2026 Douglas Grand Marshal

Sixty years after marching across the graduation stage, members of the Juneau-Douglas High School Class of 1966 will return this summer to lead a hometown celebration that helped shape their lives. The class will mark its 60th reunion July 4–7, 2026, and has been selected to serve as Grand Marshal of the Douglas Fourth of July Parade, honoring a group of classmates who grew up along Gastineau Channel and carried those roots with them wherever they went. The invitation reflects not only the class’s milestone anniversary, but also its enduring bond with Douglas and Juneau over the decades.

​

From the days of crowded hallways, rival games, pep rallies, and class hi-jinks, the Class of ’66 has watched their hometown change while holding fast to the friendships and values formed at Juneau-Douglas High School. Their class motto, “Catch Us If You Can” is exemplified by the many graduates that have gone on to make their mark in various walks of life —commercial fishing and business, public service and politics, education and civic leadership, the arts and community volunteering — while continuing to support, and often return to, the community that launched them

​

Graduates represented not only their hometown, but also the family generations that preceded them that helped our community grow and prosper. Longtime residents will recognize family names from this class – many of whom grew up and attended school in Douglas - Barril, Baxter, Becker, Belarde, Botelho, Compton, Elton, Fleek, Florendo, Gamble, Gregg, Gruening, Guertin, Hagerup, Lesh, Mattson, McPhetres, Mead, Niemi, Overstreet, Rogers, Russo, Sanford, Satre, Savikko, Schoeppe, Sturrock, Taug, Thibodeau, Wahto, Waid, Weaver, Weir, Whitehead, and Zenger, to name just a few of the over 200 graduates.

​

The Douglas Fourth of July celebration has long been a favorite gathering place where generations come together to remember the past and look ahead, and the presence of the Class of 1966 at the head of the parade adds a special memorable moment. Reunion and parade organizers invite classmates, families, friends, and neighbors to wave and say hello as the Class of ’66 passes by—celebrating not just a class reunion, but a shared story of community and lifelong connection.