H. Ray “Tony” Ball, of West Madison has been selected as parade marshal for the event. Tony has served as treasurer for the festival for three years, as well as having donated dozens of artifacts to the Coal Heritage Museum since it’s inception. He and his wife, Marie, are financial supporters of both the festival and museum.
He will be driving his restored 1935 Pontiac in the Grand Parade, which starts at 2:00 p.m., Saturday, June 23rd.
A 1950 graduate of Scott High School, Tony served as deputy assessors in Boone County for seven years. He spent 12 years as financial secretary treasurer for the Boone County Board of Education as well as holding positions in the building construction program and as job placement coordinator. He retired in 1988 from the Boone County Schools, but it still self-employed as a bookkeeper and tax preparer.
Although Tony worked for only a brief period in the coal industry, his father, the late Herbert Ball, worked many years for the old Boone County Coal Corporation at Sharples. His father participated in the first mine rescue contest in 1926 in West Madison where Stevens Funeral Home now stands. An original picture of the event hangs in the Coal Museum.
Tony and his wife have five children, one of whom is deceased. They also have nine grandchildren and two great grandchildren.
Fred E. Duty of Ramage has been selected as grand marshal in the parade. Fred spent over 30 years laboring in and around the mines, spending most of his mining career with Armco at the Robin Hood mine in Twilight where he was an electrician in the mine repair shop. He was also preparation plant foreman and general outside foreman. Born November 4, 1922, Fred also had a distinguished record in the U.S. Army, receiving the Purple Heart.
“I attended Scott High School until my junior year when I was drafted into the army in December of 1942,” he said. “After being stationed in the U.S. for several months, I went overseas and received my Purple Heart during a crossing of the Rhine River, in Germany.”
After returning from WWII, Fred married Doris Burton, and they recently celebrated their 61st wedding anniversary. Fred and Doris are the parents of two children, Nancy Arthur, of Ramage, and Joyce Ann Marshall, of Florida. The Duty’s have six grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.
“After coming home from the war,” Duty said. “I enrolled in a trade school pursuing a certificate in drafting and machine shop. This gave me the opportunity to get employment in the coal industry. I later received a GED and began taking classes on Saturdays and nights from Morris Harvey College, majoring in social science.
Fred was awarded his high school during a program honoring those Veterans who did not receive a diploma due to their service to their country.
A lay speaker in the Methodist Church since 1966, Fred has also served as chaplain for the Daniel Boone Post 5578 of the Veterans of Foreign Wars.
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