacy. The first MOEN Bells were produced in 1922 by Tobias Moen in the little town of Moi on Norway’s west coast.

Norwegians adopted the bell ringing tradition from the Swiss, who have rung bells at sporting events for generations. Today, bells are a popular tradition at European sporting events where their distinctive sound applauds athletes. “Bells have come a long way from their original use –helping farmers find animals lost in mountain pastures,” said Halvorson. “We expect the Salt Lake 2002 Cheering Bells to be among the top selling souvenirs during the games. They are a ringing success! Useful too.”

About Elisabeth Halvorson:
From her earliest memories, Elisabeth has wanted to be involved in the Olympics. After stints as a ski bum in Utah, getting an MBA and six years as a marketing consultant for the Norwegian government, the bell business has brought life full circle and has made her Olympic dream come true – Elisabeth is a lively interview and provides resounding media presentation that will ring true with your audience!



She never asks for whom the cowbells toll
Corte Madera woman changing spectator sports

July 7, 2002, San Francisco Chronicle
By Dwight Chapin, Chronicle Senior Writer

The bells are ringing. And ringing. And ringing.

You’re liable to hear the distinctive sound of Elisabeth Halvorson’s cowbells at sporting events just about anywhere these days, from the Salt Lake City Olympics to the Lakers-Kings NBA playoff games in Sacramento to the Grand National Rodeo at the Cow Palace.

Over the last six years, Halvorson’s small business – Cowbell.com of Corte Madera – has made a big noise, selling more than 30 tons of bells, including 100,000-plus at the Winter Games in Salt Lake City earlier this year.

?It was just amazing,? she said. ?We sold out on the fourth day at the Olympics, and the factory in Norway was working three shifts a day to keep up.?

Then last month the Sacramento Kings bought a sizable amount of Halvorson’s bells through a middleman, apparently to assault the senses of the Lakers in a clanging chorus of metallic syncopation.

Halvorson didn’t say no to the Kings’ order, although she says the purpose of the bells ostensibly is to encourage rather than annoy.

?I can’t control the way they’re used,? Halvorson said, ?but I like to see them used to support athletes rather than distract them. They’re a communication between the athletes and spectators. They do save the vocal chords – you don’t get hoarse from yelling.?

Halvorson notes that cowbells have been employed for years in European countries to cheer on athletes.

Halvorson, who says she was a ?ski bum,? has an MBA in finance from USF and worked six years as a senior marketing consultant at the Norwegian Trade Council in San Francisco. But shortly after she was laid off in 1994, she and her husband, David visited the Moen bell factory while they were traveling in Norway and a business idea was born.

Halvorson introduced Moen bells, which are made of spent bullet casings collected from Norwegian military practice ranges, to the North American ski industry in 1997. And a year later she provided cheering bells for the U.S. Ski Team and the Jamaican bobsled team.

Then came the big deal, with the 2002 Winter Olympics.

The Salt Lake City organizers chose bells – which had been a hit at the Lillehammer Olympics in 1994 – over horns as the official noisemakers of the Utah Games.

?A cowbell is something you can keep forever,? SLOC licensing director Rod Hamson said in announcing the deal. ?Once the Games are over, there are other sporting events where you can take it with you.?

Halvorson’s first task was to start educating American fans on what to do with cowbells.

?I went to all the test events – skiing, bobsledding, luge, skeleton – and handed out loaner bells to kids,? she said. ?By the time Olympics got there, everybody had a bell, and knew what to do with it.?

Halvorson’s products were such a ringing success that one of the Moen cheering bells tied for first in SLOC judging of the Games’ Best Sports Equipment (for spectators) category, and a larger version won for Best Art Product.

Halvorson’s full line, which can be viewed online at cowbell.com, includes bells in seven different sizes, most of which sell in the $20 to $60 range.

?We’re still selling Salt Lake bells,? she said. ?They can be signed by athletes, and the autographed versions have gone for as much as $3,500 to help benefit non-profit organizations.?

Despite brisk sales, Halvorson’s company has remained small.

?We’re lean and mean,? she said. ?It’s just me and one sales representative.?

But the possibilities seem almost endless.

The bells have been used at National Hockey League games, Davis Cup matches, at marathons, at mountain bike races, anywhere where noise is (or in some cases isn’t) appropriate.

Halvorson now has her eye on the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy.

And she thoroughly relishes her unlikely role as an MBA turned cowbell saleswoman.

“Things have really fallen into place for me,” she said. “I think I’m in a heavenly business.”

A Norwegian-American Entrepreneur
Who Sets Olympic Spirit Ringing

Norway Times April 11, 2002 By Gloria Geannette

Elisabeth Halvorson lives in California now, but her Norwegian roots have never left her. In fact, it is her Norwegian ancestry that helped her fulfill her Olympic dream this year in Salt Lake City. Although she wasn't schussing through the slalom gates, her bells were heard on the sidelines. That's because her company, Cowbell.com, was the official supplier of the cowbells used for cheering at the Olympics.

"The bells were the number two sought-after item at the Olympics after the berets," said Halvorson, who sold more than 100,000 Salt Lake Olympic bells. "They're still a hot seller even now after the Olympics," she added.

Halvorson's company has imported more than 20 tons of Moen Bells from Norway. The bells are engraved with logos including the Salt Lake 2002 Olympic Winter Games, Olympic Torch Relay, U.S. Ski Team and others. They are cast from iron sheets, formed and coasted with brass recycled from spent ammunition cartridges from Norwegian practice ranges. In the last seven years SAS has shipped more than 40 tons of bells for Halvorson's company.

Although bell ringing at sporting events is relatively new in the United States, cowbells have of course been used for generations by Norwegians who adopted the tradition from the Swiss. "Cowbells were easily available in the barns," said Halvorson, "so fans could just grab one and ring it to cheer on ski racers."

Halvorson knew about cowbells and skiing from her parents, Hans and Else Ege, who emigrated to the United States from Norway. They introduced her to skiing when she was only 18 months old with a pair of tiny yellow "Lilliputian" skis. "My mom taught all of the kids in the neighborhood," said Halvorson. "We would ski down our neighbor's front yard in New Jersey and when we were a little older she would pack us all up and take us to Bear Mountain in New York to ski."

In high school, Halvorson became a ski patroller (at 15, she was the youngest in the nation) and a ski instructor at Camp Gaw Mountain in Mahwah, N.J. She also worked at Ski Barn during high school and had a short stint in Utah during the '70's as a ski bum. "I was totally immersed in skiing," said Halvorson.

The 1964 Winter Olympics televised from Squaw Valley (correction, Innsbruk) were the first ones to catch the young skier's eye. "Jimmie Heuga and Billy Kidd were the first Americans ever to medal in an alpine sport when they won bronze and silver. I was jumping up and down and kissing the T.V. and said to my parents, "I want to be in the Olympics."

Now that she has been at the Olympics, albeit as an official licensee rather than as a competitor, Halvorson feels that her dream has been fulfilled. She even attended a reception for Norway's Crown Prince Haakon. That invitation of a lifetime was thanks to the efforts of family friend Able Abrahamsen.

Through the years she has also met her original two childhood heroes and many more celebrities from would sports, including Picabo Street and Tommy Moe. "I got to ski with Billy Kidd and got to do programs with Jimmie Heuga to help raise money for his center for people with multiple sclerosis. These were my heros who got me involved with the Olympics, and I got to ski with one and raise money with both of them. It was a real treat," she said enthusiastically.

Halvorson inherited not only a love for skiing but also an affinity for all things Norwegian from her parents and that's how she came to found her business. Although she was born in the United Sates, she has dual citizenship.

After graduating from Ridgewood High School in 1975, she attended Nasson College in Maine and then the University of San Francisco for her MBA.

There she met husband David. Later she worked for six years at the Norwegian Consulate in San Francisco as a Senior marketing Consultant for the Norwegian Trade Council.

When that job ended, Halvorson felt that she needed a break. "I was burned out so I took a year off. That Christmas we went to Norway to visit relatives and also took tours," she said. When she visited the MOEN Bell Factory, ideas started to click, but it took many years to go from the original idea all the way to the 2002 Olympics.

Aside from making money and meeting her childhood heroes, Halvorson also feels that she is supporting the Olympians both financially and morally. Some of the proceeds go to the U.S. Ski Team or the Salt Lake Olympic Organizing Committee. As far as moral support goes, the athletes appreciate the fans who ring the cowbells. Since racers wear helmets new, they can't hear normal clapping, and as Halvorson loves to point out, "Mittens don't clap!"

Halvorson was recently interviewed by the local Park City television station by Sean Smith, a commentator who had been a mogul competitor at the 1994 Olympics. "He told me that he remembered the bells from Lillehammer and that when he was on top of the mountain and heard the roar of the crowd and heard all the bells he knew he had to give the crowd a good show," said Halvorson.

My goal is to have them (the bells) filter down to kids' soccer and little league," she said. At the Olympics they were rung at the ski events, for snowboarding, luge, bobsledding and hockey among other sports. To encourage the use of her bells, Halvorson took them to the test events in Utah over the past four years. "In Norway it's usually standing room only at outside events, but in the United States sometimes not even the parents will go. I try to make it more fun by bringing the bells." When she brought loaner bells to bobsled races, she told children that ringing them would make the sledders go faster.

Children love doing it," she said.

Halvorson's Olympic dreams are ongoing. "We're considering a contract for the Torino Olympics," she said enthusiastically.

For more information about the bells, visit www.cowbell.com


Entrepreneur Brings Old World Tradition to Vail '99

Vail Daily, July 12, 1998

What does a nice Norwegian lady from the Bay Area with a master's degree in business administration and a background in foreign consulate work do for a living'?

She sells cowbells, of course. But not just any old cowbells.

Elisabeth Halvorson, president of Nordic Connections (company name changed to Cowbell.com in 2000) and distributor of Moen cheering bells, parlayed her heritage and business background into a new venture two years back that's taken her around the globe and into premiere winter sports venues.

Norway adopted the tradition of ringing bells at sporting events from the Swiss, who have been saving their vocal chords with a little help from the bovine accouterments for years.

Halvorson brought the concept to North America.

"I started doing research for a business plan in 1996," said Halvorson, who spent the previous six years as a consultant for the Norwegian Trade Council a the consulate in San Francisco.

'After a couple of initial sales calls to test the response. Moen bells were introduced to the North American ski industry at the outdoor retailer show in January 1997.

"At the 1998 outdoor retailer show, we introduced the U.S. Ski Team cheering bell and the Jamaican Bobsled Team bell. During the SIA (SnowSports Industries America) show, we announced the Salt Lake 2002 Olympics cheering bell and

bells for the 1999 World Alpine (Ski) Championships in Vail and Beaver Creek."

For Vail '99, the bells are available in a variety of commemorative logos and finishes, including a multitude of sizes from two inches high to limited-edition, jumbo-sized ringers that might even weigh Bessie down.

And, speaking of Bessie, the bells have a more distant origan than saving the pipes—a use still in practice today.

"In Norway and many other European countries, farmers bell all their livestock so that they can find the animals lost in mountain pastures," Halvorson said. "A farmer can often tell which animal is missing by the sound of the bell. Individually-crafted bells have slightly different sounds."

The formed-iron Moen bells are coated with metal recycled from spent ammunition cartridges gathered from practice ranges used by the Norwegian military. The coating process gives each piece its own unique patina. Finishes are available in gold and silver tones.

Halvorson, who first came to Vail from the East Coast as a college student and "never went back to East Coast S~kiing," admits she's made an

unlikely career out of marketing what she calls "the Tiffany of animal bells."

"I have an MBA, and I sell cowbells," she chuckled. It's all part of Halvorson's pioneering spirit. The trade consultant turned bell peddler once had the distinction, at age 15, of being the youngest nationally certified ski patroller in the United States.

And when the games begin Jan. 31, it's Halvorson's goal that tomorrow's champions will be rung in with the distinct sounds of the Old World.

Moen bells are available locally at Banner Sports, Curtain-Hill Sports, Kenny's Double Diamond and Off Piste Sports, and at Vail Associates retail locations including Aerie at Eagle's Nest. Beaver Creek Sports and Spruce Saddle.


Official Olympic Cowbells Make Their Debut
With--What Else?--a Bell Choir

Salt Lake Tribune, April 25, 1998


Ogden's St Paul Bell Choir will perform three times today to call attention to the arrival in Utah of the cowbells being promoted by the Salt lake Organizing Committee (SLOC) as the official noisemaker of the 2002 Winter Games.

These programs are at 11 a.m. at the Radisson Suites Hotel in Ogden (in conjunction with the "Springtime in Wasatch" Olympic lapel-pin show); at 1 p.m. at the Ogden J.C. Penney store; and at 2:30 p.m. at the J.C. Penney store at Valley Fair Mall in West Valley City.

Directed by Terry Miller, the 16-member choir was formed in 1989 as a memorial to Marvin Stipe, whose family bought the bells used in performances.

Shipments of the limited-edition "Olympic Friendship Cheering Bell," engraved with the logos of Salt Lake City and Nagano, Japan, this year's Winter Olympics Host reached Utah on Monday from the Moen Bell Factory in Norway.

Moen's cow and sheep bells are licensed SLOC products.

Elisabeth halvorson of Nordic Connections (now Cowbell.com), which is importing Moen Bells, said about 1,300 of the 2002 limited-edition bells already have been sold for about $25 a piece.

Park City Ski Club members have helped package the remaining bells for sale at various retail outlets including the Salt Lake City International Airport gift shop, the Salt Lake Convention & Visitors Center in the Salt Palace, J.C. Penney stores along the Wasatch Front, Doubletree Hotel in Salt Lake City, the ZCMI Mall souvenir shop, SLOC's store and Olympic Spirit stores in Park City and in Salt Lake City at Trolley Square and Crossroads Mall.


2002 to Clang With Cow, Goat and Sheep Bells

Salt Lake Tribune, March 4, 1998

Cow, sheep and goat bells engraved with the SLOC logo will go on sale next month, according to a licensing agreement with Moen Bell Factory of Norway. It was one of three agreements that SLOC announced Tuesday in Las Vegas at the Ski Industry of America Ski Show.

Other agreements were signed with:

• EK Ekcessories of Logan, a manufacturer of eyeglass retainers, identification badge lanyards, key rings and zipper pulls.

• Dale of Norway, Norway's leading knitwear manufacturer and the largest distributor of Norwegian ski sweaters in the United. States. Sweaters for SLOC will incorporate patterns of Utah's landscape and heritage including pine trees, ski runs, flowers and American Indian culture.

SLOC will receive a percentage of the product sales by each licensee.

The sound of spectators ringing bells wa4 everywhere at the 1994 Winter Games in Lillehammer, Norway. At last month's Olympics in Nagano, horns were the preferred noisemakers.

"We decided to go back to Lillehammer's experience and do the bells," said SLOC licensing director Rod Hanson. "A cow bell is something you can keep forever. Once the [2002] Games are over, there are other sporting event where you can ta}e It with you."

Having noisemakers contributes to Olympic ambiance, generating considerable

noise at outdoor venues. "What we saw in Norway was that the cheering bells
gave' the fans a chance to get involved," said Hanson. "No matter what country a competitor or racer came from, it gave spectators a chance to cheer them on and have fun. We saw the bells as a legacy we wanted to continue."

SLOC reached the agreement through Elisabeth Halvorson, a self-described onetime ski bum" who spent part of two winters (1977 and '78) living and working at Alta Lodge.

Halvorson's. company, Nordic Connections, is the importer and coordinator for Moen Bell Factory of Norway. The company has made the rectangular bells since 1922 to help Norwegian farmers find their sheep, cattle and goats in that country's hard-to-reach mountain valleys.

The bells come in seven sizes, from less than 3 inches (for sheep) to a foot tall. They are made 4f iron with a coating of recycled bullet casings collected from the Norwegian millitary practice range.

"From bullets to bells," said Halvorson, who was a senior marketing executive for the Norwegian Trade Office after her day8 of "6~ing and skiing" at Alta.

That Utah connection helped prompt Halvorson to establish contacts with SLOC shortly after Nordic Connections decided not to pursue a Licensing agreement with the Atlanta committee for the 1998 Summer Games.

"They wouldn't allow the bells into venues. We figured if Joe Schmo bought a bell, it would be important not to have to leave it outside the venue," Halvorson said.

That will not be a concern in Utah, said Hanson. The first, limited-edition set of 2,002 bells should go on sale around April 1 in retail outlets where SLOC merchandise 19 sold. That set is described as a "Friendship Bell," with SLOC's logo on one side and Nagano's on the other.

Standard bells of a half-dozen sizes should go on sale in May. Prices have,yet to be determined. SLOC hopes that 250,000 to 300,000 will be sold by 2002. An estimated 350,000 were purchased in Lillehammer, Hanson said.


Nordic Connections introduces
MOEN Bells to U.S. Ski industry


Everyone celebrated at the Norwegian Salmon Party during the Outdoor Retailer On-Snow Demo at Solitude Ski Area. Over 600 guests applauded Swix Sports’ 50th anniversary while MOEN Bells debuted for the US ski market with their own noisy clamor. The Norwegian-made, golden-colored bells are being Introduced to the U5. ski market by Nordic Connections, a trade and marketing management firm headed by Elisabeth Ege Halvorson and based In Corte Madera, CA. The company targeted the ski industry last September, becoming a CCSAA member in October.

“Our membership has already given us great exposure. Our first e-mall order was a result of the CCSAA listing in a ski magazine, and many people at the OR show said they saw our classified ad in ski magazines,” said Elisabeth.

Elisabeth's Norway connection Is a natural, as are her links to the ski Industry. A Senior Marketing Consultant with the Norwegian Trade Council in San Francisco for six years, Elisabeth holds an M.B.A. degree and has lived in Norway. Before moving to California where she now lives with her husband, David, she was an avid skier, and a ski Instructor back East. When MOEN Bells wanted to launch its product In U.S. markets, Elisabeth offered perfect qualifications.

MOEN Bells first hit International air waves in 1994 at the Winter Olympics In Lillehammer, Norway. Although the bells have been made since 1922 by MOEN B)bjoellefabrikk (Bell Factory) A/S, the popular Lillehammer Olympic Cheering Bell put the company on the map. Its custom engraved bells are now available In this country through Nordic Connections, Its exclusive North American office. The response has
been more than enthusiastic Elisabeth Is thrilled with the response from the ski Industry. 'People say they've been looking for a high-quality bell. me fact that we can custom engrave a logo or event Information on bells and deliver within three to six weeks Is an unbeatableable selling point,'she explains.

She Is also appreciative of the fact that other Importers of Norwegian products have been very supportive of her efforts to gain exposure for MOEN Bells. At the Outdoor retailer Show In Salt Lake city MOEN Bells were displayed at the booths of Madshus Swix, Helly-Hansen, Devold, Dale, and Alpina. In Las Vegas at the SIA show, the bells will again share a booth with Madshus, plus be on display with the same Norwegian sporting goods companies.

the first MOEN bells were produced In 1922 by Tobias Moen In the picturesque little town of Moi on the west coast of Norway. me golden-colored bells are available In sizes from small to gigantic (2-3/4” (71mm) to 11-1/2” (290mm)). Cut from iron sheets, the bells are formed and coated with brass recycled from spent ammunition cartridges used at Norwegian military practice ranges. Each has a brass patina that can be highly polished, bronzed, or left with a natural antique finish. All bells can be custom engraved on both sides and produced as limited editlons. Limited-edition event bells can also be made In sterling silver.

As unique, limited edition, collectible commemorative items, MOEN Bells are proving a great success and ringlng out all over the U.S. they are the bells of choice for the Stein Eriksen Lodge, the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club, Sunday River Ski Area, Sugarloaf Mountain
Ski Club, the Hannes Schnelder Melster Cup Race, Klillngton Ski Area, the Jasper Junlor Olympics, the Alaska Nordic Championships, and several Nordic clubs and specialty shops.

Without a doubt, the bells have come a long way from their original use-helping farmers locate animals lost In the mountains of Norway.

Listen for MOEN Bells and find Elisabeth Halvorson at the Madshus Booth #2187 at the upcoming SIA Show In Las Vegas. She Invites everyone to drop by and make a little noise.

For more information on priding, sizes and engraving options, contact Nordic Connections (AKA Cowbell.com) : Exclusive North American Supplier of MOEN Bell Factory of Norway, 85 Granada Drive, Corte Madera, CA 94925 (415)924-8663 fax: (415)945-1812 e-mall: info@cowbell.com

- Artide by Judith Dern, Seattle, WA


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