Kelly, Leslie Roberts will lead out Manti Light Parade as grand marshals
11-28-2019
MANTI—Kelly and Leslie Roberts, the Grand Marshalls of this year’s Manti Christmas Light Parade, are being honored this Christmas season because they deserve it.
Kelly, a retired maintenance worker at Manti High School, has helped out with the light parade every year until he was diagnosed with Stage 4 colon cancer in 2017 and he was forced to retire. The cancer had spread into this lungs and Kelly is at home coping with the disease. According to his wife Leslie, Kelly is holding up as well as can be expected and he exudes a cheerful attitude. He is valiantly living through bimonthly chemo treatments and numerous surgeries.
Kelly has never been one to seek out any notoriety, his wife said, and he might not like being the main attraction at the parade this year, but she’ll “bundle him up really warm and make sure he’ll be there.”
Parade director Rebecca Walk said the Roberts are really good people in many ways. Even with his cancer diagnosis, Kelly stays cheerful. “He’s an amazing man and good friend.”
Leslie has taught math at Manti High School and she is still working as a math teacher at the Utah State Prison in Gunnison. She has served in many capacities in the community including the Old Folks Committee, the American Legion and the Mormon Miracle Pageant.
Terry has always been instrumental in making sure the light parade runs smooth and clean. He helped with the setup, the take down and made sure the high school was spotless after the big celebration.
Kelly was born and raised in Annabella and Leslie McArthur grew up in Manti. They met on a blind date and six months later, June 20, 1986, they were married in the Manti temple.
They attended USU in Logan and after five years the couple went to SUU, where Kelly was employed by SUU as a landscape maintenance worker. Leslie finished her teaching certification and finished a Master’s degree. Together, they raised three children. In 2003, they moved back to Manti, when Leslie was hired by South Sanpete School District to teach math. Kelly was hired shortly after that as a landscape maintenance worker for Manti High school. While in Manti, Kelly has volunteered for the Manti ambulance and received his EMT certification. They have both served in many capacities for their church, schools and communities.
The light parade will start at 6 p.m. on Main Street on Nov. 29. After the parade, the fun will continue at Manti High School with food, entertainment and Santa. There will be dancing kids from Gunnison, singing from the Walk Family and the Boylan Family and music from the Manti High Jazz Band.
Kids can bring letters to Santa and they will be answered if there is a return address on the envelope.
All the money from the food concessions go to good causes, such as child abuse prevention and the Girl Scouts.
