When I arrived at my office last Friday morning, there was a surprise waiting for me on my desk.

Former neighbors of mine, Bill and Judy Poehle, had stopped by and left a very yellowed copy of a historical newspaper. I had fun reading it. It is dated August 9, 1974.

The front page had a two word headline in the biggest and boldest typeface I ever remember seeing in the Phoenix metro newspaper.

It read, “Nixon resigns”.

The entire front page was devoted to the Nixon resignation. There were two pictures on the front page. One showed Nixon hugging his daughter, Julie Nixon Eisenhower, and the other was of the new president, Gerald Ford, shown with Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. Another story was about Ronald Reagan calling for Ford to appoint Sen. Barry Goldwater as his vice president. He ended up selecting Nelson Rockefeller.

There were also stories about how the resignation meant Congress would no longer have to spend time discussing his possible removal from office. The other story was about Ford calling Nixon’s resignation “one of the greatest personal sacrifices for the country.”

There was also a front page editorial by the Republic’s editorial board saying that the nation had lived through “Nixon’s seventh political crisis.”

Of course, that latest scandal was Watergate. For the past two weeks, we have been hearing a lot of talk about Deflate-gate, a possible scandal involving the New England Patriots and quarterback Tom Brady over using deflated footballs in the AFC title game and the right to play in the Super Bowl.

It started me wondering how many times the use of gate attached as a suffix to another word has been used. So, I Googled it.

“The suffix ‘–gate’ derived from the Watergate scandal of the United States in the early 1970s, which resulted in the resignation of U. S. president Richard M. Nixon.

“The suffix is used to embellish a noun or name to stress the existence of a far-reaching scandal, particularly in politics and government.”

There was a long list of “something-gates.”

Some I have heard of such as Monica-gate (President Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky) and Bridge-gate (New Jersey Governor Christy), but there were many others I had not, such as “Gargle –gate” (when the Irish prime minister sounded drunk during a television interview) and “Worm-gate” (Australian federal election leaders debate controversy). There was even another scandal listed that included the New England Patriots, “Spy-gate.” It seems the Patriots were charged with videotaping the New York Jets’ defensive signals during a 2007 game.)

Getting back to that old newspaper, it featured a full-page ad for Fountain HiIls on the back page of the front section. The headline read, “See the Signs of Progress at Fountain Hills.”

It had a drawing showing a multitude of signs on businesses that were operating in the community.

There was Little John’s Restaurant, Adams Brothers Interiors, Mr. G’s Interiors, Fountain Mountain In, Huck Finns Restaurant and approximately 20 more.

There is one business shown that is still open for business in the community. And that is Kay Kinder’s Fountain Fashions. She is in a different location, (the Bashas’ shopping center) but she’s still in business.