2024 Frontier Days Parade Grand Marshals, TC Cook & Johnny Vilardo

Congratulations to Johnny Vilardo and TC Cook who have been chosen as this year’s Frontier Days Parade Grand Marshals! Scroll down to watch our interview with TC & Johnny!

Local Special Olympics heroes and long-time Kroger exemplary employees, we are proud to have them leading the parade for 2024! 

TC Cook competed in Track & Field, winning Silver in Javelin in the Special Olympics at Ohio State University. We’re so proud of him! You probably also recognize him from Kroger where he has worked for 10 years!

Johnny Vilardo, with his ever-present huge smile, is known as the “Unofficial Mayor” of Milford! He has quite an impressive record of accomplishments with the Special Olympics. In September of 2013, Johnny first qualified for the National Special Olympics by becoming the State of Ohio Gold Medalist. He went on to compete on the National level, representing Team Ohio Golf, June 16-18 of 2014 in Princeton, New Jersey. He competed against 39 other golfers in the 9-hole individual category and brought home the GOLD! In 2018, he went on to win Silver in 18 hole golf.

An avid golfer since 1979, Johnny credits his father for teaching him how to play golf. He shared that one of the things he was most proud of at the Olympics was his 26 foot putt!

Johnny is said to exemplify “the true spirit of an olympic competitor,” and we agree! All of his customers at Kroger, where he has worked for almost 26 years, would agree!

Thank you, TC and Johnny, for all that you do for our Milford community!