Larry and Marlene Pritchett are the Perkins County Fair 2021 Grand Marshals.
Pritchetts voted in as 2021 Grand Marshals
Larry and Marlene Pritchett, selected as this year’s Grand Marshals, will be leading the Perkins County Fair Parade later this month.
Marlene was born and raised in Grant, and met Larry after he moved to the area in 1964. Larry was in Perkins County for nine years teaching English and coaching basketball before briefly moving to Cozad and then Imperial for coaching positions.
They returned to Grant in 1979 and opened up their hardware store, Pritchett Hardware, which they operated together for 10 years.
During this time, Larry spent several years on the school board as well as continuing to teach.
He retired from teaching at the end of 2009, and started working at Hometown Agency selling insurance. Marlene didn’t retire from her position as office manager at Sargent Irrigation until 2015, a job she had held for 26 years.
Larry later returned to the school board, and continued to work with the school to help start and run the Teammates Mentoring Program local chapter.
He estimates had around 75 kids in the program in the past year.
Marlene has been the coordinator for local Red Cross blood drives, she served on the cemetery board when it was restarted and she has headed up the Angel Tree committee since 2013.
“Other than that, I was a coach’s wife and raised a family,” she said. Their sons, Troy and Travis, have now grown up and started families of their own.
“She was raising our two sons while I was out messing around with other people’s kids,” he said.
Marlene said they were very honored to be named this year’s Grand Marshals, and Larry added they felt “humbled, to say the least.”
“We want to thank the community for all the support,” Marlene said. “The community has been wonderful, and there are great people here. It’s been a great place to live.”
As Larry and Marlene prepare to leave Grant to be closer to their children and grandchildren in Lincoln, Marlene said this honor is bittersweet.
The Pritchetts will lead the 2021 Perkins County Fair Parade Saturday, July 24, at 10 a.m.