With the Great Fair being held this weekend and the “Love in the Hills” renewal of marriage vows in the park last weekend, I thought I would talk about the town’s heritage in regard to special events.

Throughout the years we have had a variety of special events in Fountain Hills. As is the way these things go, there are those who like the special events and others who look on them as a big inconvenience,

The original management team that created Fountain Hills and Lake Havasu City, included the man who conceived the master plan for Disneyland (C.V. Wood) and the creator of the Hollywood Walk of Fame (Lorne Pratt).

Both men were promoters. When they began marketing Fountain Hills, they created special events as a way to attract Valley residents to experience the new community and its unique setting.

The original development firm was McCulloch Properties, Inc.

They worked with a public relations firm in Beverly Hills that arranged for the celebrity appearances.

The first special event was the Arizona Chili Cooking Championship. It was held on Oct. 28, 1972.

Wood, a native Texan, was at the time, the World Champion Chili Cooker. He won the title at the World Championship in Terlingua, Texas.

The Fountain Hills chili event had western movie actors Chill Wills and Pat Buttram. Both men were rumored to enjoy their bottles. Mr. Wills confirmed it. The first thing he did when I went to interview him was he offered me his bottle of Jack Daniels.

Buttram was appearing on “Green Acres,” at the time. He had no evidence of alcohol other than he just looked drunk. He was very friendly while Wills wanted to stay in his trailer (close to his bottle). I wondered if Wills was paid for his non- appearance.

There were a variety of Hollywood celebrities on hand for the opening of the Fountain Hills Racquet & Swim Club in February 1975. Among the celebrities were Bobbie Riggs, who had just lost to Billie Jean King in the “Battle of the Sexes,” Claudine Longet, wife of Andy Williams, McDonald Carey, Doug McClure, Barbara Anderson, Lloyd Bridges and tennis star Tony Trabert.

Later that year, a series of park concerts were held featuring big bands. First was Les Brown and his Band of Renown. The Count Basie Orchestra played in 1978. Jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald was a surprise guest that evening.

The Phoenix Symphony, with famous guest conductors presented concerts at Fountain Park in 1975 and 1976. Among them were Arthur Fiedler, Henry Mancini, Percy Faith, John Green and Andre Kostelanetz. Kostelanetz appeared with news anchor Walter Cronkite in 1976. The concert attracted some 20,000 people to Fountain Park.

The Fountain Festival of Arts and Crafts was started by the Chamber of Commerce in November 1975 at Fountain Park. It was later moved to the Avenue of the Fountains.

The Great Fair initially began as an appreciation event for viewers of PBS Station Channel 8 and was called “8’s Great Sunday.” It had an art show, hot air balloon launch, running races, sky divers and a concert by the Phoenix Symphony.

The art show was eventually expanded to three days and the Chamber of Commerce took over the event in 1987 and called it “The Great Fair.”

Well, I’m out of space, and I didn’t get to talk about some of the biggest special events (attendance-wise held in Fountain Hills such as White Castle Days, the1976 Bicentennial Fourth of July event, and the big country music day in the park in 1989.

Special events for a special place. That‘s Fountain Hills.