SPRING CITY–Vanoy Hansen, a Spring City native, has been chosen as Spring City’s Citizen of the Year for 2020 and was acknowledged during the city council meeting held July 2.

Hansen is the oldest son of Bernice and Willard Hansen. His siblings include Howard Hansen, deceased, Barbara Hansen Strate and Richard Hansen. Another sibling died at childbirth. Hansen attended elementary and junior high school in Spring City and then attended North Sanpete High School.

Hansen attended one year at Snow College before serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. When he returned home from his mission, he attended Utah State University until he was drafted into the U.S. Army, where he served two years.

Upon his honorable discharge from the Army, he finished his education at Southern Utah University in Cedar City. He married Evon Olsen of Ephraim and they moved to Orderville where Hansen taught elementary school.

When he returned to Spring City, he taught school for one year at Moroni Elementary School and then finished out his teaching career at Mt. Pleasant Elementary School. He retired after teaching school for 32 years.

Hansen has always had a desire to help others. He has provided countless hours of service to the community using his own equipment and providing his own fuel. He volunteered to mow the city streets for one year. Using his own equipment each winter, he plows the sidewalk on 100 North, which goes east to the elementary school.

He also has a regular beat for snow plowing; 54 families in town benefit from his volunteer efforts during the winter as he keeps their driveways plowed and free from snow during the winter months.

He provides constant care and assistance to his sister Barbara and another neighbor, Virginia Thomson, year-round. He is the self-appointed welcoming committee for Spring City and enjoys sharing stories about Spring City’s history with new residents as well as taking them on a trip northwest of town each winter to view the large number of eagle nests.

He says he does these things just to make new residents feel welcome in Spring City.

Hansen spent hours researching and collecting the names of Spring City’s veterans to help add them to the list for the new Veterans Memorial that was completed a couple of years ago. He also volunteers at the cemetery each Memorial Day weekend and on Veterans Day to help the elementary school students place flags on the graves there.

Hansen can be seen at different times of the years on his four-wheeler pulling a small trailer that he uses to haul the garbage and trash he picks up from the sides of the road along the Pigeon Hollow Highway, Canal Canyon, Spring City Canyon and the Thrill Hills.

Hansen is the type of person who, when he sees something that needs to be done, goes ahead and does it. He does not wait to be asked, he does not expect to be recognized or thanked for his service – he just quietly goes about his day looking for opportunities to serve in whatever ways he can.

Hansen and his wife Evon have been asked to serve as the grand marshals for Spring City’s July 24 Pioneer Day drive-through-town parade.