I don’t know if you saw the letter from Allen Fossenkemper that appeared in our letters to the editor section several weeks ago, but in case you didn’t, I want to also congratulate former resident Dave Karl for signing a contract with a resort near Nashville, Tenn.

You may have listened to his act at any number of restaurant locations in Fountain Hills in recent years. Maybe you saw him singing from time to time at Munch and Music during your lunch time.

His impersonation of country and pop singer Kenny Rogers was spot on. And in addition to matching his singing voice to Rogers, with a little makeup, he looks just like him.

In June, Karl was contacted by Johnny Stuart, the founder of Legends in Concert, the popular Las Vegas show featuring different impersonators such as Elvis, The Temptations, Michael Jackson, Elton John and many others.

I know he loved living in Fountain Hills. He tried to make it here, but our town has a reputation of rolling up its sidewalks by 9 p.m. He even tried to make it by operating a hot dog stand in the Bashas’ parking lot.

In his new home state of Tennessee, he will be performing at Theater of the Stars in Pigeon Forge. He will be performing with a woman who is a Dolly Parton look-a-like and they will be doing a Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton Tribute Show.

They are in rehearsals now and hope to open in September. Karl concluded his letter to Fossenkemper by saying, “I’m so excited for this opportunity to advance my career and so grateful to have met so many wonderful people in Arizona.

“Tell the folks in Fountain Hills they can still follow me at dkarl.com.”

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Fossenkemper has announced he will be retiring as director of the Munch and Music series effective at the end of the 2021 season. He said he is looking for someone who has a passion for bringing high quality musicians to Fountain Hills for mid-day concerts at the Community Center. His replacement would be responsible for set-up and tear-down of each concert and marketing. One person has expressed an interest in the position and is being considered.

The program has been in effect since 2003 and was started by volunteers Evelyn Breting and Barbara Wyman.

Concerts are presently held over a six-week period in February and March.

There is no charge for the concerts.

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Did you see the Eisenhower Memorial opened to the public on Sept. 17, in Washington, D.C.? I ask that question because it got no play in the Las Vegas newspapers. At least I didn’t see it.

I gained a whole new respect for our 34th president when I was working on the Sister Cities project in the late 1990s. Eisenhower started the Sister Cities program in 1956 as a way to promote world peace.

“Ike,” as he came to be known, is among the most accomplished presidents in American history. He balanced the federal budget several times and created America’s interstate highway system. And that all came after Eisenhower was promoted to a five-star general of the Army during World War II and led a multi-national coalition to victory over Nazi Germany and its Axis “alliance.”

According to the Eisenhower Memorial Commission, the project cost a total of $145 million. Some $15 million of that amount came from private donations.

The memorial is located at 540 Independence Ave., just south of the National Air and Space Museum.