Given her selfless contributions in the community, longtime Merritt resident Bev Stanich was a natural choice to marshal this year’s Country Christmas parade.

Linda Baird of the Country Christmas Committee said Stanich, her friend and neighbour, even has a Santa Claus-like style of giving.

“If there’s somebody sick or shut in, a bag of muffins or bag of something [will] appear at your door,” Baird said.

“I like to bake, let’s put it that way,” Stanich said.

Each year, the Country Christmas Committee chooses a community member to marshal the parade. Stanich was chosen because she’s someone who donates her time to the community in the absence of accolades.

Baird said when she told Stanich she was chosen to be the parade marshal, Stanich’s response was one of humility.

When asked if she was excited to be parade marshal, as expected, Stanich showed her modesty.

“I just feel a little bad about it because there are so many people [who] do so many more things than I do,” Stanich told the Herald.

As parade marshal, Stanich will ride in the lead car in the parade, which features floats from a variety of businesses and organizations in the community.

Stanich said the people of the Nicola Valley have plenty of community spirit.

“Every time there’s something to raise funds [for], everybody turns up and does their share. It’s marvelous,” Stanich said.

Stanich described the light-up night parade as “magical.”

This will be the first time she will lead the Country Christmas parade, but Stanich does have prior experience as a parade marshal.

In 1992, she won a Citizen of the Year award and marshalled the now-defunct Labour Day parade.

Baird described Stanich as an “all-around citizen.”

Stanich, originally from the Kootenays, moved to the Nicola Valley with her family in 1962. As she raised her children, she volunteered her time in the community.

Some of the local organizations Stanich belongs to include the Patricia Rebekah Lodge #33 — a charitable organization that supports numerous local projects such as Christmas hampers — and the Nicola Valley Women’s Institute, which also gives funds to various groups and projects in the area.

Stanich also belongs to the Merritt Senior Citizens Association, and for 12 years operated the Merritt Life Line, which involved providing seniors with life alert machines to press in the event of a fall from which they couldn’t get up.

“I can think of at least three ladies that we saved,” Stanich said.

The Country Christmas parade gets underway at 7 p.m. on Friday with Stanich leading the way.