Columbia Falls wins kettle competition
<p>Columbia Falls city staffers raised the most money in the Salvation Army’s Red Kettle Drive on Thursday. In the back row, from left, are Smith’s Food and Drug manager Art Williams, Fire Chief Rick Hagen, B.J. Hader, Gene Woods, Justin Breck, Mike Shepard, Doug Karper, Police Chief Dave Perry and Grady Jenkins. In the front row are City Council members Darin Fisher and Julie Plevel, City Manager Susan Nicosia, Mayor Don Barnhart, Salvation Army Maj. Steve Svenson and Deputy Clerk Nona Douglas. Smith’s matched the donations up to $500.</p>
After a full day of ringing bells on Thursday for the Salvation Army’s red-kettle campaign, it was the city of Columbia Falls that came out on top in a friendly competition among six communities in the Flathead Valley.
Columbia Falls raised $1,909.11 during the first annual competitive “Ring Day,” but Evergreen wasn’t far behind. Evergreen Chamber of Commerce volunteers collected $1,724.20.
All totaled, the communities raised $6,992.94 during the six-hour bell-ringing blitz.
“The enthusiasm from each of the six communities was beyond our expectation,” Salvation Army Director of Development Bob Blake said. “This is a 423 percent increase over what we would expect from these sites on a normal day.”
Each community stationed volunteer ringers at local grocery stores.
The Bigfork Chamber of Commerce came in third with $1,473.19 collected at Harvest Foods.
In fourth place was the city of Whitefish, with $801.62.
The city of Kalispell raised $708.11 and the Lakeside Chamber of Commerce brought in $376.71.
The Salvation Army uses the kettle collections to provide a variety of services to those who need food, clothing and emergency assistance. Its mission is to meet human needs without discrimination.