MARYSVILLE — The Marysville Boys and Girls Club celebrated its progress May 27, as Marysville Mayor Dennis Kendall and Jeannie McCoy, wife of state Rep. John McCoy, presented an oversized check for $487,500 to Bonnie Ramsey, unit director for the Marysville Boys and Girls Club, and Bill Tsoukalas, executive director of the Snohomish County Boys and Girls Clubs.

Kendall explained that the Washington State Department of Commerce and state legislators had awarded a capital budget grant to the city of Marysville to improve the Boys and Girls Club facility at 1010 Beach Ave. He credited state representatives John McCoy, Mike Sells and Hans Dunshee, as well as state Sen. Steve Hobbs, with securing those funds in the midst of the state’s budget crunch.

Kendall referred to the grant as a down payment on the total cost of $894,000 for the facility, noting that the Boys and Girls Clubs will lease the building from the city of Marysville for the next 10 years, after which both parties expect ownership of the facility to shift to the Boys and Girls Clubs. To that end, brothers Harv and Larry Jubie, and their respective wives Jan and Linda, have pledged $100,000 to the facility over the course of the next 10 years, at an amount of $10,000 per year, to encourage others in the community to support the Marysville Boys and Girls Club.

“We believe in keeping kids active and off the street,” said Harv Jubie, whose brother and sister-in-law were unable to attend the May 27 celebration at the Marysville Boys and Girls Club. The games room of the facility has already been dedicated in the Jubie family’s honor.

Marysville Kiwanis Club President Elaine Ferri added that her organization will be conducting a pancake breakfast fundraiser for the Marysville Boys and Girls Club, June 13 from 7-10:30 a.m. at Sound Harley-Davidson, located at 16212 Smokey Point Blvd. in Smokey Point.

“This is a work in progress,” Tsoukalas said. “We plan to have one room serve as a computer lab and hope to have a kitchen to feed the kids who come in. Eventually, we want this building to be open to children 24-7.”