Grand Marshals for this year’s Kalona Days parade will be John Wallerich and his daughter Dawn Wyse.  Wallerich is the founding owner of JW’s Foods, and Wyse runs the grocery store today with husband Curt.  

Tonia Poole, director of the Kalona Chamber, explains that the Kalona Days committee considers active community members who deserve recognition for Grand Marshals each year, and Wallerich was noted for “being rooted in the community” and starting JW’s Foods 50 years ago this fall.

Wallerich says he had about 20 years of grocery store experience before he purchased the small existing grocery in Kalona, which he expanded to three times its size over his 35-year tenure.  His chose the store because he wanted a store that would be closed on Sundays.

“That was one of our incentives for coming to Kalona,” he says.

One of the biggest changes he saw over the years was the conversion from pricing each individual product to using scanners to read barcodes at checkout.  

“It saved a lot of time,” he says.

Wallerich looks forward to riding in the parade with his daughter, as his wife prefers not to attend.

“We’ve been together a long time,” he says of Wyse, who he admits practically grew up at JW’s Foods.