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ONEIDA -- The Salvation Army is marking 125 years
of service to the greater Oneida community.
Led by Captain Susan Ramsay, the Oneida Corps celebrated the anniversary with a
series of events Sept. 24-Sept. 27.
A reception for members of the
Greater Oneida Chamber of Commerce kicked off the celebration Thursday evening,
Sept. 24, at The Salvation Army.
A "Soup, Soap & Salvation"
Banquet filled the Kallet Civic Theater Friday evening. The banquet
featured bellringer awards, music by a Salvation Army Ensemble, and several
presentations.
- Major Charles J. Deitrick, general secretary for the Adult Rehabilitation Command at
Territorial Headquarters, gave a commemorative talk.
- Oneida Mayor Peter Hedglon presented a proclamation.
- Advisory Board member Hank Leo Jr. presented an essay on the impact of The Salvation Army along
with a video history (see below).
Maj. Charles Deitrick |
Mayor Peter Hedglon |
Hank Leo Jr. |
A Community Open House on Saturday
featured tours throughout the day, the Karing Kitchen Feeding Program, and a
tribute to veterans that included an opportunity to tape their Salvation Army
memories.
A 125th Anniversary Worship Service on Sunday morning capped the four-day celebration and included Salvation Army
musicians, singers and speakers from around the state.
Photos of Anniversary Banquet
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Comments by Advisory Board Member Hank Leo Jr.
at Oneida Corps' 125th Anniversary Banquet, Sept. 25, 2009.
It was a cold winter night in December 1999... you
all know the kind of night. Twenty-seven degrees, wind blowing, and a sheet of
ice on the parking lot. I got out of my heated car and zipped up my coat and
jogged to the front door of Topps Market. As I got closer to the door, in the
faint distance, I could hear a bell. I knew what it was. We all know what it
is. I walked by an older lady, sitting outside on a bench. She had on grey
sweatpants, with a hole in the knee. She didn't have socks on, just old and
torn shoes with no laces. She had green gloves on with the fingers cut off and
the tips were red from the cold. She had an old, tattered red scarf on that was
much too short for her neck and a Santa Claus hat that barely covered her
heard. I walked by and said "hello" and she smiled and said "Merry Christmas."
Then I went in to get some food to bring to my mom and dad's for a family
Christmas party. I had known, like most of us do, what The Salvation Army does,
but in reality, we all just think we know.
As I got to the hot food section, it crossed my mind
that the woman on the bench outside the store was not a wealthy community
leader who was volunteering at Christmas time, just to do their part and say
they helped. It struck me that here is someone who is volunteering to ring the
bell in the cold of winter and probably could use all of the money in the
kettle just to make it through the holidy. I thought... here I am buying hot
food to bring inside to a Christmas party and getting in my warm car to drive
home when she is probably without a Christmas, or this might even BE her
Christmas.
I knew then that it was important for me to give. We
just sometimes assume things get taken care of. Then I thought, "What if the
person on the bench was my father, or mother, or sister, would I sit with them,
would I help them?" The next day, I had to return a video next door and the
same lady was there, in the same spot, smiling and ringing the bell. It was
colder now than the night before. Her smile would never let you know
that.
When I started researching the history of the Army
in Oneida, among the hundreds of newspaper articles, the headlines were always
the same: "Salvation Army helps". It was, "helps provide food to the
hungry," helps provide shelter for the homeless," "helps provide a toy
for a child." The Salvation Army helps. You see, sometimes we do a good thing,
by ringing a bell at Christmas time, but sometimes we complain that we had to
stand in the cold for an hour or two. Sometimes we walk in an entrance further
away to avoid giving. Sometimes we look the other way.
The Army never avoids. It never looks the other way.
It never stops giving. It never stops providing. In Oneida, we are fortunate to
have had leaders from the very beginning who treated their tenure at the Army
as if it were their mission. They had the Holy Spirit in mind when they took
the position. They became angels to many. Over the course of the 125 years of
serving in the Oneida community, the Army has done more for people than you can
ever know or understand. They do God's work. They provide. From 1883 until
tonight, the mission had not changed.
If you are unsure about whether to support The
Salvation Army, either now or going forward, think for a moment. Think. Imagine
if the person on the bench, ringing the bell on the cold December night, in the
dead of winter, with not enough clothes to stay warm, was not there. Now close
your eyes and imaging that the person who needed the help, the support, the
warm blanket, the food, the shelter, the compassion, was you. Worse, imagine
the Oneida community without a Salvation Army.
You see, the bell is more than a bell at Christmas
time. It's a calling. It is a call to arms. For 125 years, the Army has helped
define our character as a city. It gives, it supports.
Now the Army needs your help. It always has and it
always will. Consider supporting every effort the Army has to stay here and
grow. In no way can we ever repay the Army for the number of people it has
served, the number of meals provided, the number of times it has been there in
our history. But, one person at a time, one gift at a time, we can
try.
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