Hank spreads Christmas joy
Hank, The Bell Ringing Horse, was ringing the bell for the Salvation Army Christmas Kettle on Dec. 18 at Buehler’s on Second Street.
“We are ringing today in honor of my dad, Duane Regan. Today is his birthday,” said Tammi Regan, Hank’s owner. “I rescued Hank when he was 3 years old and I made a lighthearted promise to my dad that when I got him trained I would return to Coshocton and ring the bell with my dad. He loved to ring the bell every holiday season. He rang at Buehler’s all the time. It took me almost 10 years to fulfill that promise and today we fulfilled that promise by ringing the bell.”
Tammi’s dad passed away unexpectedly four months after she made that promise. “So we are here to ring in honor of my dad on his birthday. He loved the Salvation Army and I’m here to serve the community of Coshocton. I grew up here. The Salvation Army helped me as a child and I have my horse that I can now use to help the community of Coshocton through the holiday season and beyond.”
Tammi now lives on her farm in Paris, Kentucky and this is the first year she has rung the bell for Coshocton. BraveHearts Equine Center is a 140-acre farm whose mission is to rescue as many horses and burros as possible. Regan named her farm For Hanks Sake after her first
rescue horse. Hank has a registered equine brand for his philanthropy efforts ringing the bell in Kentucky.
“Last year he went to New York and rang his bell at Time Square. He’s been to New York, Ohio and all around the Commonwealth of Kentucky,” Tammi said. “We are up $47,000 in his career as a bell ringer. We’ll reach $50,000 this year. That’s our goal. For our community endeavors today, our goal is to raise $1,000 and we have a match. So whatever Hank’s kettle gets today we have an anonymous family here in Coshocton who will match it. I’ve been wanting to bring Hank here for a long time.”
She contacted the Salvation Army Major Schoch in June when she was at the Coshocton library.
“They gave me a yes,” Tammi said. “I said, ‘Can I do this at Buehler’s and they gave me the yes again. We had a lot of yeses this year. I’ve been working for those yeses for about 10 years. Tomorrow we will be dropping off Hank-grams to Windsorwood Place and we have custom made Christmas cards and activities for them. I partnered with the Coshocton Library and library patrons colored the Christmas cards and activities. We are also taking some to the Veterans center and we have activities we are taking to a senior residential facility. Hank will be able to touch more people through activities. We find activity books that are used in schools to help in the community as a way of giving back. We will be doing that tomorrow before we leave. So, we are delivering Hank-grams and Hank smiles and were going to put $1000 in that kettle today.”
Joe Young, package goods manager at Buehler’s in Coshocton said, “The Salvation Army contacted us and we said, ‘Yes definitely.’ I know Tammi and her family. We grew up together and we were happy to do it. This has really been exciting just to see the customers.”
Category: People & Places
