The event is serving as a fundraiser for the L. Alan Cruikshank River of Time Museum and Exploration Center.
Following are biographies of the individuals being inducted into the Hall of Fame next month:
Tom Aiello
Aiello has lived in in Fountain Hills since 2011 and quickly became a member of a tennis group, and he currently still plays three times a week.
He then joined the McDowell Mountain Preserve Commission, helping advise in the creation of Adero Canyon. He also helps build trails in the local preserve and is a long-time active member of Sunset Kiwanis.
In 2015 he became a member and lead of the Fountain Hills Crisis Response Team, which seems like a good fit since he was a New York City police officer and detective in the Bronx for 22 years.
Out of all his endeavors, the Crisis Team is “number one.”
Aiello’s tireless service extends to folks who find disaster knocking on their door during a family crisis that may involve a tragic traffic accident, family dispute, cardiac arrest, suicide, overdoses, fires or other issues.
He also sees youths who are struggling with anxiety, PTSD, trauma, etc.
Back in 2017 he became aware of Reigning Grace Ranch in the Rio Verde Foothills and created a program that helps troubled teens from these situations to connect with the tender loving care of an equine partner at Reigning Grace Ranch so they can take advantage of the wonderful equine therapy programs the ranch offers.
The Crisis Response Team is on-call 24-hours, and as their coordinator, Tom's job is pretty much also a 24-hour job.
Aiello has spent time recruiting sponsors to help pay for the equine therapy for youths and works closely with Fountain Hills School District counselors, having sent more than 30 troubled local teens to the ranch for therapy.
Carol Carroll
Carroll has brought much passion and talent to several Fountain Hills organizations.
She is currently on the Board of the Sister Cities group, an organization she’s been involved with since 2015, and is responsible for raising the awareness of that organization during her time as president.
Still a member of the board, she serves as director of international and state relationships for Fountain Hills Sister Cities and Arizona Sister Cities statewide.
She was also a member of the Board of Directors for the Fountain Hills Theater for a number of years and was responsible for fundraising for the theater’s Broadway in the Hills several years in a row.
Most recently, she helped to raise the funds for the Fountain of Light statue, a tribute on the Avenue of the Fountains to Fountain Hills’ first 50 years.
Mark Dalton
Dalton is a second-generation Arizonian, born and raised in Tucson. He attended the University of Arizona, where he earned his bachelor degree in business, and the University of Phoenix, where he received his MBA.
He previously worked in the healthcare industry for over 30 years in multiple subspecialties including emergency medicine, orthopedics, cardiology, ophthalmology and urology.
Since 1997, his focus has been medical ophthalmology/optometry. He retired in 2016 and has sought to pursue his passions of traveling, fishing, gardening, animal rescue and volunteer work.
Dalton has resided in Fountain Hills for 18 years with his wife, Debra. He loves the small-town environment and the community appeal. He spends many hours down at the Community Center participating in multiple activities.
Dalton has volunteered thousands of hours since he moved to Fountain Hills including Meals on Wheels deliveries, various town events, assisted in establishing the Community Garden, building sets for Fountain Hills Theater and serving on multiple non-profit boards including Fountain Hills Cultural and Civic Association, Fountain Hills Community Foundation, Fountain Hills Community Tax Credit Foundation and Fountain Hills Community Garden.
Most recently, he assisted in revamping bingo at the Community Center. And, most noteworthy, he is one of their official bingo callers.
Jim Dickey
Much of Jim Dickey’s energy has been geared toward public service. With a degree in American history and a master’s in curriculum and instruction from the University of Central Missouri, education has been a focus throughout his professional and volunteer life.
Born in Kansas City, Mo., Dickey taught middle and high school, was a class sponsor, and coached both girls’ and boys’ sports. A part-time job as a school bus driver eventually led him to a career in transportation with Mayflower, leading him to Fountain Hills in 1992.
He was employed as deputy executive director of operations and planning at RPTA/Valley Metro, as public transportation division director at ADOT, and upon retirement as the Arizona Transit Association executive director.
He served as adjunct professor at the University of the Pacific, Pepperdine, and Willamette University from 1998-2016, providing training for public transportation managers. Dickey was also a member of the Board of Trustees at the University of the Rockies in Denver.
Locally, Dickey was elected a FHUSD Board Member, 1995-2000, serving twice as president. He was elected and served as chair of EVIT, 2002-2006, and was a member of Golden Eagle Foundation and the Fountain Hills Community Foundation.
He chaired or worked on several successful FHUSD bond and override efforts beginning in 2000 and has been campaign manager for many local candidate elections.
Dickey worked on 30th anniversary of incorporation activities and the “Fountain at 50” committee and helped collect and fill the 25-year time capsule.
Dickey co-initiated an effort to establish the new Historic and Cultural Advisory Commission. He supported the town by creating 13 transportation infrastructure project submissions to qualify for regional grant funding. He is a member of the citizen street committee.
Dickey is married to Mayor Ginny Dickey and their blended family includes five grown children, spouses and nine grandchildren.
Tait Elkie
Elkie has lived in Fountain Hills since July of 2007 and married his wife, Michele, in July of 2008. They had their first date at Fountain Park. They have one daughter Emilie, who is 7.
Elkie has been a licensed attorney in Arizona for more than 20 years and has maintained a law practice in Fountain Hills since July of 2008.
During his time in the Hills, he was a Town Councilman from 2010 to 2014, served as an attorney mentor for the Teen Court diversion program through the Fountain Hills Municipal Court, is a member and former Commandant of Marine Corps League Detachment #1439 and is a member and former Color Guard Rifleman and Judge Advocate for VFW Post No. 7507.
He also is a member and former Color Guard Rifleman for American Legion Post No. 58, and a 2018 American Legion National Color Guard Champion in the Military Class; he’s past president of the Fountain Hills Republican Club and the club’s 2015 Republican of the Year; he is a former Chamber of Commerce board member, is past president of the Sunset Kiwanis Club and a former director of the Fountain Hills Community Foundation.
A long-time supporter of the Fountain Hills Drug Prevention Coalition, Elkie also on November 11, 2011, organized a Veterans Appreciation Day at Fountain Park, which was attended by hundreds in honor and memory of our veterans.
In 2012 and 2013 he organized Fourth of July celebrations at Fountain Park, which brought back an Independence Day celebration to Fountain Hills after being absent in town for many years.
He currently serves as the judge for the East Valley Regional Veterans Court, which serves the needs of veterans charged with misdemeanor offenses in seven different East Valley courts, including the Fountain Hills Municipal Court.
He served in the Marine Corps from 1989 to 1993 and participated in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, 1990-1991, and Operation Restore Hope, Somalia, 1992-1993.
In 2008 and 2012 he was honored as one of Arizona’s Top 50 Pro Bono Attorneys by the Arizona Foundation for Legal Services & Education.
Phil Yin
Whenever local veterans gather for a ceremony or participate in a commemorative service for departed veterans, you’ll find Philip C. S. Yin in the center of activities.
Yin co-founded Marine Corps League Detachment 1439 in 2016. He was honored as the 2020 Legionnaire of the Year by the Department of Arizona, American Legion. He earned the distinction as Department of Arizona Marine Corps League Marine of the Year 2019 at the state convention.
After graduating Villanova University with a degree in physics, Yin was drafted in 1965 and joined the Marine Corps. He was a machine gunner in Vietnam and during a search and destroy mission he was wounded by mortar fire.
A Purple Heart recipient, Yin’s other military honors include the USN/USMC Presidential Unit Citation with Bronze Star, USMC Good Conduct, National Defense, Vietnam Service Medal with Bronze Star, RVN Wound Medal, RVN Gallantry Cross Unit Citation with Palm, Vietnam Campaign Medal, Combat Action and Expert Rifle and Pistol Badges.
Upon moving to Fountain Hills, he joined the American Legion in 1999. He would become All-State/All-American Commander of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 7507, Commandant and Co-Founder of the Marine Corps League Detachment 1439, executive committee board member of American Legion Post 58 and Color Guard Director.
As director of the Color Guard American Legion Post 58, he and his team won one national and two state color guard competitions.
He also worked with former Mayor Linda Kavanagh and current Mayor Ginny Dickey to proclaim Fountain Hills a Purple Heart Town, with signs indicating this at four entrances into our town.
Yin received his undergraduate degree in Physics from Villanova University and his Ph.D. in materials science from Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute-New York University.
Yin’s professional career in the semi-conductor and compound semiconductor industries spans more than 50 years. He holds three U.S. patents.
Yin moved to Fountain Hills from Ohio in 1999 when ATMI Epitaxial Services in Mesa recruited him to become president of two divisions.
Yin met his wife, Debbie, in 1992 and together they have two sons and two daughters by previous marriages, along with four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Margaret Ziefert
She is a native New Yorker who moved to Fountain Hills in 1995.
Ziefert has two daughters, a stepson and stepdaughter, is a grandmother to nine and her first great-granddaughter was born in October 2022.
In 1998 she became an independent travel consultant and still operates CruiZee’s Travel.
For many years Ziefert supported Fountain Hills Unified School District students, first as a substitute special needs teacher and then as a teacher of the homebound who needed lessons due to their long-term illnesses.
She has also served as a foster owner for rescue dogs to prepare them for adoption, working with cast-off cockers and continuing still with the Arizona Humane Society.
Many consider Ziefert as the “soul” of the Sunset Kiwanis Club in terms of policy, bookkeeping, finances and Kiwanis District and International regulations.
Without Ziefert, the club would not be able to continue its annual support for activities that support Key Club, Girl Scouts, Cub Scouts, FH Youth Theater, Sunshine Acres Orphanage and the newly-opened Inspiration Academy.
She also is a long-time member of the Four Peaks Women’s Club, which coordinates many hands-on projects that benefit women and children.
Ziefert represents all the dedicated “silent” volunteers who serve communities without fanfare, rather knowing their efforts have made a difference for many with their service.
Diane Newcomb
Newcomb was born and raised in New Jersey, in an area where farming was a primary occupation for many residents and where she was introduced to hard work.
After college, she worked in the pharmaceutical industry for 35-plus years, focusing on analytical chemistry, quality management and regulatory affairs, developing new oncology drugs for worldwide approval and distribution.
The warm weather, mountains and golf (before their introduction to pickleball) brought her husband, Walt, and herself to Tonto Verde, where they built their home in 2011.
Newcomb enjoys being outdoors and leading volunteer groups within multiple organizations. She served as president on the Friends of McDowell Mountain Park board as her first volunteer activity in Arizona.
Things blossomed shortly thereafter and she has led and/or participated in many different activities including chair of the Verdes Community Christmas Project, vice president of Fountain Hills Pickleball Club, community leader and volunteer coordinator for Firewise in the Verdes,
She has been a volunteer with Tonto National Park for pipe-rail fence installation and reforestation, co-organizer of a Verdes ladies hiking group, member and secretary of the TV HOA Nomination and House & Grounds committees, VerdeCares volunteer for data entry, TVGC volunteer, and working with the Adopt-A-Highway program trying to keep McDowell Mountain Road between Fountain Hills and the Verdes trash free.
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