Category Archives: Community

The Boomin’ 4th

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“The Boomin’ 4th” will again be hosted by the East Parker County Chamber of Commerce, celebrating our nation’s birthday with an Independence Day extravaganza. The celebration will be held on Thursday, July 4th at 6 p.m. at the Gene L. Voyles Park, 210 North Lakeshore Drive, Hudson Oaks. “The Chamber Board of Directors and staff are excited about the second annual Boomin’4th event, each year will continue to grow and be the most dynamic fireworks show in Parker County, Chamber President, Lisa Flowers said. “We have a community of sponsors that help the Chamber bring the Boomin’4th to fruition, we could not do it without our sponsors,” Flowers said.

The family-fun event will feature a live music performance by the recording artist Katy Keenie, featured on Bob Kingsley’s Country Top 40. “I am excited about returning for the second Boomin’ 4th event, Keenie said. “ Our band had a great time last year.”

Special guest Dana Bowman will be parachuting into the Boomin’ 4th event. Bowman has astounded the nation and the world with his drive, determination, and will to succeed. He is a retired Sergeant First Class with the U.S. Army where he was a Special Forces Soldier and a member of the U.S. Army’s elite parachute team, the Golden Knights. Bowman is a double amputee; he lost his legs in an accident during the annual Golden Knights training in Yuma, Arizona, in 1994. Nine months later, he turned this tragedy into a triumph when he became the first double amputee to re-enlist in the United States Army. Bowman re-enlisted in the United States Army airborne style, skydiving with his commander into the ceremony, making his dream a reality. Bowman has been amazing people in hundreds of jumps since the accident.

The event will host several arts and crafts booths for children’s activities, face-painting sponsored by Aledo Church of Christ, fire safety tips from the Parker County ESD No.3, CASA of Parker County will be on hand, as well as Myser Orthodontics. Myser will have t-shirts, cups and glow necklaces and Kids Korner will be providing lots of glowing mohawks and bubble guns.

Bring a family picnic or enjoy some of the fantastic samplings from the food vendors. On hand will be plenty of hot dogs, nachos, corn dogs, barbeque, and of course lots of cold sweet tea, snow cones and for the sweet tooth, some delectable gourmet cupcakes.

The grand finale will be an impressive 25 minute rousing fireworks display sponsored by Jerry’s GM and Charlie Gilchrist’s Southwest Auto Group. The display will be produced by Atlas Enterprises, Inc., renowned in the industry, and promises to light up the skyline. Guaranteed to produce a lot of oohs and awhs!

“Building on the success of last year’s event that drew a crowd in excess of 6,500, we are adding several extra shuttles to help expedite the flow of traffic,” Kay Huse, marketing and event specialists for the Chamber said. “We will have 6 shuttle buses located at Wal-Mart, 2801 E. I-20, Hudson Oaks. We appreciate Wal-Mart allowing us to use their parking lot for guests to park-n-ride.”

Ice chests are welcome, but no glass bottles or pop up tents please. Come early for the perfect spot; bring your lawn chairs and blankets. Shuttles start at 5:00pm. Don’t miss this free community event. For more information: www.boomin4th.com or call the Chamber at (817) 441-7844

Chandor Gardens

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The annual spring fling is coming up this weekend at Chandor Gardens in Weatherford.  Not only is the weather forecasted to be perfect, the garden is in full bloom and radiating with color after the recent spring rains. There is no better way to celebrate the arrival of Spring than this popular event. Once again, the weekend will feature music, face painting, art, food, garden tours and other such booths for the entire family to enjoy. The Gardens will be open Saturday, April 6, 9:00am-3:00 pm, and Sunday, April 7, noon-4:00 pm; admission is $1.00 per person. Please contact Chandor Gardens at 817-613-1700, or visitwww.chandorgardens.com for more information.

Stepping back in time

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(As Reported By Weatherford Democrat)

By SALLY SEXTON

For more than 30 years, Nebo Valley has provided a unique, historical experience to the public through the Shaw-Kemp Open House, with more than 3,000 visitors each year.

The property will be open to the public once again, during the 33rd annual event, held Saturday, April 13 from 1 to 5 p.m.

With a history that dates back to the 1800s, the 200-plus acreage houses nine buildings, including the original Shaw-Kemp log cabin, a barber shop, grocery store and post office, church and school and more.

“The Kemps bought the property from the Shaws in 1975 and we spent about a year restoring the old cabin,” Mary Kemp, who runs the event along with Leon Tanner and numerous volunteers, said. “The first three or four years, we just had school children come through. Once we got some of the other buildings in, we started to open it up to the public.”

Next came the Mt. Nebo School and Church, an old house that had been used as a barn.
“The cabin was the only original piece on the property,” Kemp said. “The rest of the buildings were brought in, and were either purchased or donated.”

One of the buildings, now the grocery store and post office, has a touch of the Parker County history right on it, with doors purchased after the deconstruction of the old Parker County Jail.
Several original fixtures, including lighting, flooring and even an 1800s record player, occupy the many cabins.

“Some even have the original furniture,” Kemp said.

Another constant feature during the event is the presence of bluebonnets, which Kemp said she looks forward to every year.

“Unfortunately because of the weather, we’re not going to have as many this year, but there will be some in front of the Shaw-Kemp Log Cabin,” she said.

Nebo Valley is located south of Weatherford on Highway 51 towards Granbury, at 220 Kemp Road.

Admission to the open house is free. For more information, contact Kemp at 817-594-6837.

New event center at First Monday dedicated

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(As Reported By The Weatherford Democrat)

By BRIAN SMITH

First Monday in Weatherford continued its turnaround Friday with the opening of the Heritage Park Event Center.

The opening of the facility coordinated with First Monday weekend in the city. After some dark days in the recent past, First Monday appears to be turning the corner, according to Parks and Recreation Director Danielle Felts.

“First Monday take a great commitment from everyone here and this is leaps and bounds better than last year,” Felts said. “It was a group effort to get this structure built. Everyone from the water department to the street department.”

Felts said the 400 available spaces are being filled by vendors at an increasing rate because of the many improvements to the grounds. Paved trails allow scooters and people with walkers to access the area with greater ease, which Toni Bethea of Cleburne, herself using a scooter, really liked.

“Used to be you couldn’t get along really well through here. Now you just zip whereever you need to go,” Bethea said. “This is a long time coming.”

The $300,000 facility, which will include offices and a check-in area for First Monday vendors, also includes restrooms that will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week for people that use the hike and bike trails, according to Director of Capital Transportation Projects Terry Hughes. Hughes, who was in charge of over seeing construction of the project, said the restrooms are vandal resistant.

Hughes said the structure was built of cedar and took about six months to build. Many of the amenities of the building help create an early, rustic charm to the facility. Keeping the small-town old west charm is important in the eyes of City Manager Jerry Blaisdell.

“Having the building looking like this keeps the heritage alive,” Blaisdell said. “This building is a vision of the council. It’s a vision of Mayor (Dennis) Hooks.”

Blaisdell said the crowds at Friday’s First Monday event were the busiest in 10 years. Having people interested in First Monday again reminds city officials of what could be in time.

“The continued renewal of the grounds are great,” Blaisdell said. “We’re coming back from the decline at record speed.”

Local realtor Eva Earl Rutledge said she visited with a woman from Arlington who used to go to Canton’s First Monday event to enjoy the atmosphere and said she appreciated the ability to stay closer to home.

Weatherford ISD Board calls $107.3 million bond election

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Members of the Weatherford ISD Board of Trustees unanimously voted to call a $107.3 million bond election at a special-called meeting Friday in the District Services Building Boardroom.
The May 11 election is the first time that a Weatherford ISD bond proposal has been on a ballot since 1999.
“The District and community have grown significantly since the last bond election,” Weatherford ISD Superintendent Dr. Jeffrey Hanks said. “The proposed bond would address many issues in four critical areas including safety and security, building capacity, capital improvements, and technology.”
Dr. Hanks also said a facilities committee made up of a cross section of citizens from the community was formed last fall to validate many of these areas of concern.
“Several ideas and suggestions were generated from facilities committee members,” he added, “and the Board took those recommendations to heart before deciding to call for a bond election.”
In the area of safety and security, the bond proposal would call for the construction of secured vestibules for each of the District’s 11 campuses. In addition, security enhancements such as exterior lighting, perimeter fencing, an increased number of security cameras, and building access control systems are included in the proposal.
Dr. Hanks said in order to address the District’s current and future student population growth – especially at the elementary school levels – the District is proposing a plan that would not only realign student populations, but also maximize the use of existing facilities.
“It is proposed that the elementary campuses would become PK-4 campuses – moving grades 5 and 6 to two intermediate campuses, having a common middle school for all seventh and eighth grade students, and a comprehensive high school for grades 9-12.” Dr. Hanks said. “This alignment should accommodate the District’s projected growth and student population for at least the next decade.”
The technology piece of the proposed bond includes purchasing equipment that would better prepare students for 21st century classroom learning.
“Every classroom would have an interactive whiteboard (including digital projection unit), teacher workstation, teacher tablet, wireless internet access point, and a document camera,” Dr. Hanks added.
Early voting will be April 29 – May 7, campus satellite voting will be May 2 (at all 11 WISD campuses), and Election Day is May 11.

Additional information included in the bond proposal is listed below (by category):
Safety & Security
- Secured vestibules at all campuses
- Cameras/surveillance equipment
- Building access control system
- Fencing / site improvements (i.e., security lighting, building access control system)
- ADA accessibility upgrades
- Fire panel replacements

Capacity
- 3-of-7 elementary campuses currently over 100% capacity
- Bond would address capacity issues through 2023
- Add ninth grade wing to WHS campus (78,000 square feet)
- NGC becomes a middle school
- Hall and Tison become grades 5 & 6 campuses
- Elementary schools become PK-4 campuses
- Construct a Career Technology Education Center (66,425 square feet)

Capital Improvements
Capital Improvements: (examples: roofing, HVAC equipment):
- Security, technology and accessibility upgrades
- Construct additional cafeteria space (WHS, WMS)
- Relocate and expand ag barn facilities
Athletic upgrades to self-contained campus including:
- Gymnasium for ninth grade
- Additional locker rooms in Outback
- Wrestling
- All-weather track
- Lighted synthetic turf field
- Construct competition and practice baseball and softball facilities with restrooms, concession stand, and parking
- Construct eight-lane track with synthetic turf field, lights, field events
- Construct Road on WHS property connecting B.B. Fielder to main campus area

Technology
- Reconstructed and enhanced infrastructure
- Address electrical issues when adding multiple outlets in older classrooms
- All classrooms will receive:
- Digital interactive whiteboard (including digital projection unit)
- Teacher workstation
- Wireless internet access point

BOND INFORMATION
Proposed Bond Amount
$107,300,000

Proposed Tax Rate Information
$1.55 ($1.17 Maintenance & Operations and $0.385 Interest & Sinking)

Tax Impact on WISD Homeowners*
$100,000 property value
($131.75 annually or $10.98 monthly)

WISD average value
$130,000 property value
($178.25 annually or $14.85 monthly)

$150,000 property value
($209.25 annually or $17.44 monthly)

$200,000 property value
($286.75 annually or $23.90 monthly)

$250,000 property value
($364.25 annually or $30.35 monthly)

$300,000 property value
($441.75 annually or $36.81 monthly)

* – Less $15,000 homestead exemption

Over 65 Exemption
Residents 65 years of age or older who file for an over 65 homestead exemption will have their taxes frozen, and their homestead taxes will not be affected by the proposed election.

Cow Camp Cowboy Church to host dance, dinner

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(As Reported By Weatherford Democrat)

By BRIAN SMITH

Valentine’s Day is coming up and Cow Camp Cowboy Church has the perfect, safe way for teens and young people to spend it.

The church is hosting a free spaghetti dinner/sweetheart dance for teens on Friday, Feb. 15, from 7:30 p.m. to 10 p.m.

“I came up with the idea because there is just so little for teens to do in this town except go to dinner and go to a movie,” Robicheaux said. “There’s actually very little for families to do as a whole in this town.”

The church has had dances for members in the past, but this is the first time for reaching out to the community for such an event, Robicheaux said. The music will be family-friendly being clean country, rock or Christian oriented, so parents should have no qualms about what their kids are listening to.

Any child under 12 is asked to be accompanied by an adult. Robicheaux said that would be the perfect opportunity for another dance that has gone in the history books: the father-daughter dance.

“We’re inviting dads and their daughters who might not yet be old enough to date to come and have some fun as well,” Robicheaux said. “Adults are welcome to stay if they wish.”

For those people dropping off their minors to go have some fun of their own, the church is requiring a picture be taken of the person that dropped them off and the minor to keep everyone safe, Robicheaux said.

The church is located at 401 I-20 West on the eastbound service road between WHS & Lone Star Guns. Anyone wanting more information can contact Robicheaux at 817-594-1447 or 817-629-9764.