CHRISTMAS BELL RINGS IN MONTROSE.

Byline: DENNIS McCARTHY 

``Christmas starts when Gordon starts ringing that bell.''

- Wanda Bergstrom, a waitress at the City Hall Coffee Shop in Montrose

The trick is to let the bell ring itself, the old pro says. Hold it loosely between the middle fingers, and gently rock it - like you're ringing the butler for tea.

The rookies don't know that, he says. They swing the bell like they're trying to wake the dead. But they'll learn the hard way, the old pro says. They always do.

``If you use your wrist eight hours a day to ring it, your elbow starts feeling like somebody hit it with a sledgehammer,'' says Gordon Milbauer, the granddaddy of Salvation Army bell ringers in the San Fernando Valley.

This is his 42nd consecutive year ringing the bell in front of the Bank of America branch on Honolulu Avenue in Montrose.

He's become a holiday institution, the locals say. As they stop by to stick a dollar bill or two in Gordon's kettle, they tell him how great it is to see him back for another holiday season.

One by one, Gordon greets them by name and asks after their children and grandchildren.

``Gordon's tradition,'' says Ann Archer as she walks across the street from City Hall Coffee Shop with her husband, Lee, to drop money into the kettle.

``We know the holidays have arrived when we walk down the street and hear his bell.''

And you hear that a lot.

``Look at him, what a veteran,'' says Robert Strnod, kettle coordinator for the 22 bell ringers in the Salvation Army's Glendale corps. ``That bell never stops ringing. What a pro.''

People hear it a block away, and start reaching into their pockets. Nobody fills up a kettle faster than Gordon, Strnod says. At least a few hundred dollars a day - five days a week for the six weeks before Christmas.

It's Strnod's job to come back to Honolulu Avenue about a week before Thanksgiving every year to ask the local merchants if it's OK to set up the kettle in front of their stores through the holidays.

And every year, he hears the same thing: Sure - as long as Gordon's going to be tending it.

``They love him,'' Strnod says. ``Everybody watches out for him - and protects him. We never have to worry about his kettle.''

A little boy walks up and puts a folded dollar bill into the kettle. Gordon thanks him and wishes him a Merry Christmas. The boy smiles and runs back to his parents.

To the untrained eye, it's just another warm holiday scene. To Strnod's trained eye, it's a stroke of genius.

Gordon says he made his own red kettle many years ago. He made it so it hangs a foot lower on the stand than all other Salvation Army kettles in town.

``He built his with the children in mind,'' Strnod says. ``Most kettles are too high up for the little ones to reach. But not his. It's perfect for the small kids, and the adults don't mind bending over.''

Listening to his boss talk, the old pro smiles and winks. Hey, after 42 years on the streets ringing this bell, you learn a few tricks.

Only a handful of people, like Wanda Bergstrom, who has worked 33 years as a waitress at City Hall Coffee Shop, know the truth: This might be Gordon's last year.

At 81, his health is failing. He spends several days a week undergoing kidney dialysis treatments at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank.

On top of that, he says a few months ago he had to put the only woman he ever loved, - his wife of 58 years, Evlyn - into a nursing home, and he's still trying to deal with the loneliness.

Gordon says it seems like only yesterday the phone was ringing in the house that he and Evy just bought for $7,000 in Tujunga, back in 1960. It was the captain of the local Salvation Army asking him for a favor.

``They didn't have enough bell ringers, and he wanted to know if I'd do it for a few weeks while I was on vacation,'' Gordon said as he thanked a man on crutches, Roger Morrison, for crossing the street to say hi and put a few dollars in his kettle.

``My parents had been members of the Salvation Army in Canada, and I've always been close to the organization, so I decided to do it,'' Gordon said.

Two weeks' vacation from his job as an irrigation planner in the Los Angeles Parks and Recreation Department turned into 42 years of holiday bell ringing.

``I love this bell and kettle and look forward to this every year because it means food, clothing and shelter for people who don't have much of any,'' he says.

``I'm good at it,'' the old pro says. He hopes his health holds out for one more year but is saying goodbye to his fans on Honolulu Avenue just in case it doesn't.

``I ring my bell and money goes in,'' Gordon says.

Just like he's ringing the butler for tea.

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Photo:

Longtime Salvation Army volunteer Gordon Milbauer, 81, rings his bell Friday from his post on Honolulu Avenue in Montrose. Money collected in Salvation Army kettles provides Christmas dinners and toys for people in need.

Tina Burch/Staff Photographer