Thanks for all the compliments on my column last week. Yes, that episode during the flooding where the river bank caved in right in front of me really did happen.

As promised, here is a continuation of my memorable experiences during my 44 years of working at The Times.

Remember, the numbering is used to separate the items and is not meant to be a ranking of them.

5. Meeting Mrs. Anwar Sadat and Tarzan’s Jane at a dinner party in a Fountain Hills architect’s home:

My wife and I were invited to a dinner party at the home of Frank Lloyd Wright-trained architect Kamal Amin. He had been a longtime friend of the Egyptian president and his wife. When President Sadat was assassinated, Amin sent an invitation to his widow asking her to come to Arizona and stay with him where she could reminisce about the past and ponder her future.

She brought a friend with her and I thought that I knew her. She looked very familiar to me.

Finally, it came to me. I asked her, “Were you Jane in the Johnny Weissmuller Tarzan movies?” “Yes,” she answered. Her name was Maureen O’Sullivan.

Also, I happened to see “Tarzan and his Mate” last week on late night TV. It was her first time appearing in the role.

6. Meeting and talking with Evening News anchor Walter Cronkite:

He wasthe kind of man I imagined: simple, yet knowledgeable on many subjects.

Walter Cronkite was in Fountain Hills to give a Lincoln reading with the Phoenix Symphony supplying patriotic music in the background.

Having watched him for years on the CBS Evening News while eating our dinner each night, I told him, I didn’t think I could properly digest my food if I missed his nightly news broadcast.

He laughed.

He did surprise me by saying he was envious of me. He explained by saying when he was a young man, he had a dream of owning a small-town newspaper.

I thought about that comment. Now here is the world’s most trusted newsman telling me he was envious of my position.

I will never forget that moment.

7. Serving three terms as Chamber president:

One of the proudest moments of my career was when I was elected president of the Fountain Hills Chamber of Commerce for a third term in a row.

No one else has been re-elected for three consecutive terms in the history of the Chamber. (Bruce Hansen served three terms, although they weren’t consecutive.) Among my accomplishments were establishing the Business Showcase, (replacing the former event, the Trade Show), designating the third Thursday of the month as the Chamber breakfast day, setting a world record for a takeout order of burgers, selling 176,000 of the White Castle sliders in one weekend and initiating the Chamber Ambassadors.

The position was as close to being mayor since we weren’t incorporated. So, I was interviewed by Valley television stations on various town issues.

8. The Appelwick’s fire:

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Applewick’s restaurant was the place to eat in Fountain Hills.

It opened on the corner of Shea and Saguaro boulevards, where the Circle K is now located.

The building was opened as a coffee shop with the name of Stan’s Beef ‘n’ Burger.

Owners Stan Davies and Bob Munson decided the restaurant business wasn’t for them.

They sold the building to Omer Appelwick, who had experience in the restaurant business in Michigan.

He ran a successful business, changing the menu and drawing a steady group of customers. Appelwick added a fine dining room onto the back of the building,

He also opened the room for club meetings and banquets.

He was in the process of planning a revolving second floor to the building when he died of a heart attack.

The business changed hands a number of times until the morning of April 15, 1986, when it was destroyed by fire.

It was a Tuesday morning, The Times’ production day. As I was driving to the office, I saw black smoke billowing into the southern sky. Two fire trucks passed me.

As I approached Shea, I could see it was the old Appelwick’s building on fire.

Fortunately, I had my camera with me.

It was our first major structure fire in the community.

All of the Fountain Hills trucks were used as well as four from Scottsdale. Some 50 firefighters fought the fire. Two were injured when a backdraft literally blew them out of a rear door on the building.

My next column will be a continuation of this series on the special moments I have experienced over the years.