Hazel returns after 16 years
After a 16-year retirement, Hazel Page-Spackman decided to return to her job of baking and selling bread in Hazel’s in the Hub, at least for a few days.
Page-Spackman began working at the Sweet Shop in 1973 or 1974, she said. At that time, the store was located where the Copy Center is in the Taggart Student Center. After she had been working there for a few years, Page-Spackman said her boss wanted to add a healthier option to that of candy, ice cream and popcorn.
“I said, ‘I can make a good cinnamon raisin bread,'” Page-Spackman said.
The store began to sell bread, mixing it five loaves at a time and cooking it in four regular size ovens, Page-Spackman said. A slice sold for 25 cents, but Page-Spackman said she doesn’t think they were as thick as they are now. The bread became such a popular item, a night baker was hired so there would be enough fresh bread in the mornings.
When the current Hub was built, the bread store was moved, and the university obtained the rights to the name Hazel’s and it has stuck, Page-Spackman said. She worked at the Hub until her retirement in 1991.
Page-Spackman has remained as popular as her bread, and Dining Services decided to bring her back and give her a token of their appreciation for all she had done, said Alan Andersen, executive director for Dining Services. Andersen; Linda Jacobsen, Quadside Cafe manager; and Amber Schoenfeld, Hub manager, worked to bring Page-Spackman back to work for three days last week, Monday, Thursday and Friday from 9 a.m. to noon.
Page-Spackman immediately noticed some changes and said everything was so modern. She told her coworkers they didn’t know how to make bread with all the technology to mix and bake such large batches at one time.
“They have a bread slicer, we used to do it all with a little knife,” Page-Spackman said.
Despite the changes, Page-Spackman still served bread and to many of her old customers who are still working at USU and made a special trip to visit. A crowd of friends and family members gathered in the Hub Friday morning to recognize Page-Spackman and her contributions to the university.
“This is all about giving her recognition,” Jacobsen said.
Page-Spackman had no idea there would be a ceremony and was in the back working when USU President Stan Albrecht arrived to present her with a plaque of gratitude. She was pulled to the front, where Albrecht gave her a plaque and jokingly said they might call her if the mornings got really busy.
“This is the first time in my life I am at a loss for words,” Page-Spackman said with tears in her eyes as she accepted the plaque.
The break lasted long enough for a few hugs and pictures, and then Page-Spackman was back to work where she told her family members she was shocked.
Page-Spackman has seven children and many grandchildren, four whom currently attend USU and another four of whom have graduated from USU. Her daughters said they have all learned to bake bread, but since their mom does it, they don’t. One daughter, Sonja Larsen, said she had to get the recipe from a friend while her parents were serving an LDS mission, because she’d usually just let her mom make it.
Page-Spackman said she doesn’t eat as much bread as she used to due to health issues, but she said her baking hasn’t decreased. She makes white and wheat bread, but she said the cinnamon raisin is still the top.
-alison.baugh@aggiemail.usu.edu