Here at Arlington Today we constantly pursue a promise to our readers of being the source of news and information about the people, places, events, and changes taking shape in the communities we serve. Here at year-end seems a good time to look back and review how we are working to meet that commitment.
So, here’s a month-by-month snapshot of just a few of the things, in addition to our regular columnists, features on homes of interest and classic cars, we’ve shared on the pages and in the electronic media of our magazine.
In January, we featured the mayors of Mansfield and Dalworthington Gardens as our cover feature and then did stories on how UT Arlington is helping cancer patients stay active, the remarkable journey of Tarrant County College celebrating 20 years at its southeast campus, the progress of downtown Arlington’s resurgence, breaking ground for Texas Live!, and reviewing the success of The Sanford House in making guests feel right at home in the center of the city.
Our medical edition in February included stories of the Arlington Youth Symphony, how Grand Prairie’s mayor is successfully pursuing his vision for the city he serves, the work of Mansfield artists Mary Elizabeth and Eddie Phillips, and Mansfield Cares’ annual fundraiser to continue their services to those in need.
We put the newest member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame on our March cover and reviewed the storied career of the great Pudge Rodriguez. In that issue, we also celebrated local businesses, took a look at the highlights of the Arlington-Mansfield Area YMCA, learned what was behind the compelling smile of VanDella Menifee, checked in on the best-selling author Sandra Brown, and covered the surprise birthday party of one of the community’s now-retired military chaplains.
In April, we featured the inaugural year of the Concours d’Elegance of Texas in Arlington in our bride’s edition, covered the annual Miss Cinderella event of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Arlington, wrote about Mansfield’s upscale South Pointe development, described how Cheryl Mitchell has helped preserve a treasure trove of valuable works at UTA, and how Arlington has become one of the testing grounds for the new technology of driverless cars.
When May came around, we put Robert Jordan on the cover and wrote about the success of his home remodeling business, took a look at some of the area’s premier lawyers, noted the launch of the Levitt Pavilion season, and did a story on educational options to help children make the most of summer.
Entrepreneur, philanthropist and good guy Mark Caffey made the June cover, and we marked the 93-year history of Meadowbrook Park (Arlington’s first public park), shared the success of students, organizations and teams that made the past school year a success, covered the inaugural year of the Santa Fe International Folk Art Market featuring works from around the world and reported how downtown Arlington venues were opening doors for local musicians.
In July and August, we celebrated our nation’s founding, wrote about how to make the most of Summer, and revealed the winners of our readers’ choices of All Stars ranging across 100 categories of community businesses and organizations serving the half-million residents of the area.
In the September and November issues, we featured the remarkable progress of our public schools in Arlington and Mansfield, both of them having achieved new heights in preparing the next generation for the world of traditional careers along with those in the advancing age of technology, trades, and professions ensuring bright futures for them and all the rest of us, as well.
In between, our October edition, with Texas Rangers Chief Financial Officer Kellie Fischer on the cover, focused on women in business and covered wide-ranging stories from how UTA’s CARS program is putting interns in the trenches where drug addiction thrives, and the kickoff at Martin High School of the unique competition among North Texas High School students using robots for firefighting.
So, there’s scratching the surface of just a fraction of the ways we are working to share the stories unfolding every day in the remarkable place we call home.
On behalf of our publisher Judy Rupay and editor Yale Youngblood, we welcome you to let us know what you would like to see in our magazine in the year ahead.
Richard Greene served as Arlington’s mayor from 1987-1997, was appointed by President George W. Bush as Regional
Administrator to the EPA, and currently teaches in the University of Texas at Arlington’s graduate program in the College of Architecture, Planning and Public Affairs.
