Claire Sauer Named Grand Marshal of Lyme’s July 4 Parade

LYME, CT – Longtime community volunteer and former state representative Claire Sauer has been named grand marshal of Lyme’s July 4 parade.

The parade, part of the town’s celebration of the nation’s 250th anniversary, is scheduled to step off at approximately 10 a.m. on July 4. Sauer will lead the procession in Tink and George Willauer’s 1935 Packard Roadster.

“The selection of Claire Sauer as Grand Marshal honors a woman who has dedicated decades of her life to the Town of Lyme – and whose career of public service at every level of government embodies the spirit of civic engagement that Independence Day celebrates,” the town said in a press release.

Her local service includes roles as registrar of voters, Board of Finance member, Affordable Housing Committee chair and selectman. She was the first woman elected to the Lyme Board of Selectmen and later became the first female president of the Lyme-Old Lyme Chamber of Commerce.

Sauer served in the Connecticut House of Representatives from 1994 to 2000 and was active in campaign finance reform efforts through the State Board of Common Cause. Before moving to Connecticut, she served in local government on Long Island, N.Y., including a term in the Suffolk County legislature.

First Selectwoman Christy Zelek praised Sauer’s selection for the once-in-a-generation celebration.

“Claire has given so much of herself to this community – breaking barriers, serving with integrity, and always putting Lyme first,” Zelek said. “On the 250th birthday of our nation, there is no one more deserving to lead our parade.”

Born in 1929, Sauer is a Cornell University graduate, mother of two, grandmother of four and great-grandmother of two.