California theater welcomes return of missing antique bell

FOSTER CITY, Calif. (AP) - A Bay Area community theater is welcoming the return of a 300-pound antique bell that mysteriously vanished six years ago.

The Hillbarn Theater in Foster City used the solid brass bell to send audiences back to their seats for five decades before it diesappeared in September 2004.

The theater distributed "lost bell'' posters and Foster City police launched an investigation, but they couldn't locate the century-old bell.

Then on Friday, a construction worker spotted the bell in a San Leandro scrap metal shop. After some Internet research, he discovered the theater's "lost bell'' plea and called the theater to tell them he had found it.

The bell was back in the theater's lobby Friday, just hours before opening night of its 70th season.

___

Information from: San Francisco Chronicle, http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle

Copyright 2010 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

AP-WS-09-06-10 1329EDT