Janet Millard, Mary Jo Suchy grand marshals of parade

When the Winter Fest lighted parade steps off from the Belleville High School parking lot at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 2, Janet Millard and Mary Jo Suchy will be in honored positions as the joint grand marshals of the parade.
The Belleville Area Chamber of Commerce, which puts on Winter Fest, recently announced its selection of the grand marshals for this year’s parade.
From the school, the parade takes W. Columbia Avenue to Five Points and then up Main Street to the grandstand in front of the museum.
Grand Marshal Janet Millard
Although Janet Millard lives in Ypsilanti, she has been part of the Belleville scene for more than 40 years.
Moving to Ypsilanti in 1965 to work at Eastern Michigan University, she and her husband bought a home in the Van Buren School District and her two children, Dina and William, graduated from Belleville High School.
Janet took the position of Executive Director of the Belleville Area Chamber of Commerce in 1989 and retired after 19 years in 2008. Four years later she became Events Coordinator for the Belleville Central Business Community and two years later accepted the position of Office Manager at the Belleville Area Independent.
She is currently the Advertising Manager at the Independent and coordinates the eight annual events put on by the Belleville Central Business Community.
Grand Marshal Mary Jo Suchy
Mary Jo Suchy is the library director of the Belleville Area District Library. She was practically born with a book in her hand and has many fond memories of visiting her local public library when she was a child. She used to climb a tree in her backyard and read Nancy Drew mysteries.
Mary Jo has been working in public libraries her entire career, starting as a student assistant shelving books while in high school. She said she has met many wonderful people and has made fantastic friends along the way.
While the tools of the library world have changed over the years (anyone still remember the card catalog?) the library’s core mission — to be a civic hub and to connect people with information, literature, and knowledge — is timeless.
When Mary Jo is not at the library, she enjoys traveling – especially anything involving an ocean or the Great Lakes — cooking, brewing her own beer, and hanging out with her three cats.
Units signed up for parade
The following units had signed up for the parade as of Monday. They will not be in this order:
• Open Arms Lutheran Church
• Belleville Yacht Club
• Snider Electric
• Belleville High School Marching Band
• Mt. Calvary of Van Buren
• Boy Scout Troop 231 & Venturing Crew
• P&P Dance Centre
• Gage & Hannah VanEchoute & Family
• Belleville Area District Library
• Van Buren Township Public Safety Honor Guard
• Pure Diamond Cheer and Dance
• The Art Factory Creative Arts Studio LLC
• Belleville Unified Sports
• 6th Congressional District Republican Committee
• Belleville Goat Day
• Belleville Central Business Community
• Cub Scout Pack 793
• Faith Community Church
• Friends of Michigan Animal Rescue
• Van Buren Township Board of Trustees
• Belleville Seventh-Day Adventist Church
• Girl Scout Troop #77527
• Edgemont Elementary School
• Trinity Episcopal Church
• Boy Scout Troop 243 and Cub Scout Pack 249
See the complete schedule for Winter Fest on page 12.