: Check out Charity pitch doesn't quite ring a bell

Click here: Charity pitch doesn't quite ring a bell The Columbus Dispatch

Charity pitch doesn't quite ring a bell
Volunteer drums up donations while playing his harmonica
Thursday, November 26, 2009 3:26 AM
By Dean Narciso
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Roy Hedrick greets customers at the Kroger at 5965 Hoover Rd. in Grove City with a wave but not a smile because his mouth is engaged in playing his harmonica while collecting donations for the Salvation Army. Hedrick tried the traditional hand bells but found them ho-hum." src="http://www.dispatch.com/wwwexportcontent/sites/dispatch/images/nov/1126_HARPER_BLV_02_01mn_11-26-09_B1_8VFQAPV.jpg">

BROOKE LaVALLEY DISPATCH
Roy Hedrick greets customers at the Kroger at 5965 Hoover Rd. in Grove City with a wave but not a smile because his mouth is engaged in playing his harmonica while collecting donations for the Salvation Army. Hedrick tried the traditional hand bells but found them ho-hum.
The incessant jingle of Salvation Army bells in the entrance of a Grove City Kroger has been replaced by the soft warble of Roy Hedrick's harmonica.
The 72-year-old retired salesman's repertoire is limited to a few upbeat standards. His ability is limited by never having had a music lesson.
But his enthusiasm appears unbounded.
Hedrick first volunteered last year, receiving a list of instructions, a kettle and two small hand bells.
"I thought, well, I'm going to be down there for a couple of hours and I like to play. I just started doing it, and nobody said to stop."
The Salvation Army doesn't mind, and even encourages novelty.
"We do allow people to show off their talents and make it a fun experience for people out in the cold and passing by," said Alice Hohl, Salvation Army spokeswoman.
A horn player, carolers, and even members of the Ohio State University marching band have participated in central Ohio.
At Grove City's other Kroger, at Hoover and Stringtown roads, Sally Morris works a hand puppet, Lamb Chop, with her bells.
"The kids get a kick out of it. It's entertainment," said Morris, a bell ringer since 1993. "And it keeps my hand warm."
Hedrick tried the bells but found them ho-hum.
Between songs at the Hoover Road grocery, he shares compliments and humor. "Someone asked me, 'Do you take requests?' I said no. He said, 'Why not?' Because most of them are for me to stop."
The charity is looking for celebrity bell ringers, Hohl said: "If it were Eric Clapton, we would take him. The red kettle campaign is part of the Christmas ambience. We hear the bells, and we know it's the season for that holiday feeling -- of giving. It carries all the way back to Dickens."
Sharon Buechner of Obetz encountered Hedrick this week as she was shopping.
"Aw, he's playing the harmonica," she said.
"It caught my eye," she said after dropping a few dollars in his kettle. "I just like harmonica. It made me want to put some money in. I used to walk by the bell ringers."
Her husband, Jerry, agreed. "That's a lot better than bells. That gets on your nerves."
To become a bell ringer, call 614-304-1090 or go to salvationarmycolumbus.org.
dnarciso@dispatch.com