Community Corner
Sierra Madre’s John Shear Selected as First ‘Hometown Hero’ for 2011 Fourth of July Parade
90-year-old resident who saved young girl at the Santa Anita Racetrack will be honored at this year's Fourth of July Parade.
The Sierra Madre 4th of July Committee meeting held Wednesday night at the Youth Activities Center yielded, after much consideration, the announcement that retiring Sierra Madre School Principal .
But from out of the field of more nominees and endorsements and the deliberation of the committee that followed came a separate piece of news that recognizes the achievements of yet another amazing Sierra Madre resident.
For the first time in the history of the parade, this year’s lineup will include a new designation of Sierra Madre’s 2011 “Hometown Hero,” an honor bestowed upon 90-year-old Sierra Madre resident John Shear who .
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Shear’s heroic act landed him in the hospital for , and garnered media coverage of the event stretched from hometown newspapers to national television outlets.
That day, Shear cut off a 3-year-old gelding named Sea and Sage, who had broken free and charged toward the gate Shear was guarding. Without thought for his personal safety, Sierra Madre’s Hometown Hero quickly threw himself in front of a six-year-old girl that would have been trampled if the horse had continued unabated.
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“There were twenty different people nominated to be Grand Marshal – far more than the committee had every received before,” Chairman Matt Bosse said in a statement announcing the two honors. “All of who were worthy of the Grand Marshal title.”
And though Bluemel was eventually chosen as the Grand Marshal, the announcement went on to say, “However, one other nominee stood out for his heroic acts earlier this year.” That nominee was John Shear.
So, in an effort to honor Shear’s heroism, the committee selected him as the parade’s Hometown Hero, a position the committee said “will be reserved for acts of courage and honor that go above and beyond serving the community-at-large.”
The committee also said that the Hometown Hero position wouldn’t necessarily become an ongoing annual parade entry, but left the possibility open for future parades.