I learned that many of you like the small world stories like the one I told you about in my most recent column.
I heard from Walt Franklin after he read my last two columns.
He and wife Nancy are long-time residents of Fountain Hills. Walt is a member of the Lower Verde Valley Hall of Fame. He is also a former chairman of the Fountain Hills Road Districts Board of Trustees.
He was a little disappointed I didn’t use a particular Road Districts meeting as an example of how tense some of those early-day Road and Sanitary District meetings were. He recalled the night when he ejected Trustee Jesse Genin from the meeting for insulting and disrespectful treatment of Trustee Erna Conroy Charles.
Erna, a former mayor of a town in Minnesota, was one tough lady. I remember she came into my office the next day to tell me all about it. She actually got a chuckle out of the tirade that Jesse went into.
Walt appreciated the two “small world” stories I wrote about in my last column.
Charlene Bryant, one of the two American Airlines flight attendants who discovered they live just around the corner from each other in Fountain Hills while talking on a flight from Chicago, lives on Wendover (not Stancrest) with Walt’s former son-in-law, Robert, and grand- daughter Ava DeCampo. Robert and Walt’s daughter, Leslie, are also both American flight attendants and share custody of Ava half time each week in their Fountain Hills homes.
Walt’s other “small world” story is from over 20 years ago when they lived on Trevino Drive.
One day Nancy answered a knock at the front door. When she opened the door the lady on the porch introduced herself: "Hi, I am Carole Stewart. My husband and I are relocating to Arizona from Florida. We are considering building a home on a lot up the street, and I was just wondering if you would share your thoughts on the area and living in Fountain Hills".
Nancy could hardly contain herself waiting for a break in the liturgy to insert "Aren't you Carole Fry? I was Nancy Sawin back in Toledo during high school." Carole staggered backward and nearly fell off the porch saying "Yes you Are!!"
Nancy and Carol had no contact for the prior 20 years, but were in the same Rogers High School class that attended
Walt’s high school for two years while their school was under construction. During their 20-mile bus ride back and forth, Carole (who later became a nurse) used the time to copy Nancy's Latin homework, nearly every day.
The Stewarts did build a house on Trevino and lived down the street for 10 years or so before moving back to "God’s Country??" Toledo.
So now you know the rest of the story.
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Daughter Holly did a lot of reminiscing recently about her days on the Broadway stage in New York City. The original cast of “Fosse” got together on social media to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the opening of the production that was a tribute to the dance mastery of Bob Fosse.
Holly’s figure was chosen to promote the show on a 60-foot high billboard in Times Square above the Howard Johnson’s Restaurant. I remember seeing it for the first time and got choked up. “That’s my little girl from Fountain Hills making the big time,” I thought.
The next day after the Fosse cast got together, the cast of “Hello Dolly” was all over social media paying tribute to its star, Carol Channing.
The legendary Broadway star died on Jan. 15 at her home in Rancho Mirage, California at the age of 97.
Holly remembered how Channing took her under her wing as she would always give her a hug before she went on stage at each show’s opening. “It was a little superstitious thing she did for good luck at each night’s show,” Holly said.
“She was so nice to everyone in the show. I feel fortunate to have worked with her and getting to know her.”
