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The Lower Verde River Valley Hall of Fame induction ceremony is right around the corner, with nine individuals set to be honored this year.
Inductees from Fountain Hills include Alan Magazine, Bill Craig, Cindy Couture, Dennis Brown, Tammy Bell, Vicky Derksen and Jamie Sunshine. Dwayne Abbe is the inductee from Rio Verde. The Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation nominee is yet to be named.
Following are the second set of profiles on this year’s inductees.
Bill Craig
To say Bill enjoys the great outdoors would be a giant understatement. Before moving to Fountain Hills in 2008, he logged 44 years of teaching, spending most of that time as a high school teacher of mathematics and computer-related subjects in Maryland.
After moving here, Bill quickly took to nature, serving on the board of directors and as treasurer for Friends of McDowell Mountain Regional Park from 2011 to 2020. He has been a Town Council-appointment commissioner on the McDowell Mountain Preservation Commission since 2012 and was granted emeritus status by the director of Community Services in 2019.
He has been a member of the Sonoran Conservancy board since 2011 and, as such, has served as a trailhead host, hike leader and the appointed leader of the Trailblazers since 2012. Bill has designed six of the hiking trails in the town preserve and directed the building and maintenance of these trails. His work also includes the maintenance of the Lake Overlook trail and the paths at the Desert Botanical Garden off Fountain Hills Blvd.
In addition, he is a town volunteer for many community events and was chosen as the Volunteer of the Year for Fountain Hills in 2022.
Vicky Derksen
Vicky moved to Fountain Hills in 1997 with her husband and she spent 13 years as an educator, homeschooling their two children and teaching class for other homeschooled students. After her kids graduated from high school, she enrolled in the inaugural class for the Fountain Hills Leadership Academy, which turned into one of the most pivotal moments of her adult life.
Everything on her “service list” is a downstream result of that experience. Today she runs her own stargazing business, podcast and blog called Night Sky Tourist and is writing a book about night sky experiences for roadtrippers along Highway 89 from Mexico to Canada.
Vicky has volunteered for or held leadership positions in the Cultural & Civic Association, Dark Sky Association and Festival, L. Alan Cruikshank River of Time Museum & Exploration Center, Sister Cities Commission, International Dark Sky Discovery Center, Community Foundation and serves as a stargazing hike guide for the Sonoran Conservancy of Fountain Hills.
It took Vicky a while to adapt to the Sonoran Desert after growing up in northern Idaho along rivers and surrounded by maple trees, but the proximity of great outdoor recreation, especially hiking, won her over.
Alan Magazine
Alan and his wife Cynthia retired to Fountain Hills in 2006 following careers in Washington, D.C. Having a passion for community engagement, Alan has participated in a number of committees including as chair of the Strategic Planning Advisory Commission. The SPAC plan has been adopted and implemented by the town and serves as a guide for ongoing community direction.
In his spare time Alan served eight years on the Town Council and is a member of the Board of Directors of the International Dark Sky Discovery Center. An award-winning nature photographer, he has participated in every Chamber Fountain Festival of the Arts since 2008. He continues to show his work at art fairs throughout Arizona.
He retired as president and CEO of the Health Industry Manufacturers Association. Prior to that, he was founder and president of the Council on Competitiveness, served as director of intergovernmental relations at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and was policy director at the International City Management Association. He also was elected to two terms on the Board of Supervisors of Fairfax County, Virginia. He received his Ph.D. in political science from the University of Maryland in 1976.
