'Bell stealing' leads to food bank donations

The Arlington and Marysville Rotary clubs open up their meetings by striking a traditional bell, however, recently both bells have been stolen.

Arlington Rotary members have been swiping the Marysville Club's bell for the last four decades.

“I’ve stolen that bell six times in the last 30 years. I started this back in 1985 or ’86,” said Arlington Rotary member Ron Love.

“This one I didn’t steal this time,” he said.

The thievery ended on July 17 when the two clubs ‘called a truce’ and donated 500 boxes of cereal to each other’s local food bank.

Marysville Rotary president Rick McCarthy said this time the bell got stolen when he was attending an Arlington event.

“Arlington asked me to bring the bell to their installation banquet and they stole it from me when my back was turned,” he said.

“I told Arlington I was going to their meeting and was going to steal their bell, and I did just that,” he said.

On July 17 they switched the bells back at a Marysville Rotary meeting.

“We’ve gone back and forth with Arlington and now as a peace offering we have offered 500 boxes of cereal for the Arlington food bank and in return Arlington has bought 500 boxes for the Marysville food bank,” said McCarthy.

The Arlington Grocery Outlet sold the cereal to the clubs and gave them a good price, said McCarthy.

“I want to thank them for helping us put this together,” he said.

The two clubs wanted to help the food banks for the summer season.

“They’re in need and there’s a shortage right now. This is a great way to help out the community,” said Arlington Rotary president Simona Devries.

Carla Gastineau, an Arlington Rotary member and executive director of the Arlington Community Food Bank, said items like cereal are important for families.

“Simple things like a box of cereal or a bottle of mustard can make a big difference,” said Gastineau.

“Tonight, it will feed between 15 and 100 families tonight and make for a lot of happy kids,” she said.

Cereal is one of the most highly requested items they get at the food bank, she said, and one item that they frequently run out of as well.

The two clubs also enjoy stealing each other’s bells to keep in contact.

“It’s been fun banter between the clubs,” said McCarthy.

“It’s great to get the clubs interacting together,” said Devries.

The two clubs actually started as one in the ‘70s.

“In 1970 the Everett Rotary wanted to establish a chapter in Marysville, but instead of just Marysville it would be a north county Rotary club,” said Arlington Rotary member Dave Duskin.

The Marysville bell was given to Everett to start the club, which they retain to this day. Eventually Marysville split off to form a club specifically for their city, and brought the bell with them.

“It’s all in fun since then that we’ve had the game of stealing the bell,” said Duskin.