Ring those bells: Chamber red kettle day is Dec. 2
From left, Cassie Herman and Julita Ward, both of Columbia Falls, ring bells for the Salvation Army in front of the Super 1 Foods store in Evergreen during a past Chamber of Commerce red kettle ring-off competition. (Daily Inter Lake file)
Every year, the Salvation Army of Kalispell promotes Chamber Ring Off Day — an opportunity for the local Chambers of Commerce to ring the bell at one of the iconic red kettles and see which Chamber can raise the most donations.
Competing this year are the Bigfork Chamber of Commerce at Harvest Foods in Bigfork, Whitefish Chamber of Commerce at Super 1 Foods in Whitefish, Evergreen Chamber of Commerce at Super 1 Evergreen, and Columbia Falls Chamber of Commerce at Super 1 in Columbia Falls.
Each Chamber has agreed to dedicate Thursday, Dec. 2, to Chamber Ring Off Day and on that day will be raising as much as they can. The Chamber that raises the most gets bragging rights and community pride. The winner will be announced the following day.
But the competition doesn’t stop there. The competition for the “Traveling Chamber Trophy” goes on through the entire season, giving everyone more opportunity to keep on ringing.
This year, there will also be a Flathead County Chamber Ring Off - PLUS Campaign. Each Chamber has its own online Virtual Kettle that it can share on its website, Facebook page and other social media outlets. The money raised in the Chamber’s Virtual Kettle adds to its total of the overall donations raised.
Plus, there are still more opportunities for each Chamber to win the “Traveling Chamber Trophy” — If a Chamber’s ambassador represents their Chamber by ringing any other time during the kettle season, those donations will also go toward that Chamber’s overall donations.
At the end of the season, the Chamber that has raised the most donations over the entire season will win the “Traveling Chamber Trophy,” currently held by the Bigfork Chamber.
This keeps the spirit of competition going through the whole season.