WATTS FAMILY RECEIVES INAUGURAL AGGIE FAMILY LEGACY AWARD

“It's amazing; I'm just so appreciative of the Alumni Association for getting it together. We haven't been together like this in my lifetime.”
—Mayor Randy Watts

In the early 1930s, J.A. “Pop” Watts moved his family to Cache Valley, hoping the education available at the nearby Utah Agricultural College would give his children an advantage during the Great Depression.

His children attended the college—which later became Utah State University. So did his children's children. And his children's children's children. Fittingly, in December the Watts family became the first recipient of Utah State University's Aggie Family Legacy Award. “We tried to find a family that reached far and wide and deep in Utah State history,” said Paul, Parkinson, president of the USU Alumni Association, which created the award.

A look at the Watts family's breadth of influence suggests they succeeded–about 200 of Pop and Lucy's descendants have attended USU, including 12 who are now students. And many of those 200, as well as their spouses and other family members, attended the dinner in the Taggart Student Center Ballroom where the award was presented.

Among the 255 present were also many who play very visible roles in Cache Valley, including Logan Mayor Randy Watts.

“It's amazing; I'm just so appreciative of the Alumni Association for getting it together,” the mayor said of the gathering. “We haven't been together like this in my lifetime.”

Two of Pop Watts' children, 84-year-old Cal Watts and youngest daughter Lucy Watts, are still alive, and attended the event. Cal even addressed the crowd: “This is an unbelievable affair and an honor to be given to a family,” he said.

USU President Stan Albrecht also spoke at the dinner. He commended the family for all it has done for the university and expressed amazement at how wide-spread the Watts line runs.

“Mr. Mayor, I have now learned not to criticize you in front of anyone, because they're all relatives,” Albrecht joked. Parkinson said the Alumni Association plans to give the award every year to a family that has played a significant role at USU, but added it's going to be hard to match the Watts family.

Watts family descendants and friends are now in the process of creating the John Austin and Lucy Ellene Watts scholarship at Utah State University, which further solidifies the family legacy.

—Devin Felix '08 for The Herald Journal