DUI CLASSES ONLINE! 3200 N Hayden Rd ~ Suite 170 - Just South of Osborn Rd 480.429.9044 WOW! ONLINE DUI SERVICES! SCOTTSDALETREATMENT.COM ARIZONA’S FIRST ONLINE DUI SERVICES HOME • OFFICE • TRAVEL ANYWHERE YOU CAN “LOG ON!” ONLINE SERVICES: MVD • SR-22 ALCOHOL SCREENINGS, EDUCATION & TREATMENT ARIZONA’S FIRST ONLINE DUI SERVICES Compare our rates. CALL US LAST! Page 40 June 2015 By Rachael Bouley Over 70 years ago, in 1942, eight aircraft crash-landed in the frozen, barren tundra of Greenland after running out of fuel. As part of Operation Bolero, these planes were carrying war materials to the Allies during World War II. While the pilots survived and were rescued by dogsleds, the planes were left behind, and they are now buried deep within the glaciers of Greenland. Valley resident Vernon Rich is a man on a mission. At 60 years old, this summer he will make his fourth trip to Greenland, as part of an effort to recover and ultimately restore one of these planes, a historic P-38 Lightning plane that rests under 350 feet of ice and was located through radar. As a child, Vernon adopted his father’s passion for the mechanics of cars, boats and planes. Vernon spent a lot of time building model airplanes and cars, until he was old enough to work on the real thing. His career has taken him throughout the United States, Middle East and Central America, where he has worked on both current military vehicles and aircrafts, as well as restoration and recovery projects. “I’ve always had a fascination for the older stuff and I’ve had the opportunity to rebuild and recreate new components for airplanes,” Vernon said. “It’s a pretty cool job to have. I’m doing what I like best to make a living, so it’s fun for me every day.” To get in prime physical condition, Vernon uses Sunfare, a company that delivers healthy meals to his doorstep. The meal program helps him lose weight and become healthy before he departs for Greenland on June 1. Vernon and his seven core team members will set up camp on the glacier, where they will face extreme weather, including strong wind gusts, cold temperatures and snowstorms. He has prior experience with these challenges, as his passion for airplanes and adventurous spirit have led him to Greenland three times already, on a mission to recover a B-29 Super Fortress. While that project ultimately ended with the plane catching on fire, it was a life-changing experience for Vernon, who learned that not everything plays out as planned. “If it was easy, everyone would do it and all these planes would have been recovered,” he said. “We have a good team together, but we recognize that it’s going to be three months of hard work.” The expanses of mountains and ice that make up Greenland’s incredible environment and spectacular scenery made a fourth adventure impossible to resist. “It’s hard to explain what going to Greenland is like. When you go to Greenland, it’s just like going to Antarctica or the North Pole,” Vernon said. “You don’t know what quiet is until you go out there. It’s a deafening silence. It’s addicting, and once you go there you always want to go back and see it again.” After setting up camp, Vernon and his team will get to work on melting a hole in the glacier in order to remove the plane. Once the parts are safely back in the United States, Vernon will begin assembling and restoring them in his shop near the Deer Valley airport before transporting them back to the plane. If the plane is successfully recovered and restored, it will fly in different air shows to allow the public to see a piece of history. While this adventure may seem crazy to some, it’s worth it for Vernon, who says he would definitely plan another trip. The support of his family, especially his parents and wife, is encouraging. “I’ve been some crazy places and done some unusual work,” Vernon said. “My wife and I have been married for 34 years and she’s still here, so I guess she’s gotten used to it.” Valley resident heads to Greenland to recover WWII plane Vernon Rich is making his fourth trip to Greenland in an effort to recover and restore a P-38 airplane.

Hillary Gurley YourArcadiaRealtor.com | 602.463.3359 CB Canyon Estates | 5843 N. 46th St. | $1,049,000 Biltmore Heights | 5201 N. 33rd Street | $679,000 Marion Estates | 4107 E. San Miguel | $725,000 Lower Arcadia | 4901 E. Osborn Rd. | $499,000 Marion Estates 4319 E. Marion Way $425,000 Sold Sold brought buyer Sold brought buyer Thinking of Selling? I have buyers looking for a 1/2 acre or more in Arcadia Proper. Page 41 June 2015 By Katie Mayer Cinco de Mayo is a day of celebration for many, but especially for area resident William Simmons and his family. In May 2011, William and his then pregnant wife, Jenet, had some friends over for dinner. The evening wasn’t much different from any other evening, except that after the guests left, William developed a headache. The couple went to bed, but in the middle of the night William awoke violently ill. Thinking it might be food poisoning, Jenet moved to the couch and gave her husband some space to rest. “I was mostly awake that night because I knew in my heart of hearts that something was deeply wrong,” Jenet said. At 5 a.m. when Jenet went into the bedroom to take William’s temperature, she found that his skin was seemingly on fire. The normally gentle and quiet man smacked her hand away and appeared completely disoriented. Unable to help him dress or reason with him, Jenet called her father-in-law and the two of them called 911. “He couldn’t speak and he wasn’t there mentally,” Jenet said. “He would shoot out of bed when he heard a voice and then just fall back and close his eyes.” Paramedics rushed William to HonorHealth Scottsdale Osborn Medical Center. After a couple of hours, Jenet received a shocking diagnosis: William had bacterial meningitis. A relatively rare illness, bacterial meningitis is an infection of the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord and causes death in 10 percent of those who contract it, according to the Cleveland Clinic. If not treated early enough, the disease can also result in permanent brain damage, vision and hearing loss, and paralysis. To help combat the infection, doctors placed William in a medically induced coma in the hospital’s intensive care unit. Unfortunately, by May 2, William’s body began shutting down and Jenet had to face the fact that she could lose her husband, and that her children would be without a father. “That morning, the ICU doctor kept saying to me, ‘You don’t realize how sick your husband is. He is dying,’” Jenet said. Jenet fell to her knees and cried. The stay- at-home mom and former teacher had lost her mother as a child and now her husband’s life was teetering on the edge. But just as quickly as William became sick, he suddenly took a surprising turn for the better. “In a flash, everything changed…he was breathing on his own and his heart rate stabilized,” Jenet said. On May 5, 2011, doctors awoke William from his coma. They cautioned Jenet, however, that her husband might never be the same. “Upon waking up, the nurse went through a list of questions,” William said. “One of the questions was to see where I was mentally and what day it was.” He added, “I had no idea what day it was, but when she said, ‘It’s May 5, 2011,’ I said, ‘Oh, it’s Cinco de Mayo.’ That’s what sort of led them to believe I wasn’t totally brain dead.” From that day forward, William made strides in his recovery. Doctors now believe William contracted the disease through an unseen hole where his brain fluid had been draining out of his nose. Scottsdale ear, nose and throat surgeon, Dr. Timothy Kelsch, discovered the hole and performed a surgery to repair it. Kelsch said that anytime there is a crack in the lining of someone’s skull, it puts the person at risk for infection. “Our brain fluid is mostly made of sugar water…leakage of our brain from one tiny hole can allow for infection,” Kelsch said. Although he faced setbacks and recovering wasn’t easy, the construction contractor went back to work within a month and not long after that the couple gave birth to their second son. “He is very fortunate to make a 100 percent recovery and have no deficits,” Kelsch said. The Simmons family are deeply devoted Christians and credit God’s grace for restoring William’s life. Jenet said that relying on her faith coupled with the support of friends, family and church members helped her get through the scariest days. “When all was said and done, we got the answer to our prayer that we wanted,” said Bea Simmons, William’s mother. To honor God and celebrate William’s recovery, the Simmons family hosts an annual Cinco de Mayo party at their Scottsdale home. This year, more than 100 guests attended the event, including Kelsch and his family, who have now become friends with the Simmons family. “They are an inspiring family,” Kelsch said. “They can design and make anything… He is a contractor and builder and she is very creative. They have a wonderful, welcoming home.” He added, “It has been a joy to get to know them.” Tracy Goble of Scottsdale, who Jenet calls her “adopted mom,” said Jenet and William bring a “freshness to everyone in their lives.” “They are faithful; they are fun; and they are gatherers of people, so I think the Cinco de Mayo party is such an indicator of who they are,” Goble said. “It’s not about them just quietly letting the time pass. It’s saying, ‘We want to bring everybody we love together and celebrate life.’” Goble said she and her husband were prepared to invite Jenet and her children to live with them if William did not make it through, but they are grateful he survived and give God all of the credit. Today, 34-year-olds Jenet and William are healthy and happy and enjoy spending time with their boys Carter, 5, and Trevor, 3. Although Carter was too young to know what his father endured, he knows the powerful reason behind the Cinco de Mayo party. “Because Jesus saved Daddy from dying,” Carter said recently on the four year anniversary of his father’s recovery. William said that although he doesn’t remember the days he battled the illness, seeing the support from his family and friends while he was sick and recovering has led him to understand the importance of community. Both he and Jenet encourage others facing illness in their families to rely on their faith and step forward and help people, even in small ways. “This has forever changed us,” Jenet said. “It changed the direction of where we were one point in our lives to who we are now.” She added, “Any small act of kindness makes such a big difference in people’s lives and this has really shown us how to be there for other people in a crisis or even just in everyday life.” Cinco de Mayo holds special meaning for area family William and Jenet Simmons (third couple from the left) stand with their family at their Cinco de Mayo party.