Use this search box to find articles that have run in our newspapers over the last several years.
Date: 6/19/2019
EAST LONGMEADOW – Amid the marching bands and floats, the banners and fire trucks, one 4th of July tradition carries a special honor in East Longmeadow, that of the Grand Marshal of the 4th of July Parade. This year that honor will be bestowed upon John Maybury, owner of Maybury Material Handling and a lifelong resident on the town.
Carl Ohlin, a member of the grand marshal selection committee said that a large part of the criteria for selecting a grand marshal is that the person is very visible in the community, very active in a civic group, and involved in community events.
“Every one of the grand marshals have contributed in many ways,” said Ohlin. “They make the quality of life better in East Longmeadow.”
Maybury’s involvement in the community has been long and wide-ranging. Maybury was a member of the East Longmeadow Jaycees and Baystate Health Foundation. He has held a seat on the East Longmeadow Board of Public Works, the East Longmeadow Technology Committee, and Baystate Health Systems.
Maybury has also been active in the business community, as a member of East Longmeadow/Longmeadow Chamber of Commerce, the East of the River Chamber of Commerce, the Western Mass Development Corporation, the Young Presidents Organization, and the Material Handling Equipment Distributors Association. He served for a time as president or chair of many of these organizations.
In addition to the various boards Maybury had served on over the years, he also contributes to a variety of organizations and events. He has sponsored the Fourth of July Parade and the Movie Night at Leahy Field, and he supports the Fishing Derby and the Boy Scouts, of which he was a member. He also puts on four or five car shows each year in which all of the proceeds benefit a different charity.
Maybury attended East Longmeadow High School and Western New England College, now Western New England University.
He began Maybury Material Handling in 1976. The company sells and services an array of equipment, including forklifts, conveyor belts, overhead cranes, and modular cleanrooms. Employing over 80 employees and working with roughly 1,300 manufacturers, Maybury Material Handling has won the Material Handling Equipment Distributors Association’s Most Valuable Partner award for four years in a row.
Maybury said that he was quite surprised and honored to be chosen as the grand marshal.
“It’s nice to join a group that I’ve looked up to and aspired to be like,” Maybury said. He told Reminder Publishing that he believes in a three-legged stool philosophy, in which life is composed of personal relationships, business, and community.
“I try to make the place I live better,” Maybury said.