View more photos of Westchester Church Father's Day Car Show
Westchester Church held its second annual Father’s Day Car Show, Sunday, on the UA theatre parking lot.
Westchester Church which meets in the UA theatre sponsored the unique community event that attracted more than 125 hot rods, custom and antique cars for visitors to view.
View more photos of Lisa Chung Memorial Service
Hundreds of Lisa Chung’s family and friends gathered Wednesday evening in front of South Grand Prairie High School to remember the recent graduate that died Tuesday from injuries as a result of a boating accident near Cancun, Mexico.
Continue reading "Recent South Grand Prairie graduate remembered" »
See the slideshow that’s won the hearts of many including radio talk show host Mark Davis and WBAP : View slideshow of Deployment Ceremony
Approximately 400 members of the National Guard’s 2nd Battalion of the 149th Aviation Brigade left Sunday morning for Fort Sill, Oklahoma to complete their training before deploying to Iraq.
View Memorial Day Service slideshow
The annual Memorial Day Service was held Monday at the Grand Prairie Veteran’s Memorial, located behind the Senior Citizen Center, 925 W. Conover. The program paid tribute to the men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice to preserve our freedom.
The Memorial Day Service was presented by the Grand Prairie Parks and Recreation Department, the Metro Rotary Club of Grand Prairie, the Grand Prairie Rotary Club and the Grand Prairie Memorial Gardens and Mausoleum.
A free All-American lunch took place in the Senior Center after the service.
View Grand Prairie Bulls slideshow
The Grand Prairie Bulls, coached by Bonnie Sanders, won their classification at the Special Olympics of Texas Summer Games held May 23-25 at the University of Texas at Arlington.
View Shattered Dreams slideshow - Warning! This slideshow contains graphic images. Individuals pictured are actors and made-up to depict accident victims. Some of the images may be disturbing to some people.
The Grand Prairie Police Department and the Grand Prairie Independent School District conducted a mock traffic collision on the parking lot of Grand Prairie High School, 101 High School Drive, on Monday. The accident is part of a national campaign, Shattered Dreams, to increase awareness among high school students about the dangers of drunk driving and the tragic consequences that too often result from DWI-related crashes.
Continue reading "Shattered Dreams - mock accident - Grand Prairie High School" »
View Run For the Wall slideshow
About a dozen patriotic citizens gathered on Dechman Bridge over Interstate 20 to cheer the motorcycle riders in the Run For the Wall as they passed through Grand Prairie.
The Grand Prairie AirHogs made their hometown debut Friday night in their beautiful new stadium, QuikTrip Park at Grand Prairie
Ok, it’s Friday, you’re running late for work, no time for breakfast - no problem! Just stop in the UA parking lot, 510 Westchester, and get a muffin and juice – free!
Westchester Church which meets in the UA, started the free breakfast Friday as a community outreach program about a year and a half ago. Each Friday during the spring and fall church members are in the UA parking to give out the goodies to anyone that stops by.
Continue reading "Westchester Church - Free Breakfast Friday" »
The 10th Annual MayFest celebration was held Saturday in Kirby Creek Park. This year's theme is "A Celebration of the Trinity River."
MayFest was sponsored by the City of Grand Prairie, Grand Prairie ISD, and the Grand Prairie Arts Council.
The Grand Prairie Police Department held their annual memorial service to honor fallen police officers, Monday at the police headquarters. Special recognition was given to the two Grand Prairie police officers that gave their lives serving, Officer Lyndon King and Sgt. Gregory Hunter.
Grand Prairie Police Chief Glen Hill gave the audience the stark statistics about police officers killed in the line of duty. The names of all Texas officer killed in 2007 were read.
Mayor Charles England declared May 12 - 18 as police week in the city.
The Grand Prairie Airhogs baseball club held a special ceremony Monday morning at their new stadium to unveil the sign identifying the ballpark as the "QuikTrip Park at Grand Prairie."
The naming of the stadium is through a ten year partnership with the QuikTrip Corporation.
The AirHogs home opener is Friday night against the Wichita Wingnuts
View AirHogs Media Day slideshow
On Monday, the AirHogs held their media day at the QuickTrip Park at Grand Prairie. Members of the media got a tour of the new ballpark, watch batting practice, and meet and interview players.
“We’ve got eleven days and counting. I’ve been waiting for the 16th for the last five and a half months,” AirHogs General Manager David Burke said.
View slideshow of Kraig Parker's performance
Grand Prairie’s own Elvis Tribute Artist, Kraig Parker performed between races Friday night at Lone Star Park. The large crowd danced and sang as they relived the music of the King of Rock n Roll.
View Cinco de Mayo Festival slideshow
Saturday Grand Prairie celebrated their 21st Annual Cinco de Mayo Festival at City Hall Plaza. Visitors filled the plaza and lined the parade route to watch the city’s largest parade.
There were plenty of activities with vendors and exhibitors offering a variety of merchandise and food. Games, bounce houses, and rock climbing provided plenty of entertainment for the young ones. More than 25 Grand Prairie ISD performing groups along with mariachi bands, dance groups, and local vocalist performed all day long.
In the early hours of the Wednesday morning avid Chick-fil-A fans began to gather in the parking lot of the new Chick-fil-A, 3041 W. Camp Wisdom Rd. for the restaurant’s grand opening the next morning. Each fan brought provisions to spend the night in the parking lot so they would be one of the first 100 customers Thursday morning and win a year’s supply of combo meals.
Grand Prairie was honored at Saturday’s Arbor Day celebration with the Tree City USA award. For the city, 2008 marks the 24 year to receive the prestigious award.
Visitors to this year’s celebration enjoyed refreshments, free seedlings, tree care advice along with demonstrations and exhibits. The Great Dolphin Choir from Barbara Bush Elementary School put on a planet earth themed musical performance.
The 6th Annual Charley Taylor Celebrity Golf Classic was held Friday at the Prairie Lakes Golf Course. Taylor along with the NAACP, Grand Prairie Branch sponsors the golf tournament to raise scholarship money for deserving high school seniors with plans for a higher education.
Continue reading "NFL Hall of Famer helps raise money for scholarships" »
On Saturday the 300th Sustainment Brigade, U. S. Army Reserve, was honored at an Activation Ceremony where their new insignia was unveiled and members of the unit got to put on their new patch.
Continue reading "Color Activation ceremony for Army unit" »
Lone Star Park opened their spring thoroughbred season Thursday night with over 8,000 attending.
Continue reading "Lone Star Park opens their 2008 thoroughbred season" »
A coalition of organizations and agencies gathered at Alliance Skate Park Monday to kick-off the Third Annual Those Who Host Lose the Most campaign that educates adults on the legal and health consequences of underage drinking during the up coming prom and graduation season.
View Egg-Stravaganza slideshow
The traveling Easter egg hunt, Egg-Stravaganza was held in six parks throughout Grand Prairie Saturday.
Continue reading "Egg-Stravaganza - the traveling Easter egg hunt" »
South Grand Prairie High School's Robotic Team took second palce in Saturday's First Tech Challenge, Southwest Regional Competition hosted by the University of Texas at Arlington's College of Engineering. Fifteen teams from around the area took part in this year's competion.
The team of 7th through 12th grade students lead by South Grand Prairie High School math teacher Phil Harris, designed and built the remote controlled robot used in the challenge.
The actual competition was held within small arena where robots from four teams battled each other to move and pick up objects in order to score points.
The next meet for the team will be the Lone Star Regional, March 20-22 in Katy, Texas. This is an international event with 46 teams compteing.
Slideshow of the Taste and Tour of Grand Prairie sponsored by the Grand Prairie Chamber of Commerce held Tuesday at the Ruthe Jackson Center.
Slideshow music courtesy Kevin MacLeod
As part of the U. S. Army’s reorganization and realignment program designed to shift the Army Reserve from a technically focused force to a trained and ready force, the 493rd Engineer Group (Combat) of Grand Prairie was de-activated.
The Inactivation Ceremony held Sunday at the Grand Prairie Armed Forces Reserve Complex, featured speeches from Brigadier General Philip Harahan, Commanding General 90th Regional Readiness Command, Colonel Mark Williams, 493rd Engineer Group Commander, and Ruthe Jackson, Grand Prairie Mayor Pro Tem.
The unit was originally activated on December 15, 1967 in Dallas, Texas and has a rich history of service with joint operations in Honduras, Belize, and El Salvador as well as several within the United States.
The unit was mobilized in March 2003 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and was deployed to Iraq to support the 1st Armored Division in the Baghdad area. The 493rd was de-mobilized in May 2004.
Current members of the 493rd will be re-assigned to other Army Reserve units.
"Nata" Ortiz got to do what most boys world-wide wish, tour a fire station and eat with the firefighters.
The firefighters on "C" Shift - Station 1 Sunday prepared a hearty firehouse meal for "Nata" and his grandmother Victoria Rodriguez along with Miss Florida, Kylie Williams, before their tour of the station and trying out all of the firefighting gear.
"Nata" is a burn victim from El Salvador who was brought to Grand Prairie by Orphans of the World, Metro Rotary Club of Grand Prairie, and Airline Ambassadors for treatment later this month at the Shriners Hospital for Burned Children in Galveston.
Until "Nata" leaves for Galveston he will be busy taking in the sights of Texas, parties, and attending events.
Despite the cold dreary weather people wrapped up in warm clothing to battle the weather so they could enjoy the parade to celebrate the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The parade sponsored by the NAACP Grand Prairie Branch started at David Daniels Academy and concluded at Grand Prairie High School.
Click to view photos of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Parade:
Funeral services were held Wednesday for one of Grand Prairie’s most devoted volunteers, Joyce Hester.
For thirty years Joyce has committed her time and talents to a variety of community events. She worked almost all civic functions in Grand Prairie and was truly an ambassador of goodwill.
Some of the agencies Joyce helped:
And the list goes on with her church, Oaks Baptist Church, and encouraging other senior citizens of Grand Prairie to volunteer, along with regularly attending City Council meetings.
Joyce was buried in Roselawn Memorial Park near Denton.
Photos of the 11th Annual Lone Star Duals held January 4 in the South Grand Prairie Warrior Coliseum.
View photos of Santa Cop - Santa Spot
Wednesday night a team of police officers, firefighters, and a host of volunteers loaded nine vans with food and toys. Then fanned out through Grand Prairie to deliver their treasure of goods to families in need.
The common theme among all the hard working volunteers, Santa Cop and Santa Spot is as much a blessing to them as it is to the families receiving the food and gifts.
Officer Mark Calvert said the program is in it 22nd year and this year it served about 400 families.
Be a part of next year's blessing, volunteer to help Santa Cop and Santa Spot. They can use your help year round. For information contact Officer Mark Calvert at 972-237-8814 or mcalvert@gptx.org.
Ah yes, the holiday tradition, waiting in lines at the Post Office to mail your cards, letters, and parcels to family and friends.
On what the Postal Service says is their busiest mailing day of the year, December 17, Postmaster Diane Tindle was in the lobby of the Grand Prairie Main Post Office Monday taping parcels, helping with forms, and explaining services to customers trying to reduce their wait as much as possible.
Tindle said that the U. S. Postal Service, Dallas District, expects around 4.95 million pieces of mail will be taken in on December 17. Nationally she said the total volume should approach 1 billion pieces.
Although Monday is the busiest mailing day, she said it is still not too late to mail articles and have delivery before Christmas and gave the following deadlines:
To avoid waiting in line at a Post Office, Tindle recommends customers use the Automated Postal Center (APC) located at the Westchester Station, 765 W. Westchester. An APC is a virtual stand-alone Post Office. She said an APC does 80 percent of the transactions that can be done at the window and you can mail articles regardless of the Post Office hours.
Tindle also said that on Christmas Eve the Westchester Station is open until 5:00 p.m. while the Main Office and Fountain Station would close at noon.
Grand Prairie's annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony was held Thursday night at City Hall Plaza.
The event featured the Grand Prairie ISD Christmas tree decorating display, featuring living evergreens decorated by the 24 campuses and sponsored by businesses and organizations.
The living Christmas trees will be on display at City Hall Plaza until Jan. 2.
Visitors were invited to vote for a "People's Choice" best tree.
Visit 2911 and 2915 Preston Trail any Wednesday, Thursday or Saturday through Dec. 15 to see what is going on!!!
Volunteers are still need to complete the 2 Habitat for Humanity homes being built.
Workers are at the sites, 2911 and 2915 Preston Trail in Grand Prairie, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays through Dec. 15. To volunteer, contact Matt King at mking@gptx.org or at 972-237-8128.
The Grand Prairie Chapter of the NAACP held a march from the City Hall Plaza to the Lyndon King police headquarters building Saturday morning to protest the alleged racial discimintory hiring, promotion, and disciplinary practices of the City of Grand Prairie.
Slideshow and photos by Bob Fitch - ©2007/All rights reserved
Grand Prairie honored its veterans Sunday, Veterans Day, with a spectacular display of flags, bagpipes, brass band, a helicopter fly over and a 21 gun salute at the Veterans Memorial.
This year’s program honored Vietnam War veterans.
Colonel Charles Kendall who flew helicopters in Vietnam was the keynote speaker. He spoke of the challenges of the conflict and heroism of the veterans.
Each Vietnam veteran present was introduced to the crowd and honored for their service.
The celebration concluded with Huey helicopter fly over and the Grand Prairie Police Honor Guard unit fired a 21 gun salute.
Photo by Bob Fitch - ©2007/All rights reserved
