It’s ba-aack!

 

Arlington on Tap, the popular mix of TED-type talks blended with a happy hour at downtown bars and bistros, returns for a fourth season in September but with a new primary sponsor – Downtown Arlington Management Corp.

The new season will feature talks from a movie maker, an empathetic robot, storm chasers, a mayoral address, creators of a miracle on Front Street, a look at Arlington’s growing restaurant scene and other topics, all guaranteed to increase insights into the city’s unique urban lifestyle.

“Arlington on Tap is but one of a number of exciting developments – things to do and see – in this city’s increasingly vibrant and eclectic downtown,” says Downtown Arlington President Maggie Campbell. “It’s also a fun way to take a look at downtown’s varied and growing restaurant and bar scene, creating a new network of friends in the process.”

Campbell praised Arlington on Tap creators O.K. Carter and Mark Joeckel, as well as the organizations originally sponsoring Arlington on Tap: Arlington Proud, Arlington Historical Society and media sponsor Arlington Today magazine, which will continue its role in the fourth season.

“Downtown Arlington board members are delighted to continue what they started,” Campbell says.

Here’s the schedule and locations for the initial two Arlington on Tap events this fall:

• Parker Vandergriff and progress on the movie “Tom Vandergriff and the Quest for Major League Baseball.” Parker Vandergriff, the grandson of legendary Arlington Mayor Tom Vandergriff, is a movie maker and video producer of growing reputation. Though Arlington has long-since grown accustomed to the presence of the Texas Rangers, the fact that the team chose to locate in a suburban city, which at the time had a population of only 100,000, is a testament to the dogged, against-all-odds persistence and vision of the now-deceased Tom Vandergriff and one of the most astonishing events in major professional sports. The tale would, in fact, make a good movie – which it soon will be.

Place and time: Legal Draft, 500 E. Front St., 6 p.m., Sept. 10.

• Ryan Dodson and others: “The Front Street Miracle.” Take a time machine even a scant 10 years back, and the short section of Front Street just north of the Union Pacific Railroad line in Downtown Arlington would have offered a far different ambiance than it presently does. But with investment and patience of entrepreneurs like Burk Collins, Alan Petsche, Ralph Shelton and Dodson, the street has developed into a growing blend of restaurants, unique bistros and small businesses. But as Dodson and others will testify, more – much more – is coming. Front Street is destined to become an Arlington tradition and favorite downtown hangout. More restaurants, apartments, sidewalks, lighting, music and events are all coming soon.

Place and time: Tipsy Oak, 301 E. Front St., 6 p.m., Oct. 8.