The Fiesta Bowl announced Tuesday that baseball Hall of Famer Randy Johnson will be the grand marshal of the 45th annual Fiesta Bowl Parade on Jan. 2, 2016.
Johnson was inducted into the Hall of Fame in July after a 22-year career that included 303 wins, five Cy Young Awards and a World Series championship with the 2001 Diamondbacks.
In honor of Johnson's commitment to the Arizona community, the Fiesta Bowl will be donating $10,000 to Save the Family, a Valley nonprofit who provides transitional housing and supportive services to homeless families with children. With the donation, Save the Family will be able to will be able to provide tuition for extracurricular activities and classes like photography, sports camps, dance classes and art camps for more than 300 school-aged children.
"I was living in Peoria before I became a Diamondback in 1999 and this has become my home and my community. So it's an honor to have been asked to be the grand marshal of this year's parade," Johnson said. "I am deeply honored and this has been a year that has kept on giving and I am so appreciative of that. To be able to give a grant to Save the Family and help those families is what it's about for me. This is my community and this is the mark I want to leave."
The parade down Central Avenue in Phoenix is scheduled for 11 a.m. on Jan. 2. Admission is free to the public, with premium reserved seating available for $25.
For more information about the parade and all other Fiesta Bowl events, please visit www.FiestaBowl.org.
