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2023 PARADE MARSHALS

Meet Dick and Mary Hanson, 2023 Parade Marshals.

Dick and Mary met while working at Boeing Manufacturing where Dick worked as an electrician, wiring planes. He worked on KC135s and may have even worked on the President’s plane. Mary worked in the blueprint office at Boeing. They would go bowling at 3:00 am after their shift at Boeing. They married in 1958, became parents to Patti and Judi while living in Seattle, then decided to move back home to Touchet. There they enlarged their family with three more girls: Traci, Jenni and Polli. They farmed in the Touchet-Gardena area for a few years before Dick went to work on the Walla Walla County Road Department.

There he became the District Foreman for 30 years before retiring in 2000. While he was foreman, he and Mary became members of the local volunteer fire department. Mary was the Dispatcher and Dick the Fire Chief until they retired. Mary was also a Tri Community homemaker, Department of Ecology Air Quality Monitor and Walla Walla County Burn Control Officer. She volunteered as Open Class and 4-H Superintendent for several years, as well as a 4-H leader of a sewing club for 50 years. Mary is also a past Walla Walla Fair & Frontier Days board member and an 1866 Club member.

Dick was a member of the Touchet-Gardena Lions Club and Walla Walla Elks Club. He was a Touchet School board member for 20 years and was honored in 2010 as the Touchet Hall of Fame Inductee. After retiring from the Road Department, he became a Touchet school bus driver for 20 years before he retired in May 2022.

Dick and Mary were the Southeastern Washington Fair (now Walla Walla Fair & Frontier Days) Parade Chairs from 1977 to 1997. They have volunteered countless hours for the Walla Walla Fair & Frontier Days. Until recently, Dick and Mary made all the unique barnwood frames for the Fair Court portraits displayed in the Pavilion. They had two daughters that were on the Fair Court and three daughters participated in the Wagonettes Drill Team. They continue to sponsor several Walla Walla Fair & Frontier Days Special Awards for exhibitors.

Dick and Mary now spend their days keeping up with their ten grandchildren and two great grandsons. Everything from school events to sporting events and traveling all over to support them all. They hardly ever miss anything.

Former
Frontier Days Parade
Grand Marshals

1939 Lt. Col. Frederick Roecker
1940 Sheriff C. A. Woodward
1941 Washington Governor A. B. Langlie
1942 –1945 War Years
1946 Col. Frederick Roecker
1947 Associate Justice W.O. Douglas
1948 W.R. Winn
1949 Fay S. Legro
1950 E. N. Boylen
1951 James Blakely
1952 Hal Holmes
1953 Sheriff J. R. Cummins
1954 Eugene Tausick
1955 E. C. Burlingame
1956 R. E. Burrows
1957 Guy Kent
1958 Roy Kelly
1959 Alberta Dooly
1960 Ed Tucker
1961 C. W. Martin
1962 Clem Bergevin
1963 W. E. Falconer
1964 Howard Burgess
1965 Chet Young
1966 Claude Pennell
1967 Charles Baker
1968 Dewey Drumheller
1969 Frank Maiden
1970 Carl J. Penner
1971 Orin Walker
1972 Preston Hanson
1973 W. L. Teague
1974 Otto Hellberg
1975 Ival Sutherland
1976 Merle C. Brown
1977 Raymond Young
1978 E. A. Duncan
1979 Swede Anderson
1980 Frank LeRoux
1981 Ray Small Jr.
1982 Art Klundt & Martin Dorsey
1983 Fred Strohmaier
1984 Francis Stiller
1985 Frank Curcio
1986 Harold Jackson
1987 Don Thomas
1988 Bob Williams
1989 Margaret Bergevin & Mary Lynch
1990 Harmon Johnson
1991 Peter Brooks1992 W. L. "Shine" Minnick
1993 Jeanette Hayner
1994 Scotty Cummins
1995 Claro Bergevin
1996 John Thrasher
1997 Ed Stiller
1998 L. A. "Bud" Christensen
1999 George Collins
2000 Bob Stevens
2001 Carroll Adams & Bill Bennington Sr.
2002 Chuck Maiden
2003 Don Johnson
2004 Pat & Rod Ingham
2005 Shirley Dickerson & Greta Hassler
2006 Richard Neher
2007 Tom & Phyllis Donovan
2008 Gale Kimball
2009 Steve VanAusdle
2010 Dave & Maralyn Carey
2011 Connie Vinti & Rose Hof
2012 Leland & Carolyn Hellberg
2013 Pam & Dallas Thompson
2014 Pam Ray
2015 Ron & Marilyn Miller
2016 Dick & Juliann Moeller
2017 Ed & Chris Burlingame
2018 Jim Vinti
2019 Judy Frazier
2020 & 2021 Doug & Margie Krueger
2022 Clark & Carolyn Hansen
2023 Dick & Mary Hanson
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