Curt and Maryanne Laubner will serve as the grand marshals of this year’s Marblehead Peninsula Lions Perch Festival Parade. (Photo by Sheri Trusty)

BY JANE DANCHISEN PITTMAN

Grand Marshals Curt and Maryanne Laubner will lead the Marblehead Peninsula Lions Perch Festival Parade on Saturday, Aug. 24. The Laubners are recognized for their community service and civic involvement, specifically Curt’s nearly 50 years as scoutmaster of Boy Scout Troop 331. Since 1972, he has impacted the lives of over 500 scouts.

The highlight of his years as scoutmaster was in 1988 when he took the older scouts to Philmont, a high adventure camp in New Mexico. His most rewarding experience was having several boys reach Eagle Scout status, the highest rank possible.

Curt served as a committee member in 1972 and as scoutmaster from 1973 to 2020. Maryanne assisted in scores of scouting trips, and sometimes their entire family participated. He was chairman for several spring and fall camporees and Klondike Derbys when district troops competed in snow or mud. He remembers monthly campouts and appreciates local residents and businesses for opening their property to the troop.

Over the years, Curt and the scouts slept on the Yorktown Aircraft Carrier; whitewater rafted in southwestern Pennsylvania; toured Wright-Patterson Museum and camped on the base; visited Fort Sumter and Monticello; and biked five days from Maryland to near Pittsburgh, crossing the Eastern Continental Divide enroute.

Curt has been a member of Louis Feuma American Legion Post 555 since 1976 and served as Legion Post Commander, adjutant and treasurer. He was also commander of the Ottawa County Legion. He was president, vice president and treasurer of the Marblehead Peninsula Chamber of Commerce and treasurer of St. John Lutheran Church for nearly 20 years. Curt and Maryanne joined the Marblehead Peninsula Lions Club in 1997. He served as first vice president, president and secretary, and retired in 2022. Maryanne also was club secretary from 2002 to 2006.

Maryanne is a past trustee of the Ida Rupp Library Board, member of the Ottawa County Genealogical Society and a member of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution.

Both Curt and Maryanne graduated from Bowling Green State University and are members of St. John Lutheran Church in Marblehead. Curt is a retired self-employed general contractor and Maryanne is a retired teacher. They have two children, Katrina Laubner Holmes and Nathaniel Laubner, as well as two grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

According to Parade Chairman Jane Danchisen Pittman, the parade steps off Saturday, Aug. 24 at 10 a.m. on Lifeboat Lane, between Clemons Cemetery and Lucien Clemons Park. She encourages residents and visitors to watch the parade along Main Street. The parade ends at James Park, the festival location. For questions or a parade entry form, contact Pittman at jpittman@su.edu or 540-327-4502. The 32nd Annual Marblehead Peninsula Lions Perch Festival is held in conjunction with Lake Erie Shores & Islands.