Ronnie Russell has been named grand marshal of the Water View Independence Day-themed parade, set for 11:30 a.m. Saturday, July 5.
Russell was just 18 years old when he became a charter member of the Water View Fire Department when it formed in fall 1966. (In time it became the Upper Middlesex Volunteer Fire Department [UMVFD].) Today, at 77 years of age, Russell is the last surviving charter member, of a long list of founding members that includes John Langford, Bernard Sickal, Carter Smith, James Verlander Jr., Woodrow Abbott Sr., Woodrow “Woody” Abbott Jr., George Parker, George Ellis Jr., Callie Thrift, “Dippy” Higgins, Donnie Morton, Walter Smith, Tom Smith, Bobby Shackelford, Sam Abbott, Dean Sickal, Pat Baine and Ronnie Russell.
