Business

Salvation Army signing up bell-ringers

Published

4 years ago

October 30, 2019

Brad Williams

A familiar sound will start up soon in the La Crosse area.

In the weeks leading up to Christmas, the Salvation Army red kettle bell campaign begins Nov. 9.

Local volunteer coordinator Alex Riley says they’ve lost traditional kettle sites such as Gander Mountain and Shopko stores in the last year.

So there may be more kettles in downtown La Crosse as a result, such as a site in front of the Batavian Building on Main Street.

There are 2,600 bell ringing shifts to fill for the holidays, at about two dozen locations throughout La Crosse County.

Riley says they were able to keep the kettles manned about 80 percent of the time last year, and still met the La Crosse goal of $850,000.

A pancake kickoff breakfast is planned Nov. 8 at the Salvation Army gym on 8th Street.

The website where you can volunteer to man the kettles is www.RegisterToRing.com.

Brad Williams

A native of Prairie du Chien, Brad graduated from UW - La Crosse and has worked in radio news for more than 30 years, mostly in the La Crosse area. He regularly covers local courts and city and county government. Brad produces the features "Yesterday in La Crosse" and "What's Buried on Brad's Desk." He also writes the website "Triviazoids," which finds odd connections between events that happen on a certain date, and he writes and performs with the local comedy group Heart of La Crosse. Brad been featured on several national TV programs because of his memory skills.