Elsa Johnson, who has been named Grand Marshal of the 91st annual Maxwell Rodeo Parade, is red, white, and blue to the bone.
Johnson, 81, who grew up in the Maxwell area, is a long-time member and president of the Maxwell American Legion Auxiliary, which was founded in 1934 to honor those who serve to protect the freedoms all Americans enjoy.
Johnson, and her small band of Auxiliary ladies, could be seen every year placing white crosses on the graves of deceased veterans, raising money for youth patriotic programs, supporting veterans and military families, modeling good citizenship and patriotism, and connecting the visual image of the poppy with the sacrifice and service made by veterans.
But Johnson has a far closer connection to the school that has organized the longest-running community event in Colusa County: she attended Maxwell schools and worked in the Maxwell High School District office before, during, and after the unification of the district.
“I even drove the school bus down from Leesville,” Johnson said.
Johnson (née Pfyl) was born in Colusa County to parents who emigrated from Switzerland and settled in the Delavan area, near other families from the “Old Country.”
When her brother Joe went off to serve in the Korean War, her parents taught her to drive the tractor and help work the family farm and dairy.
“I thought it was a big deal,” she said. “I think that was the method to their madness. I couldn’t have been older than in the fifth grade. I raked hay in the summertime. My sisters said that I was lucky because they had to milk cows before and after school.”
In high school, the Maxwell Rodeo was a huge community effort. Teachers and students worked together to put on the events, and collect side dishes for the barbecue luncheon.
Not long after graduating Maxwell High School in 1959, she married rancher Wes Davis, and lived in Leesville until his death.
She began working in the Maxwell district office in 1963, and was involved in the annual rodeo festivities, particularly in the Chuck Wagon ticket booth on rodeo day.
She remarried Robert Johnson, a U.S. Army veteran, and has lived in Maxwell since the 1970s. She went to work at the Williams Unified School District office in 1981, at the request of the Colusa County Superintendent of Schools, following the departure of the district superintendent and the secretary, where she worked until her retirement.
Johnson will be escorted through Maxwell by her high school classmate, George Corbin, in his 1947 Lincoln Continental.
“Being Grand Marshal is an honor; it’s a big honor,” Johnson said. “It’s not something I thought I would ever be doing.”
The Maxwell Rodeo Parade gets underway at 9:45 AM on May 21. This year’s theme is “Red, White, and Blue in 2022.” ■