Salvation Army Volunteer Does More Than Ring a Bell
By: Jay Dillon
Updated: December 3, 2012
The bells you hear when you head into the grocery store are always a dead giveaway that Christmas is almost here. But one Salvation Army volunteer is using his talents as a singer to draw attention to the cause.
This is not the great Carnegie Hall, but it is the hall that leads you in to Fred Meyer and the sounds you'll hear this time of year go far beyond what you might expect from someone holding that little red bell.
Customer John Reed is a big fan of his singing.
"I love it, he knows the words to every song."
Just ringing the bell at the red kettle didn't seem enough for Dave Farmer. When he started ringing three years ago he soon discovered the fine acoustics the hall had to offer
"I noticed there was a great echo in this room. I just got the courage to sing a song one day when no body was between the doors," Farmer said. So singing stuck.
Farmer, a former construction worker and pastor, says he's got a God-given-talent to sing and credits his faith to be able to that his entire shift, with bell in hand.
"I sing about 5.5 hours a day, last year I almost sang 6.5 hours a day," Farmer said.
Laid off with little work, it seemed singing and donating his time was the right thing to do, and the only thing until he was offered back his construction job this year. So with only his faith and a butterscotch trick, he says it coats his throat while he sings, Farmer sings on, in the hall that just seemed a perfect fit
This is not the great Carnegie Hall, but it is the hall that leads you in to Fred Meyer and the sounds you'll hear this time of year go far beyond what you might expect from someone holding that little red bell.
Customer John Reed is a big fan of his singing.
"I love it, he knows the words to every song."
Just ringing the bell at the red kettle didn't seem enough for Dave Farmer. When he started ringing three years ago he soon discovered the fine acoustics the hall had to offer
"I noticed there was a great echo in this room. I just got the courage to sing a song one day when no body was between the doors," Farmer said. So singing stuck.
Farmer, a former construction worker and pastor, says he's got a God-given-talent to sing and credits his faith to be able to that his entire shift, with bell in hand.
"I sing about 5.5 hours a day, last year I almost sang 6.5 hours a day," Farmer said.
Laid off with little work, it seemed singing and donating his time was the right thing to do, and the only thing until he was offered back his construction job this year. So with only his faith and a butterscotch trick, he says it coats his throat while he sings, Farmer sings on, in the hall that just seemed a perfect fit
