Answering the bell
MAUREEN DOLAN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 13 years, 5 months AGO
HAYDEN - Dale Eller was "a little cold and tired" by 10 a.m. Saturday, but he was still smiling and ringing his bell.
Bundled in a heavy parka, with the Salvation Army's signature red bell ringer apron tied on over it, Eller was completing his 26th straight hour of keeping the ringing going while collecting donations outside the Walmart store in Hayden.
The previous record, set last year, is 37 hours, Eller said. He's shooting for 48.
"The record is really secondary," Eller said.
It's about raising awareness about people in need while doing something to help them, he said, and hopefully inspiring others to do the same.
"We may feel we don't have the ability to change the world, but we do have the ability to change our community," Eller said.
Shoppers streamed in and out of the store early Saturday, and all the while, Eller kept shaking the bell, never stopping. He had been doing it since early Friday, only leaving his post to use the restroom, and even then, he kept the ringing going, using bells attached to his boots.
Outside the store, the sound of the hand bell and the sight of Eller by the door prompted people walking across the parking lot to start reaching for something to give. Women dug in their purses and men reached into their pockets for something to put in the red kettle.
Over and over, Eller said, "Thank you. Merry Christmas. God Bless you."
"It isn't very much, but it's all I had in my purse," said one woman, as she placed coins in the kettle.
That's what it's all about, Eller said. Anyone can help by just looking under the cushions on their couch or under the seats of their car. Every penny helps.
Eller said he knows there are people out there without any change to spare.
Perhaps that's why everyone gets a smile and a hello from Eller, whether they want to make eye contact or not, regardless of whether they put something in the kettle.
"I think people want to feel connected, and those that are not, feel even more so at this time of year," he said.
A single dad who lives in Hayden Lake, Eller, 52, works for the Salvation Army, as a fitness coach at the Kroc Center in Coeur d'Alene.
Eller said he's received a lot of encouragement from people he knows from throughout the community - friends, Salvation Army majors and managers, many of his peers.
"It's made me reflect on how fortunate I am to have that support. I couldn't imagine being cold and hungry and not having anyone there for me," Eller said.
Nancy Lowery, aquatic manager at the Kroc Center, said if anyone has the stamina to endure two straight days of bell ringing, it's Eller.
"He can plank longer than any person I know," Lowery said with a laugh. "He's so physically fit."
Eller is the kind of guy who just likes to give, she said.
In his work at the Kroc Center and through other community service activities he has participated in, Eller said he has come to know many people who are struggling to get by. Many of them are homeless, but not all.
"When we think of poverty, we might think of the homeless, but there are a lot of people out there who are choosing to skip meals so they can pay their electric bills or put gas in their cars," Eller said.
Staff writer Alecia Warren contributed to this story.
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