The hard hat Bond Starker wore in Saturday morning’s Grand Parade wasn’t new. It was the same green hat his grandfather, T.J. Starker, wore nearly 50 years ago the last time a member of the Starker family led the parade as grand marshal — hand-lettered with small drawings in permanent marker.
The vehicle underneath him wasn’t new, either. Starker and retired chief forester Gary Blanchard rode through Philomath in the bed of a World War II-era military truck, a stand-in for the kind of vehicle the company used decades ago to pull a tree planter through the woods.
This year, the Philomath Frolic and Rodeo’s grand marshal wasn’t an individual, but a company. Starker Forests, the Philomath-area timber business celebrating its 90th anniversary in 2026, was featured in Saturday’s parade.
Gallery: Philomath Frolic and Rodeo’s Grand Parade (July 11, 2026)
A collection of photos from the Philomath Frolic and Rodeo’s Grand Parade on Saturday.
Representing the company were Lizzie Marsters, who became Starker Forests’ president and CEO earlier this year; Blanchard, 87, who started with the company as an Oregon State University forestry student in 1958 and became its first full-time employee; and Bond Starker, 79, who led the company for decades and now serves as chair emeritus of its board.
Starker Forests traces its roots to 1936, when T.J. Starker — one of the first four graduates of Oregon Agricultural College’s forestry program in 1910 — began buying up second-growth timberland west of Philomath. He’d go on to teach forestry at OAC, now Oregon State University, until 1942, when he left the faculty to manage his growing land holdings full time.
His son, Bruce Starker, joined him after returning from World War II, and the company’s approach to sustained, long-term forest management took shape under his leadership. The business became a formal partnership in 1971 among T.J., Bruce, Bruce’s wife Betty, and their sons Bond and Barte — both OSU forestry graduates themselves. Bruce died in a plane crash in 1975, and Betty, Bond, Barte and Blanchard took over management of the company together. Starker Forests, Inc. was incorporated in 1981; T.J. remained active in the business until his death in 1983.
Bond Starker graduated from OSU’s College of Forestry in 1969 and, alongside Barte, took over company leadership after his father’s death, overseeing administrative, financial and regulatory matters for decades before retiring as president and CEO in 2017. Barte worked at Starker Forests until his own retirement in 2015 and died in 2017.
Today the company manages more than 95,000 acres of forestland across Benton, Lane, Lincoln, Linn and Polk counties.
“It’s very, very central,” Bond Starker said of the company’s ties to Philomath. “Our office is just right across the city limits line on the east end of town and a lot of our markets are in the Philomath area, so it’s very important to us.”
Marsters was hired this year to lead the company as it marks nine decades in business, a transition Starker family members have described as the next step in carrying forward the values built by four generations of ownership.
“It’s really wonderful because what has made Starker Forests so successful is the community, and that is one of the things we’re really appreciative about, and we want to make sure that continues,” Marsters said when asked about the honor.
Saturday wasn’t the first time a Starker has ridden at the front of a Philomath parade. Bond Starker recalled his grandfather serving as grand marshal decades ago. Newspaper archives show T.J. Starker held that role in 1978, when he was 88 years old and the Frolic was celebrating its 25th anniversary.
The hat T.J. wore that year is the one Bond wore Saturday.
“I thought it would be a good connection back to the previous generations,” he said.
The Starker family’s relationship with the Frolic runs deeper than that single parade appearance, Blanchard said, pointing to the company’s long association with the Stueve family, who were central to running the Frolic for many years.
Beyond the parade route, Saturday’s honor serves as a reminder to Philomath residents that Starker’s forestland is open to the public through a free permit system — for hiking, hunting, mountain biking, horseback riding and more.
“It’s twofold,” Marsters said. “One, we view it as a really important part of how we — if we have more people’s eyes on the forest, they can help tell us about fires. They can tell us if anything’s going wrong, and so we invite them as a key part of helping to keep our forests healthy. And the other piece of it is how do we do this in a way that sustains the forest?”
Blanchard, who has watched the company’s approach to public access for more than six decades, said that generosity has been consistent.
“The Starkers have been very generous with their use of their lands,” he said. “They do have a permit policy, and because they like to know who’s there and what they’re doing, but most of the use of the forest is free.”
Fees charged for activities like firewood cutting and Christmas tree removal, he added, don’t go to the company — Starker matches what it collects and donates the total to charity.
“We do it that way because we think that the best way to know and understand the forestry business is to see it firsthand,” Bond Starker said. “So we appreciate it when people come by the office and get a permit.”
The parade drew a good crowd on a pleasant morning who watched from Applegate, South 15th and Cedar streets. The Mayor’s Award, chosen by Mayor Christopher McMorran, went to Harriet’s Housing and the Grand Marshal Award, chosen by Starker, went to Timber Supply.
Other winners included the PHS cheerleaders (Walkers Award), Stokes Construction (Large Equipment Award), Philomath Frolic and Rodeo (Best Use of Theme Award), Valley Cheer (Marching Award), Hull Oakes Lumber (Antique Award), RJ Timber (Timber Award), Comunidad y Herencia Cultural (Equestrian Award), Rockin’ Youth Rodeo Princess Bailey (Equestrian Court Award) and Starker Forests (Commercial Award).
