By: Michael Bennett, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Ridgetown Independent News

He doesn’t have any tattoos.

But if he did, Jim Brown would have ‘RIDGETOWN’ inked across his heart.

The man of many hats is being honoured for his lifelong dedication to his beloved hometown as the Grand Marshall of Friday’s East Kent Celebrates Committee’s annual Canada Day Parade.

Brown will be at the front of the annual Canada Day Parade, which begins at 6 p.m. from the corner of West St. and Main St., proceeding east through downtown and ending on Cecil St. at Ridgetown District High School.

“They must have run out of other people,” Brown said, in typical self-deprecating fashion. “It’s humbling and an honour … but I think there are other people out there who deserve it more than me.”

While Brown downplays his impact on the community, very few people have been as involved or done as much to promote the town as Jim Brown.

A Ridgetown Public Elementary and Ridgetown District High School grad, Brown got a job at St. Clair Grain & Feed, where he worked in the feed mill and warehouse, eventually delivering feed to farms across the area.

Brown also worked for George Jackson at his Silcox Hardware and at Stedmans before getting a job in the press room of the former Ridgetown Dominion newspaper.

He later began selling ads after his sister-in-law, Barb Brown, who was the publisher of the Dominion. The town’s former paper, however, was part of a national chain whose bosses didn’t always appreciate the local content.

“The owners came down from Toronto and told us to stop running the bowling scores and the women’s institute news because they said ‘no one cares reading about that,’” Brown said. “So I left the paper.”

Brown worked briefly at Clayt Johnston Motors before deciding to start his own paper.

“Barb was enjoying working for the Dominion, and I had been saying for years, ‘let’s open our own paper,’” he recalled.

“A few of us got onboard, and a week later we put out our first paper,” said Brown, as the first issue of the Ridgetown Independent News was on the streets in November of 1994.

“We put the community back in the paper,” he said about the Independent’s focus, compared to the Dominion, which folded just over a year later. “They were always worried about profit; we were focused on representing the community.

“We kept things local and gave the local people what they wanted,” Brown said.

Brown was on the other end of the notepad for over 25 years as a councillor for the Town of Ridgetown from 1984-98 until amalgamation, and then served three terms as Ward 3 East Kent councillor on Chatham-Kent Council from 2004-14.

Along with writing about the community and representing its citizens, Brown served on several local committees, boards and organizations – and also served as a volunteer fireman at Station 11 for 10 years.

He is currently the 1st Vice-President of the Branch 243 Legion, where he has served on numerous committees over his 43 years as a member.

Brown is the Chair of the Ridgetown Business Improvement Association and a charter member of the organization, formed in 2014.

He is also Chair of the Greenwood Cemetery Board and reforming the Memorial Trees Forest Committee, a Director of the Ridgetown District High School Hall of Excellence Committee, and a member of East Kent Celebrates.

Three years ago, Brown was instrumental in the return of the ‘Tourist of the Week’ promotion, which ran from 1968 until 2011, and was also the key player in getting a wood-carved sculpture honouring Harry O’Neill, the pro pitcher who was credited with developing the slider during his time with the Philadelphia Athletics in the 1920s.

And, of course, Brown played a major role in Ridgetown’s 150th Sesquicentennial anniversary in 2025.

His community benevolence has been honoured many times over the years, including being recognized by the Ridgetown Rotary with a Paul Harris Fellow award and a Queen’s Jubilee Medal.

His love for the community can only be matched by his love of his family – wife Edna, daughter Karen Hutt and son Jeff.

Karen attended Niagara College and was considering a career in journalism.

“She was supposed to come back here and take over the paper, but after one year in the business, she found it wasn’t what she wanted,” Brown said, as Karen and her husband Patrick live in Windsor with their children Connor and Nolan.

Jeff Brown has been a photographer and graphics design artist at the Independent for 18 years.

Jeff married Erin Fleming four years ago, and works next door to the Independent at Juce Computers.

And behind every great man is an even greater woman, and that certainly defines Jim’s wife, Edna, who sadly passed away in 2023 at the age of 68 after a long illness.

“She was a quiet lady; she stayed in the background,” Brown said. “But she was very supportive of everything I did.”

“She looked after everything at the house while I was working late and going to meetings at night,” he said. “And what was nice, no matter how late I got home, she’d have something ready for me to eat.”

As he takes his rightfully deserved place at the front of Friday’s Canada Day Parade, residents will have the chance to thank Jim Brown for his lifelong dedication to making the lives of everyone in the Ridgetown area a little better.

And he will happily take his place in a very special mode of transportation.

“What I do is for all of Ridgetown, and it’s all of Ridgetown and area that makes anything work,” Brown said. “It’s not a one-person thing. I may come up with some ideas, but it’s family, it’s friends, it’s staff, it’s the folks in Ridgetown that get these things done.”

“It’s everybody working together to make these things happen,” Brown said.

Friday’s parade forms at 5 p.m. on West St., and there is no registration – you just show up and join in.

After the parade, Dirt Country will perform a free live outdoor concert in the back parking lot of Br. 243 Ridgetown Legion – although donations will be greatly appreciated to EKCC. The show is a part of the Summer Concert Series in Ridgetown. Food and beverages will be available.

The holiday fun continues on Sunday with the Ridgetown BIA hosting ‘Rumple & Friends,’ a children’s entertainer, at 4 p.m. at the Legion.

And Sunday night, the Summer Concert series continues with Mudmen performing at 7 p.m. in the Legion parking lot, a free event sponsored by the East Kent Celebrates Committee and Br. 243 Legion. Again, donations are appreciated. Hot dogs, peameal on a bun and French fries will be served outside, while refreshments will be available inside the Legion.