Jim, Joyce Staff are grand marshals for Lions’ Halloween parade

 A long-time member of the Vandalia Lions Club, Jim Staff currently serves as the chairman of the committee organizing the club’s annual Halloween parade.
The duties of the committee include selecting a grand marshal for the parade. But this year, the current club president told Staff that his committee would not need to do that.
“Les (Smith) told that whatever choice we would come up with would be overruled,” Staff said.
That’s because, Smith told Staff, the Lions Club Board of Directors had decided that Staff would serve as this year’s grand marshal.
Staff said he would agree to do so as long as his wife, Joyce, would join him.
The Staffs are known for their lengthy careers in education. Jim Staff was a teacher and coach in the Vandalia School District before serving as the county/regional superintendent of schools for 32 years.
He was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals and played in the club’s minor league system before returning home and entering the field of education.
A graduate of Greenville College, he was the first athlete to be inducted into the college’s Hall of Fame.
Joyce Staff was an elementary teacher in the Vandalia School District.
The Staffs have also been involved in many community projects over the years.
This year’s parade will be held at 7 p.m. this Thursday. The parade will follow the traditional route, starting from Seventh and Gallatin streets, and traveling east on Gallatin to Third Street.
There is no entry fee, and pre-registration is not required. As in past years, parade entries simply need to report to the area of the former Washington School on South Eighth Street.
Registration and lineup begins at 5 p.m.
As always, the Halloween parade will feature floats created by local clubs, organizations, churches, businesses and groups, as well as walking groups dressed up for Halloween, and all will compete for prize monies offered by local businesses.
The parade will also feature children dressed up in costumes, with prizes awarded in different groups.
The parade will continue to include marching bands from area high schools.