By CHERYL KLINKER

When you hear the clang of a bell at the opening of the weekly Lake City Farmers Market on Thursday afternoons, the sound isn't coming from the fire station next door.

It comes from a historic bell that was recently donated to the operators of the farmers market to let farmers know it's 3 p.m. - time to open for business.

When customers hear that metallic ring, they know it's time to quickly get over to the stalls to get their first pick of the fresh produce.

The bell has had a long history, some of which remains a mystery. In the early 1930s, it was used as a school bell, ringing students into class each day.

A little over five years ago, a local resident named Ap Roberts discovered the bell - all black with age and oxidation - at a Pacific Galleries auction. He bought it because he thought it would be fun to have the bell around his home.

The auctioneers cleaned the bell to make it look like new, but that wasn't enough to convince Ap's wife that it belonged at home.

At a North Seattle Sunrisers Kiwanis meeting about a year ago, Ap heard me talk about a kiosk project at the new park in Lake City, at NE 140th and 32nd Avenue NE. Play structures had been installed and lots of children were using them. He felt the bell should be around children again and approached me about mounting it on the kiosk.

I was delighted to accept the bell. I talked with neighbors of the park about the bell at meetings that were held to discuss plans for the kiosk. They agreed that a portion of the grant funds received from King County should be used to incorporate the bell into artwork attached to and above the new kiosk that played on the term "school of fish" because Little Brook flows by the park site.

Seattle Parks and Recreation promised to build a kiosk and an artist was lined up to create an artistic mounting for the bell.

A year later, however, the Parks Department, because of budget cuts, decided not to provide a kiosk for the park. As a result, all the grant funds would be needed to pay an architect to design and build the kiosk. It was hoped that the bell could still be mounted on the side of the kiosk somehow, but vandalism was an issue.

As luck would have it, Molly Burke, in charge of community outreach for the Lake City Farmers Market, happened to mention to me that she was looking for a drummer to artistically announce the opening of the market.

"You don't need a drummer, you need a big bell," I told her. I proceeded to explain the dilemma of the homeless bell. Molly agreed that this was the perfect alternative and came home one day to find the heavy, old school bell sitting on her porch.

With the assistance of the firemen at the Lake City Fire Station, the bell was finally mounted on a barrel and loaded on to a cart so it could be wheeled out on market days.

At last, it has found a new life, ringing out the good news for all ages that wonderful, homegrown food from the country is ready to be put on the table!

The Lake City Farmers Market is held every Thursday, from 3-7 p.m., through Oct. 17 behind the Lake City Fire Station at NE 127th Street and 30th Avenue NE.