Four local women over 65 honored by USU
Women of all ages can rouse a crowd, but none like the women honored Tuesday night in the Taggart Student Center Ballroom.
Years of community service by Libbie Baxter Maughan, Betty Taylor, Ruth Hobson and Edna Hinman prompted the Utah State University Women’s Center to celebrate their age, their joy and their achievements.
The Women Over 65 Achievement Award Ceremony has recognized the work of 84 women in the last 18 years.
“These women have made a significant and positive difference in our lives,” said Sally Peterson of the USU Women’s Center.
History has done little to record women’s achievements, Peterson said, and this event is held each year in an effort to publicly counter society’s focus on youth. She said the women honored this year are active and vibrant additions to their communities.
“They have made major contributions to our lives,” Peterson said.
Contributions by Taylor, Hobson and Hinman center in the education field. Each of the women were, and are, teachers in various ways: Hinman in mental health awareness, Hobson in cheerleading and physical education and Taylor in rural Wisconsin and at Edith Bowen Laboratory School.
Hinman shared her perspective of mental illness.
“When people have cancer, others stop and ask how to help,” Hinman said. “When someone has a mental illness people pass it by.”
Hinman’s desire to help the mentally ill in Logan is apparent by her service to the Cache Valley community after leaving the education sector. Following her son’s diagnosis of mental illness, she made it a goal to help the suffering. She helped to raise funds for the Bear River Mental Health Club House.
“My motto has always been: ‘we need to laugh to keep from crying,'” she said.
Education is in the heart of Hobson’s devotion to her former cheerleaders, who were in attendance, and the value she puts on physical education.
“This is something that really hits home,” she said.
As a gym teacher and coach she consistently purchased gym suits and sneakers for her students more often than most parents did. Generosity is the heart of the awards, as each woman offered service throughout her life.
Maughan served five USU Extension directors as an executive secretary. Her 38 years of work saw six USU presidents and a cow milking trophy for getting the most milk in the quickest time.
“I worked my way through college,” she said.
Cow milking may not be in the repertoire of Taylor, but years of 4-H service are. She attended a one-room schoolhouse as a child and taught 18 students in eight different grades as a 19-year-old. The awards presenter said Taylor has always had a passion for education.
Each women at the ceremony has years of experience in education, family and career service. They have lived long lives.
“My hint for a long life is to have determination in reaching all goals,” Maughan said. “Never stop living at 65.”
-ireneh@cc.usu.edu