Old Timers Recap

Keri, Meg, and I attended the Scottsdale Old Timers Reunion at El Dorado yesterday. Spotting many familiar surnames on the name tags led to wonderful reminiscences about the early days of Scottsdale. We found photos of Keri’s grandfather, Tyson Ballard, in some of the old Scottsdale High School yearbooks, along with her grandmother, Nell Hearne.

Probably the highlight for me was a fascinating personal lecture by Paul Messinger on small business success strategies, including employee stock ownership plans; diversification; strategic mergers, acquisitions, and cross-investment; and reinvesting profits for long-term growth. Talk about sharp, this man could teach a class!

I also enjoyed talking to DeEtte Person, formerly of City of Scottsdale public affairs. She’s working under contract with the Dana Bracia of the Scottsdale Public Library to collect, and preserve resident-owned historical photos and personal stories for the “Digital History Collection.”

In this ongoing effort that started with “Scottsdale Remembers: Recollections of our Past,” the Library is hosting Community Collage sessions where residents can make appointments to bring in their photos and documents to be scanned while-you-watch, and then returned immediately. Email Dana to make an appointment.

Scottsdale Remembers was designated an Legacy Project for the Arizona Centennial. You can see many of the images preserved so far on the Memory Project website, and on the Scottsdale Public Library website. You can also sign in using your library card in order to add your own comments on the images.