Royalty for Ogden holiday festivities named — Rick Danger and Jack Fronk
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- Ogden’s Christmas Village, shown in this undated photo, opens Saturday, Nov. 26, 2022, following the Holiday Electric Light Parade. A fireworks show follows the turning on of Christmas Village lights.
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- Rick Danger will serve as honorary mayor of Christmas Village for 2022. He’s pictured with members of the Ogden City Council on Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2022, when the council formally bestowed him with the honorary mayor title.
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- Jack Fronk, 8, will serve as grand marshal of the Holiday Electric Light Parade in Ogden on Saturday, Nov. 26, 2022.
OGDEN — The royalty for Ogden’s annual holiday festivities has been named — Rick Danger will serve as honorary mayor of Christmas Village and Jack Fronk will be grand marshal of the Holiday Electric Light Parade.
“What an honor, what a privilege,” Danger said Nov. 15 after the Ogden City Council formally bestowed the honorary title on him. “I work mostly behind the scenes.”
Danger does volunteer work with a range of nonprofit organizations and first-responder agencies. He has also been heavily involved in Christmas Village organizing over the years, notably in helping build the Make-a-Wish Grand Marshal Float, which hauls the grand marshal.
“Those kids that we build those floats for are amazing,” said Danger.
Jack, 8, is one of the Make-A-Wish Foundation kids, and as grand marshal he’ll sit on the Grand Marshal Float with his family during the holiday parade on Saturday. As the finale to the parade, Jack, accompanied by Santa Claus, will hit the switch turning on the lights of Christmas Village around the Ogden Municipal Building for the season.
“I’m humbled by these kids that have been challenged most of their short lives — they never wear any of that fear, sadness or the hardships on their sleeve,” said Ashley Bockwoldt, who helps organize the parade as Ogden’s event coordinator. “They always show up with a big smile, excited and so happy. That is what is so magical about this night, letting kids be kids, just as it should be.”
Jack has cystic fibrosis, a disease without a cure that leads to chronic lung infections, gastrointestinal issues and, in his case, liver disease. He was picked to serve as grand marshal through the Make-a-Wish Foundation, which helps grant wishes for kids with critical illnesses.
The Santa Run, a precursor to the parade, is set for 4:30 p.m. Saturday. The Holiday Electric Light Parade, an Ogden tradition, follows at 5:30 p.m., starting at Washington Boulevard and 22nd Street and progressing south to 27th Street.
The grand opening of Christmas Village and illumination of lights will occur in a ceremony in the Ogden Amphitheater that starts around 6:30 p.m. Fireworks will follow.
Along with being named honorary mayor of Christmas Village for 2022, the Ogden City Council Declared Nov. 26, 2022, Rick Danger Day. Danger is general manager of Admiral Beverage Corp., a local beverage supplier, and employees of the firm are also heavily involved with Christmas Village preparations along with Danger’s wife, Barb.
Jack, the parade grand marshal, loves dinosaurs, playing with friends, swimming and playing video games. “His smile always lights up a room wherever he goes,” the city said in a statement.
The lights of Christmas Village, featuring numerous decorated cottages with displays inside, will be turned on from 5 p.m. to midnight, through Jan. 1. Through Dec. 23, Santa visits Christmas Village from 6-9 p.m. every Monday through Friday and from 5-9 p.m. on Saturdays.