One recent day was like a trip back in time.

The day began when I heard a woman say in the front room, “Is Alan in?”

Tammie, our receptionist, came into my office and said, “There’s a Dee Watts here to see you. She said it’s been some time since she saw you last.”

I went to the front and when she turned around, I recognized her immediately. She was a part of the Ryan family that used to own a restaurant called The Village Pub. At the height of its popularity, it was the place to go on Saturday nights in Fountain Hills. Singer Jeff Dayton and his band were often there on weekends.

It was also a popular lunch spot, serving good burgers and sandwiches. Simple, home-cooked-style meals were the offerings at dinner. Nothing fancy, just good food at reasonable prices.

Dee was not one of the regulars, only working there on occasion, but we shared a lot of memories in a short time. It had been probably 20 years since I had last seen her.

Several hours later that day I went to lunch in the restaurant that is now in that location, the Pacific Moon.

Sitting in the booth across from me was Donna Hansen, who had worked for my ex-wife’s travel agency years ago and it had been at least 15 years since I had last seen her.

She was having lunch with Sally Atchinson, the official first resident of Fountain Hills.

When I got back from lunch, ad rep John Gibson told me that he had heard Paul Brockmann was in town.

Another name from the past!

Brockmann was an early-day contractor in the community. Operating as Fountain Hills Construction, he built the first commercial building in the downtown area (Fountain Hills Liquor Store – now Barbara’s Resale), Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church, the Catholic Church of the Ascension, the classroom wing of the Fountain Hills Presbyterian Church and 38 homes.

He left the community in 1988 due to a major construction slowdown during a recession. “I was offered a lot more money as a bricklayer in California, and there was no work in Fountain Hills so I went there,” he said.

I had read an interesting story about Paul about two weeks prior to his Fountain Hills visit. The daily paper in his hometown of Lomita, Calif., had run a story on Paul’s unique collection of ballroom dancing gowns — some 55,000 of them!

Growing up poor in the war-torn streets of Bremen, Germany, nothing seemed so elegant to Paul than watching girls dance in flowing new dresses.

He longed for a life of class and grace. He wanted to wear the best clothes and shoes.

When he saw his now wife, Margot, at a school dance, he fell in love with the way she moved. In those days, the waltz, fox trot, tango and polka were popular. Paul loved to watch women twirling in long, loose, cascading skirts that swung freely.

He particularly likes taffeta, a shiny, crisp fabric.

“What really gets me is the way the taffeta dresses swish when you dance,” he said.

After moving to the United States, Paul started buying dresses at thrift shops in Cincinnati, Phoenix and Los Angeles, the places where he lived. When he lived in Fountain Hills, he stored them in his garage and the liquor store building where he also had his construction office.

When he left Fountain Hills he had 20,000 dresses.

Only Margot knew about his collection. That is until last year when his daughter, Louise, stumbled upon some boxes of dresses in the garage.

The family decided it was time to sell the collection. The dresses are all sizes, colors and styles.

Margot said she has not tried most of them on, but keeps her favorites in her closet at home.

Paul said he is ready to sell them but is hoping that one individual will buy the entire collection. He has had several phone calls since the story ran in the newspaper.

When he came to my office, I was surprised at how young he looks, far less than his 78 years. In fact, he looked much the same, except for some gray hair, than when I last saw him in 1988.

“The dancing keeps me young,” he said.

He has a new hobby --professional bass fishing.

He said he has two more dreams to achieve – one is to dance with his wife a waltz in Vienna at midnight on New Year’s Eve and the other is to win a pro bass tournament.

With his persistence, I’m sure he’ll accomplish both of them.