The Pike County Salvation Army is gearing up for Gold Kettle Day and elected officials throughout the county will be the celebrity bell ringers on Friday at Wal-Mart.

“Our celebrity bell ringers are enthusiastic about the opportunity to participate in our Gold Kettle campaign,” said Kim May, director Pike County Salvation Army Service Center and Thrift Store. “In doing so, they will help to make Christmas special for a lot of people right here in Pike County.”

The guest celebrity bell ringers on Friday will be Pike County Circuit Clerk Jamie Scarbrough, Pike County Probate Judge Wes Allen, Brundidge Mayor Jimmy Ramage, Brundidge City Councilman Lawrence Bowden, Goshen Mayor Jack Waller, Troy Mayor Jimmy Lunsford and Banks Mayor Dewayne Henderson. The elected officials will ring the Gold Kettle bell from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. Then the celebrity of the season, Santa Claus, will ring for the final hour.

May said that, at day’s end, hopes are that the bell ringers will have met and exceeded the goal set for the Gold Kettle event.

“Last year’s celebrity bell ringers collected about $450,” May said. “So, we have set the goal at $500 and we believe that’s a very realistic goal based on the response to the Iron Bowl Kettle campaign.

May said the Iron Bowl Kettle campaign attracted a lot of interest and raised more than $700 for the local Salvation Army.

“Alabama was the big winner in that campaign with $415.43. Auburn’s kettle had $297.59,” May said and added laughing that she didn’t know whether there were more Alabama fans or if they were just more generous.”

With several programs underway, the Christmas season is an extremely busy time for the Salvation Army.

“We still have about 20 angels on our Angel Tree that haven’t been adopted,” May said. “We encourage anyone who would like to make Christmas a happy time for a child to stop by the Service Center and Thrift Store and adopt one of our little angels.”

The Pike County Salvation Army also puts together Christmas food boxes for families in need.

“We don’t have the facilities to cook meals but the food boxes include all the items needed to cook a traditional Christmas dinner,” May said. “The boxes have a frozen turkey and the stuffings, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes, green beans and fruit.”

Donations toward the purchase of the turkeys and other items are always appreciated.

“We are taking applications now for the food boxes,” May said. “Applicants need to call the office to find out what they need to bring when applying.”

The Salvation Army now has an additional way to give during the Christmas season.

Bar codes have been placed on the bottom right corner of each Red Kettle sign. When the code is scanned it will directly open to the Salvation Army’s secure line donations server and donations may be made to the Salvation Army using a credit card.

The Pike County Salvation Army Service Center and Thrift Store is located at 509 South Brundidge Street in Troy. The number to call is 334-808-1069.