Jenny Huntsinger has been named this year's Huntington Harbour Boat Parade grand marshal.
It's an honor in more ways than one. The retired nurse is the first woman to be named grand marshal in the parade's 49 years.
"I wasn't sure how I would be received as a woman," said Huntsinger, 62. "And I know in this day and age, you're not supposed to feel this way, but I'm from the generation where there was a glass ceiling."
The fact that the parade hadn't had a woman serve in the capacity before Huntsinger wasn't intentional, said Calvin Free, who served as grand marshal last year and recommended Huntsinger for the post.
In fact, women have always dominated and led the Huntington Harbour Philharmonic Committee, which puts on the parade.
So at the end of the day, the women call the shots, Free said.
"The men are just figureheads," Free said. "We go around like a bunch of big-headed roosters, but the hens are making all the rules. They have the power."