Gatlinburg Convention and Visitors Bureau announced the official grand marshals for the Gatlinburg 4th of July Midnight Parade. The parade, now in its 40th year, will step off with Nan Kelley, host of Great American Country Channel’s Top 20 Country Countdown and Army Captain Steve Voglezon from Fort Bragg, N.C.
A former Miss Mississippi, Nan Kelley has made a career of working in country music television production. Kelley first got her start in television when she was a co-host of Prime Time Country for The Nashville Network. After five years, she became a fixture on one of the most popular and well-known music shows in the world- The Grand Ole Opry. She became the television host of Opry Live on GAC and has since served as the longtime host of the popular fan-voted show GAC Top 20 Country Countdown.
Also acting as the parade’s grand marshal is Army Captain Steve Voglezon of the 108th Air Defense Artillery Brigade. Stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, Capt. Voglezon is a highly decorated officer, recognized for more than 10 prestigious awards of military honor and graduate of Johns Hopkins University. Capt. Voglezon was dubbed “the real Captain America” in May when his heroic act on a North Carolina Highway went viral. Capt. Voglezon pulled three people from a fiery car crash before firefighters were able to arrive on scene. He just so happened to be wearing a Captain America T-shirt at the time of the rescue, making the admirable act that much more of a heroic of a tale.
The Gatlinburg 4th of July Midnight Parade steps off at 12:01 a.m. on Saturday. For more information about the evening activities leading up to the parade, visit Gatlinburg.com/Events or call 1-800-588-1817.