Kettering man marks 5 decades helping Holiday at Home parade

For Kettering resident Tom Hartman, who has volunteered at one of Kettering’s biggest civic events for 50 years, not missing a Holiday at Home parade since 1968, the idea is to make everybody feel at home while enjoying all of the festivities. CONTRIBUTED

For Kettering resident Tom Hartman, who has volunteered at one of Kettering’s biggest civic events for 50 years, not missing a Holiday at Home parade since 1968, the idea is to make everybody feel at home while enjoying all of the festivities. CONTRIBUTED
Kettering
By Wayne Baker
Sept 4, 2018
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Holiday at Home just celebrated its 60th year since its first parade in Kettering, started by the YMCA in 1959.

For Kettering resident Tom Hartman, who has volunteered for 50 years, not missing a parade since 1968, the idea is to make everybody feel at home while enjoying the festivities.

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Quick facts about Hartman’s service to Holiday at Home:

• Tom Hartman has been a Holiday at Home (HAH) parade marshal since 1968.

• He has been out at 5:30 a.m., lining up every parade, not missing one for the last 50 years.

• His father, James Hartman, also served as a parade marshal, along with Tom’s son, Michael Hartman. Tom’s grandchildren Lydia, 13, and Grant, 8, love to watch their grandfather zoom by in the parade each year.

• Four generations of the family continue the tradition of never missing HAH, traveling back to Kettering each year.

• Tom and his wife Marcia Hartman have long been active volunteers in Kettering and take pride in helping all families make great memories during the HAH weekend.

• Tom and Marcia raised their family in Kettering, including daughter Barbara Benham, 47, and son Michael, 44.

• Tom and Marcia are currently members of the Board of Trustees of Holiday at Home.

• Tom served as the president of HAH in 1991 and as the parade chairman in 1988.

• Tom and Marcia Hartman served as parade co-chairs in 1989.

• Tom remembers the year he got a phone call at midnight asking if someone could enter a giant python snake in the parade.

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About the Author

Wayne Baker