ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, December 19, 1996 TAG: 9612190018
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
Their best soldier is a 79-year-old woman who wears pink lipstick and never catches a cold.
Maude Merrix rarely tires in her job as a Salvation Army bell-ringer - despite standing daily, eight to 10 hours a shift, in the drafty entranceway of the Franklin Road Kmart in Roanoke.
But don't think she just stands there.
When there's a lull at the EXIT doors, Maude rocks forward, toe to heel, in front of her stool.
When the Kmart shopping carts are on a collision course near the EXIT - such as in the current pre-Christmas rush - Maude backs away from her red kettle and goes to work, opening the non-automatic doors for bag-saddled shoppers.
``I stand a lot at home, too. I'm just a stander,'' she says. ``The only time I'm still is when I go to church.''
Maude takes her work seriously. She's been posted in front of the same doors for 16 years now, logging more hours of activity than the blue-light specials themselves.
And she doesn't collect just at Christmas. Maude is the only bell-ringer in the region who collects year-round - handing out the Salvation Army periodical during the off-season.
``She's our best ringer, period,'' says Captain Stephen Long, the Roanoke Valley unit's commanding officer. ``Maude outdoes all our younger bell ringers - both in terms of the amount of money she raises and the amount of goodwill she displays.
``Just about every day, her kettle is the best.''
On a recent Tuesday afternoon, the after-work shoppers were in full stride.
``I'm outta change, I'll catch you next time,'' one shopper says.
``I do mine by check, and I take `em things,'' says another. ``I do take `em things,'' she repeats. ``It's a good organization.''
Maude smiles and nods, opening the outside doors for her. ``Thank you and God bless,'' she says.
In the course of an hour, one in five shoppers pauses to put a bill or coin in the kettle.
``Thank you and God bless,'' Maude says.
She does not ask for money. Never has.
``It's just not the way I do it,'' she says. ``Most of them, they just know me and they give.''
Asked if she's noticed that the people who don't give refuse to even look at her - guilty consciences, presumably - Maude shrugs and says simply: ``No, I didn't notice that. Most people give, they really do. And it's from the heart.''
And then she says: ``More people would be giving if I wasn't standing here talking to you. I need to get to work."
Once, a person gave her a check for $500. Maude personally sends the large givers Christmas cards, occasionally tucking in a handkerchief. And always, no matter if it's a penny or a $100 bill, she greets everyone the same: ``Thank you and God bless.''
Judge Diane Strickland, who regularly gives to the Salvation Army - but only through Maude - says she regularly receives Christmas, Easter and even Thanksgiving cards from Maude.
``She's quite retiring and timid ... but also quite a student in her approach,'' Strickland observes. ``The way she opens the door for everyone, she makes it real hard to ignore'' her kettle.
Kmart manager Dan Lauer says, half-joking, that he's considered installing automatic doors - ``but Maude takes care of that for us."
On the days Maude doesn't work, Lauer says, the No. 1 question asked at the customer-service desk is: ``Where's Maude; is she OK?''
"She's just a major part of our operation, and she doesn't even work for us.''
|n n| We've all done the dreaded office Christmas-gift exchange: Draw names, shop for a person you barely know, then leave the party with yet another $5 dust catcher.
The staff at Mill Mountain Theatre decided to forego the annual round of trinket-swapping this year, as did the folks at 309 First Street restaurant. In lieu of buying each other gifts, they decided to give low-income kids in the area an experience they don't often get: live theater.
Specifically, they and several other area companies are donating free tickets to the theater's production of ``A Christmas Carol.'' It's called the Tiny Tim Ticket Promotion.
So far, 40 tickets have been purchased for families and children who attend programs at the West End Center, the Rescue Mission and the Virginia Department of Youth and Family Services. The theater would like more individuals and businesses to get in on the deal.
``There are tons of canned food drives and angel trees, which are very important. But this is what we have to offer,'' says marketing assistant Michelle Bennett. ``Most of these kids, unless they see something at school, will never get this kind of experience otherwise.''
To sponsor tickets for other underprivileged youth, call marketing director Martha Wiese at 342-5741 by Dec. 26. The show runs through Dec. 29.
LENGTH: Medium: 96 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: CINDY PINKSTON/Staff. Maude Merrix, 79, has been aby CNBSalvation Army bell-ringer at the Kmart on Franklin Road in Roanoke
for 16 years - and not just during the Christmas season. color.