Bell Ringers

Last-minute shoppers at Fashion Island in Newport Beach won't hear one of the most familiar sounds of Christmas: the Salvation Army bell. Salvation Army workers and their red kettles are stationed outside Bloomingdales and Macy's at the upscale mall with an ocean view, but they have agreed to a request to not ring their bells. "You have to respect store owners, people," said Salvation Army Major Antonio Orta, who oversees the three bell ringers — their actual job title — on the property owned by the Newport Beach-based Irvine Co. "We have to comply because we solicit on their premises," Orta said.

Last-minute shoppers at Fashion Island in Newport Beach won't hear one of the most familiar sounds of Christmas: the Salvation Army bell. Salvation Army workers and their red kettles are stationed outside Bloomingdales and Macy's at the upscale mall with an ocean view, but they have agreed to a request to not ring their bells. "You have to respect store owners, people," said Salvation Army Major Antonio Orta, who oversees the three bell ringers — their actual job title — on the property owned by the Newport Beach-based Irvine Co. "We have to comply because we solicit on their premises," Orta said.

Declaring "I'm not Scrooge," a Northridge shopping center manager on Saturday welcomed two Salvation Army bell ringers he had arrested a day earlier for trespassing at his mall. Northridge Fashion Center operations director Donald Lieberman stuffed several dollar bills into a red Salvation Army kettle outside the mall and announced that bell-ringers will be invited indoors for the rest of the holiday season. "I don't want to be known as the grinch who stole Christmas," Lieberman said.

Los Angeles is full of a lot of private moguls and a lot fewer public moguls, and Rick J. Caruso is one of the latter -- an immaculate, slightly Italianate master of his universe, with a bit of a retro vibe. The retail superstar conceived and built the Grove, the Americana at Brand and the Commons at Calabasas and is laboring on projects in Montecito and near the Santa Anita racetrack. But he has also thrown himself into civic life, as head of two of the city's most powerful boards, the DWP and the Police Commission, as a charitable force and as a man in the political mix as a possible candidate for mayor.

When Connie Carreon rings her bell, people listen. The good news for the Salvation Army is, they also give. Carreon, described by South Bay Salvation Army officials as their champion "kettler," routinely collects double the donations of her fellow bell ringers during the organization's annual Christmas fund-raising drive. Last year, she raised a record $8,000 for the group's Torrance Corps.

The 82-year-old blind man had recently developed urinary incontinence as a result of receiving diuretics from his physician. During a visit by a childhood friend, an Australian shepherd, the friend mentioned that he had cured a similar problem by inserting a dry kidney bean to block the leakage. The shepherd said he replaced the bean every 24 hours, using specially adapted blunt-ended tweezers. Before the friend returned to Australia, he gave the blind man some of his own beans.

Meijer Inc., a big Midwest retailing company, has declared Army personnel unauthorized--Salvation Army bell ringers, that is. The grocery and department store chain said it was forced to ban the bell ringers and their Christmas donation kettles after a labor board ruled earlier this year that if it allowed bell ringers, it would also have to allow striking union pickets. The dispute stems from a 55-day strike over wages at four Toledo, Ohio-area stores.

The historic, 2,000-pound Gloria bell that has called people to Mass at Mission San Luis Obispo for 183 years has gone silent. Dan Krieger, a mission expert and history professor at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, said a crack in the iron bell has widened, possibly from the exertions of a new generation of bell ringers. Whatever the reason, fears that the bell could break and fall on passersby has led the mission to stop using the bell.

Every drummer from the 1960s will giggle when they hear "Wipe Out" played by the six bell ringers in Campanile, which blends music, showmanship, comedy and choreography to present a new way of interpreting old tunes. While most English bell ringers mark their territory in churches during the Christmas season, Campanile breaks away from such tradition. A chance to see the group in action comes Saturday at Cal State Northridge.

About a week after Salvation Army bell ringers were told they wouldn't be welcome at their traditional spots at entrances to Pacific View Mall, the shopping center's officials say they will meet with the charity's leaders to discuss alternatives. "We're trying to come up with some solutions," said Phil Vise, regional marketing director with Macerich Co., which manages the mall.

The war of nerves and guns at the Church of the Nativity heated up Thursday: Palestinians accused Israeli troops of killing a mentally impaired bell ringer and advancing into the church compound, while the Israelis said that Palestinians barricaded inside fired on them without provocation.

Now that the Salvation Army's bell ringers are out collecting funds during the holiday season, I'd like to tell why I never pass one without putting a buck in. Some 30 years ago I was in a youth band. Every summer we'd march in a parade in Las Vegas. As you might guess, it was scorchingly hot and several of our members had to be carried off the street. After four or so miles, we came to the end of the parade and turned off the street to where the buses were parked. The Salvation Army had enormous containers of ice water, as much as we wanted, for everyone who had been in the parade.

The historic, 2,000-pound Gloria bell that has called people to Mass at Mission San Luis Obispo for 183 years has gone silent. Dan Krieger, a mission expert and history professor at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, said a crack in the iron bell has widened, possibly from the exertions of a new generation of bell ringers. Whatever the reason, fears that the bell could break and fall on passersby has led the mission to stop using the bell.

Michael Pink knows that even a hideously deformed, bell-ringing hunchback can be graceful. That's why Pink has choreographed a ballet version of "The Hunchback of Notre Dame," a decidedly gritty, tutu-free version of Victor Hugo's classic 1831 novel that made its debut at the Boston Ballet on Thursday night. "Hunchback" tells the story of the deformed bell-ringer Quasimodo and his unrequited love for the gypsy dancer Esmeralda.

On a piano, you can stumble through "Alley Cat" or a two-fingered "Amazing Grace" and only your housemates suffer. Not so with bells. For a Wesleyan University bell ringer, the large instruments hanging in the tower overhead don't lend themselves to practice. On bells that weigh as much as a ton and a half apiece, a mistake reverberates--or so the bell ringers have been told--nearly a mile . Fortunately, the bell builders thought of that.

What looked like a setback for the Salvation Army's holiday donation drive has turned into a potential windfall for the charity, known for its bell ringers and kettles. After reports the bell ringers would be banned from Pacific View Mall, center officials said Friday the Salvation Army kettles will be back at the mall beginning today, with some extra treats tossed in. Mall officials said Salvation Army volunteers will be allowed to operate a gift-wrapping station in the center.

Los Angeles is full of a lot of private moguls and a lot fewer public moguls, and Rick J. Caruso is one of the latter -- an immaculate, slightly Italianate master of his universe, with a bit of a retro vibe. The retail superstar conceived and built the Grove, the Americana at Brand and the Commons at Calabasas and is laboring on projects in Montecito and near the Santa Anita racetrack. But he has also thrown himself into civic life, as head of two of the city's most powerful boards, the DWP and the Police Commission, as a charitable force and as a man in the political mix as a possible candidate for mayor.

Now that the Salvation Army's bell ringers are out collecting funds during the holiday season, I'd like to tell why I never pass one without putting a buck in. Some 30 years ago I was in a youth band. Every summer we'd march in a parade in Las Vegas. As you might guess, it was scorchingly hot and several of our members had to be carried off the street. After four or so miles, we came to the end of the parade and turned off the street to where the buses were parked. The Salvation Army had enormous containers of ice water, as much as we wanted, for everyone who had been in the parade.

About a week after Salvation Army bell ringers were told they wouldn't be welcome at their traditional spots at entrances to Pacific View Mall, the shopping center's officials say they will meet with the charity's leaders to discuss alternatives. "We're trying to come up with some solutions," said Phil Vise, regional marketing director with Macerich Co., which manages the mall.

Every drummer from the 1960s will giggle when they hear "Wipe Out" played by the six bell ringers in Campanile, which blends music, showmanship, comedy and choreography to present a new way of interpreting old tunes. While most English bell ringers mark their territory in churches during the Christmas season, Campanile breaks away from such tradition. A chance to see the group in action comes Saturday at Cal State Northridge.