CENTER – The Town of Center recently announced it will have a parade in conjunction with its first-ever Mardi Gras celebration on Saturday, Aug. 24. The parade will begin at 10 a.m. with the lineup at 9:45 a.m. at the Center High School parking lot. Resident Judy Crawley will be this year’s Grand Marshal for the parade.
Crawley is excited about being chosen and said, “I am going to have to do a lot of waving, but I am also going to have to be awful humble. I think that this is a very great honor. And I feel very humbled by it. I have mixed feelings about this, I feel like they could have picked someone else, but they asked me to do this, and I am going to do my best to honor myself and the whole community.”
Crawley, who has been a resident of Center for about 60 years, said when she and her husband moved to Center they didn’t know anyone.
“I was a stay-at-home mom, and I really didn’t reach out in the community other than church, until my kids were in school,” she said.
Crawley said that after her kids were in school, her husband went into business by himself, and she remembers working at the cafeteria in the Sargent School District for about 8 or 9 years. She also remembers working for her husband for a while, too, as his bookkeeper. Crawley said she got a job as the Cafeteria Supervisor for the Center Consolidated School District and worked there for 15 years.
“I loved that job it was the best job I ever had. I like to cook, and I loved the kids. It was a very good job for me,” she said.
Although the kids that Crawley grew to know and love are grown up now, she said the kids still like her and look out for her.
“They are all so respectful of me, I am very well accepted in the community. That is the thing about the Center community, we all look out for each other. We care about each other. I am very well cared for in this community,” she said.
Center Mayor Archie Gallegos said that through Crawley’s position at the school she became a mother to not only the children in Center, but basically everyone in Center.
“She was always good with the kids. Everyone got to know her through the school. She takes care of everyone. She’s an angel here on Earth, who helps everybody out. She’s really become like a mother to everyone in Center over the years,” Gallegos said.
Gallegos said Crawley grows her own produce and enjoys cooking and sharing with everyone when she can, and she often makes “the best fried chicken” he’s ever had and takes it to events at the park when they have them in Center.
“She is very giving,” Gallegos said.
Crawley said that after working at the school she retired and took care of her husband until he passed away. She is an active member of the St. Francis of Jerome Catholic Church, and that at one time she used to take care of the yard at church, too.
“I really wish I could do all I used to do, but I am not able to do all of that anymore. I am still very active in the church though,” she said.
Crawley said that she loves life, another thing she does is sew. She also provides alterations to anybody in the community that may need help with her sewing skills.
“I never think about how old I am, I just think about things that I love to do and hope that I can still do them next year,” she said with a laugh.
Mayor Gallegos said that Crawley was also a part of Colorado Shares with him, which was a federally funded program that helped families and low-income individuals with food, according to careandshare.org.
“I have served the community in many different ways,” said Crawley. “I was involved in Colorado Shares with Archie. I have served the community because I am able to, and because I enjoy helping people, that is what I like doing.”
Crawley said that she has a great support system in her family with four daughters and her sons-in-laws.
“They all take great care of me, too, and I wouldn’t be where I am without them,” she said.
Town Manager Cole Webb is proud to have Crawley head up the parade as the Grand Marshall.
“She is well known and has made a lot of significant contributions to the Center Community.” Webb said. “We are happy to have her.”
