Good morning, good afternoon or good evening; whenever you may have had time to sit down to read your hometown weekly paper.

My name is Brent Cruikshank and I am honored to be the new assistant publisher of Western States Publishers.

My father, Alan Cruikshank, along with Arthur Hewitt founded the company and The Fountain Hills Times in 1974. Since then he has played a major role in the community. He announced in his column last week that he will begin to retire this year and he has asked me to continue to build the company and this newspaper. I am excited to get this opportunity.

Now I’d like to tell you a little about me.

I was born in 1976 at Scottsdale-Osborn hospital. We had a house in Paradise Valley. I was too young to remember but my dad would drive to Fountain Hills every day for work until my family made the move to this town in 1980.

As a four-year-old, my first reaction was “what will I do in this town?” Back then, it was mostly dirt and a few newly-built neighborhoods.

It got a little better for me when I picked my bedroom and it had a view of the Fountain. I remember how excited I was to see the town landmark from my window and watch it go up all the time.

I attended Teddy Bear Pre-School and then grade school at Four Peaks Elementary, which was located off Calaveras Avenue at the time. Then it was off to McDowell Mountain Elementary when it opened and then back to Four Peaks to finish eighth grade. I started my high school journey being bussed to Coronado. Then, as a junior, I transferred back to the town’s brand new high school which opened in 1993.

I graduated in 1994 and was a part of the first graduating class of 75 students. Following high school, I journeyed to New York City to attend photography school after learning I had a passion to work at the newspaper as my father has over the years. I finished school and then moved back to Fountain Hills and worked at a few local restaurants before my father brought me on at the newspaper.

My first job was running the darkroom, developing film and doing the prints used in the newspaper each week. I also shot house photos for real estate ads. I started in advertising sales in 1997. I received my Bachelor of Science degree in business management from the University of Phoenix in 2014.

Over the past 19 years, I have learned a lot through working with business owners in this town and also getting to know them on a personal level, which is the best part of my job. I never thought of myself as a sales person but someone who cares to see the success of a local business owner. It makes me so happy to hear them say that they have got a lot of business through an ad in the paper or in one of our other publications.

As the assistant publisher, I want to implement new ideas to go along with your award-winning weekly newspaper. Fountain Hills has been a huge part of my father’s and family’s life. It will bring me such happiness to continue what my father has built and believed in; and that is delivering your hometown news on a daily and weekly basis. I look forward to this new journey.

I am so happy to have you with me as we continue to be your source for news and what’s happening in your hometown.