The New Martinsville Rotary Club welcomed Delegate Bill Bell as speaker on Wednesday, July 29, for their weekly meeting at Quinet’s Court Restaurant in Downtown New Martinsville.

Bell, a former history teacher and city councilman in Paden City, thanked the club for the opportunity to address public service and education in West Virginia. He started by giving a little history about himself and how he began his career in education and his time as a delegate serving Wetzel, Tyler, and Doddridge Counties.

He said he’s a graduate of WVU Parkersburg and began teaching in 2018 in an elementary school in Parkersburg as an English teacher. In 2019 he received the job as History teacher at Paden City high school and he soon fell in love with the area and its people.

Bell said he’s President of the Paden City Lions Club, which he said was in danger of losing their charter due to inactivity, but through a group effort they are now up to about 20 members and are one year away from celebrating their 100th year. They met on Tuesday, July 28, and are making a donation to the Upshear County flood victims.

He said one of the reasons he was defeated in the recent election for his house seat is because he supported Public Education. He said, “One of the greatest gifts you have as an educator is watching students who can’t or don’t believe in themselves and they go on to do amazing things.”

He said in 2024 his father passed away. He was an optometrist down in Parkersburg who Bell gave a lot of credit to for his education. He said without his father he wouldn’t be anywhere.

He said when he moved to Paden City in 2019 he wanted to be involved in city government and he was asked to run for Mayor, which didn’t go well, however he was asked to serve on city council in 2021 and he really enjoyed what he did. He added people would always tell him, “Mr. Bell, you are one councilman who actually answers your phone.” He said public service is not about titles, it’s about helping people and when you leave office, the city, county, or state is a better place than when you started.

It was in 2025 when he was appointed to serve as a delegate to fill a position held by David Kelly who was appointed as commissioner of the department of corrections.

He said one of the bills he supported which could have played a part in him not getting elected was the Raylynn’s law bill which was designed to close a loophole to protect children from someone suspected of child abuse, it didn’t go through, but he believes it is going to get addressed by the legislature in the next session.

He also said he has intentions of running again in 2028. He added he firmly believes in public service. He believes in getting involved, especially younger people, at 39 he’s the youngest member of the Paden City Lions Club. He said we need to get the younger generation off of the phone. He said he has hope for the younger generation, a couple of them were pages for him down in Charleston and being an optimist he believes the younger generation is starting to turn. He is also optimistic for the future of the Lions Club, the Rotary and all public service organizations. He said when he hears people saying these organizations are going to die, he disagrees with them.

Bell then thanked the club for having him and answered a few questions. The Rotary gave him a nice round of applause and welcomed him back.

The Rotary invites prospective members and interested individuals to attend their meeting on Wednesdays at noon at Quinet’s Restaurant.