Monday, September 18, 2023
By Andy Barrand
Business Development/Marketing Director
City of Auburn, Indiana
AUBURN, Ind. – A small town girl with big time aspirations will be the grand marshal of this year’s DeKalb County Free Fall Fair Parade.
The parade, an annual tradition, opening the final day of the fair will be at 10 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 30. This year’s fair runs Sept. 25-30 in downtown Auburn, with nightly entertainment, midway rides, games and more.
Representing DeKalb County is this year’s grand marshal Jensen Snyder, 18, of Waterloo an aspiring singer and songwriter, who loves everything about the fair and its “small-town vibes.”
Snyder a DeKalb County native, participated in DeKalb County 4-H for six or seven years, but she is better known for her singing prowess performing at any festival, coffee shop or venue throughout the state.
She said it was awesome news to hear she had been chosen as this year’s fair parade grand marshal.
“Showing lambs at the fair, the fair has always been a big part of my fall,” Snyder said.
Snyder who has participated in the parade before with other organizations looks forward to being this year’s grand marshal.
“I am happy to represent DeKalb County,” she said.
She said if she had one message she could share about the festival and the county she calls home it would be “how homey it has always felt.”
Snyder, who is pursuing music full time these days, after graduating in 2023 from an online accredited high school said she wants to see where her music will take her.
She began singing at the age of six performing for whoever would listen. Her big break came after singing the National Anthem at a Fort Wayne Tin Caps home baseball game. From there she sang the Anthem at a Fort Wayne Mad Ants game, for a Fort Wayne Komets game, at an Indiana Fever game and Indiana Pacer game. In 2019 she won a “Fandom” contest and was afforded the opportunity to sing at Lucas Oil Stadium before a Colts game.
She said she was a little nervous about singing in front of a large crowd at Lucas Oil Stadium, but she knew she had a lot of people praying for her.
“When I went out to sing, I prayed a lot I felt very at piece it was amazing,” Snyder said.
This past summer she spent many early Saturday and Sunday mornings singing at Tom’s Donuts at Lake James, providing entertainment for guests as they waited in line at “The Donut Capital of the World.”
She said the response from patrons was amazing. With an ever-revolving door of customers she had the opportunity to perform for thousands of guests throughout the summer.
“My ultimate goal is to succeed in the music industry, I have always loved to sing,” she said.
She says right now she prefers the folk, Indy and alternative genres, taking inspiration from musicians such as Alice Phoebe Lou, Hozier and Clario.
To learn more about Jensen Snyder’s music visit her Facebook page www.facebook.com/JensenSnyderMusic or her website https://jensensnydermusic.com.
For a complete schedule of this year’s DeKalb County Free Fall Fair visit https://dekalbcountyfair.org.