Thirty-five Rotarians, their relatives and friends rang bells as part of our effort and provided 115.5 hours of Service Above Self!- The following people rang twice or more and received a small Salvation Army bell and lanyard in recognition of their service: Arthur & Caroline Baihly, Josef Chlachula, Mark Dripps, Sara Gilliland, Phil Karsell, Bob Mueller, Fred Suhler, Andrew & Mel Trimble, and John Woodruff.
- Sara Gilliland and John Woodruff each rang three times and Mark Dripps rang four times.
- This year's Make a Joyful Noise Award goes to Josef Chlachula and Fred Suhler (pictured) who each rang five times!
- Our kettles secured a total of $7,505.54 in gifts. That represents an average of $1,250.92 per week and $113.72 per hour of ringing!
My sincere thanks to everyone who rang this year...your voluntary support made a huge difference! Major Bob says that an unmanned kettle is an empty kettle, and I believe that he is exactly right. Let me add special thanks to Mark Dripps who served as co-chair this year. He recruited, reported and rang at every opportunity and was a tremendous help. Thank you Mark!
I also want to thank Jim Sloan who took on the job of sending notes of appreciation to our bell ringers each week. Many thanks Jim! Finally, I want to thank Amber Benike for her support in sending out reminders and maintaining our sign up sheets on the website. So, thank you, everyone. Your time and your service will help many in our community have a happy holiday and better times in the year ahead. Let's enjoy that thought and do it again next year!