The 15th Oneida County Hall of Fame banquet will be on Saturday, May 9, at the Event Center, beginning with a dinner catered by Marla Jones at 6:00.  Inductees to the Hall of Fame this year are Dotty Evanson, Griff Jenkins, and DelMar Williams. (Information about Griff Jenkins and Del Williams will be in future editions of The Idaho Enterprise.)

Dotty Thorpe Evanson will be inducted to the Hall of Fame for her service to education and the community.  A familiar face in Malad, Dotty was born and raised here and has devoted most of her life to serving students, community members, and her church in her hometown.

Dotty was born in 1953, the oldest child of Blair and Sharon Thorpe.  She attended Malad schools, graduating in the Malad High School class of 1971. She went to BYU, majoring in elementary education, and graduated in 1975. She received her master’s degree in education administration from Idaho State University in 1988.

In 1977 Dotty married Brent Evanson, whom she met on a blind date. They have four sons (Brett, Brandon, Boe, and Brad), six granddaughters, and one grandson.

Her long career of serving young students spanned 20 years, beginning as an elementary school teacher in Firth, then Spanish Fork, and finally back in Malad. In 1992 she became the principal of Malad Elementary School, and after retirement, she continued as a Capacity Builder for the Idaho Department of Education, working primarily with Stone Elementary School.

While working with hundreds of school students each year, Dotty found time to serve on many local committees and boards and was named the Boy Scouts of America Malad District Community Hero in 2019.  She served on the Oneida Education Foundation Board when that board was getting organized in 1988. She was on the inaugural Oneida County Hall of Fame Committee for six years and served on the Nell J. Redfield Memorial Hospital Board for five years.  She was on the Malad Junior Miss Committee for ten years, serving as chair for one year.

As the chair of the Co-op Clean-up Committee, she oversaw the removal of decades of old, outdated items from the store and cleaning out all levels of the building of dust and debris.  For her efforts, she was named the 2022 Volunteer of the Year along with Roxanne Albretsen and Carla Williams.

As a driving force on the local Pickleball Committee, Dotty celebrated when the new pickleball courts were built in City Park; she continues to be one of the main users of the courts.  As a long-time member of the Oneida Pioneer Museum Board, she oversees the creation of window décor and rotation of displays in the Museum.

She was instrumental to the organization of the Malad Valley Welsh Festival, serving on the Board and as emcee for the presentations from 2010 to the present.  After her original poem led to her being named the 2018 Bard of the Welsh Festival, she organized the Bard’s Circle that includes all past Festival Bards; these poets recite their poems written to match the Festival poetry theme each year.

Dotty has always been involved in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. With four boys, she naturally found time to be a Cub Scout leader. She has served in the Primary and Relief Society Presidencies of her ward and served as Stake Relief Society President. She also served in Young Women Presidencies at the ward and stake levels. From 2005-2008, she served with her husband Brent when he was president of the Georgia Macon Mission.

Everyone is invited to the Hall of Fame dinner to honor this year’s inductees. Tickets for the dinner are $35 and can be obtained from Susan Wittman (208-709-6888) or at the Malad City Office.  Only limited tickets will be available at the door so please get tickets ahead of the date.