“Kudos” is a noun to be used with a singular verb; it means honor, glory, acclaim…

*It’s been a few weeks already, but kudos to Heather Ware, volunteer coordinator for the Town of Fountain Hills, and her many helpers who pulled off yet another giant Make a Difference Day.

More than 250 residents came together for the singular purpose of helping others, helping someone who was in need. Families, churches, service clubs and many others pooled their people and their resources to make this a better town and to show that Fountain Hills is a caring community.

*Kudos to Jim Fairfield, who is retiring this year after teaching at the high school since it opened in 1992 and being the only head coach the football team has ever known.

Jim had plenty of lean years on the gridiron because Fountain Hills really wasn’t known as a football powerhouse, but in the last several years the team has seen its fair share of post-season activity. His last regular season game was memorable – downing Lakeside Blue Ridge for the first time – and that enabled the Falcons to play one more game. He has positively mentored hundreds and hundreds of our young boys over the decades.

*Kudos to Roy Kinsey, who had a trail named after him up in the McDowell Mountain Preserve. Roy is Fountain Hills’ original mountain man and worked tirelessly over the years – in lobbying efforts and in the outdoors building trails – to make the preserve a reality.

I love the fact that the preserve is not just a pretty thing to be looked at from a distance. No, you can hike through the thing and enjoy the great outdoors and the great views looking outward in all directors. Thanks, Roy, for all your hard work.

*Kudos to Karl Gaardsmoe, who was actually shaping up to be one of the best School Board members we have ever had. Karl finished dead last in a field of five, no doubt because of one vote he took along with three other board members to fire teacher Pam Aister.

Such is life in a smaller community, however, and Karl would not change a thing if he had the chance to do it all over again. Karl went through a lot of crap because of that one vote, but he’s been here long enough to realize how things work. And a majority of voters have spoken. That’s how “the system” is supposed to work. The three newcomers will find out soon enough…

*Finally, kudos to Dwight Johnson for pulling together a committee and pushing through yet another school override. It appears the measure has won by the slim margin of 100 votes after trailing on election night. As we often see, some races do go down to the wire, and every vote does count in the end.

Dwight had the unenviable task of staying positive and trying to push through a financial issue for FHUSD at a time when FHUSD’s image was being battered due to controversies surrounding two different teachers.

True to his nature, Dwight stayed the course and managed to bring out enough last-minute support from younger voters to get the override passed. It wasn’t going to be easy even without the controversy – voters just a year ago approved several financial measures for the School District as well as the Town of Fountain Hills.