“I‘ve never seen anything like it,” was all Editor Mike Scharnow could say Monday morning when asked how he liked the game Sunday.

You see, he’s a big Packers fan and he obviously didn’t like the outcome of Sunday’s playoff game with Seattle.

-------

Now that the weather is nice, my good friend and walking buddy, Frank Kainrath, and I have changed our daily walking routine.

When the temperature is over 70 degrees, you’ll probably see us walking the new path in the middle of the Avenue of the Fountains.

On days when it turns cooler, you may run into us on our old path inside Target. We will return there when it gets too warm. We feel like we know where everything is in the way of merchandise. I’ve bought a couple of real bargains when things have gone on clearance during our trips around the store. And the long-time employees all have gotten to know us as we exchange greetings daily during our walks.

But getting back to the Avenue of the Fountains, they did a nice job of blending the old trees with the new. And the new fountains are appealing. People have already started tossing in their pocket change into the larger pools.

Incidentally, the distance to walk up and down the Avenue is .7 miles. It’s uphill walking toward the West. When you get to the turn-around at La Montana, it’s all down hill from there going back to Saguaro. If you walk it briskly, you get a good little workout.

-------

I got some sad news Sunday when I went to Bashas’ to pick up a few things between games.

I was told long-time deli manager Donna Westbrook had passed away. Old-timers in the community may remember when she operated the Fountain Restaurant at the Village Bazaar. It was Fountain Hills’ first shopping center and was located where the Plaza Fountainside is today.

Others may remember her as the “Duck Lady.”

She could be seen feeding ducks at Fountain Park early every morning. She paid for their food with her own money and donations left in a jar on her counter in the restaurant.

Donna and Kay Kinder called me about a story they had read in the Scottsdale Progess newspaper. It was reported that a number of mallards were going to be destroyed if they weren’t removed from a McCormick Ranch development.

My family and I joined Donna and Kay, two other Bazaar merchants and some of their employees for the great duck caper.

I remember seeing my daughter, Holly, sliding head first into a pond attempting to catch one of the ring-necked ducks that proved more difficult to catch than we had anticipated.

Some of the residents of the townhouse development where the ducks had been making their home, were out by their pool enjoying happy hour when our group started our little escapade. One woman said the group was “quacking up” watching us chasing ducks with our nets and towels.

But that‘s how we had mallard ducks introduced to our Fountain Park. Of the 13 mallard ducks we brought back to Fountain HIlls, eight were still there years later, Donna reported.

It was Donna’s idea and she did a good job of taking care of them for many years.