Judge Don Ash has been named Grand Marshal of the 2019 Rutherford County Christmas Parade. The gala event begins at 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 8 at the intersection of East Main and Middle Tennessee Boulevard.
Ash served as a Circuit Court Judge for Rutherford and Cannon county from 1994-2012. He also taught civil procedure at the Nashville School of law for ten years.
In 2012 the Tennessee Supreme Court appointed Don Ash to the position of Senior Judge for the State of Tennessee. He continues to serve in that capacity.
He currently is a part-time professor for the National Judicial College. During his judicial service Judge Ash has held the positions of president of the Tennessee Judicial Conference and presiding judge for the Tennessee Court of the Judiciary.
He also was the primary drafter of the Tennessee Parenting plan law which was passed by the legislature over twenty years ago.
Judge Ash oversaw the establishment of one of the first drug courts in the state of Tennessee and presided over the Court for fourteen years.
He was presented Leadership’s Rutherford’s Pinnacle Award, designated as a Distinguished Alumni of Middle Tennessee State University, and was an original inductee into the Tennessee Boys and Girls Club Hall of Fame for his efforts to establish a Club in Rutherford county and other statewide activities.
Don is married to Rita Ash. They have four children and nine grandchildren. They attend First United Methodist Church in Murfreesboro.
Judge Ash will be leading the 2019 Rutherford County Christmas Parade down East Main, around the square, onto West Main and then ends on Walnut Street.
Entries in this year's parade will focus on "The Sounds of Christmas."
This is the 34th year that the parade has been coordinated by Murfreesboro's WGNS Good Neighbor Radio.
WGNS’ executive Lee Ann Walker reminisced, "The radio station took over when the previous sponsor decided not to be involved. If WGNS was going to prove itself as a real Good Neighbor, it could never allow our community not to have a Christmas Parade."
She noted that teamwork from co-sponsors Stones River Amateur Radio Club, Murfreesboro Noon Exchange Club, ATMOS Energy, L&K Trophy House, and Franklin Synergy Bank have continued to improve each year’s Christmas parade.
Walker commented, "Instead of writing a big check, this group of co-sponsors puts in large amounts of volunteer hours to make our community’s Christmas parade even better each year."