Lula Halfacre, the chief executive of the Traditional Jewelers store at Fashion Island, has won the Citizen of the Year award from the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce.
Halfacre, who founded the jewelry store in the 1970s with her late husband, Marion Halfacre, has supported a number of charities throughout the years.
In addition, she serves on the chamber’s Commodores Club and has chaired the chamber’s board of directors and the annual Taste of Newport festival.
“I was shocked,” Halfacre said as she looked around the room at past winners of the award. “What an honor it is to be associated with this group of people. To be in this group has just made me speechless. I accept this honor in memory of my husband, Marion, also.”
The chamber invited Halfacre to the Newport Beach Marriott Hotel and Spa this afternoon and told her she would be tasting food for this year’s Citizen of the Year Gala. When she arrived, though, she found a group of past recipients of the award — including former Mayors Evelyn Hart and Dennis O’Neil, former State Sen. Marian Bergeson and Irrelevant Week founder Paul Salata — who told her she was this year’s honoree.
There was also another critical time factor involved, said Michael Stephens, the former Hoag Hospital chief executive who helped lure Halfacre to the Marriott. Halfacre was scheduled to for a 3 p.m. flight to Zurich, Switzerland to visit some of the local watchmakers in that country on a business trip.
Halfacre is set to receive her award June 12 at the Citizen of the Year Gala at the Newport Beach Marriott Hotel and Spa.
BIO
Lula Halfacre, 55
Originally from Mississippi, Halfacre moved here in 1972 with husband Marion and opened Traditional Jewelers. The business is one of the most successful in Fashion Island. Halfacre is well-known in social circles and for her philanthropy. She has chaired the Taste of Newport, she’s a member of the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce’s Commodores and is an active business leader. She and husband Marion, who died last year, have two children, Erik and Natalie.
PAST CITIZEN OF THE YEAR RECIPIENTS
1949 — Robert “Bob” Murphy
1950 — Harry Welch
1951 — Robert Callis
1952 — Myford Irvine
1953 — O.W. “Dick” Richards
1954 — Dora O. Hill
1955 — Joseph A. Beek
1956 — Edward Milum, M.D.
1957 — J.L. “Les” Steffensen, James “Jim” Edwards
