Salvation Army: A Change in Tactic

[wwcitizen]

As a kid I played handbells in the church choir, and because I was a pretty strong, bigger kid, I was given the larger handbells at the bottom of the table. The bells were made out of brass with leather cover h It was pretty cool because there were more bigger bells for one person to play than other sets, so I had more to do. The ritual was something I looked forward to - from the rehearsal sessions, dressing up in long Christmas-colored robes over top my Sunday best. It was fun to take out all the bells and place them on the red velour-covered table at the front of the sanctuary. The handbell choir directors always enjoyed giving me more and more to deal with because they realized that I enjoyed the more difficult lower octave work. If you've never played handbells, but have seen them in action, good players make the ringing look easy and almost effortless. But believe me, it takes a while to make sure you're picking up the right bell at the right moment, placing that (big!!) bell back on the table while a song is underway, and not hitting other bells around me - my other ones or my neighbor's bells.

This morning, I discovered that, at least for the PATH station at the World Trade Center, the Salvation Army has changed its tactics for gathering holiday donations. They have incorporated real handbells with leather straps and brass bells. Thing is, the two double sets of brass handbells were being played along side and in step with music blaring from a boom box on the ground next to their collection bucket. It was odd, and I actually did a double-take when I passed them at the mouth of the PATH station. Truly a sight to see.