I have a love-hate relationship with summer.

I love the change of pace, a chance to slow down a little bit and catch up on things I’ve been putting off since summer.

My calendar isn’t so full, the special events slow down, the hectic pace tapers off. I can jump in the swimming pool and relax. How about a cold beer or margarita?

Yet the summer heat and schedule present their own issues. Mainly, sweat. And plenty of it. And we always have to sweat through employee vacations, time off, finding interesting news to fill the paper.

Like I said – a relaxing and still challenging time of the year.

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I attended my first “Prizm Award” ceremony at the Fountain Hills Theater Monday evening.

All I can say is theater folks know how to have fun…

I was there accepting a community award from FHT on behalf of the Noon Kiwanis Club. The Prizm Awards are internal awards as voted upon by FHT season ticketholders – best actor and actress, best production, costumes, that sort of thing.

It’s a look back at the season behind and a celebration of all things theater. Everyone associated with the theater loves all aspects of theater production. They support each other and they believe in their “cause.” Well done, Fountain Hills Theater.

And the Noon Kiwanis Club is proud to have been a financial supporter of the theater since the 1990s. They do wonderful things for the youth in this community.

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The Town Council took a little time last week to honor retiring Town Manager Ken Buchanan.

Ken, I think, has been a calming influence within town government the past few years during a time of uncertainty and potential upheaval.

The town is clearly out of the Great Recession, but things will never quite be the same, either.

The building growth is picking up, but questions remain if the town can keep up in a timely manner with all the plan reviews and other details associated with working with developers and builders.

Plus, as evidenced by the front-page story, questions also remain about long-term issues such as street maintenance.

The town has very little flexibility when it comes to raising revenues, and Arizona municipalities seem quite hamstrung by the Legislature in this area.

Fountain Hills is doing “OK” in terms of offering services and other municipal priorities, but is it “excelling?”

Those in favor of limited government and decreased costs say the town is doing enough. The condition of many of our streets say otherwise, and young families say otherwise as well.

It will be interesting to see how it all plays out over the next year. The Civic Association is launching a “visioning” process. We asked this question last summer, and it still holds true today: “Where, exactly, are we headed?”