CUSD student drop / p. 11
An edition of the East Valley Tribune
Inside
This Week
COMMUNITY ......... 16
San Tan Valley farmer wows dinner guests.
BUSINESS .............. 20
QC couple rolling with their Slumber Shack.
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QC vet works for a fallen warriors tribute BY MARK MORAN Tribune Staff Writer
T
he military has always held a special place in Queen Creek resident Derek Zeigler’s heart. “I left for boot camp 10 days after high school – went into the Marine Corps,” he said. “The military is a really important part of my life and it’s a really important part of many peoples’ lives. It’s something that people are remembered for long after they are gone.”
A device made here opens path for diabetic pilots
Fast forward a little more than a decade and Zeigler founded the Queen Creek Veterans Memorial Foundation to raise about $350,000 to erect a memorial for fallen soldiers in downtown Queen Creek near Ellsworth Road and Civic Parkway on land he said the town has agreed to donate when the foundation raises the money. “The importance behind it is creating a local place here in Queen Creek that is a place for people to gather and remember those who served and those who died for us,” Zeigler said.
“And Queen Creek is a very patriotic place and I felt like it was something that we need. It is a place where people can gather with a unified reason for being there.” He said the monument is designed to combine that patriotism with Queen Creek’s natural beauty. Zeigler said every municipality seems to eventually get a memorial and Queen Creek’s rapid growth makes it a perfect place to add one.
see VETS page 4
Into the future
BY SCOTT SHUMAKER Tribune Staff Writer
L
SPORTS .................... 23
ike all pilots, flight student Natalie Schatton, 25, goes through various preflight steps before taking off at Phoenix Mesa Gateway Airport. A student at the University of North Dakota’s UND Aerospace Flight Training Center there, the Arizona State University graduate is in an accelerated commercial pilot program and dreams of becoming a pilot for American Airlines.
CLASSIFIEDS ............. 26
see PILOT page 6
SPORTS ................. 23
East Valley stone cutter has no heart of stone.
COMMUNITY .............. 17 BUSINESS ................. 20 OPINION ................... 21
Members of the Queen Creek High School Class of 2023 on May 25 began a new chapter in their lives with the traditional tossing of their mortarboards during commencement exercises at Desert Financial Arena in Tempe. For a look at both Queen Creek Unified high schools’ newly minted alumni and a photo essay from the Queen Creek High ceremony, turn to page 15. ( (David Minton/Tribune Staff Photographer)
䘀唀刀一䤀吀唀刀䔀 䘀䄀䌀吀伀刀夀
匀琀漀渀攀䌀爀攀攀欀䘀甀爀渀椀琀甀爀攀⸀挀漀洀