EAST?LONGMEADOW – Fourth of July festivity planning is in full swing, and the town is buzzing with questions of who will be this year’s Fourth of July Parade Grand Marshal.  Look no further: for the first time the East Longmeadow Fourth of July Parade will be led by a husband and wife, Ray and Foy Miller.

The Miller’s have been residents of East Longmeadow since they moved to the town together in 1965.  The pair have dedicated a copious amount of time to volunteer work within the town.  

Ray, 80, has served on various committees including the Town Appropriations Committee, the Town Capital Planning Committee, the Town Charter Commission Committee, and the Town Sidewalk Committee.  He’s also been on the Board of Directors of Brownstone Gardens, holding the offices of vice president, treasurer, and has always been involved on the Finance Sub-Committee.  Ray is also tied to the First Congregational Church, where he served as general fund treasurer for 12 years, as special funds treasurer for eight years, and served on the Board of Business and Finance for 12 years. Currently, he is chairman of the Personnel Committee at the First Congregational Church and is a candidate for selectman.

On his desire to serve the community he lives in, Ray said, “We’ve always been kind of active in church, and I think it’s led from what we’ve learned there and what we’ve felt like we were called to do.  We’re trying to give something back to the community and we’ve got a lot from the town and we’ve wanted to give something back to it, something that not only we can enjoy, but something we can contribute to.”

Foy has been equally involved in East Longmeadow.  She’s a former member of the town’s Appropriation Committees, former president of the Longmeadow/East Longmeadow Chamber of Commerce, past Rotary Club member, has served on the town’s Police Search Committee, and former member of the town’s Women’s Club.  Currently, Foy is a member of the town’s Council on Aging, a volunteer in Springfield Schools, a volunteer tax preparer for seniors at the Senior Center, and is involved at the First Congregational Church.

Foy’s interest in serving the community came originally from a business-perspective.

“I worked in the town for a number of years, I was a branch manager of a bank.  As a businessperson, I wanted to kind of see how the town worked and then the more I saw how it worked, I could see a need for volunteers.  It took off from there,” she said.

Though the two are involved community members, they weren’t expecting to be this years parade Grand Marshal’s.  When Chairman of the Parade Grand Marshal’s Selection Committee Carl Ohlin called, Foy assumed Ohlin was asking them to join another town board.

“We were shocked. Carl called us and he left a message that he would like to talk with us, and so I said to Ray, ‘Oh, there must be some committee that he’d like us to serve on, I wonder what it is!’ Then he called us and he gave us the good news, and we are certainly excited,” Foy explained.

The Miller’s enjoy entertaining family and far-away friends around the Fourth of July season so their guests can enjoy East Longmeadow’s celebrations with them.

“This year our children are coming from Southern California and it’s a great time for a barbeque, going to the festivities and for renewing friendships that you don’t see all the time,” Foy said.

The couple is looking forward to their convertible ride on the parade route and being able to enjoy the parade on the other side.

Ray beamed, “We’ve watched the parade for many, many years.  A lot of the Grand Marshal’s we’ve known, and we’ve known how active they’ve been in town, and to be put in the same group, it’s really inspiring and humiliating.  We’ve enjoyed what we’ve done in town and it’s been very rewarding.”

Foy added, “We just feel like a lot of places have abandoned their Fourth of July celebrations and we’re so happy that we’ve been able to continue it.  This is a wonderful town, there’s just such a good feeling in town at the Fourth of July, and it’s so exciting.”

East Longmeadow’s annual Fourth of July Parade will take place at 10 a.m., beginning at East Longmeadow High School, through the towns center, and will finish at Hanward Hill at Birchland Park Middle School.