The Central Illinois Agency on Aging (CIAA) will be at Bel-Wood Nursing Home tomorrow at 1:30 p.m. to honor Bel-Wood resident Mabel Van Dusen for being elected into the Senior Hall of Fame by the Illinois Department of Aging. Ms. Van Dusen was nominated by the CIAA and subsequently inducted into the Senior Hall of Fame on October 24, 2011.

Mabel is and has been a pioneer for aging services in Peoria County . She worked with the CIAA to write procedures for the Community Care Program services. Van Dusen also served as the first Executive Director for the Rural Peoria County Council on Aging after having started the organization on her back porch as a Case Coordination Unit. She is currently the Executive Director of The Peoria Area Blind People’s Center, Inc., overseeing administration and financing to enhance the work of the organization. She also serves the blind and partially-sighted by assisting them in completing applications for Illinois Cares Rx.

The General Assembly initiated the Illinois Senior Hall of Fame in 1994 to honor residents age 65 and older who excel in four categories: community service, education, performance and/or graphic arts, and the labor force, which is in connection to employment. Each inductee is chosen through a statewide nomination and selection process. Since its inception, 83 people have been inducted into the Senior Hall of Fame, including the four 2011 inductees.