Marshals of service

The grand marshals for this weekend’s Jay County 4th of July parade have something in common. They all think someone else is more worthy of the honor.

Jim Bruner, Bob Lyons and Jim Bob McEwen, who have all been longtime community volunteers, were selected to headline the parade that kicks off at noon Sunday from the East Jay Elementary School parking lot. (McEwen will be unable to attend the event.)

“It’s an honor,” said Bruner, 80, before listing a series of names he felt were more deserving. “I still wonder, ‘Why me?’”

“I’m flattered and a little embarrassed,” admitted Lyons. “Other people deserve it (more) than I do, but at my age, you better take it while you can get it.”

Lyons, 82, graduated from Bryant High School and Purdue University. Agriculture and farming are his “first love,” having worked on his family’s farm before going to college and after he retired from Jay School Corporation in 2006.

Lyons and his wife Joyce married in 1959 and now have three sons, 12 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

He taught agriculture at Portland High School and Jay County High School for 46 years. He’s been involved for more than 60 years as a 4-H leader and volunteer and served on Jay County Fair Board for 51 years, retiring in 2020. He also served as a Pike Township trustee for 44 years. In his spare time, Lyons enjoys collecting and exhibiting old tractors –– he’s been involved with Tri-State Antique Engine and Tractor shows since they began.

McEwen, 84, who operated an 80-acre farm on county road 200 South and is now a resident of Miller’s Merry Manor, is being honored by the 4th of July Committee for the second time, having also been grand marshal of the 2013 parade. He operated McEwen Border Collies — for more than 30 years he performed border collie demonstrations at the Indiana State Fair — and also raised oxen that were featured in the fair’s Farmers’ Day Parade and at the Pioneer Village. (In 2017, McEwen was honored with a lifetime pass to the Indiana State Fair.) He was also one of the creators of the tractor parade to kick off the annual Tri-State Antique Tractor and Engine Show.

He was selected as one of Jay County’s torchbearers for Indiana’s bicentennial celebration in 2016, has received The Portland Foundation’s Jack Cole Award for Volunteerism and was a finalist for the Jay County Chamber of Commerce Lifetime Achievement Award.

McEwen’s influence has stretched well beyond Jay County. He’s been a longtime supporter of Michigan-based Chelsea House Orchestra, a high school group that performs Celtic music, having brought it to the area for performances several times. And he has previously served as the grand marshal for the Alma Highland Games in Alma, Michigan.

He’s also been a huge supporter of local high school athletics. When he and his wife Barb sold their farm and moved to Delaware County, just south of Dunkirk, it didn’t change his passion for his home.

“It’s quite an honor,” said McEwen for a story about serving as the 2013 parade grand marshal. “We moved out of Jay County, but our heart’s still in Jay County.”

And even though he won’t be able to be in attendance Sunday, he’s thrilled to be honored again.

“Thank you to the committee and to everyone involved,” said Juli Kahlig, McEwen’s daughter. “My family and I appreciate it, and so does Jim Bob.”

Though not a native — “I’m an implant, but I’ve lived here so long I feel like I’m an original,” he said — Bruner has a similarly deep background of service to the community.

Growing up in Darke County, Ohio, between Greenville and Union City, he later moved to Indiana and graduated from Center High School (now part of Wapahani). He started working at Portland Forge in 1960 and became the industry’s CPR and first aid instructor.

He had volunteered for the ambulance crew at Winchester Speedway, took the first emergency medical technician course in Jay County and saw a need for a search and rescue team. That led to him being one of the first members of Rescue 19, the unit formed in 1965 as an emergency response team.

Bruner was also a Portland Police Department reserve for more than 20 years, helped start the Jay County Sheriff’s Office reserves, served as deputy director (and interim director) of Jay County Emergency Management Agency and got a 50-year pin for his service as a member of the Red Cross disaster response team. He’s also been involved in various local celebrations and events, including the Great American Race and Indiana’s bicentennial.

A charter member of the Jay County 4th of July Committee, he continues to serve on the Jay County Sheriff’s Office Merit, Community and Family Services and public defenders boards.

“Any time there was something in Portland, I went to meetings,” he said. And that led to a variety of volunteer tasks. “I’ve just devoted my time to help with the community.

“It’s been an interesting life. It really has.”