I told you last week that I would be writing about the museum’s first two directors and volunteer Richard Siegle.

But before I get onto that, I received a phone call from a gentleman who informed me Friday that a former columnist for The Times and Let’s Go had passed away following a two-month battle with bone cancer.

Vikki Schiller who wrote a column that began in 1975 called “Bits & Pieces,” died Friday, June 6, in a Hospice facility in Mesa.

Vikki owned a gift shop in the Village Bazaar shops at Fountain Park. She told me how much she enjoyed writing and asked me if she could write for The Times. I suggested she put together some samples of what she wanted to do. “Bits & Pieces” started in the spring of 1975. About a month after that she changed the name of the column to the more appropriate “Fountain Hills and Valleys.”

That column was filled with welcomes to new residents, parties and social gatherings at various homes in the community. It ran until 1980 when a new staffer with The Times took it over and changed the column’s name to Short Stuff. The reporter’s name was Linda Carr and, well, she is still short. we now read Short Stuff each month in Let’s Go. Yes, she did get married and we know her today as Linda McThrall, editor of Let’s Go.

Vikki again became affiliated with our operation when we purchased the Arizona Sentinel from Tony and Ann Saladino. She was writing a “Dr. Phil-type” advice column in the Sentinel.

She did that column for a couple of years and it always had good readership. All of us at The Times and Let’s Go extend our deepest sympathies to her husband, Al, who was a realtor in the community for years, son Alfred, and daughters, Carol Harris and Irene Lang.

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I appreciate all of the compliments and congratulatory messages I have received upon having the River of Time Museum renamed in my honor.  It is something I am very proud of.

I want to assure everyone that we will not be using my name in every reference to the museum. The L. Alan Cruikshank River of Time Museum, is a real mouthful.

There are a number of people to thank who played a part in the museum. Board member Rick Wambach did a fantastic job putting together the docents program. Two other board members, the mother-daughter team of Niobi and Teena Borman, did an excellent job with the Pony Express Days and Spaghetti Dinner auction. You can always depend on Linda Kavanagh when it comes to coordinating fund-raising events. She worked with Fort McDowell Casino in putting together the poker and bingo nights. Another prominent board Member, Fort McDowell Tribal President Dr. Clinton Pattea, suggested that we do these events and he collected a lot of door prizes.

Joe Bill organized the Time Travelers Junior docent program. Fund-raiser extraordonaire Arlie Denomme and husband Harold, who is the treasurer for both the museum and Historical Society, have contributed numerous hours to the organization and facility. Ann and Wayne Wickland have contributed in so many ways. She has been the secretary of the society’s board and the editor of the newsletter. The couple also created the museum’s web site. Char McCluskey did a great job with publicity and promoting the Artistas Vaqueros art show in the winter months.

After the bond issue passed to provide funding for the library- museum building, I ran a story in The Times seeking an unpaid director for the museum. I have  never worked in the construction field so I felt that someone with some of that kind of experiencee would be helpful during the design and construction phases. The first person to respond was Jerry Wilhelm.  It turns out Jerry is a stickler for details. That was perfect.

When he discovered the concrete floor in the center of the museum display area wasn’t level, he kept harping to the contractor until he fixed it.   Jerry was in the process of moving to Fountain Hills from Tulsa, Okla.  When he read about the construction of the museum, he was sure his background in sales management could be of use to the museum project. 

"I can talk to anyone on just about any topic," he said during his interview. It was a pretty bold statement, but he proved it was true time and again.

Once the construction phase was over, Jerry decided to step down as the museum's director. "I'm not the strongest person for establishing things like docent programs and social functions."

Jerry and I remained friends  until his untimely death from prostate cancer about two months ago. He actually came to work at The Times, delivering papers each week to Rio Verde.

With Jerry leaving the museum and an opening date moving closer, we really needed an executive director. One of our newest members of the Historical Society told me she was interested.  She had previously been associated with museums in the Midwest.

Judy Star Confer became our first paid executive director. She didn't make much money. Her salary was based on five days, Wednesday through Sunday. Before I knew it she was working seven days a week. 

"I'm having a ball," she said. "I'm not concerned about getting paid for all of this time. I just want the museum to be the best it can be when it opens."

She attended most of the Design Committee meetings at Sunbelt Scenic Studios, which built all of the exhibits. The day of the opening came and Judy proved to be the social director we also needed.

She also quickly spread word of the museum throughout the state. A group from the Heard Museum called the River of Time Museum a "world class museum for its size."

We became fully accredited as a museum with the Arizona Historical Society within six months thanks to Judy. The process usually takes five years.

There's one last person I want to mention, and that's Richard Siegel. He is a winter resident of Fountain Hills. He also read with interest the stories in The Times about our efforts to build a museum. He has spent his entire working life in a career in the museum world. He retired as the facilities director of the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C. He is a high-priced consultant in the museum business and is nationally known. He never charged us a dime and helped us meet all of the federal guidelines for museums.

As I said in an earlier column, I wish all of these names could be displayed in the lights.