CENTERBURG – Jim Sherman was elected as this year¹s Oldtime Farming Festival marshal. Jim’s family members were born and raised in the community of Centerburg since 1892. The Sherman family will be riding on the Oldtime Farming Festival float in the USA Days parade on Saturday, June 25, at 11:00 a.m.
The fifth-generation Sherman farming family began with Jim’s great-great-grandfather, originally from New York. The original homestead is on Moody Road but Jim’s family residence is on Peerless Road in Delaware County.
The farming continues on with his two sons, Bob and Tom (sixth generation). Tom is married and has given Jim and Denise their first grandson, Daniel.
The Sherman’s farm 800 acres of soybeans and corn. This year Jim and his sister Susan registered the farm as a Century Farm, one that has been farmed by the same family for at least 100 years.
Jim graduated from Centerburg High School and attended Ohio State University for three and a half years. Besides farming, he worked for the U.S. Postal Services for 32 years, retiring February 1, 2014. He also found time to serve on the Soil and Water Board of Delaware County for the past 29 years and the Zoning Board of Porter Township for over 22 years.
Jim Sherman – submitted photo
Jim displays 15 – 25 farming tractors and implements each year at the Oldtime Farming Festival, and puts tractors in the annual parade. (He likes Allis Chalmers.) One year he served as a parade judge, as well. Jim has been married to Denise (Mirise) for over 42 years. The family attends the Centerburg United Methodist Church.