Linda McThrall is the newest member of the L. Alan Cruikshank River of Time Museum and Exploration Center team. McThrall joined the staff April 1 after spending the past 17 years as a reporter and special publications editor at The Fountain Hills Times.
“The River of Time opportunity came up pretty serendipitously,” McThrall said. “Cherie and I were talking about our backgrounds, when she expressed interest in my past experience in non-profits.”
McThrall was executive director for the Milton H. Erickson Foundation, a mental health education foundation. She worked there from 1986 until 2000. A good portion of her job was meeting and event planning, organizing conferences for as many as 7,000 people in Anaheim, Calif., and 3,000 in Hamburg, Germany.
After leaving the foundation, she was a stay-at-home mom. She was offered a position back at The Times in 2005, when the paper had an opening for the now-closed Let’s Go, a monthly arts and entertainment publication.
“I jumped at the chance to be back in newspapers,” McThrall said. “And even though I am so excited about my new position, I will always love my time at the paper. I grew up there.”
Her first job after graduating with her journalism degree from ASU was as a reporter for The Times.
“I was only 23 and very inexperienced,” she said. “But I was so lucky to work at the paper and have the opportunity to learn from the people there, including Alan Cruikshank.”
She remarked that the job at The River of Time enables her to continue working with Cruikshank, one of the founders of the museum.
“Alan will always be one of my favorite people,” McThrall said. “I’m glad I’ll get to work with him.”
McThrall has taken the position of director of development and community outreach. Executive Director Cherie Koss said that “Linda is a dynamic addition to our team that includes myself and Director of Operations, Yvonne Prater. Her skills and expertise will allow us to expand our efforts and continue to grow our organization.”
