We have a story this week about Joanne Meehan, principal of McDowell Mountain Elementary  School.

The story says she completed her 41st year in education at the end of the last school year. She barely looks 41!

Joanne, I don’t know how you do it, but I swear you look as young as when I first met you in 1985.

Let me tell you, this woman has had such a positive impact on the young people of our community. The honors she has received for her dedication to the field of education are most definitely deserved. She was inducted into the Lower Verde Valley Hall of Fame in 2008. We at The Times commend and congratulate her on her many years of outstanding service to the Fountain Hills Unified School District. We wish her a “Super Good” year.

Can it really be the start of the school year in less than two weeks?

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Sheriff Joe Arpaio is being challenged by State Rep. John Kavanagh as our most visible resident. I saw him being interviewed on the NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams last Thursday night.

He has been on numerous times on Fox News programs in recent months and is often quoted in The Arizona Republic and the local news programs.  

As a co-sponsor of the controversial Senate Bill 1070, it seems everyone is wanting to talk to him. From what I’ve seen, he has handled himself very well.

It must be the result of the public speaking experience he gained when he assumed the role of emcee of our Historical Society Spaghetti Dinner Fund-raisers some years ago.

He’ll be back filling that role again on Saturday, August 28.

Be sure to get your tickets for this year’s spaghetti dinner and auction. It has been moved back to the Community Center so there should be plenty of seating available.

Tickets for the spaghetti dinner fund-raiser are $15 each or two for $25, if purchased in advance. The charge for children under 10 years old is $5. Reserved tables are available for an additional fee. Tickets can be purchased at Gridleys, The Times, Sami’s, the River of Time Museum or from any board member.

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This is the final week to take advantage of our subscription special for new subscribers living in Fountain Hills or the Verde Communities.

If you can have the newspaper delivered to your home each Wednesday, you can take advantage of our $25 special.

That’s less than half of what it costs to buy it off the newsstands in the community and it’s a $13 savings from our regular annual subscription rate of $38.

There is an ad with a coupon for you to fill out and return with a check inside this week’s edition.

This is the final week of Phase two of our Coupon Page and Summer Contest promotion. A new set of advertisers will start the final four weeks of the promotion on August 4. Congratulations to this week’s $100 winner, Jane Robinson, who submitted her coupon at Senor Taco. Take a look at all of the discounts being offered on our coupon page (Page 5A).