Hear that?
Well, not just yet – but it won’t be long.
Soon, the ringing will be the air.
Consider it a call to service for those less fortunate.
Said ringing will come from the handbells wielded by Salvation Army volunteers and workers across the region.
Those bellringers will be positioned next to the Salvation Army’s signature red kettles that will be placed starting in November at public spots in Monongalia, Preston and Marion counties.
“For a lot of people, those bells are the sound of the season,” Salvation Army Capt. Dennis Smith said.
He leads the local effort here with his wife Jane, who also shares the same rank.
The couple headed a post in inner-city Baltimore before coming to West Virginia and the Mercer County detachment in Bluefield.
This will be their second Christmas in Morgantown, Smith said.
“You have a very generous community here,” he continued. “It’s too bad the weather didn’t cooperate.”
He’s referring to last year’s unprecedented “bomb cyclone,” which tore through the region right before Christmas.
The weather pattern sent the mercury on a dangerous, sub-arctic plummet. Windchills in the swirling snow carried lethal levels. Smith called the campaign early.
“We had to keep our people safe,” he said. “That was serious cold.”
Meanwhile, the kettle campaign is a serious fundraiser, the captain said.
What goes in the kettle is brought right back out to the community, Smith said.
Coins and currency help the Salvation Army stage its annual turkey and ham dinners for Thanksgiving and Christmas, he said.
The seasonal offering helps all year long, he continued.
From its new location on Scott Avenue at Hazel’s House of Hope, the Salvation Army serves daily meals and now has a place where people without a permanent roof over their heads can go for a shower.
Smith hopes the kettles this year will generate $125,000 to $150,000.
“That’s what we’re hoping for,” he said. “The money goes for everything.”
The Salvation Army, meanwhile, has budgeted an allotment for the people who step up and ring the bell this year.
Bellringers can make $9.50 an hour, Smith said.
Applications will soon be available online at Indeed, the job-hunting website.
Visit indeed.com and type “Salvation Army Morgantown” in the search field.
The bell-ringing campaign always runs in tandem with the Angel Tree drive, which ensures gifts of clothes and toys under the tree for children from families in economic need.
Full details are available at saangeltree.org, the captain said.
If you can help, that’s to be commended, he said. And if you need help, he added – there’s no shame.
“At some point you’re going to experience economic hardship,” he said.
“And it breaks my heart to think of a kid not being able to experience Christmas morning.”
