Recently, I had a meaningful and slightly curious experience.

It’s May. Memorial Day and the end of the school year are in sight. Suddenly, you’re thinking about a summer vacation. A little advance planning — and some insider tips — can save you a lot of money. Whether you’re booking airfare, a car rental or a hotel room, there are questions you should ask first.

It’s no secret that Arizona offers some of the best and most luxurious AAA Four and Five Diamond resorts in the country. However, many travelers don’t realize that many of these properties also feature kid camps that aim to please even the pickiest pint-sized traveler. This provides mom and dad with a guilt-free way to indulge in some much-needed couple time, while allowing kids to make friends and create memories of their own.

This hit ’80s band, responsible for songs “Heart and Soul,” “The Heart of Rock and Roll,” and “The Power of Love,” performs in Chandler.

Arizona’s economic recovery is flattening out statewide, with job growth outside the Phoenix metro area for this year and next predicted to be anemic.

A zoning adjustment hearing to discuss allowing a medical marijuana dispensary to go into a location at 48th Street and Warner Road was postponed due to an application error.

Arizona's economic recovery is flattening out statewide, with job growth outside the Phoenix metro area for this year and next predicted to be anemic.

Practicing what we have been preaching about the need to shop locally, the Ahwatukee Foothills Chamber of Commerce is partnering with a local business on our annual print Resource Guide and Directory. The Chamber’s 2013-14 Directory will be marketed, designed and produced through an agreement with the Ahwatukee Foothills News (AFN), the publisher of this newspaper and a chamber member. We believe this will be a valuable partnership for all chamber members and those who take advantage of this opportunity to get their message out to the public.

Ahwatukee is a pretty tight community especially when sports involved.

"Mud" has the feel of a classic, although it's perhaps not enthralling enough to be one. The third and most elaborate feature to date from writer-director Jeff Nichols seems to have been adapted from a novel that doesn't exist -- something by James Lee Burke, perhaps, or Cormac McCarthy, or some other specialist in frequently violent tales about the challenges to masculinity and the forging of new identities that face rural people who belong to a sprawling modern world -- who might be hanging out in a supermarket parking lot one moment and falling into a creek full of deadly cottonmouths the next.

We were married on St. Patrick’s Day at the Foothills Golf Club. The wedding was beautiful, everyone had a wonderful time, the pictures came out great — best wedding a couple could ask for. If it wasn’t for the Ahwatukee community; however, our day would have been a disaster.

Former Arizona State University President Dr. Lattie Coor is among the five distinguished award recipients scheduled to be honored at the Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce’s 55th Annual Black & White Ball and Business Awards on April 27 from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Sheraton Phoenix Downtown Hotel, 330 N. Third Street.

The 98th annual Board of Visitors Charity ball took place on April 6 at the JW Marriott Camelback Inn in Paradise Valley.

When former Scottsdale resident Mark Macias used the New York City subway’s 42nd Street Shuttle this past winter, he was transported not only between Grand Central Station and Times Square but back to his hometown.

Their stories are nowhere near as harrowing.

Local running coach Susan Loken said there were several Ahwatukee Foothills residents competing in the Boston Marathon on Monday.

Jackie Robinson was the ideal class act to break the barrier and become the first black player in Major League Baseball.

The television humorist and star of “The Sinbad Show” performs stand-up comedy in Chandler.

Mountain Pointe High School’s wind ensemble and percussion concert will also feature a silent auction to raise money for their Keep the Beat Going fundraiser this Thursday, April 11.

1. Take Interstate 10 east to Wild Horse Pass Boulevard, Exit 162. Turn right on Wild Horse Pass Boulevard. Take first right toward Wild Horse Pass Hotel and Casino. Take a right at the fork and follow road around a curve to the outlets.

On Thursday, April 4 the new Phoenix Premium Outlets will open with 90 stores ready to offer discounts of 25 to 65 percent off retail prices.

Much of the team at Arizona Leather Restorations have been helping families protect their furniture investments for close to 10 years.

An athlete well known to Arizona sports fans is coming back to the state, this time as a mixed martial arts fighter.

With opening day quickly approaching, Vee Quiva Hotel and Casino will hire hundreds at a job fair on Tuesday, March 26. Positions will be focused on food and beverage outlets. Up to 150 applicants will be hired with many being offered positions the same day. The job fair is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Boys & Girls Club Komatke Branch, 5047 W. Pecos Road in Laveen. Applicants are encouraged to bring their resume and photo identification for an interview.

State Farm, a Fortune 50 company, is hosting a career fair from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. March 20 and from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on March 21 at the Sheraton Phoenix Airport Hotel, 1600 S. 52nd St. in Tempe.