As you probably saw on the front page of today’s edition, we’ve hired a new executive director at the River of Time Museum.

We got a good one in Tony Basche. He is the former marketing director at the Phoenix Art Museum. During the 10 years he was employed there, annual attendance increased from 188,000 to 300,000 and membership was increased from 5,500 to 26,000.

Now I fully realize that our attendance won’t increase to 300,000, but he has experience in attracting new visitors to museums and that is what we need at the River of Time.

He worked with us in the beginning of our existence and is quite familiar with our museum operation.

He has lived in the community since 1987 and he has already written a “vision for the future” for the museum. We’re all looking for a great future for the museum with his enthusiasm and experience being the catalyst.

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Can you believe summer is half over? In fact, the kids go back to school on August 5. Ryan Winslett is busy working on back-to- school stories which begin this week.

That’s a whole month earlier than when I went to school. Summer vacation always ended with Labor Day. I wonder how long it will be before year-round school will go into effect.

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There hasn’t been any rain to speak of. We had a little shower last Friday afternoon,. A huge wall of dust preceded it.

The forecast was for a better chance of showers or thunderstorms starting Tuesday, the 16th. It was also calling for a string of sub-100-degree high temperatures through next week. But there should be plenty of humidity to go with those lower temperatures.

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I read the other day in the latest edition of Publishers Auxiliary, the community newspapers trade publication, that community newspapers remain the most effective medium for grocery ads.

In a survey conducted by the Reynolds Journalism Institute for the National Newspaper Association, some 62 percent of readers either “often” or “very often” read supermarket ads or ad inserts.

Readership of department store ads were higher than in surveys conducted in 2010 and 2011. Other findings show 76 percent of readers use newspaper inserts for making better purchasing decisions. Also some 60 percent of readers in small towns and cities prefer newspaper ads over direct mail.

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I want to wish my wonderful bride a happy birthday. And this one is a special one . . . 60.

You still look terrific. Remember that day a couple of months ago when I went in for an EMG. When I was finished, the nurse asked me if she should call my “daughter” to come pick me up.

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You should have received your latest edition of the Fountain Hills Community Guide in the mail recently.

It’s a good reference for all those questions you may have during the year about local services and much more.