Longtime local performing arts leader John Deaderick has been selected as recipient of the 33rd Annual Col. William H. “Bill” Lambert Award, which is presented each year as part of Nevada City’s Constitution Day Celebration.
The prestigious Lambert Award is given by the Famous Marching Presidents of Nevada City in recognition of outstanding contributions to the community. The award is named in honor of the late Col. William H. Lambert, founder of Nevada City’s annual Constitution Day Parade.
“Nevada City and Western Nevada County have a world class culture, a full spectrum of the arts, that thrills locals and attracts thousands to our community,” said Marching Presidents founder and former Nevada City mayor David Parker. “John Deaderick has been an arts leader in Nevada County for over four decades. The Famous Marching Presidents of Nevada City are proud to honor John Deaderick for his outstanding community service.”
Parker will present the award on Sunday, Sept. 18, at the Marching Presidents banquet following the Constitution Day Parade.
Deaderick is an actor, director, playwright and producer, who has also taught his craft in local schools and at Sierra College for the past 35 years, including a 14-year stint at Colfax High School. His wide experience has also included teaching performing arts to students with disabilities and to jail inmates.
“When you’re a teacher, you learn as much as you teach,” he says.
He has directed and performed in numerous local theatre productions and has toured the U.S. and Europe, performing with internationally popular local musician Terry Riley. He was also a KVMR broadcaster for 20 years.
Deaderick is a former executive director of the Nevada County Arts Council and former California Arts Council artist in residence at the Center for The Arts.
Born in Alabama and raised in the Bay Area, Deaderick graduated from UC Santa Barbara, where he attended graduate school and earned his teaching credential. He settled in Nevada County in 1979, residing in Nevada City and Grass Valley for many years. Today he and his wife Jody enjoy the rural life off Moonshine Road near the Middle Yuba River. They have five grown children and five grandchildren.
Deaderick said he was pleased to receive the award. “I’m very honored and surprised to be recognized in the community I know and love,” he said. “This is truly an honor.”
The Famous Marching Presidents announce the Lambert Award each year on the eve of the annual Constitution Day Parade, in which they have enthusiastically participated since 1988.
Past Lambert Award recipients are retired city manager Beryl P. Robinson Jr., former mayor and city clerk Cathy Wilcox-Barnes, longtime parade organizers George and Pat Harper, former mayor Pat Dyer, the late real estate broker Jim Mackey, local writer Dave Carter, former Chamber of Commerce executive manager Cathy Whittlesey, former mayor Steve Cottrell, businessman Bob Buhlis, retired Nevada County general services director Dennis Cassella, John Christensen, a leader of community efforts to establish the Nevada County Narrow Gauge Railroad Museum; cartoonist R.L. “Crabman” Crabb, business owners Lee and Susan Thurston, retired Nevada City public works director Verne Taylor, the late historian Edwin Tyson, the late folksinger/activist U Utah Phillips, former city engineer Bill Falconi, Marching Presidents organizer Patti Foster, retired school administrator Karen Chizek, the late musician Mikail Graham, the late county librarian Madelyn Helling, local builder Gary Tintle, former mayors Paul Matson and Reinette Senum, Nevada City Film Festival Director Jesse Locks, Nevada City musician and producer Paul Emery, homeless advocates Joanna Robinson and Cindy Maple, former Grass Valley mayor Howard Levine, real estate broker Charlie Brock, local attorney Fran Cole and local real estate broker Jon Blinder. Marching Presidents founder David Parker was honored with the group’s 20th anniversary award.
The Marching Presidents is a fun-loving and educational group that portrays all 46 U.S. Presidents with reverence, good humor and varying degrees of historical accuracy. For reliable information on U.S. Presidents, see www.americanpresident.org.