By Bob Strohm
bstrohm@wbcowqel.com
After arriving in Bucyrus to head the city’s chapter of the Salvation Army, Lt. Annie Buckles will be passing another milestone for the organization in June as she is set to be promoted from lieutenant to captain.
Lt. Buckles will become Capt. Buckles on Sunday, June 12. While the day to day duties for Buckles won’t be changing too much, what it does change is that Buckles will no longer be on the probationary period.
“Most jobs have a 90-day probationary period, the Salvation Army gives you five years to figure out the job,” Buckles said. “And the reason why is it is a large job. We are not strictly a non-profit who does social services and help people, and we are not strictly a church. We are a combination, and so as one person, as an officer you end up doing a lot of the non-profit work, writing the grants, being the face of the army in the community, on top of basically taking care of a small congregation and taking care of their needs. So that doesn’t change, it means I have more experience and I have passed all of the internal guidelines to get to that rank.”
The officer’s rank in the Salvation Army is based on years spent with the organization. Buckles explained the different ranks within the organization.
“Everything that we do is based on service, so if you have someone with the rank of major it means you have been at this for a while. The lieutenant rank is five years, captain I will have for an additional 10 years, and at year 15, I will be made major,” Lt. Buckles said. “Anything above the rank of major would be colonel, lieutenant colonel, and commissioner are the next common ones, and that means that you have some sort of leadership designation within the Salvation Army. You have a lot more responsibility, and you are helping other people, and making a lot of decisions. The highest rank we have is general and there is only one of those.”
While Buckles will be moving up in rank on June 12 there won’t be a formal celebration to signify her change of the rank. Lt. Buckles will be changing the eplets on her uniform.
“Chances are I will show up with the new eplets which are loops. The lieutenant one has one star, and the captain will have two. We have an official blue polyester tunic and there are these shoulder boards that we call eplets as well, and there will be two on that.”
“I met the Salvation Army as a teenager. I was at one of my best friend’s house one weekend and she said, ‘Oh we are going to go to church on Sunday, is that a problem?’ I was like, ‘No, I love to go to church all the time, where are we going?’ And she said the Salvation Army,” Buckles said. “My face got very confused because my association with the Salvation Army was Christmas time, the people who ring the bell, and that is where you sent people for help for food and clothes, and emergency assistance. That is all I knew in my small town. I went and it was one of the most welcome places I had felt in my life and it changed my world.
“I decided to get involved with some of the youth outreach activities for teenagers. I got involved with their girl scouting group, and one thing led to another, and I worked at the summer camp, and just fell in love with the ministry of the Salvation Army because it changed my life. I was 18 years old, and God’s plan for me was to do this, and it took me a while to get to that point, but every step of the way the Salvation Army has opened opportunities in life that I wouldn’t have had otherwise.”
On top of the normal food bank, and other charitable activities, the Salvation Army will be hosting a few events in the coming months. There will be a rummage sale on May 7 in the back parking lot of the Bucyrus Salvation Army to benefit the local organization to help with their services. In the Salvation Army’s Kids Club, the last day of archery is Wednesday this week. The kids club will end when the local schools let out for the summer. The Salvation Army will be offering overnight summer camp for one week at a Salvation Army in Southwest Ohio for $25 for the entire week.
For more information about the Bucyrus area Salvation Army, call the office at 419-562-0071.