A retired educator and a Christmas tree grower will serve as the grand marshals for Winchester’s annual Christmas parade through downtown.

Winchester Mayor Ed Burtner, who chaired the parade committee, said Pete Kovalic and Jane Burnam were chosen as their skills and talents fit with the theme of “A Musical Christmas.”

Kovalic, according to his biography, grew up in Pennsylvania and served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War. After his discharge, he graduated from Michigan State University with a forestry degree and started working for the government.

He moved to Winchester 51 years ago during his career with the U.S. Forest Service. His career took him from California to Virginia before transferring to Winchester and the Daniel Boone National Forest.

After retiring early, he began a consulting business focusing on those who wanted to grow trees or harvest timber.

In 1990, he opened a Christmas tree farm on Old Boonesboro Road, which is still in operation.

Burnam taught in Ohio and New York, but spent most of her career teaching in Winchester, including kindergarten, elementary and junior high level music.

She started as a church organist when she was 10, and often sang solos and at special events in the community, according to her biography.

Burnam is also one of the founding members of the Winchester Black History Heritage Committee and enjoys “working to actively make my community a better place …”

“I am blessed and honored to be chosen as one of the grand marshals in the Christmas parade,” she said. “Music is for me a form of worship and my spirit filter.”

The parade is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. Saturday with the lighting of the Christmas tree in front of the Clark County Courthouse. The parade will follow Main Street through downtown.