Meet the Grand Marshal of the 80th Sun Bowl Parade
Hanks High School graduate Ginger Kerrick will lead the 80th FirstLight Federal Credit Union Sun Bowl Parade on Thanksgiving Day.
ABC-7 got the opportunity to sit down with this year’s Grand Marshal, who now works at NASA.
Kerrick grew up in El Paso and remembers attending the parade as a child, “I just remember I would always try to find somebody that I knew, a high school bound, an older cousin”.
After graduating from Hanks High School, she attended UTEP, before transferring to Texas Tech, where she earned a Masters in Physics.
Kerrick eventually landed a job at NASA were she works with astronauts, “I have so much fun, you would not believe how much fun I have at work everyday,” Kerrick added.
In 2001, Kerrick was the first non-astronaut capsule communicator, which is the person who relays information from Mission Control to the crew.
In 2005, she became the first female Hispanic Flight Director in NASA history. “All I’ve ever done was follow my dreams, it’s not like I’m a big deal,” Kerrick said.
Kerrick has been honored in El Paso before. She has received a key to the city and has a street named after her in Far East El Paso.
“This is so special, when you look at the 80 year history of this parade, and to see the people who have held that Grand Marshal position before, I mean it’s humbling,” said Kerrick.
The parade begins at 10 a.m. runs 2.7 miles up Montana, from Ochoa to Copia. It will feature more than 100 floaters. This years theme is “80 Years Around the World.”
