Signup for bell-ringing starting early

Expecting a tough year because of the economic recession, Salvation Army leaders in Appleton, Fond du Lac and Sheboygan have already opened up online sign-ups for volunteer bell ringers.

For the Appleton-based "Fox Cities" corps, the online registration is starting a month earlier than usual. Corps leaders say high unemployment rates have led to record demand for services, and they're hoping the online registering will make it easier to recruit about 10,000 volunteer bell ringers.

"This is about our fourth year we've done online registration and it's a really convenient way for people to pick the date and time and location they want to ring," said Robb Waugus of The Salvation Army of the Fox Cities. "The nice thing about volunteering early: There's a lot of indoor locations, you can pick the date and time that you like."

Here's how the online registration works: Just follow the link to register, then, pick out the location you want and follow the instructions to reserve your time.

You can find a link to sign up to ring bells by logging on to fox11online.com, clicking on "Good Day WI" and then on "Web Watch Links."

You can also find the link to sign up in Sheboygan and Manitowoc.

Sign-ups for Brown County's Red Kettle campaign are set to start Oct. 12.