We are going to take a look at the rest of the items that made news in 1985.

That will be our Fountain Hills History Lesson for this week. One important item I didn’t address in the 1984 wrap up was the holding of the first in a series of Town Hall meetings.

Ken Creta, a stockbroker with Merrell Lynch and a busy volunteer with the Civic Association, served as chairman of the first Town Hall. I talked with Ken last week. He is now 78 years old and retired. He said he was proud of the role he played in getting this community moving.

“If you go back and read those resolutions written by resident delegates, you’ll find that they took their jobs seriously for those two days.

“They identified the issues of the day and offered possible solutions,” Ken said.

The meeting was held at the Camelback Inn in Scottsdale. Fountain Hills did not have a meeting room large enough to accommodate the number of delegates that would be attending.

Some 72 delegates representing a wide cross-section of residents developed 17 resolutions to fulfill community needs as it developed.

One of the resolutions addressed a lack of adequate shopping. Shortly after that, Bashas’ and W. M. Grace Development Co. jointly announced they would be building a major shopping center which would have 119,000 square feet, including a 36,000 sq. ft. Bashas’ supermarket.

Another resolution addressed the issue of incorporation of the community. 1985 began with the Committee eagerly awaiting approval for a local election that could establish the Town of Fountain Hills. However, the committee received a thumbs down vote from the Scottsdale City Council for that election.

In other news from 1985, another prominent resident, Raymond Munde, 67, passed away in August. He was credited with being the originator of the Fountain Hills Sheriff’s Posse. He was also one of the organizers of The Club, a Fountain Hills men’s social club.

The Fountain Hills elementary school flag football team won the first flag football game in the school’s history in October when halfback Jack Wood threw two passes for touchdowns and ran for another score.

The first varsity touchdown was scored by wide receiver Jason Devoning in 1992.

In December, Pepsi chose Fountain Hills to film a new television commercial for its soft drinks. The company used the McDonalds Mini Mart on Shea for the majority of its filming before moving to the Beeline Highway for a special effects sequence. The $100,000 commercial was used to kick off what Pepsi advertising manager Jeff Myers called “the biggest promotion we’ve had since the Michael Jackson campaign”.

Civic association president Ruth Collins was named the 1985 Citizen of the Year for her outstanding civic contributions in the community.

Her husband, Harlan, was the 1980 recipient of the award.

The Civic Association had a busy year unveiling the master plan for the future civic center site. No funding plan was established at that time but the layout of the 15.37-acre site in the middle of Fountain Hills created a goal for future efforts of the Association.

Recreation in the community was a big topic in those days. The Fountain Hills Little League fielded nine teams with 130 youngsters participating. The adults also became more involved with recreation activities. The Mixed Bowling League expanded from 24 to 30 teams and a Men’s Softball League was started with 10 teams being formed attracting more than 150 participants. A women’s softball league was being formed at year’s end.

The weather also left its mark on the community during the year. Snow fell in February and December, leaving accumulations in the higher areas of the community. A thunderstorm accompanied by high winds did considerable damage to homes and businesses on July 29.

A number of school awards were given. Sharon Fritz, Brent Hendrickson and Holly Federspeil were named the top local high school students. Howard Brown was named the outstanding student at the Fountain Hills Elementary School.

Personally, it was a busy year for me. I finished up my third year as president of the Chamber of Commerce. I had meetings at the Grace Company offices about the shopping center. I was chairman of White Castle Weekend during which we sold 178,000 of the small burgers, a new record. Another job I took on was as a member of the board of directors of the Arizona Newspapers Association. Maureen Pignataro became president of the chamber for 1986. She appointed me to be chairman of the economic development committee.

The 1986 summary will be the topic of our next Fountain Hills History Lesson.