Woman honored for impact in the community
Lucille Hansen, originator and coordinator of the well-known summer Logan Tabernacle noon concerts, will be the recipient of the 21st annual “Women Over 65 Lifetime Achievement Award” Tuesday, April 14 at 7 p.m. in the East Ballroom of the TSC. Sponsored by USU’s Women’s Center, this award honors women in the community whose achievements and lives have made a positive impact. Students, faculty, friends and community members are all welcome to attend.
Camille Odell, member of the Women’s Center advisory board and faculty member of the psychology department, said it is the advisory board’s responsibility to choose award and scholarship recipients for the Women’s Center. Odell will give Hansen’s biographical sketch and introduction at the award ceremony.
“These are women that you probably know because they have been instrumental in not just furthering women, but the entire community,” Odell said.
According to the Women’s Center Web site, www.usu.edu/womencenter, nominees for the award must be over 65, currently reside in Cache Valley, cannot be on the staff of the Women’s Center or on the advisory board and must “demonstrate leadership and significant progress in her chosen field of endeavor … and should include the advancement and equality of life for women.”
Nominations are made without notifying the nominee and must be accompanied by two letters of recommendation. Anyone can nominate and The Women’s Center welcomes all nominations.
The Women’s Center Web site also states the award counters society’s emphasis on youth in America and educates that people live very active and productive lives in later years. This is true of Lucille Hansen.
Hansen raised four children as a single mother, is the proud grandmother of 17 and great-grandmother of three. Hansen received her bachelor’s degree from BYU in 1957 in elementary education and music. For 10 years she stayed home with her children and then returned to teaching after a divorce. She moved to Logan in 1978 and taught at USU’s Edith Bowen Elementary Laboratory, among other schools.
Twenty-three years after earning her bachelor’s, Hansen earned her Master of Education From USU.
“I have a huge thirst for knowledge and am always taking a class,” she said.
Even at 74, her education continues. Currently she is enrolled in religious studies and LDS Institute classes.
Hansen said she also enjoys travel and learning about other cultures. She has visited six of the seven continents, has either judged or helped coordinate Utah’s Geography Bee for the past 21 years, and has taught Islam at U of U and been involved in their Middle East outreach programs. Before formally retiring from teaching in 1998, Hansen spent one year teaching in China at the University of Science and Technology.
Though a retired educator, Hansen has not been retired from life. In 2001, Hansen said she became a Logan Tabernacle Visitor’s Guide. Odell said Hansen believed the beauty of that building, with its amazing acoustics, was being wasted.
Odell also said Hansen believed it was a waste not to hear all the talent in the valley. The idea for the summer Tabernacle Noon Concerts was born, where five to six days a week, local artists put on 30-minute to one hour concerts at no expense to the public.
Hansen spends non-summer months recruiting and organizing summer Tabernacle performances. Hansen’s Tabernacle project not only provides a forum in which local artists can perform, but quality entertainment for anyone who visits the valley.
“One of my passions is to encourage young people to perform and improve in the area of theater, arts and music,” she said.
Hansen is also one of the largest contributors to Tremonton’s Old Barn Community Theater.
Odell said the life-long community contribution, such as the service Hansen has given, is at the very heart of the award.
“These women (who receive the Over 65 Lifetime Achievement Award) continue to contribute long after 65. This is our opportunity to thank them,” Odell said.
–jennifer.whiteley@aggiemail.usu.edu