ALTENBURG – The East Perry Community Fair is proud to announce that recently retired Grace Lutheran and Zion Lutheran Church Pastor Rev. Dr. Paul Winningham, will be honored as the Grand Marshal of the 2024 East Perry Community Fair parade.
The annual Fair parade will be held on Friday, September 20th at 1:30pm and will run through the heart of Altenburg. The route begins at Maple Street in Altenburg and travels east down Main Street until it reaches Church Street. At this point, the parade makes a right turn and heads south on Church Street until its conclusion at the fairgrounds.
The parade will once again include a cast of great participants. A large cast of High School bands including Perryville, St. Vincent, Oak Ridge, Meadow Heights, Bell City, Bernie, Chaffee, Greenville, and Doniphan will provide musical entertainment during the parade while local schools, athletic teams, civic organizations and area business will march, enter floats, or show other entries to promote their causes. The parade has a history of being well supported and attended, so plan to arrive early to find a clear, comfortable viewing spot and to avoid heavy traffic. As a friendly reminder, traffic flow into Altenburg is stopped around 1:00pm so the parade lineup can organize. Please plan accordingly if you’re expecting to attend. As for Rev. Winningham, it will be the East Perry Community Fair’s honor to have a man who has led and shepherded his Congregations for 34 years, lead this year’s cast of parade participants through his role as Grand Marshal.
Rev. Dr. Paul R. Winningham
Born and raised in Akron Ohio, Rev. Paul Winningham has dwelt in East Perry County for over half of his life, having recently retired after serving Grace and Zion Lutheran Churches of Uniontown and Longtown for thirty-four years. Born the youngest of four children of Jerry and Martha Simon Winningham, Pastor Paul is married to Diane (formerly Theurer) whom he met in college, where they studied to be teachers. They have been blessed with five children: Daniel (and Carolyn), Timothy (and Katy), Hannah (and Dustin) Welker, Peter (and Grace), and Sarah (and Jake) Glaus. They also count among their priceless blessings eleven grandchildren: Cara, Dominic, Evelyn, Naomi (with Jesus), Collin, Caitlin, Braylin, Andrew, Leo, Nora Mae, and Emma.
After graduating high school, he attended Concordia University in Seward, Nebraska, where he graduated with a degree in Elementary Education, with no intention of ever becoming a pastor. Upon graduation, he received a Call to teach third and fourth graders in a combined classroom, as well as coaching soccer, volleyball, and softball for grades 6 through 8, in Sawyer, Michigan (2 years) and the Chicago suburb of Hillside (4 years). He also worked with the youth of the congregations. Through the encouragement of others, he entered Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, from which he was graduated in 1990. That same year he was Called and installed as Pastor to Grace and Zion Lutheran Churches in Uniontown and Longtown, whom he continued to serve until his retirement after thirty-four years this past June 30th.
From 2001 to 2005 he also assisted with the teaching of religion (Old and New Testament) at Saxony Lutheran High School, until a full-time religion instructor was installed.
In order to continue to grow and learn, in 2007 he was accepted into the Doctor of Ministry program at Concordia Seminary, from which he graduated in 2015 after completing his Major Applied Project of a study of partnered congregations, with particular emphasis upon the partnership that Zion and Grace congregations have shared since 1963.
In addition to serving Grace and Zion churches, he was appointed by the president of the Missouri District of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod to the office of Circuit Visitor twice and re-elected three times. In this post he has served the local circuit of congregations in the process of Calling a new pastor when they were vacant, among other duties.
Beyond these duties he has in the past served two terms on the Saxony Lutheran High School Board, where he continues to lead occasional chapel services. Involved with the Perry County Ministerial Alliance, he writes occasional columns for the Republic-Monitor and produces the yearly schedule of contributors. Pastor and Diane also serve as occasional docents for the Lutheran Heritage Center and Museum in Altenburg.
For fun, he enjoys being outdoors, whether gardening, running, or anything else that fills the lungs with fresh air. Seventeen years ago, in the desire to experience what the New Testament describes about running a race, he trained and ran in the Akron Marathon, traversing all kinds of familiar and historic places of his childhood home. For many years he participated in the River Hills run, held on Saturday of the fair, and is likely the only grand marshal not only to have participated but also to have won the race once.
He loves the interplay of music and the Word of God, he enjoys setting Scriptures to music, playing those done by others and writing poetry occasionally, with the hope of bringing it to life in music.
Fascinated with the challenges of pastoring more than one congregation, he maintains a passion for encouraging and assisting those who serve in such settings.
From the time the Winningham’s settled in Uniontown, the Fair was a big deal! Their children marched in the parade and participated in the fun of the weekend, eating favorite ‘fair foods’ and even helping with Sunday morning cleanup after church some years.
While their children were in elementary school, for ten years they helped serve at the hamburger stand with other Lutheran School parents. As their children grew into high school, they began some years of serving at the fish stand alongside parents and faculty of Saxony Lutheran High School. The Winningham’s have always enjoyed the visits with both co-workers and customers as they served.
Many of the exhibits and displays always catch his attention, because it is so neat to see the many different gifts and talents that local people possess, whether it is an eye for photography, gardening success, craftwork, or kitchen skill, and so much more. The Winningham’s are pleased that some of their grandchildren will be exhibitors this year as well.
Pastor Paul states, I am humbled to serve as Grand Marshal, knowing full well that many others have lived here longer, and served a broader spectrum of the community. In accepting this honor, I hope it can remind us all of many more faithful, hard-working, and loyal residents who will never receive this recognition, but whose labor deserves recognition as well!
God has blessed the East Perry Community Fair with an abundance of grace and mercy and the Fair is quick to recognize that Faith is the backbone of our community. With that, we congratulate Pastor Winningham on a job well done, and we thank God for bringing him to our community. The East Perry Community Fair is pleased to announce Rev. Dr. Paul Winningham as the 2024 Grand Marshal of the Fair Parade.