It’s true. The rumors you’ve been hearing around town have been confirmed. ARLINGTON TODAY magazine is here. Sound the trumpets. Strike the gong …
Better yet, set aside some time today to give us a serious look, from cover to cover. Given that you’ve only made it to page 8 thus far, I’ll hit the fast-forward button and let you in on what you’re about to discover: Arlington now – finally – has its own magazine.
I wrote those words in August of 2013, a few weeks before the great Nolan Ryan helped welcome us to the community. He graciously agreed to be the focus of our first cover that introduced the September/October edition that launched this vessel down the river. Yes, though we were confident that Arlington (and eventually Mansfield, Grand Prairie and all the neighboring burgs) needed a publication they could call their own, we moved forward cautiously in the beginning, two months at a time.
By the March of 2014, we were going monthly, and now, some 100 issues into the endeavor of celebrating this great city and region, I would venture to say that we’re still going strong.
On page 44 you’ll find images of every cover we’ve produced over the past eight-plus years. And, just as I promised when I also wrote in that initial column that we were here “to tell the Arlington story as never before,” those covers run the tell-tale gamut. There are just-elected mayors and shiny buildings rising from ground previously devoted to parking cars. There are festivals and holiday revelry and cars and writers and doctors and lawyers like no other. There are coaches and restaurateurs and commercial kings and queens who also happen to be really great people.
There’s even a turkey and a dog.
In the aggregate there is also this: A portrait of a city and region that is the standard bearer for leadership, initiative, cooperation and kindness that won’t quit.
It has been my privilege to be part of the seeming light-speed journey that has taken us from a renowned pitcher of baseballs to equally considerable pitchers of the hometown they love. Along the way, I’ve met some memorable characters marked by even more memorable character. I’ve even introduced many of them to you.
Speaking of you, dear readers and advertisers, I hope you’ve enjoyed this shared venture as much as I have.
But I kind of doubt it.