ST. GEORGE — Crossing guard Chris Godfrey has spent the last eight years safely getting students into the door of Desert Hills Middle School. Other than his visibility vest, he doesn’t have an official uniform but he’s often sporting Green Bay Packers gear.
Carl Franke, the weight training coach at Desert Hills Middle School, often noticed the clothing and thought he could do something special for the crossing attendant.
Franke has personal connections within the Packers organization. So he decided he would put it to good use.
“I leaned over to my daughter, who I take to school with me, and said ‘I’d like to do something nice for him’,” Franke told St. George News.
According to the school’s principal, Ron Sharp, Godfrey has always shown commitment and dedication to his job. Godfrey, 55, almost never misses a shift, Sharp said.
“There’s days where there’s 60 mile an hour winds, dust blowing, or it’s raining. He’s always there; committed, dedicated,” said Sharp.
Godfrey says he has been a fan of the Packers for 50 years. His fandom started with his best friend growing up.
“He was a big time Packers fan. He’d come down to visit wearing their gear and it made me a big fan too,” he said.
Faculty members agreed Godfrey deserved a holiday present for his years of service. So Franke reached out to a friend and defensive line coach of the Green Bay Packers for help.
Former Virgin Valley High School football player Jerry Montgomery was more than willing to make it happen, Franke said.
“Jerry Montgomery is a friend through one of the coaches I used to work with,” Franke said. “We became friends over the years through camps and things like that. I just reached out to Jerry and said ‘what do you think about this?’ He said ‘yeah that’s awesome’.”
Montgomery sent a package with a hat, beanie, shirt and jacket directly from Green Bay. As part of the surprise, students from the preschool served him with donuts while he was out on the corner on Friday. And then Franke brought out the special package — a recorded video from Montgomery himself.
“Good morning Chris Godfrey, this is Jerry Montgomery, the defensive line coach for the Green Bay Packers,” Montgomery said. “I wanted to send you a message this morning to thank you for your nine years of service at Desert Hills serving those students. I also understand you’re a very, very loyal Packers fan. I wanted to send a thank you.”
Montgomery told Godfrey that if he ever made it out to Lambeau Field, the Packers’ home stadium, the team would have tickets waiting for him.
“I’ve never had anything like this before,” Godfrey said. “It means a lot to me. Made my day. The kids are why I keep doing it.”
Surprisingly, Godfrey doesn’t have kids of his own, but he gets to guide plenty in his line of work.
“It’s funny after being here so long, I’ve seen the little ones grow up, become seniors in high school. It’s neat to see them all grow and be a part of the community,” he said.
In his former professional life Godfrey was a marine, then an electrician for 20 years. He came out of retirement for this job.
“I was at home watching too many shows like Maury Povich and eventually my wife said ‘you need to get out of the house’,” Godfrey quipped.
“This surprise made my month,” he added. “I haven’t got any new Green Bay stuff in awhile. I’m in awe.”
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