I’m two weeks into retirement and here I sit in our condo in Henderson, Nev., thinking about what the next year will bring.
You’ve probably heard how Las Vegas is going sports crazy. Their new NHL franchise won its first eight games with the home games all sell-outs.
The Oakland Raiders will bring the NFL here in two years, and the Henderson City Council unanimously approved the sale of 55 acres of land to the team for its headquarters and training facility.
The complex will bring 250 full-time, good-paying jobs to the Henderson area. The team says it will invest $75 million in the facility.
Las Vegas has been awarded a franchise that will begin play next summer in the Women’s National Basketball Association. And there’s talk of moving the Oakland Athletics baseball team and an NBA basketball team to the city, also.
I tell you, this is a happening place. There are new homes being built all over the south end of the Las Vegas Valley.
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I’ve been asked by many people, what were the highlights of my career as a new community newspaper publisher.
Well, I can tell you I have enjoyed every minute of my time running this community newspaper.
Probably the best interview I ever had was with Walter Cronkite. The CBS nightly news anchor was in Fountain Hills to perform a Lincoln reading with the Phoenix Symphony playing patriotic musician in the background. The concert was in Fountain Park. Prior to the concert, I talked with Cronkite one-on-one. He surprised me when he told me he envied me.
“My dream when I was a young man was I wanted to own a small town newspaper,” he said. “You should be proud of yourself for taking the risk and realizing your dream.”
I thought, wow, here is the world’s most trusted newsman and he’s telling me he’s envious of me.
What I am proud of mostly is that I feel I have had a positive influence on the growth of this town in the early years of its development.
The walls of my office contain many plaques regarding my contributions to the community.
I formed Western States Publishers in 1974 and the first edition of the Times was in June 1974.
The Times was among the Chamber’s charter members. Later, I became the Chamber’s first three-term president.
I initiated the Chamber Ambassadors and served as chairman of the chamber’s Economic Development Committee for five years.
After incorporation, I also served on the Town Economic Development Committee under Mayors John Cutillo and Jerry Miles.
Having never heard of a
White Castle, I was reluctant to sell them in Fountain Park. But in 1985, when I chaired the event, we sold 176,000 of the small hamburgers.
I initiated the trade show, as a member of the board of the Fountain Hills Merchants Association. I brought the two organizations together and the trade show evolved into the Business Showcase.
In the last days of my final term as Chamber president I assisted E.J. Goodwin in organizing the first Thanksgiving Day Parade. I served as chairman of the Fountain Hills Jail-a-thon for the American Cancer Society.
I also co-chaired the community’s first Town Hall meeting in the mid-1980s from which decisions were made to proceed with incorporation and building a high school. I also served on the founding boards of the Sunridge Foundation, the Fountain Hills Historical Society, the Fountain Hills Community Theater and the Fountain Hills Merchants Association.
Other boards I have served on are the Noon Kiwanis Club, the Fountain Hills Little League and the River of Time Museum Foundation. I was also a member of the first advisory boards of The Bank of Fountain Hills, CopperWynd Resort and Community Bank. I chaired the library/museum bond committee and initiated the Fountain Hills Sister Cities program serving as its first chairman. I was a member of the planning committees for the community’s 10th and 20th anniversary celebrations.
Outside of Fountain Hills, I was chairman of the 1986 Maricopa County Revenue Sharing Committee, served as president of the Arizona Newspapers Association and served two terms on the board of the National Newspaper Association. With NNA I served on the Pub Aux (the association’s newspaper for members) and convention committees and was co-chair of the 2002 national convention in Portland, Ore.
At the conclusion of my board service to the National Newspaper Association, that organization established the Cruikshank Scholars program at the University of Missouri School of Journalism to honor my commitment to community journalism.
Among my local honors are Fountain Hills Citizen of the Year in 1984, Fountain Hills Business Person of the Year in 1989 and 2007, the Sunridge Foundation’s Champions award in 2001, MCO’s Commitment to Community Award in 2000 and was Fountain Hills Humanitarian of the Year in 1997.
I was honored as one of the community’s top 20 volunteers during its first 20 years, was elected to the Lower Verde Valley Hall of Fame in 2003 and the Arizona Newspaper Hall of Fame in 2003. And I still found time to run my own business, Western States Publishers, as its president and publisher.
I consider my most shining achievement to be the River of Time Museum and the Fountain Hills Library building. I stepped down in May 2008 after serving 12 years as president of the Fountain Hills Historical Society. After I stepped down, the board unanimously voted to add my name to the museum. There is signage in the building lobby designating the facility as the L. Alan Cruikshank River of Time Museum.
In 2013, I was presented the highest award given to community newspaper publishers by the National Newspaper Association, the James O. Amos Award.
So as I go off into my retirement years, I have decided to continue my column on an occasional basis. I have turned the reigns of The Times over to my son, Brent. He has been a part of this newspaper since the time he was in high school.
He surprised me when he went out at the age of 38 and got his college degree in management.
That is when I decided he was ready to move into the publisher’s position.
So, good luck, Brent! Remember, I’m only a phone call away.
