Salvation Army Major Participates in Bell Ringing Contest at Colton WalMart

Three o'clock on Wednesday afternoon, Dec. 4, marked the 30th hour of bell ringing for Salvation Army Mjr. Marcelino "Butch" Soriano in his quest to reach 100 hours of bell ringing in the Salvation Army's Third Annual World Record Bell Ringing Contest. At 1 p.m. Saturday, Mjr. Soriano reached his 100 hour goal and became part of a group of record holders for the contest at the Walmart in Colton. Soriano shares the title with two other bell ringers: Captain James Brickson of Albert Lea, Minn., and Andre Thompson from Tyler, Texas. In his first 24 hours of ringing, Soriano had managed to raise a total of $731.21 toward his other goal: to raise $10,000. In total, he raised $2,445.29 between Tuesday and last Saturday. Colton shoppers and other visitors to the WalMart Supercenter on South Mount Vernon Avenue - a decided Salvation Army kettle location - had the chance to hear Soriano's bell ringing and give him words of encouragement and other donations. He was one of six people competing in the contest this year at kettle locations in California, Minnesota, Montana and Texas, all aiming to set a new world record in the Salvation-Army bell ringing contest to help raise both funds for and awareness of the Salvation Army. Soriano, a second year veteran to the contest, rang his bell for 51 hours outside a WalMart center in San Fransisco in the contest last year. Eventually, he had to take himself out of the contest due to hunger and extreme leg cramping. This year, rules have changed to allow eating during breaks; rules dictate five minutes of rest for every hour of ringing. With these new rules, Soriano has his sights set on the goal, and that's to beat last year's record of 80 hours of bell ringing by 20 hours. Standing merrily next to his bright red kettle, Soriano happily greeted people walking by and thanked those who donated to the organization on Wednesday afternoon. As he was ringing his bell, Colton residents Jana Rivers and Rene Hickmene cheered him on as they were leaving the parking lot. Rivers said she saw the story about him on the local ABC 7 news station this morning. "I feel good!", Major Soriano said after completing his 30th hour last Wednesday. He had to brave some cooler weather through the night. "It was really cold and a little windy and rainy. The coldest had to be from around 3 to 6 a.m.," he said. Each year The Salvation Army is widely known for kicking off the holiday season by encouraging people to donate to those less fortunate through the Red Kettle Campaign. Salvation Army red kettles are set up from the day after Thanksgiving until Christmas Eve, as has been tradition for 123 years. Each bell ringing contestant is accompanied at all times by at least two separate witnesses and is overseen by at least one Salvation Army steward, according to official contest rules. The contest began simultaneously on Tuesday, Dec. 3, at noon Eastern Time, and ends when the last contestant rings the bell for the last time. All contestants began ringing their bells at the same exact moment, regardless of time zone. The competition is aimed at promoting the mission of the Salvation Army, which each year helps collect and distribute donations to those in need throughout the world. This year, the City of Colton and the Inland Empire have the opportunity to rally behind Major Soriano as he helps out the local community and raises awareness for The Salvation Army. [END] Original article: Does Major Marcelino "Butch" Soriano from San Diego, CA have what it takes to win The Salvation Army's Third Annual World Record Bell Ringing Contest? Major Soriano had just crossed off his thirty hour mark at 3 pm.in the Colton Walmart parking lot located off Mount Vernon Ave. A second year veteran to the contest, Soriano rang the bell continuously for 51 hours in San Francisco, CA. This year, his goal is to ring non stop for 100 hours! Standing merrily next to his bright red kettle, Soriano happily greeted people walking by and warmly thanked everyone who donated to the organization. As he was ringing his bell, Colton residents Jana Rivers and Rene Hickmene happily cheered him on as they were leaving the parking lot. Rivers said she saw the story about him on ABC 7 news this morning. "I feel good!", Major Soriano said after 30 dedicated hours of standing and ringing. When asked about the weather over night he replied, "It was really cold and a little windy and rainy. The coldest had to be from around three to six am." Every year The Salvation Army is widely known for kicking off the season of giving, by encouraging people to donate to those less fortunate through the Red Kettle Campaign. The red kettles are set up from the day after Thanksgiving until Christmas Eve for the past 123 years. This year, the city of Colton and the Inland Empire asks the public to rally behind Major Soriano as he helps out the local community and raises awareness for The Salvation Army. Come bring Soriano his favorite snacks, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and Snickers, and wish him a Merry Christmas! Report! Major Soriana is the Record Colton Bell Ringer Major for Corps officers On Wednesday, Major Soriano collected $176.45 during the day, and 147.10 at night. On Thursday, Major collected $437.64 during the day, and $222.38 at night. We are grateful for Lt. James Combs, and Envoys from Riverside Corps, who stayed with Major Soriano during part of the night! Sadly, Major Soriano was robbed of his personal laptop computer at 5:30 am this morning. The thief made use of a brief moment of distraction to grab the laptop bag, and ran to a waiting car, being driven by an accomplice. Security gave chase, and the street sweeper tried to block the entry to the parking lot, but the thieves got away. The license plate was later run by the police, but the number does not exist (either was not copied down correctly by security, or has been deleted from the system). Please pray that the thieves will not be able to make use of any information on the laptop! Major Soriano is carrying on in good spirits at 71 hours. He will break the previous record of 80 hours at 6 pm this evening, and reach his personal goal of 100 hours at 1 pm tomorrow. Celebrating Giving Tuesday, The Salvation Army kicked off the third annual World Record Bell Ringing Contest at 12:00 p.m. EST today. Six individuals at kettle locations in California, Minnesota, Montana, and Texas are attempting to set a new world record for continuous hand bell ringing by an individual at a red kettle, to help raise awareness for The Salvation Army’s 123rd annual Red Kettle Campaign. Contestants must brave the elements – such as weather, fatigue, and hunger – while ringing a bell continuously, and are allowed five minutes of rest for every hour of ringing. Last year, two-year reigning champ Darrell Tureskis of Springfield, IL tied the record at 80 hours along with Jason Perkins of Suisun City, CA and Ryan Gass of Roswell, NM. EVENT DESCRIPTION What: The Salvation Army is hosting a bell-ringing contest to test the skill and endurance of hand-bell ringers at Red Kettles. The current individual record for duration of continuous ringing at a kettle is 80 hours. The measurement for 2013 will be in hours, minutes and seconds. Who: Major Marcelino “Butch” Soriano: San Diego, CA Ringing at: WalMart Supercenter (1120 S Mount Vernon Ave, Colton, CA) As the Divisional Finance Secretary for the Sierra Del Mar Division of The Salvation Army in California, Soriano was a participant in the World Record Bell Ringing Contest in 2011 and rang for 51 hours at a location in San Francisco. His main purpose for competing is to raise awareness of the mission of The Salvation Army. He is ringing at a location outside of a metropolitan area this year because The Salvation Army serves in communities that are sometimes forgotten. He loves the Lord and desires to bring honor and glory to His name in all he does. Major Soriano trained hard this year to beat his own record. Check out his video below!