Each year The Twilight Parade kicks off the Illinois State fair. This year the parade’s Grand Marshal is Doctor Russell Dohner from Rushville.
Doctor Dohner moved to to Rushville in 1953, but he said he didn't intend to stay. His original plan was to eventually leave and continue his training as a cardiologist, but that didn't work out.
Just the fact that I can help people that's all I want to do
"The only other doctor that was here at the time left, so I couldn't very well leave," Dohner said.
One of the main reason's the Governors office selected Doctor Dohner as Grand Marshal was his commitment, over the years, to make his services affordable to almost all of the people who walk through his doors.
"When I first came here the charge, years ago, was two dollars. And then a little later on maybe ten, fifteen or maybe thirty years later I put it up to three and finally it went up to five dollars," Dohner said.
Doctor Dohner said the people and the cases he sees haven't changed much in his 58 years in Rushville and that he will continue to see patients for the foreseeable future.
"Just the fact that I can help people that's all I want to do," Donher said.
The Twilight Parade is Thursday night in Springfield. The Fair runs through August 18th.
