Denise Crosby, Sylvia Boyd Serve as 2023 Marshals

By SARAH SHMERLING | Editor-in-Chief

Actress and Palisadian Denise Crosby served as this year’s grand marshal for Fourth of July festivities, while longtime Palisades Americanism Parade Association volunteer Sylvia Boyd took on the role of parade marshal.

The two marshal positions are selected annually by PAPA.

“Grand Marshal of my hometown Palisades 4th of July parade this year,” Crosby wrote on Twitter following the event. “Riding in a gorgeous 1959 Caddie with my son, Augie. What an honor.”

Crosby is known for roles like Lieutenant Tasha Yar in the “Star Trek: The Next Generation” series, Deb on “Ray Donovan,” and Mary on “The Walking Dead.” One of her first roles was Lisa Davis in the “Days of Our Lives” soap opera, and she played Faye Richardson in legal drama “Suits.”

On a local basis, Crosby has long participated in Palisades traditions, including serving as a judge in three Mr. and Miss Palisades competitions (2007, 2015 and 2016). She was a member of the judging committee for this year’s Patriotic Home Contest, which was completed on July 3.

Her son, former Palisades Charter High School pitcher Augie Sylk, joined her to ride along in the parade.

“It’s great to have a project in LA, close to home. I’m able to be around for my son who’s a freshman in high school,” Crosby said to the Palisadian-Post in 2014 of filming “Ray Donovan.” “He’s a great kid and these are such precious years—it’s great to be home in the Palisades. I’m always at baseball games and I am always doing laundry. Always.”

Parade marshal is an honor given to a leader in the Palisades community, according to PAPA. Boyd has volunteered with the organization since 2005, leading PAPA People, who are the volunteers that assist with the parade on July 4.

Boyd, who worked for nearly five decades for Tupperware, explained to the Post that one of her skills was recruiting people—so leading PAPA People was “a natural step” for her. She began volunteering after she retired, for the third time. The first two times, she said, Tupperware called her and asked if she’d come back to work.

“When I finally retired, it was like, honest to God, am I really retired?” she said with a laugh. “It took me about a year to get bored, so I joined PAPA and helped out where I could.”

Boyd, who will be 90 in November, was previously awarded a Golden Sparkplug from Pacific Palisades Community Council in 2016 for organizing the Food for Thought guest speaker series at Pacific Palisades Presbyterian Church.

She said that being named parade marshal was an honor—she had no idea it was happening.

“This year was kind of like everything extra good happened,” Boyd added. “It was a thrill.”