This year’s Mathews Christmas Parade, to be held at 1 p.m. Saturday, will honor two people who have deep, lasting ties to the county and a commitment to public service—Mathews Memorial Library Director Bette Dillehay and Gwynn’s Island Museum Director Tom Edwards. The two will serve as grand marshals of the parade, which this year has the theme “Jingle on the Bay.”
A Mathews native, Dillehay grew up in the Cobbs Creek home of her grandparents, farmer and fisherman Herbert Lewis and his wife Lucy, after her father passed away when she was two years old. Her mother, Myrtle Hudgins, was a beloved teacher who taught history and government at Mathews High School and served as the principal at Cobbs Creek Elementary School.
“People adored her,” said Dillehay. “I walked around in the warmth of that glow. She was my hero. But when I walked into her classroom, I wasn’t her daughter, I was her student. She was known for not fooling around.”
Dillehay said her mother always told her, “Bette, you g...