MARYSVILLE — Residents of Marysville will remember 2011 for a variety of reasons. Here are some of the stories, by publication date, that appeared on the pages of The Marysville Globe in 2011.

January 5

Larry Groom isn’t sure how much time he has left, but the school resource officer for the Tulalip Police Department wants to keep doing what he’s doing until his time is up. “I want to be the first cop in a walker,” laughed Groom, who was diagnosed a little more than a year ago with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, also known as “Lou Gehrig’s disease.” “I hope to work until I can’t.”

January 12

Marysville and Everett residents expressed their frustrations with ongoing odors in the area at a Jan. 5 meeting in the Marysville City Council Chambers that was intended to facilitate fact-finding for citizens, elected officials and regulatory agencies alike. State Rep. Hans Dunshee moderated the discussion between community members, including the Citizens for a Smell Free Marysville and Beyond, and representatives of the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency, the Snohomish County Health district and the state Department of Ecology.

January 19

Tears and laughter were abundant during the “Taste of Relay” Jan. 15, which marked the kickoff of the fundraising season for the 2011 Marysville/Tulalip Relay for Life.

January 26

This year’s Jet City Tattoo Expo packed the Orca Ballroom at the Tulalip Resort Hotel and Casino Jan. 23, as tattoo artists from across the country applied their ink to tattoo aficionados from throughout the Pacific Northwest.

February 2

Marysville Mayor Jon Nehring’s first “State of the City” address focused on the city of Marysville’s plans for long-term financial stability and some of the developments that its citizens can expect this year. Many attendees of the Jan. 28 Business Before Hours, conducted by the Greater Marysville Tulalip Chamber of Commerce, reacted favorably to Nehring’s optimistic prognosis of Marysville’s progress and future.

February 9

Three years ago, Dave Vasconi was so morbidly obese that he could hardly get out of bed in the morning. “It was December of 2007 when I strained my lower back just from getting up,” said Vasconi, the community service officer for the Marysville Police Department. “I couldn’t even get my leg into my vehicle.” Thanks to proper nutrition and exercise, Vasconi went on to lose 158 pounds.

February 16

At the beginning of the Tulalip Tribal Board of Directors’ Feb. 10 meeting, Board member Don Hatch Jr. asked a group of students from Tulalip Elementary to take seats at the table in the center of the boardroom. “The children are who we’re doing this for, so they should get some glory out of this.” Hatch was referring to the Tribes’ decision to award $1.26 million for regional educational improvements to the Marysville School District.

February 23

The children of the Marysville community were among the beneficiaries of the Rotary Club of Marysville’s $32,000 in donations to local service organizations. Deirdre Kvangnes, Community Service Board member for the Marysville Rotary Club, presented checks to representatives of half a dozen local groups on Feb. 16.

March 2

The Senior Royalty for this year’s Marysville Strawberry Festival will include not only a queen and a princess, but also a prince. Marysville Getchell High School junior Erik Kundu and senior Lauren Stallcup each received a scholarship of $3,500 as this year’s Senior Royalty Prince and Princess, respectively, while Getchell junior Louie Vital not only received the $5,000 scholarship as this year’s Senior Royalty Queen, but also received the $500 Bob Klepper Memorial Congeniality Scholarship.

March 9

Area eighth-graders got a hands-on lesson on the importance of trees to the local environment, thanks to the city of Marysville and the Stilly-Snohomish Fisheries Enhancement Task Force. Cedarcrest Middle School science teacher Kirby Schaufler escorted 122 of his eighth-grade students to the Northpointe and Strawberry Fields Athletic parks in Marysville on March 1 and 2 as part of the Task Force’s Tree Connections program.

March 16

Drivers on State Route 529 will still be using the existing 85-year-old Ebey Slough Bridge between Marysville and Everett for a while yet, but its replacement recently reached another milestone in its construction progress. “Feb. 15 was the end of the window we had to get the columns installed,” said Joe Rooney, chief inspector for the Northwest Region of the Washington State Department of Transportation. “From here until mid-May, they’re doing the structural work to get the piers ready for the girders. The earliest we expect to get those girders is May 15.”

March 23

When Marysville Methodists traveled to Haiti, they found a country struggling with shocking poverty, but also one whose citizens still harbor hope. The eight members of the Marysville United Methodist Church who had taken a mission trip to Haiti from Feb. 27 through March 7 devoted the evening of March 17 to sharing their experiences with fellow church members.

March 30

Lakeshia and Dennis Drahos got married two months before Dennis joined the Navy six years ago, but this was their first full deployment as a Navy couple.

Petty Officer 1st Class Dennis Drahos Sr. has served on board the USS Abraham Lincoln for the past three years, and when the Lincoln pulled into Naval Station Everett on March 24 after a seven-month deployment, he and Lakeshia shared one of the first kisses coming off the brow, as she held nine-month-old Dennis Jr. in her arms.

April 6

Although the morning’s rain brought with it a significantly reduced attendance, the enthusiasm of those who did turn out for the Walk MS at the Tulalip Amphitheatre wasn’t dampened on April 2.

April 13

Nine new exam rooms, including a dedicated procedure room, remained almost untouched as of April 7. According to Tamara Fitzpatrick, nurse manager for the Sea Mar Community Health Center in Marysville, that won’t last long. On April 7, Sea Mar celebrated the addition of 3,000 square feet to its Marysville clinic, which includes the exam rooms and three new offices.

April 20

What began as a student musical performance became a series of pleas on behalf of music in the Marysville School District. The 10th Street Middle School Jazz Band performed a number of songs for attendees of the MSD Board of Directors’ April 18 meeting, before band director Nathan Sackman urged the Board to support music programs within the district, in terms that would be echoed by parents, alumni and other community members who had no idea that Sackman planned to express sentiments that mirrored their own.

April 27

Thousands of people filled Jennings Memorial Park’s Rotary Ranch, April 23, as kids of all ages turned out to enjoy a rare day of sunshine and the city’s annual Easter egg hunt. “Although it’s still early, it looks like we could have 3,000 people here today,” said Jim Ballew, Parks and Recreation Director. “This is a wonderful turnout by members of this community.”

May 4

Tulalip Tribal Chair Mel Sheldon Jr. was quick to share credit with the surrounding community for the Tulalip Tribes’ prosperity in this year’s State of the Tribes address. Speaking to the Greater Marysville Tulalip Chamber of Commerce on April 29, Sheldon praised Chamber President and CEO Caldie Rogers and her fellow Chamber members for being “on the leading edge” of innovation. Sheldon likewise lauded Marysville Mayor Jon Nehring and his City Council for their partnership in joint economic and environmental projects.

May 11

“When people think of Marysville, they think of the Tulalip Tribes and the Native Indians,” said Jasbir Sandhu at the Guru Nanak Sikh Temple in Marysville, before laughing, “They don’t think of the other Indians that are here.” Area followers of the Sikh faith converged on the temple to observe Vaisakhi, one of the most significant holidays of the Sikh calendar.

May 18

Members of the Marysville and Tulalip communities teamed up for the second year in a row to take part in a “RED Day,” this time for the Marysville Boys & Girls Club. Last fall’s “RED Day” saw turnout from the Marysville office of Keller Williams Realty and the Tulalip Tribes’ Adult Education Services Division work to improve the grounds of the Tulalip Homeless Shelter, and on May 12 of this year, volunteers from both organizations improved the grounds and prepared the building of the Marysville Boys & Girls Club for a fresh coat of paint.

May 25

The Tulalip Resort Hotel’s Orca Ballroom was packed with more than 400 diners and auction bidders whose contributions will help the Tulalip Boys & Girls Club keep pace with the needs of the community’s youth. Tulalip Tribal Chair Mel Sheldon Jr., who emceed this year’s event, noted that the annual auction has been going for 13 years, as long as he’s been on the Tulalip Tribal Council. He deemed the event’s regular attendees old friends.

June 1

While scores of American flags blew in the wind, more than 100 people crowded the north side of  the Marysville Cemetery to honor fallen patriots at the annual Marysville American Legion Post 178 Memorial Day Remembrance Ceremony, Monday, May 30.  “This is a special day for anyone who is an American,” longtime Marysville resident and veteran Henry Stone said. “The (American) Legion does such a great job, as do  the students from Marysville-Pilchuck High School. I am honored to be here.”

June 8

One local bank branch changed hands over the Memorial Day weekend, while another bank with two branches in the area is on its way toward a merger. Columbia State Bank assumed all the deposits of First Heritage Bank, whose Arlington branch reopened on May 31 as a branch of Columbia State Bank. Also on May 31, the shareholders of Cascade Financial approved the merger of Cascade Bank, which has branches in Marysville and Smokey Point, with Opus Bank.

June 15

“This will be the first, last and only graduation of this type,” Marysville-Pilchuck High School Principal Andrew Frost said to the graduating class of 2011. Frost wasn’t just speaking to the students of his own school on June 13, but he was also addressing the students of the Small Learning Communities of Marysville Getchell High School at the Everett Events Center.

The commencement ceremony not only marked the end of both sets of students’ high school careers, but also saw the first class to graduate from Marysville Getchell since its first classes began at the start of the 2010-11 school year.

June 22

In spite of gray skies and occasional rain, the final weekend of this year’s Marysville Strawberry Festival still drew crowds who were ready to get into the spirit of the annual event. June 18 marked the Strawberry Festival’s zenith, starting with the Kiddies Parade from Totem Middle School to Comeford Park that kicked off at 6 p.m. Event organizer Bobbi Easley took the reins for the first time this year, and found herself running out of participant ribbons for its more than 150 entrants. That was followed by the Grand Parade and the fireworks display.

June 29

The Marysville School District’s commitment to energy efficiency has reaped dividends from the Snohomish County Public Utility District. PUD Commissioner Dave Aldrich attended the Marysville School Board’s June 20 meeting to present the school district with an oversized check for $82,659, an incentive for the energy efficiency features that were incorporated into the design of the Marysville Getchell High School campus.

July 6

For nearly a decade, Fridays on Third Street have meant free entertainment and cheap eats during the summer months, and this past Independence Day weekend was no exception. “The Outer Court” returned to the parking lot of the Carabinieri Bar drive-through and walk-up stand for the ninth consecutive year on July 1.

July 13

For the Tulalip Tribes, it’s a means of maintaining not only their lands, but also their culture. Precision Thinning began grooming 88 acres of two 28-year-old stands of Douglas Fir trees on the Tulalip Tribes reservation in late June, thinning them from an average of 400 down to 160 trees per acre. The Tribes aim not only to foster healthier trees and a richer ecosystem, but also to provide their peoples with places to forage and hunt, which are important parts of their heritage.

July 20

Those looking to acquire medicinal marijuana in Marysville have a long wait ahead of them. The Marysville City Council voted unanimously on July 11 to impose a six-month interim moratorium on any applications or activities by medicinal marijuana dispensaries or collective gardens within the city limits, after a public hearing at that same Council meeting which drew testimony from the owner of a collective garden in the Puget Sound region.

July 27

By late next year, area residents should expect to have a new option in health care available to them. The Everett Clinic broke ground on its planned two-story, 60,000-square-foot, $24 million facility north of 172nd Street NE and west of I-5 on July 21, as Everett Clinic Chief Operating Officer Mark Mantei explained that the 3.6-acre site would serve as the grounds for an even bigger building than their branch in Smokey Point, hosting a broader cross-section of health care services than any Everett Clinic outside of their main offices in Everett itself.

August 3

It was a great day for a car show, especially one supporting the Susan G. Komen “3 Day for the Cure” breast cancer research fundraising walk this fall. The Kumon Math and Reading Centers’ Marysville branch hosted the event at their new location on Delta Avenue, while their event co-sponsors, Fenders and Fins Inc., drew more than a dozen classic car owners to the site after putting out the call to their clientele, but in spite of the bright, warm weather on July 30 that finally felt like summer, the turnout was sparser than the event’s organizers had hoped for.

August 10

According to Tulalip Tribal Board members, the plot of land just north of the existing Quil Ceda Village and just south of the Tulalip Resort Hotel and Casino has sat empty for years because they’ve been waiting for just the right new development. As Tribal members officially broke ground on the site with members of the Cabela’s chain of hunting, fishing and outdoor supplies stores on Aug. 2, they agreed that Cabela’s was the right choice, for Quil Ceda Village and beyond.

August 17

Marysville’s annual street fair, HomeGrown, benefited from pleasant weather during its two days as visitors from throughout North Snohomish County took part as both shoppers and sellers. Marysville residents Cindy Moll and Shalyn Olsen didn’t have far to travel to stop by at Third Street on Aug. 12 and 13. It was Olsen’s third year of browsing and occasionally buying wares, and while Moll has attended HomeGrown for five years.

August 24

For the members of the Tulalip Tribes, the exhibits of the Hibulb Cultural Center are not dry relics from distant times, but vital items of personal significance that keep the memories of their families and ancestors alive as their culture moves forward into the future.

When the Center opened to Tulalip Tribal members and select guests on Aug. 19, one day before opening to the general public, Tribal member Jean Morris was excited to use its touchscreen computers to map out the roots of her family tree, as she identified Henry Paul and Amelia Jackson as among her ancestors.

August 31

Since other Marysville schools have made campus cleanups part of their back-to-school preparations, the students, staff and parents of Kellogg Marsh Elementary decided to follow suit for the first time this year and benefited from some genuinely summery weather while they were doing it. “I drive in the back of this building every single day and I’ve seen these weeds and trees just out of control,” said Brenda Roberts, co-president of the Kellogg Marsh PTA, who coordinated the first in what she hopes will become an annual series of events. “I want this school to be pretty so that my daughter can walk in here proudly. I want it to be colorful so that our students will be excited about learning.”

September 7

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.

September 14

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.

September 21

In spite of overcast skies that soon turned to the first sprinkles of rain that many Marysville residents have seen in a while, the Doleshel Tree Farm Park was packed with volunteers willing to wake up early on a Saturday morning, go outdoors and improve their community. Dozens of families and individuals alike arrived before 9 a.m. on Sept. 17, most of them bringing their own tools, to transform the property between Kellogg Marsh Elementary and 67th Avenue NE as part of the National Day of Service and Remembrance, sponsored by the Marysville Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

September 28

Between Sept. 23 and 24, close to 100 volunteers showed up at Harborview Park in southern Marysville to help get the local ecosystem going again, even though most of them don’t live or work in town. The nearly 60 volunteers from Philips Healthcare, the Everett YMCA and the Sno-Isle Libraries who turned out on Friday, Sept. 23, represented the start of the Qwuloolt Estuary Restoration Project. They and their fellow volunteers on Saturday, Sept. 24, planted more than 850 native trees and shrubs on eight-tenths of an acre on the eastern side of the Qwuloolt Estuary, but over the course of the next 15 months the restoration project plans to conduct such plantings on 10 acres of territory around the marsh.

October 5

In spite of the day’s gray skies and slight drizzle, the Roy Robinson Chevrolet, Subaru and RV Center in Tulalip drew hundreds of children on Oct. 1 for their first “Child Safety Day.” Families took advantage of the free “DNA” biometric fingerprinting and identification kits that were the centerpiece of the day, and obtained them for a total of 130 kids.

October 12

The Plant Farm at Smokey Point is once again covered in pumpkins, but the Rotary Club of Marysville’s annual “Pumpkins for Literacy” program has a few new wrinkles this year. “We’ve got four weekends instead of three this year for our pumpkin patch,” Marysville Rotary Past President Gayl Spilman said of the event, which kicked off on Oct. 8 and runs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., seven days a week, through Halloween, Oct. 31.

October 19

A proclamation by Marysville’s mayor kicked off a full week of community service by local DECA students. At the Oct. 10 Marysville City Council meeting, Mayor Jon Nehring designated Oct. 9-15 “DECA Week,” with half a dozen Marysville-Pilchuck High School DECA students in attendance, before 16 DECA students descended upon the Marysville Community Food Bank the next day, Oct. 11, to help the food bank’s volunteers sort and dispense food items to their clients.

October 26

Marysville Mayor Jon Nehring and his challenger, Kelly Wright, argued over many of the same issues during two separate debates. The two faced off at the Oct. 19 “OUR Marysville” mayoral candidates forum and the Oct. 21 Greater Marysville Tulalip Chamber of Commerce mayoral and City Council candidates forum.

November 2

The Marysville community has rallied around the family of Juan Mendoza, the 16-year-old Marysville Getchell High School junior who lost his life on Oct. 24 in a car accident. A student-led memorial and celebration of Mendoza’s life for his friends and family, as well as for Marysville School District staff and others who wished to attend, was held on Tuesday, Nov. 8, at 6 p.m. in the Marysville Getchell High School gymnasium.

November 9

Marysville city officials are crediting a drop in reported crime rates over last year to a police force that’s redeployed its resources and focused on analyzing and responding proactively to crime. Although the city’s population has increased over the years, this year had only 36 crimes reported per 1,000 residents, a decline from last year’s 45 crimes reported per 1,000 residents, which adds up to a 15 percent decline in crime from last year’s reported rates through August. The sharpest drops were in vandalism and malicious mischief, which went from 604 reported cases in 2010 to 439 in 2011, and theft, which went from 1,103 reported cases in 2010 to 902 in 2011. Within that same window of time, vehicle prowl cases dropped from 321 to 268.

November 16

The Marysville community conducted so many commemorations of Veterans Day that it almost qualified as “Veterans Week.” To accommodate the closing of schools on its observance, Shoultes Elementary students conducted its Veterans Day assembly one day early, on Nov. 10, during which the Marysville-Pilchuck High School Naval Junior ROTC paraded the colors. On Nov. 11, Veterans Day itself, Marysville American Legion Post 178 not only invited area veterans to its free chili feed, but also dedicated its bright red mailbox to collect worn-out American flags for proper disposal throughout the year.

November 23

The Marysville Community Food Bank’s needs for this year’s holiday season have more than equaled those of previous years.  Marysville Community Food Bank Director Dell Deierling estimated that as many as 300 families might have received Thanksgiving food baskets, which were distributed by close to 100 volunteer workers during the three hours that the food bank was open to serve them on Friday, Nov. 18.

November 30

A Nov. 22 meeting between Marysville School District staff and community members drew not only Marysville Mayor Jon Nehring, but also state Senator Nick Harper and state representatives Mike Sells and John McCoy, as MSD Superintendent Dr. Larry Nyland made it clear how Marysville schools would be impacted by proposed state cuts to levy equalization funds. “It would affect us two to three times more than the rest of the state,” said Nyland, who explained that while property-rich school districts would lose less than $200 per student, property-poor districts like Marysville stand to lose between $400 and $500 per student. “It would be the equivalent of double-levy failures.”

Dec. 7

While the evening’s public hearing yielded no input, not all of the Marysville City Council members agreed on the proposed city budget and property tax levies for 2012 during their Nov. 28 meeting. The Council’s votes on the ordinances for the EMS tax and the amendment of Marysville Municipal Code relating to the utility tax on telephone services were both unanimous 7-0, but Council member Jeff Seibert, Lee Phillips and Jeff Vaughan voted against the majority on the ordinance for the regular tax. By a vote of 4-3, the Council levied a 1 percent increase on the regular tax, rather than banking that tax increase. Although the EMS tax was capped out, the Council’s unanimous vote to increase that tax was intended to bank that tax increase.

Dec. 14

Compared to the crowds who had cheered their return just a few months ago, relatively few families stood on the pier to say farewell to their sailors, since most had already said their goodbyes before that point. Still, it was no small number of siblings, parents, spouses and other loved ones who marked the final departure of USS Abraham Lincoln from Naval Station Everett by braving the cold rain to see the ship pull out of port on the morning of Wednesday, Dec. 7.

Dec. 21

The Marysville City Council voted unanimously to extend the moratorium into June of 2012, after Marysville City Attorney Grant Weed warned of potential confusion in interpreting the existing laws regulating medical marijuana, as well as conflicts that could arise between municipal, state and federal laws on the subject.

Dec. 28

The Marysville  Community Food Bank’s three days of Christmas basket distribution were already on track to meet or exceed the previous year’s totals by Tuesday, Dec. 20, as volunteers checked in 87 clients during the first 40 minutes of the event’s second day. “We get a lot more people during the holidays who are able to take care of themselves through the rest of the year, but when this season comes around they find themselves asking whether they can get presents for their kids or whether they want to eat for the month,” Marysville Community Food Bank Director Dell Deierling said.