Three members of the Fie family stood outside the Cherry Cricket in Cherry Creek Friday morning, ringing a 130-year-old bell attached to a worn leather strap.

“It’s a family endeavor,” Roxanne Anderson said. “It’s just warms your heart to be able to help others.”

That bell — timeworn and ringing — represents 70 years of the family collecting Christmas-time donations for the Salvation Army in Denver.

Multiple members of the Fie family stretched out to six different locations across the city, accompanied by the Salvation Army Brass Band, to both raise holiday donations and celebrate 70 years and over $1 million in donations gathered for the nonprofit.

The tradition started with Merrill and Dorie Fie back in 1955. The couple owned a water distribution company on the 16th Street Mall and began collecting donations right outside.

The bell was a family heirloom Merrill used to use to bring in cattle on his family’s small ranch in Iowa. It’s still swinging.

“Mr. Fie decided he wanted to invest and engage in the community. The best vehicle he saw was the Salvation Army,” Nesan Kistan, Salvation Army commander for the Intermountain Division, said.

The Fie family then brought the tradition to their two daughters, including Anderson. That stretched to the daughters’ six children and is now rolling over to the grandchildren, step-children, cousins and nephews.

Both Anderson and her daughter, Liz Stillwell, reminisced on cold winters as small children, standing next to Merrill and Dorie Fie and ringing bells.

“I remember my grandfather in a straight blizzard or 10-degrees out. We were out ringing the bell. It didn’t matter,” Stillwell said. “Denver is just such a beautiful city and gave so much to our family. He just wanted to give back to that community.”

“It’s iconic. It just fuels your engines. It tells you that if families like the Fie family love the Salvation Army so deeply and want to be a part of it, you are on the right track,” Kistan said.

Both Merrill and Dorie continued ringing until Merrill’s death in 2023 and Dorie’s death just last year.

But the tradition is nowhere near stopping. Not only is the Fie family a “keen investor” for the nonprofit, according to Kistan, but the donation collecting is being passed down.

“It’s not going anywhere,” Anderson laughed.

The money raised from the donations goes directly to the community through initiatives like homeless and addiction help, food and the Christmas Relief Program.

Part of that program is the free Christmas dinner at the Denver Convention Center on Sunday. The nonprofit is expecting over 1,000 people to attend.

“Every human being needs hope. We’ll provide hope to thousands of families this Christmas,” Kistan said.

“It’s more than a tradition. It’s giving to others, but it’s also giving to yourself,” Stillwell said.

The Fie family is striving to reach $150,000 this year. They’ve already reached nearly $130,000. Digital donations can be given at give-im.salvationarmy.org/campaign/743282/donate until Dec. 24.