Nine names were added to the roster of the Lower Verde Valley Hall of Fame during an induction dinner held at the Fort McDowell Radisson Resort and Casino last Saturday night.

Some 110 people were in attendance. The hall of fame is sponsored by the River of Time Museum Foundation, a 501(c) 3 non-profit organization, that raises money to assure the long-term operation of the museum.

 Bob Thomson, president of the foundation welcomed the attendees and updated everyone on the status of the organization. He asked them to consider additional nominations for consideration in the future. The next call for nominations will be in December.

The Class of 2008 brings the total of those in the hall of fame to 85. The first induction was held in 2004.

A Power Point presentation created by Jerry Miles and Alan Cruikshank was shown as emcee if each a brief biography and list of accomplishments of each inductee. Cruikshank announced that the hall of fame biographies will soon be available on line and through a touch screen monitor that is to be installed in the Library/Museum lobby. It will also be accessible through the Rivera Time Museum website.

Funding for the new Hall of Fame computer display was made possible by a grant from the Fountain Hills Community Foundation.

The museum will also soon have its first  major additions since the facility opened in 2003. A full-sized sculpture of a conquistador will be added to the explorers display in May. The sculpture work is being done by Rex Witte, who worked on the creation of the original museum displays,

Sculptures of a Yavapai woman and child will be added to the Early-day Yavapai display in September.

Additional figures are anticipated for the Fort McDowell Army Post display and the Water Tamers display. Legendary farmer and investor Jack Swilling will be added to the Water Tamers disp[ay. Swilling is credited with being the founder of the City of Phoenix.

The dinner chairperson was Sharon Morgan.

Musical entertainment was provided by the Judy Roberts trio.

The newly inducted members are:

Mary Rairigh Davenport
During Fountain Hills’ early years, there were few who contributed so many volunteer hours as Mrs. Davenport. From the day she moved to Fountain Hills from Michigan in 1974, she soon became the community’s number one cheerleader, supporter and volunteer. Whether it was standing out in the hot summer sun selling soft drinks at the community’s Bicentennial celebration in 1976 to selling hot coffee on a cold morning prior to the start of the first Great Fair, Mrs. Davenport has been there to serve her town. She helped found the Fountain Hills Civic Association, the Fountain Hills Republican Club, the Fountain Hills Women’s Club and the Church of the Ascension Rosary Society. She is also a charter member of the Fountain Hills & Lower Verde Valley Historical Society.  She has served multiple years on the boards of these organizations. One of the leading volunteers on the Town’s Incorporation Committee, she worked the polls, rang countless phones, sold tickets for fund-raisers, organized candidate debates and secured political contacts. One co-volunteer said, “Every board on which she served, quickly learned that if a task was assigned to her no matter how important or insignificant, it would be completed in a very short time.”

Frank Ferrara
In his 14 years of residence in the Lower Verde River Valley, Mr. Ferrara has helped shape its destiny through his professional, civic and charitable activities. He has had a major influence on positive business development in Fountain Hills and the services, employment and tax generation that these entities contribute to Fountain Hills and the surrounding areas. Frank’s business advocacy began when he opened a mortgage company in Fountain Hills in 1993 and he soon joined the local Chamber of Commerce. His volunteer work quickly evolved into his becoming a member of the Chamber’s Board of Directors in 1996, Chairman of the Board in 1997, and President and CEO in 1998. He continues to hold these two positions to this day as a testament to his effectiveness in promoting business and commerce in Fountain Hills. As the Chamber’s CEO, Mr. Ferrara has actively lobbied on behalf of the business community members. He has also served on a variety of town committees that have helped shape the town’s future including the Mayor’s Council on Economic Development, Citizens Advisory Committee, Community Plaza committee, McDowell Mountain Advisory Committee and State Trust Land Study Committee. He also volunteers on a variety of service club and charitable organizations. 

James “Jim” Flynn
In 1999, the Sunridge Foundation selected Mr. Flynn as the recipient of the first Champions Award. Foundation President Mike Petrone said it was a distinct honor for him to present Mr. Flynn with the award. “He does so much for his family, his company and his community, I’m proud to call him my friend.” Mr. Flynn conceived the idea of forming the non-profit Sunridge Foundation. It was established as a 501(C)3 charitable organization that would give the community’s non-profit clubs and organizations  a means of benefiting from major fund-raisers. Another honor he received was the first-ever President’s award in 1998 from the Chamber of Commerce. He retired as executive vice president of MCO Properties in July 1999, after serving 27 years with the firm managing projects in three master-planned city projects, Fountain Hills and Lake Havasu City in Arizona and Pueblo West, Colorado. He was a longtime member of the board of the Arizona Mentoring Council and he helped organize the Fountain Hills mentoring program at McDowell Mountain Elementary School. Before joining MCO he taught business classes at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., known for its education and career development for deaf and hard-of-hearing students.  

Joseph “Joe Go” Goyena
One of the town’s most successful real estate sales agents, Mr. Goyena has made it a practice to give back to the community that has provided so much for himself, and his family team of Realtors.  He and his team have sold $336 million worth of property during his 23 years in real estate and have been Sales Team of the Year at MCO Realty for 13 out of 14 years. He believes in conducting business ethically and delivering good customer service long after the sale. He annually hosts a dinner party for clients at the Community Center, and they were the first to host an event in that facility. When the Town stopped funding the Easter Eggstravaganza, he announced he would pay for the event. As a Kiwanian, he organized the Fountain of Youth Club which provided trips and activities for teens. He also was Santa Claus for 13 years at the Fountain Hills Thanksgiving Day Parade and is a charter member of the Chamber Ambassadors. He was selected as one of the Town’s top 20 volunteers during the first 20 years of its history and he and wife Carol were the 1995 Chamber Business Persons of the Year. A popular singer, he has sung at many town events as well as funerals and weddings at no charge. His motto is “We Get Results Because We Care!”           

John Kavanagh
Mr. Kavanagh came to Fountain Hills in 1993 after a 20-year law enforcement career in the New York City area as a police officer with the Port Authority of New York and the New Jersey Police Department. He retired as a sergeant. After relocating his family to Arizona, he became very involved in governmental and area club activities. In 2006 he was elected to serve as a member of the Arizona House of Representatives for District 8.  He is also a professor of criminal justice at Scottsdale Community College and Director of the college’s Administration of Justice Studies Program. Prior to teaching at Scottsdale Community College, he taught at Arizona State University and. Mr. Kavanagh served six years on the Fountain Hills Town Council and three years on the Lafayette, New Jersey Town Council. He was awarded a BA in Liberal Arts from NYU, a Masters Degree in Government from St. John’s University (Queens, NY), and a Ph.D. in Criminal Justice from Rutgers. He has served on the Parks and Recreation Commission, Community Center Volunteers, Senior Services and is a member of American Legion, Knights of Columbus, Civic Association,  Historical Society, and Friends of the Chamber of Commerce.

Joanne Meehan
At the time of her induction, this school administrator had been guiding the lives of the town’s young people for 25 years.  She came to the Fountain Hills School District in 1983 as principal of Four Peaks Elementary School.  She served in that position for 13 years and is now in her 12th year as principal of McDowell Mountain Elementary. A Pennsylvania native, Mrs. Meehan was graduated with honors from Central Bucks High School and received her Bachelor of Science degree in elementary education from Penn State University. She earned her masters degree in school administration and supervision from Cheney State University. She worked at schools in Pennsylvania for 13 years, first as a teacher, then as a team leader and as an assistant principal. Working as a principal, she has drawn the praise of each of the district’s five superintendents she has worked for. She is a member of Noon Kiwanis and serves on the boards of the Fountain Hills Mentoring Council, the Golden  Eagle Foundation and the Fountain Hills chapter of the Salvation Army. Every Thanksgiving, she serves as one of the local parade announcers. Always a positive role model for her students, she closes her daily announcements each with the message, “Have a super great day.” She was the recipient of the 2004 Champions award.

Kimberley Williams
In the early 1970s when she was just 10 years old, Ms. Williams began her fight to save her people’s lands that were to be flooded to form Orme Dam and Reservoir. She walked door to door getting signatures for the grass root polls. She was Miss Fort McDowell in 1981. Her sister, Leila, was Miss Fort McDowell when she carried the “Stop Orme Dam” banner in the three-day protest march to the state capitol in Phoenix led by Tribal Chairman Norman Austin. In 1981 the tribe was visited by President Ronald Reagan’s Secretary of the Interior James Watt, who announced the elimination of the dam from the Central Arizona Project. Ms. Williams was one of the first female tribal members to call radio and news media about the 1992 FBI raid on the Fort McDowell Casino. With a family line of leaders and fighters, her father’s aunt was wounded by a gunshot in 1872 during the Skeleton Cave Massacre and made the “Yavapai Trail of Tears” journey to San Carlos in 1875. Ms. Williams’ grandfather, Tom Surramma, was one of four who went to Washington in 1903 and came home with an executive order creating the Fort McDowell Indian Community. She has been employed by the Fort McDowell Recreation Department, Housing Department, Sand & Gravel and the Tribal Police Department.

C.V. Wood Jr.
The man responsible for the original master plan for Fountain Hills and the creator of the concept of placing the world’s tallest fountain at its center, was also an internationally known theme park developer. Disneyland became a new form of family entertainment and the prototype for amusement theme parks around the world. Walt Disney placed Mr. Wood in charge of the project. He was Disneyland’s first employee and supervised site selection in California, purchased the land, oversaw construction, the opening in 1954 and its operation for the first year. He formed Marco Engineering in 1956 and supervised the creation of Six Flags Over Texas and Pleasure Island in Boston.  In 1961, his firm merged with McCulloch Corporation. Robert McCulloch, Sr. had acquired some land at Lake Havasu on the Colorado River. He had a vision of what the area could become. He placed Mr. Wood in charge of the creation of Lake Havasu City and they later purchased the London Bridge and moved it to their new city in western Arizona. The area became an instant tourist attraction. He created the master plans for two other McCulloch planned cities -- Fountain Hills and Pueblo West, Colo. Mr. Wood also founded the International Chili Society and was chairman of the Committee of Publicly Owned Companies.

Mary Zicarelli
A longtime resident and homeowner, Mrs. Zicarelli and her husband originally bought in Rio Verde as a part-time visitor from 1975-1986. They became full-time residents in 1986.  Shortly after its founding, she became a member of the Rio Verde Community Church and helped organize the church library. She serves on the church’s board, and was a member of the church’s building committee when the new church and chapel were built. She has been responsible for bringing the St. Olaf’s Choir and St. Olaf’s Orchestra to the community for benefit concerts. Another of her volunteer interests is the Fountain Hills and Lower Verde Valley Historical Society and the River of Time Museum. A supporter of the Sunshine Acres project in the Valley, she also contributes time and funding to Junior Achievement, Faith Counseling. The Arizona Opera Company, Phoenix Symphony and the Phoenix Art Museum. She and her husband traveled extensively around the world with friends. Prior to her move to Rio Verde, Mrs. Zicarelli was a volunteer in the Minnetonka, Minn. school system.  She also volunteered at the Courage Center and was director of parish education at the Grace Lutheran Church in Deephaven, Minn.