OCALA, FL (352today.com) – After serving the City of Ocala as mayor for 12 years, Kent Guinn is taking on a new role this holiday season. He has been selected as the grand marshal of the 2024 Ocala Christmas Parade.
Sue Mosley, of Friends of the Christmas Parade, informed Guinn of the honor through a text message asking him to call her.
“She said, ‘Congratulations!’ I said, ‘For what?’ She said, ‘We voted for you to be the grand marshal!’ I said, ‘Are you serious? For the parade?’ She said, ‘Yes.’ And I said, ‘My God, you have to be kidding me!'” he recalls, laughing. “I said, ‘Gosh, I never even dreamed of it.’ To be asked to do something like that, it’s a big honor.”
Guinn, a longtime parade spectator and participant for 24 years, has never held the title of grand marshal, making the selection especially meaningful. He joins a tradition of former Ocala mayors who have been honored in this way.
“They were always around me at the front of the parade,” Guinn remembers. “It’s a big deal. I appreciate it.”
Sandra Guinn, the former mayor’s wife and a longtime teacher at Osceola Middle School, was thrilled about the announcement, Guinn shared.
“One of her ideas was to do a horse and carriage, and I said, ‘I don’t know, I don’t know of anyone who has one,'” says Guinn. “I called one person, and they weren’t able to do it. And then I called Louisa Barton, and she said, ‘Why didn’t you call me because I know people who would be able to provide that and accommodate you.'”
With Barton’s help, Kandee Gee of Lady Lake and her Big Sexy Stables will provide the carriage, pulled by two of her Gypsy Vanner horses.
“I love showing off this magnificent breed of horse,” said Gee. “Louisa knows that I love to not only show them off, but I love for people to have a good time. We’ve got a decorated carriage. The mayor came down to my farm to meet the horses and see the carriage he’d be riding in. So, he and his wife came down, which I thought was a wonderful gesture. It was nice to spend time with them.”
Guinn will also continue a meaningful tradition this year, marking a decade of hosting a luncheon for individuals in rehabilitation at SMA Healthcare.
“Trying to give back to people who are in a situation that they don’t want to be in, who aren’t going to be able to go home for Christmas,” said Guinn.