Kettle ringer in Palos Heights trades in bell for brass: ‘That guy with the trombone. He made my day.’

Marcos Gutierrez has spent much of the last several weeks outside grocery stores, stationed next to a red kettle collecting donations for the Salvation Army.

He calls it his “second bell ringing Christmas,” but instead of a bell, he’s performing holiday and popular songs on a trombone in an effort to inspire donors to give money to the Salvation Army Blue Island (Crossgenerations) Worship and Community Center.

During the bell ringing season, from Nov. 11 to Dec. 23 this year, he’s been spending two to three days a week with a red kettle, typically working from 11:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., driving other bell ringers to their locations, doing his shift and then picking them up.

“This year I’ve been to Tinley Park and Crestwood but mostly in Palos Heights,” the 28-year-old said.

During his shifts outside grocery stores such as Jewel-Osco, Mariano’s and Sam’s Club, he alternates between hymns and secular songs, mixing it up with some classics, he said, “because there are just as many Christmas songs and because the shift is for a few hours.” His favorite is “Silent Night.” Another favorite is “Close To You” by the Carpenters.

“So many people have thanked me for playing it for them,” he said. “It was their first love song — and not one or two, but so many people. That was my first love song, and that’s really beautiful. Different generations are not so far apart but united by that one song, by music.”

A native of Argentina who now lives in Chicago, Gutierrez used to volunteer for the Salvation Army in his hometown.

“In December it’s summer in Argentina, so I’m used to doing bell ringing in a T-shirt and shorts. It’s quite the opposite here,” he said, adding that it’s been fun to show his family, via livestream, how different the weather is.

Although Gutierrez has volunteered with the Salvation Army in the past, his efforts to raise money for the organization this year are part of an internship. “It’s both job training and schooling,” he said. “This year I start in the seminary that we have in the Salvation Army. It’s ministry.”

He just finished his first quarter of the two-year program and expects to graduate in June 2025. “We call it a commission,” he said. “I’ll be ordained as a pastor — a lieutenant — the first rung (in the Salvation Army).”

The red kettle effort isn’t always easy, especially when the weather is bad, but Gutierrez preserves, he said, because his work will help the community.

“When I think it’s too cold or too many hours, I like to remind myself of why we’re doing this — the privilege that we get to do this,” he said. “That’s when I get the extra push. Let’s go. It’s worth it.”

Gutierrez’s attitude and effort has made an impression on his supervisor, Lt. Shannon Norcross, corps officer for the Salvation Army’s center in Blue Island.

“He’s definitely one of our best ones,” she said. “I think you can tell that he understands the need that comes with raising money during the Christmas season. The fact that he plays his instrument the whole time — we haven’t had cold weather but it’s (difficult) for an instrumentalist.

“We’ve had random people sending emails saying, ‘That guy with the trombone. He made my day.’ It really is encouraging to us when people reach out and let us know the impact the bell ringer made for them whether it’s a smile or a greeting.”

On the first day of the season, it was just Gutierrez and his instrument. “It was a very good day,” he said, “but I was used to playing with an ensemble, so you have different parts. Even though playing by yourself is fine, it was a very long day. I needed to come up with something to spice it up a bit.”

The answer was a backing track. Adding live music, and sometimes guest musicians, helps garner more donations, he believes.

“It goes with my personality,” Gutierrez said. “I smile and greet people. Talking is not very much my thing, and I love music. I try to make people happy just a bit by playing music.

“Sometimes I might be playing and nobody is visiting, but I’m proved wrong when I see someone walking to the store or walking out of the store and just smiling. … If people just walk by with a smile, I think that’s very rewarding even if they don’t get a chance to donate.”

Norcross said Gutierrez is one of just two people who play instruments while ringing bells for the Blue Island center, which has about 12 bell ringers who reliably show up. Both are enrolled at the Salvation Army’s Midwest Seminary in Chicago.

“The way the Salvation Army is broken up is four territories in the United States,” said Norcross, who is originally from Kansas. “It’s the College for Officer Training. If you come out of the Chicago seminary, you’ll be sent somewhere in the 11 states of the Midwest.”

Gutierrez, whose brothers also are musicians and have volunteered as bell ringers in the past, likes being part of the organization.

“The Salvation Army has a great history — that is where I learned to play my instrument,” he said. “We don’t have as many musicians as we used to. We don’t have many people who can do three shifts.”

Norcross said musicians such as Gutierrez are great because they attract more attention and give the effort more seasonal flair. “I think people love the Christmas music or something besides the bell,” she said, adding that the organization hopes the final push through Saturday brings the Blue Island center close to its goal of $90,000. “Right now we are very close to $70,000, so we’re praying that we’ll get there.”

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The center offers an “online red kettle” at https://donate.salarmyncil.org/team/532411.

Norcross said all money raised by volunteers from the Blue Island center stays local. “These funds help us operate the whole year. We have a senior meal time. If we need to buy kids toys for Christmas … All this funding helps us keep our doors open.

“Every dime, dollar and check put in really helps people in this community.”

Saturday will be the last day for bell ringers. “The Lord has been good,” she said. “The fact that we’re really close to $70,000 … we know that the people in this community are loved and will be served.”

And for the next couple of days, at least, it’s a chance for Gutierrez to play for passersby, some who will stand for a few moments and sing along, which is fun.

“Even though I try to pick the songs I like, I try to think of what they might know so they can have that experience,” he said.

Melinda Moore is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.