| Paul and Flora Keller, CEU Gold Circle Donors, talk with some of the attendees at the Founders Day Celebration that was held at the college on Saturday night. Over 200 people attended the event. |
If there is a gala event that takes place in Carbon County, the annual College of Eastern Utah Founders Day dinner and awards has to rank up there with any of them.
And on this past Saturday night, it was as good as at anytime in the past.
With the Jennifer Leavitt Student Center ballroom decked out, well over 200 people showed up to eat dinner and watch an awards program that included a lot of familiar faces, both from the present and the past.
With academic vice president Brad King presiding over the first half of the awards, a number of people were honored for their dedication in both time and money that they have given to the college.
Honored for their dedication and help were Judge Paul Keller and his wife Flora, Todd Olsen, Michelle Cooper Fleck, Mary Helen Powell and her later husband James, and Anna and Bertis L. Embry. But the awards weren’t all serious either.
“I really hesitated to take on introducing everyone in this area of honor when I found out Mary Helen was going to be here,” King told the audience. “The reason is that when she worked here she had a tendency to always carry a pair or scissors to events like this, and then cut off peoples ties. The one I am wearing tonight is a good one and I don’t want to lose it.”
Founders Day is also the day that the college inducts someone into the CEU Athletic Hall of Fame each year. This year the inductee was George Thomas Burr, a great athlete in football and track in the early 1950’s at Carbon College. He went on to play football at BYU and had a long coaching career at a couple of schools, but spent most of his over 30 years in education at Green River High School.
“I am glad I can call Tom Burr my friend,” said Jack Kobe, a well known retired coach in the Carbon area himself as he presented the award to Burr.
The college also presented awards to outstanding alumni as well. Those awards went to Jayceen Craven Walker, a well known actress, singer and education activist in the state of Utah, Alene Etzel Bentley, a Carbon native who has excelled in public relations, and worked for Congressman Jim Matheson and is presently employed by Utah Power and Light, and Dr. George Hatsis, a retired dentist whose career achievements include the design and development of dental equipment and innovative procedures along with major philanthropic and humanitarian projects.
CEU President Ryan Thomas spoke about each of the honorees and gave detailed backgrounds about their activities over the years.
Finally Thomas gave out the Eagle Award to Deb Svetich Dull who is the director of Utah Power’s community relation program for the Carbon, Emery, Grand and San Juan counties. Dull has been instrumental in the success of many community projects and events in the area.