Turlock wins Salvation Army Mayors Kettle Challenge

Turlock Mayor Gary Soiseth and his team won the third annual Salvation Army Mayors Kettle Challenge by raising $1,895 in an eight-hour period last Saturday.

Ceres Mayor Chris Vierra’s team came in second, raising $1,120, with Modesto Mayor Garrad Marsh’s team third with $959 and Riverbank Mayor Richard O’Brien’s team fourth with $804.

The teams rang their bells from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. outside stores in their cities.

“I’m always up for a challenge that benefits such a worthy cause,” Soiseth said in a news release. “I had a great team and I thank them for their time, dedication and efforts to raise funds. After all the friendly bantering between mayors, I’m grateful that the community rallied behind our Turlock team to beat the other cities.”

Turlock will receive the traveling kettle trophy at next year’s Salvation Army Kettle Kickoff. Rounding out the Turlock team were Councilman Steven Nascimento; Councilman Matthew Jacob; City Attorney Phaedra Norton; Turlock personal trainers Deanne Culala and Shannon Tate-Mardakis; and community members Pap Aghassi and Kristin Bettencourt.

This story was originally published December 18, 2015 at 8:47 AM with the headline "Turlock wins Salvation Army Mayors Kettle Challenge."