Ernestine Shepherd, Baltimore’s very own bodybuilding grandmother, will make her mark at Monday’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade.
Shepard is set to serve as grand marshal of the festivities, a role she is certainly worthy to fill.
Shepherd, 87, is a well-known fitness guru in the Baltimore community, so much so that she has been twice recognized by the Guinness World Records as the oldest competitive female bodybuilder in the world.
Shepard was first recognized in 2010, people obviously could not get enough of heras her second recognition arrived just one year later, in 2011.
Don’t think Guinness is a big deal? Well, have no fear; Shepard was recognized by the queen herself. Well, Queen B that is.
In 2020, Shepard made a cameo appearance in Beyonce’s visual musical album, “Black is King.”
According to The Baltimore Sun, Shepherd was overjoyed at the news that she’d been selected as grand marshal for 2024’s MLK Day Parade.
“I couldn’t believe it,” Shepherd reportedly said.
“I said, ‘All of these people out there, and they have selected me?’ Shepherd reportedly shared. The grandma of all grandmas added “Wow, how wonderful.’”
Monday’s parade begins at noon at the intersection of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Eutaw Street.
The Jan. 15 parade has been organized jointly by the Mayor’s Office of Arts & Culture and the Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts.
According to the Gazette, the 87-year-old hasn’t done any competitions lately, but she’s still a personal trainer at a gym in Randallstown.
