Remember my column last year about the former Fountain Hills building contractor who had a collection of 55,000 dresses?

Well, that has been verified and Paul Brockmann is officially listed in the Guinness Book of World Records.

However, he is not listed for the most dresses. What he is listed for is the individual having the most designer labels (4,120). And they didn’t count all of them.

The count was conducted in a Gardena, Calif. warehouse where the majority of dresses are stored. He said he has another 8,000 dresses stored in a space under his garage, as well as tens of thousands of additional non-designer labels.

Since the announcement about his collection last year, one thing has eluded him.

“We’ve gotten a lot of publicity, but I’m still looking for someone to buy it all,” Brockmann said. In the meantime, he’s working on a movie and a book on his life and collection. And he’s trying to educate people about what “vintage” really looks like.

Brockmann’s dresses include formal wear, slips, robes, cocktail dresses and daytime styles from the 1950s through the 1990s.

Hmm…I wonder if he has approached a movie studio?

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The annual Easter Sunrise Service is this Sunday.

I will never forget the first Easter service held in Fountain Hills. It was on Sunday, April 22, 1973.

Approximately 275 people attended the early morning service. The town did not have any churches at that time. The Reverend George Phearson of the United Church of Christ in Mesa gave the sermon that morning. The title of his sermon was “Jesus Shall Reign.”

The unique thing about that first Sunrise Service was that the sun came up dead center in the middle dip of Four Peaks. It has never done that since, and won’t since the service is held in a different location in the park.

The event was sponsored by the Fountain Hills Civic Association. Chairperson was Ann Chamberlain. The Civic Association served refreshments at the conclusion of the service.

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Looking up the information about the first Sunrise Service, I was going through early copies of the Fountain Hills Times and I ran across a picture of a couple getting married at Fountain Park. In fact, they were the first couple to be married there on March 10, 1973.

Bruce Hesche and Christine Meldahl were looking for a unique place for their wedding. They contacted the developer’s headquarters in Scottsdale, and they were most cooperative, she said. “In fact, their art department drew a pen and ink drawing of the Fountain for our invitations,” Christine said.

This past Monday, curiosity got the better of me. I called information attempting to locate the couple and see if they were still together. The operator said she had a Bruce Hesche in Chandler. I said I would try it.

Christine answered the phone.

I asked, “Is this the Hesche residence and did you get married in Fountain Hills?”

She said, “It is, and yes we got married in Fountain Hills.”

I told her who I was and the reason for my call. I said her and her husband’s wedding was the first to be held in what has become a very popular setting for weddings.

I asked if they had ever been back. She said last year they went back to the location of their wedding to celebrate 40 years together. “The trees have all matured. It looks a lot different now,” she said.