Parade Grand Marshal

The Shepherd Maple Syrup Festival Parade will start on the right beat this year if Parade Marshal Claude Lemmer has a say. Mr. Lemmer, as he is known to thousands of Shepherd High School band students, will lead the 68th Grand Festival Parade down Wright Avenue on Sunday, April 26, beginning at 2:30 pm. He will be glad to ride, rather than march as he has done with so many bands over the years!

Claude was born and raised in Saginaw and graduated from Arthur Hill High School. He served in the Army from 1954 to 56 as a member of the 5th Army band based in Chicago. With an early release, he attended Central Michigan University, earning his Bachelor's Degree in Music Education. He later earned his Masters Degree in Administration.

Claude and his wife, Mary, (a nurse) settled in Shepherd, where he assumed the band teacher position for Shepherd Middle School and High School. During this time the Lemmers welcomed four sons into their family: Spike and Carol (Lansing), Carl and Steve (Arizona), Charles and Paula (Weidman), and Chris and Pam (Mt. Pleasant). The family now includes 6 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren. Sadly, Mary passed away in 1994. Later, Claude married Sharon (another nurse), and she added Rebecca and Todd (Lake George), Tom from North Carolina, and two grandchildren to the family. Claude would say both Mary and Sharon have been the epitome of band directors' wives and supportive in a multitude of ways.

During Mr. Lemmer's thirty-seven-year tenure at Shepherd, he established a music program that was well-respected, award-winning, and active in the community. And, perhaps more importantly, he inspired a love of music in the many, many students who passed through the band room doors. Both high school and middle school bands, as well as individuals and ensembles, competed at the district and state levels (this included a run of twenty straight 1s)! The Shepherd band program was honored to represent Michigan on the Mall in Washington DC at the time of the state's sesquicentennial, and the J-Jazz band was invited to play in downtown Detroit for the Montreux Jazz Festival six different years. These were first-time experiences for many of Mr. Lemmer's students.

Meanwhile, back in Shepherd, how did all these musicians continue their love of music? In 1974 Claude took over as director of the Central Michigan Area Concert Band. This ever-evolving band includes all ages (Junior High to Octogenarians) from the Central Michigan area. Concerts are performed throughout the year in a variety of settings: parks, airports, gyms, auditoriums and parades. Claude retired from conducting the adult band in 2015 but continues to play in this band to this day.

So, it could be said then that Claude is the music meister of the Shepherd area and the Maple Syrup Festival. For thirty-seven years he led the middle school and high school bands down the parade route and for 50 years his bands performed the Festivals Saturday night concerts in the gym/auditorium. The Strollers, a subset of CMACB, march and/or entertain the crowd along the parade route.

During this busy and active career, Claude has been honored in a variety of ways; he was parade marshal of SHS homecoming parade, Mt. Pleasant's Summerfest Parade, Lions Club citizen of the year, and, most recently, inducted into the Shepherd High School Athletic Hall of Fame. However, in 1998 when he retired from teaching, the Shepherd Village Council honored him with the most descriptive award, Community Treasure!

Claude has always been a very patriotic person, dating back to his Boy Scout days when he earned his Eagle Scout Award. For many, many decades, he played Taps at many funerals, including Arlington National Cemetery, Salt River Cemetery, and downtown Shepherd war monuments on Memorial Day.

Thank you Claude, Mr. Lemmer, for all that you have done for the children of Shepherd and the Maple Syrup Festival over the past sixty years.