MARYSVILLE — On Sept. 11, 2011, Marysville resident Robert Hitchings held the American flag that had been flying from his house in Seattle 10 years ago.
“By the time I moved up here, it was too faded to be flown anymore,” said Hitchings, a Vietnam veteran who retired from the Army in 1986 after 22 years of active duty service. “I got a newer one for Christmas, which I finally got around to putting up just recently.”
Hitchings handed over the no-longer-serviceable flag to the members of Marysville American Legion Post 176 at the pavilion in Jennings Park on the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Marysville Legion members had already received more than 40 flags to dispose of that day, during an afternoon flag retirement ceremony.
“We received more than 100 unserviceable flags to dispose of at last year’s ceremony,” said Tony Campbell, second vice commander of Legion Post 178. “Of course, that was the first year we’d done this. We’re actually lucky that we didn’t receive as many flags this year, because otherwise it’d take us a couple of hours to retire them all, like it did last year. We’re hoping that this year means that we’ve turned it into an annual event.”

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MARYSVILLE — On Sept. 11, 2001, Marysville police officers and firefighters not only watched as they lost fellow police officers and firefighters to the terrorist attacks in New York City, but also suffered the loss of one of their own at home.
Ten years later, the Marysville community came together to pay tribute not only to the 343 firefighters and 72 law enforcement officers and emergency workers who fell that day trying to save the lives of others, but also to the Marysville Fire District’s Lt. Jeff Thornton, who passed away that same day after battling with cancer.

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MARYSVILLE — Gloria Kymn stepped in as the new pastor of the Marysville United Methodist Church after Tom Albright stepped down this June, but she’s been serving as a pastor since she was still attending school during the 1990s.
Kymn was accustomed to city living, so she wasn’t sure at first how she might handle her new hometown, but as far as she’s concerned now, she needn’t have worried.
“It’s been a match made in Heaven for me,” Kymn said. “I’m loving it. Marysville has the charming feel of a small town, with its caring and hospitality. I’m the first ethnic woman pastor at this church, but they’ve just welcomed me into their lives. That says a lot about both the congregation and the community.”

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MARYSVILLE — Last year, close to 250 volunteers spruced up Jennings Park as part of the National Day of Service and Remembrance.
This year’s Day of Service for Marysville will take place on Sept. 17 at the Doleshel Tree Farm Park, located at 9002 67th Ave. NE.
Christina Foley, media relations specialist for the Marysville Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, explained that the church is sponsoring the project, which starts at 9 a.m. She asked that volunteers show up at 8:45 a.m. for sign-in registration and to pose for a group photo, and added that Marysville Mayor Jon Nehring planned to attend.

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Minutes after its official ribbon-cutting ceremony, area youths were already making themselves at home in the Marysville YMCA’s new Youth Development Center. The 3,400-square-foot building that once served as the home for the Marysville Community Food Bank now houses program space for the “ACT!” — “Actively Changing Together” — youth obesity program and the “Exercise and Thrive” cancer survivorship program, but on Aug. 31, it was the Youth Development Center’s computer lab and teen recreation features that attracted the most attention from its young patrons.

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The Marysville Library’s summer reading program for this year wrapped up in a grand fashion for 10-year-old Luis Lopez. Lopez, who went back to school at Cascade Elementary on Sept. 6, received a cookie “the size of his head” and a life-sized poster of him holding his favorite book on Aug. 20 from Kathy Smargiassi, the children’s librarian at the Marysville Library.

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MARYSVILLE — It was a day of firsts in many ways for many Marysville parents.
The first day of the 2011-12 school year for the Marysville School District also marked the first year that the students of Tulalip Elementary went to the Quil Ceda Elementary school building.

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