By Patricia Scheyer
NKyTribune reporter
David Schlothauer was not born and raised in Park Hills, but it is difficult for people to realize that. He was actually born and raised in Wyoming, but now he is Park Hills’ favored son.
Born in 1941, he didn’t make it to Park Hills until 1973, but today, he will be the Grand Marshall of the annual Memorial Day Parade — again.
David is a community man — he loves his community and gives a lot of his time to his community. Always has.
“David has been the head of the parade committee for 27 years,” said Park Hills Mayor Kathy Zembrodt. “He is a do-er. He is a humble guy and didn’t want the recognition of the position of Grand Marshall, but we all voted for him, and we pushed and he accepted. He still lives in the same house on Cleveland where he always lived. He is a step-up guy, and he has a servant’s heart.”
David and his wife Nancy have a daughter, Julie Dunaway. Immediately after moving to Park Hills, both David and Nancy became very active in the community. David served on council for over two years, and both were members of the Park Hills Civic Association. In 1973 David took over leadership of the Park Hills Memorial Day Events and has played an integral role in raising the local and regional significance, not only of the parade, but also the flag raising ceremony that follows the parade.
“My dad was mayor and councilman in the town where I grew up,” he said. “ He always told me to take part in the community you live in, give your time, be involved.”
David has a strong aeronautical background, spending most of his working career with airports, both military and commercial.
“When we moved here in 1973, we were only going to stay two years and move on,” David said. “But when we got here it didn’t take long for us to realize we love living in Park Hills, and we love being in Northern Kentucky. So we never left.”
David explained the work that is required to put a parade together starts the last part of February and continues through May, beginning with bi-weekly meetings and narrowing to weekly meetings in May. He feels very fortunate to have a committee of 6 that he can count on to follow up details and be efficient.
He was surprised at first when his name was entered for Grand Marshall, and he told them he wasn’t in this for the bravado.
“I told them I do this every year for the recognition and remembrance of the sacrifice of veterans so that we can walk and talk like we do today,” he told them. “But they kept at me, so I gave in.”
David remembers the year that Senator Mitch McConnell and his wife Elaine were the grand marshalls. He said it was an election year, and the capital security team asked to meet with him. He told them sure, he would meet them at Skyline at noon.
“I introduced them to the 3-way, the 4 way and the 5-way, and some of them liked it, and others just picked at it and pushed it away,” he said and laughed. “It is a classic story. But it was a good meeting, and the McConnells were great at the parade and ceremony. Elaine made a point to talk to the fourth and fifth grade students. We have an essay contest for those two grades and the winner receives $50 and the runner up gets $25. It was nice.”
David has a great love for the parade and equally for the flag raising ceremony afterwards. He loves it, but now he would like to see an orderly passing of the torch. He said he has tried to train three different people to be able to take over, but the first two moved out of town.
“I need another person who is willing to grab onto this and give it full effort, like I did,” he
stated. “ My wife and daughter and I have never been able to travel on this weekend. I would like to develop an orderly exit strategy. I am 84, and my career has always involved looking forward, looking to the next thing.”
David said during the first years he would choose people for Grand Marshall who had done a lot for the city, and provided dedicated service, but after about 15 years, someone said this day is really about the veterans, so from then on he focused on living veterans.
He related how he read a book that told how 17, 18, 19 and 20 year olds would climb into planes during wartime, even though they knew they had only an 80 percent chance of coming back.
“Some of the young people now should take the time and step back and think about the sacrifice they made to protect our way of life,” he said.
Persuading a band to come and play in the parade is very difficult, he said. Now that the kids are out of school, it is too difficult to get them to come and play in the parade.
People recognize the job he has faithfully done for so long.
“David has been such an instrumental part of a community event that epitomizes Memorial Day,” said John Middleton, who added that David was part of the parade when he was young, and he is still doing such a great job. “He is a community jewel.”
David holds on to his belief that Memorial day is a time to hold veterans in highest esteem, and he hopes everyone will come out and watch the parade and take part in the flag raising.
“I have said from the start, ‘forever honor, never forgotten,’ “he said.
It is a mantra that keeps him motivated.