Yes, it's true. I was in bell choir as a child. I am in the front row, far left. The little girl with the feathered bangs. Oh wait, we all had feathered bangs back then!
I remember feeling fancy because I got to wear white gloves while playing the bells. I also remember that when you struck a note out of turn it was very noticeable. Our bell choir mostly performed for church and Christmas musicals.
I always wanted to play the tiny high-note bells, but for some reason never got to. These were more complicated parts and I was always too busy running around outside to really put in much extra bell practice. Ohhhhh, but think how that could have paid off had I stuck with the bell-playing!