Fat Smitty’s serves up cash to charities

Posted

Customers entering Fat Smitty’s are greeted by a jungle of dollar bills attached to it’s walls and ceiling – a sight that may be unlike anything they’ve seen before.

Manager Casey Carson, or another member of the staff, then offers a greeting, answering the inevitable questions, explaining that it all started years ago, and all the money goes to charity.

“People want to know, and you always have to answer with a smile on your face, no matter how many times you’ve said it before,” Carson said.

When the Discovery Bay restaurant reopens in February, there will be a different question: “Where did it all go?”

Carson and crew spent about eight hours on Saturday, Jan. 21 pulling money off the walls, ending up with $26,582 for distribution to local charities. That amount is more than twice the $10,316 gathered in 2012, which was the first time the money was removed since the first bill was attached in the late 1980s.

“It really picked up after people found out it was all going to charity,” Carson said. “We are all charitable people, but not everyone has the opportunity to make a substantial contribution like this in their lifetime.”

Carson said the first dollar was tacked up by a traveling salesman who affixed his business card to the bill and stapled it to the wall. The tradition continued for two decades, during which time all of the walls, ceilings and hallways were full of bills.

Ideas came and went until early 2012, when the staff decided to remove the money, contributing $10,316 to Camp Parsons in unincorporated Jefferson County. At that time, Boy Scouts from throughout the region helped to remove the cash.

Saturday’s proceeds benefit the Discovery Bay Volunteer Fire Department, Toys for Tots of Jefferson County, the Captain Joseph House Foundation and Seattle Children’s Hospital. About two dozen people, many of them representing beneficiary organizations, spent about six hours gathering the money and bundling it into $100 packages.

It took about two hours before the green 1950s paneling emerged.

“Every bill has a story,” Carson said, acknowledging that he didn’t have the time to look closely to determine what they might be.

Few bills lacked markings of some sort, from a person’s name to an elaborate transformation of George Washington into the Joker. Carson said that one couple had their first date at Curly’s, a burger joint that occupied the building 69 years ago. They return on anniversaries and birthdays, posting bills with their names.

STOLEN BILL, APOLOGY

Carson is keeping a framed bill autographed by actor Eric Estrada, along with a fan of bills brought in by a teenager who had stolen them from the wall and was then dragged in by his mother to apologize. The bills and the apology are posted behind the counter.

“He didn’t know he was on camera,” Carson said of the hapless teen, adding that when someone is caught pilfering, they are kicked out of the restaurant. “I usually don’t prosecute,” he said. 

If Carson sees a bill with an obscenity written on it, he takes it down right away: “This is a family restaurant and there is no place for the f-word,” he said.

The defaced bills, along with those whose serial numbers are illegible, were counted separately and not included in the total.

All the bills were scheduled for a Monday deposit. They are sent to the Treasury Department, which counts and inspects the money. When that count is complete, the funds are released.

The business closed last week for a winter break, during which time the restaurant was to get a cleaning and have a new fryer installed.

To many locals, the restaurant is known as much for its conservative politics as its menu offerings. Some people avoid the restaurant for that reason, while others may pull in because they like the patriotic message.

The restaurant, predictably, put up a Trump sign last year. The following day, Carson said, a newspaper chose to remove its circulation box from the store’s front. The day after the election, the sign itself was stolen, he said.

“That’s the great thing about America, people have their freedoms,” he said. “If they choose to support a business that supports their party, they can do that with no problems. But if you don’t come in [because of the politics], you don’t get a chance to see the other side and get another view of people.”