For the past few years, the Stanley Area Chamber of Commerce has named the Grand Marshal for the Father’s Day Parade, but this year we wanted to ask the community who they thought would make a great Grand Marshal. There were many nominations that were submitted, and the winner is none other than Jan Mickelson. She recently retired in May of 2022 after teaching Choir at Stanley Boyd School for 36 years. Her dedication to Stanley and all the students that she taught made her the perfect selection. When asked to reflect on her 39 years of teaching this is what she had to say.  “I have taught choral and general music for 39 years; 3 years at Adams-Friendship, and 36 years at Stanley-Boyd.  I retired last May.  As any educator will tell you, teaching is not a job, it is a career. We connect not only with our students, but with families, friends and the community as well. I have been blessed with so many wonderful experiences during my teaching career.  Here are just a few career highlights from my teaching years at Stanley:

The work I did with the School/Community musicals for 20 years. The talent in this community continues to overwhelm me. I was fortunate to work with such wonderful families and students during those years. Our productions were outstanding.

-Our Stanley Boyd Concert Choir was invited to perform at the Wisconsin State Music Conference in 2010. This was an exciting opportunity and an honor for sure!

- I am particularly proud of the years spent working with the Stanley Boyd Madrigal groups. We were able to sing at State level competition for years receiving high praise from State judges. Prior to Covid, the choirs competed at large group music competitions, receiving 1 ratings as well. I am still humbled by the quality performances these students were able to achieve, especially in class A literature.

-For a number of years, we organized church tours so concert choir could perform Christmas carols at local churches. This was so much fun, and the students really enjoyed the performances.

-The best part of the whole experience was the day-to-day work and connections that were made in the choral classroom. Those students became part of my family.

During my years at Stanley-Boyd, we graduated several music educators, a professional composer who is currently working on the west coast, and a professional singer who has toured with Lorie Line and has sung with the Minnesota Opera.

We also wanted to get to know more about her outside of teaching; here are a few of her hobbies. She was a member of the Wisconsin School Music Association (WSMA) and the National Association for Music Education (NAfME) for several years. She enjoys traveling, being outside, and musical theater (director, performer and audience member).  She also likes playing the piano for the Stanley Boyd choir/ band students at solo and ensemble performances.

Jan initially moved to Stanley because it was closer to home than Adams-Friendship. However, she met her husband, got married, and became a mom to a pretty great daughter! Also, she would be remiss if she didn’t mention their golden doodle, Winston! So Stanley became her home. She says “I have met some phenomenal people here and have created life-long friendships. I am lucky to have a church family, a school family, and my own family in Stanley!”  When asked what being selected as Grand Marshal meant to her, she said “I was thrilled to be asked! This is quite an honor and I would like to thank the community for nominating me and the Stanley Chamber of Commerce for selecting me!”

Come see Jan Mickelson receive this honor at the Miss Stanley Pageant & Grand Marshal Presentation Thursday June 15 at the Stanley Movie Theater at 6pm. Then see her ride in the Father’s Day Parade on SATURDAY JUNE 17^th at 2pm. If you are interested in being in the parade visit www.stanleychamber.us to register!