I had wondered for some time if former Arizona Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson had the early stages of Parkinson’s Disease.

The announcement was made last week that he had been diagnosed with the disease.

The thought crossed my mind every time I watched him walk to the pitcher’s mound.

He walked as if he was carrying heavy weights in his hands. His arms had no movement.

In my column of April 8, I listed several early warning signs of an individual having Parkinson’s. The last of those items I mentioned was “arms may not swing when you walk”.

I know he is a fighter and I wish him the best in his battle with Parkinson’s.

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Can you believe it’s already May?

Where has the time gone?

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Make your reservations for this month’s dinner meeting of the Fountain Hills & Lower Verde River Valley Historical Society.

Guest speaker will be Ruben Balderas, president of the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation. He will be speaking about the challenges and changes that are taking place there.

This will be the first time he has spoken in Fountain Hills since he became president some two years ago. He replaced Dr. Clinton Pattea, long-time Yavapai leader who passed away.

The meeting will be held at the Community Center on Wednesday, May 20. Dinner is served at 6:30 p.m. and cocktails are available beginning at 6 p.m.

Cost is $18 for members and $22 for guests. Reservations are required. Call Jean Linzer by Sunday, May 17, at 837-0762.

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Also make plans to attend the “teaser” opening of a number of new exhibits that will be a part of the new water exhibit elements that will open in the fall at the River of Time Museum. May 18 is International Museum Day. Since the museum is closed on Mondays, the local celebration will be on Saturday, May 16.

That day will also be the start of summer hours for the museum. That means the museum will only be open Fridays from 1 to 4 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The renovations will be installed during the off periods this summer.

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Seeing Freddie Roach at ringside as Manny Pacquaio’s trainer Saturday night in his big match with Floyd Mayweather brought back some old memories of the days when Club Mirage had a world class boxing training facility.

For those of you new to the community, Club Mirage was a tennis, fitness and swim club on Fountain Hills Boulevard just north of the Saguaro Boulevard intersection.

Roach was a member of British Heavyweight Champ Frank Bruno’s training team when he came to Fountain Hills to train for his world title bout against Heavyweight Champ Mike Tyson in Las Vegas.

This was in the days when Tyson was totally dominating his opponents. Most of his fights lasted less than a round.

Bruno went seven rounds with Tyson.

During that training session, every evening you would see Freddie Roach sitting at the bar enjoying his favorite beverage.

I’ll tell you more about Club Mirage in another column someday.