West Virginia ? Salvation Army Major Richard Hathorn knew when and where it would happen, but he still doesn’t know who slipped the $1,000 bill into one of the charity’s Christmas kettles.

Each Christmas since 1978, someone has covertly stuffed one of the big bills into a kettle in Morgantown, a northern West Virginia university city.

This year, Hathorn says, the donor alerted the Salvation Army that the tradition would continue with a deposit between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Saturday at the Wal-Mart at University Town Center.

During the appointed period, Hathorn carefully scanned the faces of people dropping money into the kettle, but he didn’t spot anyone with a bill bearing the likeness of President Grover Cleveland.

He found it later, wrapped inside a $1 bill.

Hathorn says he hopes to raise about $62,000 from the kettles this year to provide everything from toys and food to utility assistance.