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Three vital Sierra Madre community leaders led Sierra Madre’s annual Fourth of July Parade Tuesday as Grand Marshals: Toni Buckner and Judy Webb-Martin were the Parade Grand Marshals, and Barbara Wamboldt was the honorary Grand Marshal.

Buckner and Webb-Martin are co-chairs of the Centennial Committee. They are planning events to commemorate Sierra Madre’s Centennial in 2007.

Wamboldt recently retired after having taught school for 40 years, many of those at Sierra Madre School on Highland.

All three women said they were “surprised and thrilled” to lead Sierra Madre’s Parade this year, according to Hank Landsberg, chairman of the Fourth of July Committee.

Toni Buckner and Judy Webb-Martin, Grand Marshals of this year’s Fourth of July parade

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Biographies of this year’s Grand Marshals were submitted by Hank Landsberg, chairman of the Fourth of July Committee

Toni Buckner

Toni Buckner has been director of the Sierra Madre Library since 1985. She worked as library assistant and children’s librarian before being hired in the major role of director by long-time librarian Mary Tumilty.

The Southern California native holds a B.A. in sociology and history and a master’s degree in library science. She began her library career as a part-time library aide in Whittier.

Toni received the American Library Association’s coveted John Cotton Dana award and introduced technology into library services in Sierra Madre in the early 1980s with one of the first publicly accessible computers for children in the San Gabriel Valley. She automated the library’s catalog and services. As project manager of the Library Technology Grant she saw the library receive substantial funds to establish the Sierra Madre Historical Archives.

“I moved to Sierra Madre and was warmly welcomed and mentored by Mary (Tumilty), Margaret Duran, Gloria Hinshaw, Marilyn Peppin, Alice Stonie and Gretchen Hendrix,” she explained.

Toni and her husband, Bob, were married 20 years ago at the Nature Friends in the Canyon and have a 17-year-old daughter Lily, a junior at Alverno High School. They live in a 1925 California bungalow.

Judy Webb-Martin

Judy Webb-Martin was born and raised in Miami, Fla., coming to California in 1968. She received an art history college degree after her two children started school in California.

Judy obtained her real estate license 28 years ago and ultimately founded Webb-Martin Realtors. She purchased the historic Hotel Shirley building and refurbished it, establishing Webb-Martin Realtors there.

She is a member of Arcadia Board of Realtors and was president in 1994. She received the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2003.

Judy was a director of the California Association of Realtors for three years. She is “dedicated to real estate.”

Judy was Sierra Madre Citizen of the Year in 1998 and was chair of the Sierra Madre Economic Development Council for five years. She was on the Senior Citizens Commission and is a member of Kiwanis Club. Judy was also president of Civic Club and was on the Sierra Madre Cultural Heritage Commission. Additionally, Judy served on a plethora of other boards and committees.

Judy married Benn Martin in 1987. She has two grown children: Darrin of San Rafael and Laurie, who is planning to settle in Alaska. Benn has three children and four grandchildren.

Barbara Wamboldt

Another California native, Barbara Wamboldt received her first teachers’ credential at Cal. State LA, and was hired to teach at Audubon School. She said she learned all the essentials of professional practice there, then went to Sierra Madre School where she has been teaching art for over 20 years. Barbara said that’s where she found her “niche.”

Barbara Wamboldt was Honorary Grand Marshal of Sierra Madre’s Fourth of July parade

Barbara actually initiated the visual and performing arts program in Sierra Madre School in the ‘90s. This evolved into the present art docent program that has drawn many community residents into assisting children in their quest for art-related knowledge.

Barbara’s philosophy? “The school’s main objective is to produce wonderful citizens. The arts capture our culture.”

After 40 years of teaching, Barbara is moving on. She would like to teach part-time and continue the art docent program. She hopes to volunteer in a Monrovia school with her “perfect” grandchild. Barbara’s son, Chet, is a volunteer firefighter in Sierra Madre and her daughter has a dermatology business in Monrovia.

“Teaching is so easy for me because I have competent partners and participating parents, two factors that make retirement so difficult. But it’s the right thing to do,” Barbara concluded.