Marvin Gall is 94-years-old and has been a part of the annual Fish Days parade in Lake Andes for decades. His long-standing tradition of making unique floats and being a character in his own creations is well known throughout the local area. While his parade floats always generate a lot of buzz, they typically do not require a lot of planning.

“Me and my family, we don’t think of anything until the day before,” said Gall. “We shuttle and bustle around here quite a bit to get the float made and put together.”

This past Fish Days parade had Gall dressing like a roasted turkey in a big pot. It was a holiday theme for the parade floats and Gall enjoyed having fun with a Thanksgiving Day concept. He took first place in the open contest category.

“You just take the theme and think about it. We took a tank and we made it look like a pot and I stood up in it,” laughed Gall.

The year prior, in 2021, Gall put the segue he owned to good use. He dressed as the character of Aladdin and made a wood platform to fit over the base of his segue. The platform was covered with carpet and he spent the whole Fish Days parade cruising around like Aladdin on a flying carpet.

“We made a wood platform with carpeting and then I stood on that,” commented Gall. “I had to have them help me get on it because I couldn’t step that far to get on it. But once I got on it, I had no problem. So I had to stay on it from the beginning to the end of the parade.”

A book of floats that dates back to 1988 can be found in Gall’s possession. He is able to flip through the pages and see photos from past parades. In the early years of float making, he and his wife, Mary Jane, did not have the luxury of computer printers to make signs. The couple had to cut out letters and paste them on white sheets for the overhead projector.

Gall recalled, “That’s how we did it until the computer came out and we could run it off on the machine. We always spent Friday nights getting everything ready— costumes and everything.”

There have been some great floats over the years courtesy of Gall and his family. One of Gall’s first floats was a simple idea that consisted of a lawn chair, an umbrella and a patio table. He put it all on a trailer and sat in the chair while two young ladies fed him grapes. It drew laughs from the parade crowd. Another year he made a mouse trap out of conduit.

“My son said, ‘Dad—you’re going to kill yourself’. I had it fixed so that trap could flip whenever I wanted it to and I went as Tiny Tim,” remembered Gall.

In 2000, Gall and his wife did not make a float because they were bestowed the honor of parade marshalls. That year they rode in a convertible with a banner. Mary Jane has since passed, but many family members still help Gall participate in Fish Days. It can be a lot of fun when they get involved, especially with Gall having seven kids, 22 grandchildren and 25 great-grandchildren.

“A couple of times my children and grandchildren and daughter-in-laws put on a skit. One time they were a ‘Lawn Chair Brigade” and they would sit on them and dance around and it was quite neat,” detailed Gall. “One other time they put on a hobby horse (skit). Everybody had a hobby horse and went through the parade.”

Gall is known around town for a lot more than just his parade float creativity. He also still operates a HVAC and electrical business. Staying busy and supporting the community keeps him young and Gall enjoys the work. He was born on a farm near Lesterville, South Dakota and drafted to World War II at the age of 18. From there he learned the electrical trade, as well as skills associated with plumbing, heating and air conditioning.

Pickstown and Lake Andes have always felt like home to him. He began working for the Corp of Engineers in Pickstown in 1949 as a laborer, but it did not take long for his employers to notice his electrical skills that he learned in the military. He soon began to take on duties as an electrician and later became a survey foreman for the Air Force Radar Site.

It was in 1968 that that radar site was pulled out of the area and Gall was looking at needing to transfer. He did not wish to leave the area as his family was settled and happy.

“The Corp of Engineers said, ‘If you come over and be a temporary plumber (then) in two years our fire chief/police chief is going to retire. And I had been a fire chief in Lake Andes and so I got the job. I worked as fire chief and police chief (in Pickstown) until 1985,” explained Gall.

He then retired and moved back to Lake Andes from Pickstown with plans to take it easy and just do miscellaneous work now and then. However, the community had other ideas as the local AC repairman suffered a heart attack and Gall’s expertise with heating and air conditioning equipment was needed.

He said, “People found out I knew different trades and since then I have had a full-time job of different things with heating, air conditioning and electrical.”

Staying busy and keeping in shape helps Gall lead a full and fun life. He took up weight lifting after his wife died and has been known to challenge the school kids to planking contests in the Lake Andes school gym.

Gall mentioned, “I haven’t done it lately, but I could go for eleven minutes.”

The good humor and fun spirit of Gall is a treasure for Fish Days and the community. There is no doubt next year’s parade will bring about another great float courtesy of Gall and his extended family.