Russell to be grand marshal

Historian Gene Russell will serve as the grand marshal for the 92nd Glenn County Fair parade.

The parade will start off at 10 a.m. May 17 at Orland Memorial Hall.

Russell grew up in Orland and graduated from Orland High with the Class of 1960.

He majored in industrial arts and attended Chico State University where he received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees. Russell also received a doctorate in industrial and technical education from Utah State University in 1971.

Russell taught industrial and graphic arts at Chico State, Vacaville High School and Utah State University where he was the curriculum developer and developed portions of “Project Over the Shoulder,” a pre-vocational program for rural high school students.

In 1973, he came home to Orland High School where he taught ROP graphic arts, drafting, yearbook, pre-algebra and physical science until 1999.

His contributions to Orland’s civic organizations is well known, friends say, and he has spent 35 years with the Boy Scouts where he earned an Eagle Scout rank in 1959. Russell also served as a staff member at Camp Lassen as well as the National Boy Scout Jamboree in Fredericksburg, Va.

Russell also serves as a docent at the Wigmore & Jacobs Print Shop on the Heritage Trail at the Glenn County Fairgrounds in service to the Orland Historical and Cultural Society.

He and his wife, Shirley, founded the History Camp for Kids in 1995, and each summer, they can be seen at the Alta Schmidt Museum, teaching Orland youngsters about Orland’s history or walking about town pointing out historical points in the community.

In 2007, Russell was appointed to the Orland Centennial Celebration Committee and serves as co-chair. He also belongs to the Orland Alumni Association, California Retired Teachers Association, Orland Federated Church and Orland Friends of the Library.

Russell has written many books on the town’s history and contributed many manuscripts to Wagon Wheels, the official journal of the Colusi County Historical Society.

He is described as the “go-to person’’ when questions arise about Orland’s history.

The Russells have been married 40 years and have two grown children, Jay and Addie Jo, plus a grandson, Ryan Rocchio.