Here we are in April already!!! There wasn’t much rain in March, traditionally the second wettest month of the year. We totaled just .06 inches of measurable rain for the month.

Friday looked pretty threatening around 3:30

p.m. when the cold front moved through. The temperature sure dropped. Diane came to the office to pick me up at that time. She had been cleaning our garage and was dressed for summer, wearing shorts and a light T-shirt.

“When did winter come back?” she said, looking up at the gray skies and noting how cool she felt, rubbing her arms. “I guess I didn’t dress right.” Well, it never did rain other than a few sprinkles. By 6 p.m., it had cleared off and it turned out to be a nice evening.

The next morning, Saturday, April 1st, we called our birthday boy, grandson Brandon, who was celebrating his ninth birthday. The third grader is doing quite well in school. In his after-school classes he is learning to play the guitar and he’s still taking TaeKwanDo. Dino, as he’s known at home, looks and sounds as if he’s been playing the guitar for years. He can play the “Star Wars” theme without looking at the music. He’s a brown belt in his TaeKwanDo and is testing for his high brown belt this week.

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Diane and I attended The Lower Verde Valley Hall of Fame Induction Dinner last Wednesday evening. Barb Hansen is president of the River of Time Museum Foundation, which sponsors the Hall of Fame.

The foundation serves as the fund-raising arm of the museum. It was started over a luncheon discussion between myself and former mayor Jerry Miles at CopperWynd.

I told him how Mike Petrone, then president of the Sunridge Foundation, had called me to discuss the possibility of creating a wall of fame on the walls of the circle in the center of the Community Center and the Library/Museum complex. It was later called the Centennial Circle and, most recently, the Jerry Miles Sculpture Garden.

We decided not to place plaques on the low wall that defines the area and we came away from the luncheon with the commitment to start the Lower Verde Valley Hall of Fame.

At last week’s dinner, Jerry reminded me at the conclusion of the program that we started this event and that it has evolved into one of the community’s most prestigious affairs, honoring those people who have contributed so much of their time for making Fountain HiIls, the Verdes and Fort McDowell the special places they are.

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It was sure good to hear singer/songwriter Jeff Dayton play his guitar and sing at the Fountain Hills Presbyterian Church once again, a week ago Sunday.

He moved here in 1979 and put together a band that was one of the best in Arizona. In fact, his band was judged the best Country Band in Arizona. After winning the contest, Glen Campbell contacted him and asked Jeff whether his band would be interested in playing with him.

Campbell invited Jeff and his band to go on tour with him. They ended up playing with him for 15 years.