The L. Alan Cruikshank River of Time Museum board has rescheduled the annual Lower Verde River Valley Hall of Fame dinner for Wednesday, Sept. 23.

The board’s recent meeting via Zoom gave members a chance to discuss the new date and how to go forward with the planning.

“It was an incredibly sad day when we had to cancel the dinner in March because the Community Center was closing because of the coronavirus,” said Barbara Hansen, chair of the Hall of Fame Selection Committee and Hall of Fame dinner. “We knew it was the right decision, but it did not make it any easier.”

The board rescheduled the event for May 27 but later felt people were not ready to gather in large crowds. Additionally, the Community Center is only open in a limited capacity.

This year’s inductees include Art Ammon, Kate B. Austin, Stephenie Bjorkman, Greg Harvey, Boe James, Merita Kraya, Henry Leger, Dennis Meyers, Dr. Bill Myhr, Bill Pape, Paul Perreault, Jr., Jenny Willogrod and Judi Yates.

Legacy Awards go to Fountain Hills Community Garden, being accepted by Rita Applegate, and the Verdes Habitat for Humanity, being accepted by Tom Mulleady.

Those with reservations for the previously scheduled dinner but are unable to attend may contact the museum about a refund. The board hopes that since the dinner serves as a fundraiser for the museum that those people will allow the pre-paid tickets to serve as a tax-deductible donation. A tax receipt will be provided by the museum on request.

The originally-scheduled March event was at the sell-out point when it had to be canceled.

“This is not the year to cancel a celebration honoring outstanding individuals who have contributed so much to our communities,” Hansen said. “The inductees deserve to be honored, and we are doing our best to make sure this happens. We are hoping this is the last scheduling of this dinner. However, if the virus keeps going, we are just going to keep rescheduling.

“In my opinion, there is absolutely no good reason to cancel this dinner. These people are too important to our communities and honoring them is what should be done.”

The first Induction Dinner was held April 24, 2004, to honor the Lower Verde River Valley Hall of Fame.

At that time, Bob Thomson, president of the River of Time Museum Foundation, wrote in the program, “We thank you for your support of this dinner which gives the opportunity to honor 29 special people who have contributed their time and talents in a positive way for the betterment of the Lower Verde River Valley, including Fountain Hills, the Verde Communities, Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation and Goldfield Ranch.”

Over the years, the numbers were narrowed each year to five inductees from Fountain Hills and one each from the Verdes and Fort McDowell. However, this year, the committee decided in keeping with the 50th anniversary of the Fountain being turned on, the number of Hall of Fame inductees would be increased.