Bob and Jan Colville have been chosen to serve as Grand Marshals for the 2009 Nodaway County Fair Parade.
This is the couple's second time to receive this honor. In 2008 they were invited to ride in the parade; however, prior to last year's Nodaway County Fair, Bob fell down the basement steps, breaking both arms and putting his neck in a brace.
Bob has promised nothing like that will happen this year.
"I am honored to be asked to be the Grand Marshal of the parade," Bob said.
"The Nodaway County Fair has a lot of things going on –– the entertainment, the livestock shows and so many things."
Jan said she is happy that the county fairs around northwest Missouri have come back.
"When we moved back, the county fairs had kind of died out," she said. "And the county fairs in California were so big –– not quite like the ones here. I'm happy to be involved in our county fair."
Even though Bob grew up in northwest Missouri and Jan was originally from Iowa, the couple met in California. Bob was stationed at the Alameda Naval Base near Oakland and Jan was attending the University of California when friends set them up on a blind date.
"It was kind of hard to go out on dates back then," Jan said. "He kept going out on air craft carriers."
After their marriage in 1959, the couple continued dating –– attending track and field events and skiing –– something they enjoy to this day.
Bob graduated from Maryville High School and attended Northwest Missouri State University two years before enlisting in the Navy.
"I was a student at Northwest and one day the teacher didn't show up to class," Colville said. "As we left class, I noticed the Navy recruiter was just down the hall. I went in and talked to him and ended up signing up to serve in the Navy."
Bob served as a Naval aviator for 21 years –– until his retirement as a Commander in 1975. He is a graduate of the Naval Postgraduate School with a B.S. in mathematics and a M.S. in computer systems management. He is also a graduate of the Armed Forces Staff College.
Following his retirement from the Navy, the Colville family moved to their farm north of Maryville. When they moved to northwest Missouri, Bob and Jan had three children. Their son Carl was a freshman. Daughters Cara and Cassie were in the eighth and first grades respectively. As their two oldest children entered Maryville's school system, it was the 11th school they had attended in five states.
