On Wednesday, city leaders, Hansen’s family and community members were on hand at the Kissimmee lakefront Wednesday to dedicate a plaque and rename Ruby Plaza at Lakefront Park to the Bill Hansen Plaza. (Photo/Ken Jackson)
Every town should have a Guillermo “Bill” Hansen, as Kissimmee affectionately called him.
In a town where some 60% of its residents are of Hispanic descent, those residents needed, and got, his voice.
While Hansen passed away in 2023, his legacy lives on thanks to a city that has benefited from that voice.
On Wednesday, city leaders, Hansen’s family and community members were on hand at the Kissimmee lakefront Wednesday to dedicate a plaque and rename Ruby Plaza at Lakefront Park to the Bill Hansen Plaza.
Hansen, the former owner of the Osceola Star Hispanic newspaper, had a larger-than-life presence and a powerful voice for the local Hispanic business community that grew by leaps and bounds in his nearly five decades living in the area. He was a board member and small business trustee for The Osceola Chamber and Valencia College that saw the creation of the Hispanic Business Council, Viva Osceola and Three Kings Day celebrations.
Former Mayor and current State Rep. Jose Alvarez pitched the idea to the city, and its Parks and Recreation Director Steve Lackey helped bring it to life.
“Whenever we said, ‘No’ to Bill for an event, he’d always ask ‘Why?’,” Alvarez said. “Before you knew it, we had Bill coming back to implement and fix the Why-s. His events were just immense.
“People who don't even live in this community came to see Viva Osceola. We had the first 3 Kings parade here, we shut the road down and that’s how it became what it is today.”
Lackey said it wasn’t hard to capture that legacy.
“When we started working with the family, one of the really cool things we talked about was the legacy that we want to put in writing here on the plaque, and we talked about some of the photos and wanted to capture some of the work that Bill did for Viva Osceola (the Hispanic festival to be held Oct. 11 at the park),” Lackey said. “When someone's gone they always say pictures are worth a thousand words.”
According to the city, “The new sign follows the design of the park’s existing interpretive signage and features a brief biography of Hansen, along with photographs highlighting the community events he helped create and lead.”
“He chose to invest his time, his ideas and his energy in Kissimmee and in Osceola County,” current Mayor Jackie Espinosa said. “A strong community doesn't happen by accident. People have to build it.
“Bill helped build it through his work in tourism, his support for local businesses, his creation of a voice for our Hispanic community and his service on local boards and organizations, but I think his great contribution was something less tangible, he created connections. He created opportunities for people to participate, celebrate their community, and feel that they had a place, that they belonged, and all of that matters, because when the city commission considered naming this plaza for bill, we weren't simply deciding what names should go on that sign, we were deciding whose story we want the future generations to see when they come to this beautiful park.”
Bill’s daughter Yanin Hansen, who’s taken on the torch of running the Star, thanked the community Wednesday for “fulfilling one of my Dad's greatest dreams” in light of all he accomplished for the community.
“He accomplished all of this back in a time where there were hardly any Hispanics in these types of roles,” she said. “The recognition is not just for him. It stands as a symbol for the Hispanic community.
“It's always important to have a role model so that new generations can see that dreams really can be achieved. And that through years of hard work, he paved a path that makes the journey easier for all of us today. We're so thankful from the bottom of our hearts.”
