Submitted by Debra Swiger
RAYMOND – Eileen Dunn, long time resident and active member of the community, has been named Grand Marshall for the 28th Annual Raymond Parade.
In 1960, Joe and Eileen packed up their five kids, left Los Angeles and headed out to Oregon to find a quiet, safe place to raise their kids. When they stopped in Madera to say goodbye to Joe’s parents, they heard the Raymond Granite Quarry was hiring. That was 54 years ago, and they have never left.
Eileen is most proud of the fact that she, along with a few friends, started the first Boy and Girl Scout programs in the area. Her other great joy was that since Raymond Elementary School was so small, there were never enough kids to form two teams for any of the sports practices, so Eileen and all the other mothers would go to the school during P.E. and practice with all the sports teams.
Between the sports, the Mothers Club and all the time spent at school functions, she feels pretty confident she has earned several diplomas as five of her kids moved on to high school and college.
Once all of their kids were grown, Joe and Eileen went to see the country by doing some long haul trucking. Eileen has been to every state in the U.S., and still swears Raymond, California is the best place on this earth to live.
She is now active in the Raymond Community Church, an avid Bingo and Bunco player and the proud grandmother to 12 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren. She feels so honored to be the Grand Marshall of the Raymond Parade and only wishes that Joe was here to share in all of this!
The parade is Saturday, Apr. 19 at noon on Road 608 in Raymond.
