Richard and Sue Van Ark are scheduled to ride in style as grand marshals of the 2024 Independence Day parade through Gillett.
The longtime Gillett area residents were nominated by Dick Jewell, who has volunteered with Richard Van Ark on the Gillett Civic Club for more than 40 years. They arrived in town when Richard Van Ark became vice president of what was then the Gillett State Bank, which later became part of Wells Fargo. They have called Gillett home ever since.
A graduate of St. Anthony Catholic School, Richard Van Ark was a star wrestler at Oconto Falls High School, graduating with the class of 1963. He was inducted into the OFHS Wrestling Alumni Hall of Fame last year.
Married for 57 years — they met while students at Oconto Falls High School in the 1960s — the Van Arks have four children: Michelle Corlett, Yvonne Van Ark, Rhonda Van Ark and Tress Van Ark (deceased), and five grandchildren.
His banking career took the couple to several communities over the years before he retired toward the end of 2001 as senior vice president of Wells Fargo Oconto County. At each stop, they were active volunteers in various organizations.
In addition to the civic club, Richard Van Ark’s list of community service in Gillett includes various duties at St. John’s Catholic Church, incorporating Dairy Promotions Inc. and helping to organize the first Oconto County Breakfast on the Farm, president and secretary of Gillett Business Association, Gillett Youth Wrestling, and the Rural-Urban Recognition Committee.
He has also been part of the Oconto Falls Lions and Rotary clubs and served three terms as president of the Oconto Falls Area Chamber of Commerce.
Sue Van Ark said she prefers to let her husband have the spotlight, but she has a record of volunteer service, as well, including 15 years with Options for Independent Living in Green Bay, a number of years on the board of the Oconto County Commission on Aging, and 26 years as a volunteer at the St. Clare Memorial Hospital gift shop.
A sports lover, Sue Van Ark said she attended school a little too early to take part in girls sports and is proud to have played a role in creation of a girls intramural program at Oconto Falls High School. Among her proudest moments was watching two of her granddaughters ascend the podium as state champions in girls track and field.
As grand marshals, they will ride in a horse-drawn carriage near the head of the July 4 parade.
The parade is the main event of Gillett’s day-and-a-half Independence Day celebration, with a schedule filled with grandstand events at Zippel Park, live music and an antique and classic car show, topped off with fireworks at dusk on July 4.
The festivities begin with a lawn chair concert from 4-7 p.m. July 3 featuring Back Wehn and Wunderstate. A truck pull is scheduled at 7 p.m., which Country Rewind performs at the music stage from 7-11 p.m.
The Fourth of July begins with a horse pull at 8:30 a.m., and the annual antique and classic car, truck and motorcycle show takes over the green space at Zippel Park starting at 9 a.m. A mini and modified tractor pull is planned at noon, and an antique tractor pull is set for 5 p.m.
The parade starts at the school at 2 p.m., with the route heading down South Elm Avenue to West Main Street (state Highway 22), then east to First Street to Richmond Street, north a block to Main Street, and then west on Main, curving around back onto the highway and ending at Zippel Park.
This year’s parade theme is “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue.”
Musical features on July 4 include the Fun Time Polka Band from 9 a.m. to noon, Back When and Reminis from 3-6 p.m. and Rapid Transit from 7-11 p.m. The fireworks over the park begin after sunset.
wbluhm@newmedia-wi.com
Van Arks have served Gillett area for decades
