Here’s a clip from last year’s 2010 St Patrick’s Day celebration at J. Gilligan’s, located at 400 West Abram St.

We talked with happy customers, busy waitresses, owner Randy Ford, and the legendary Hill City Band.

Arlington Tennis Center

In a city that seems to squint through the glare emitted by sporting giants like the new Cowboys Stadium, or more recently by the Rangers themselves at the Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, there is a third much humbler, but equally notable sports facility in Arlington that is under-recognized by the limelight; the Arlington Tennis Center.  Confusingly, tennis is the only traditional sport to grow in participation in the double digits from 2000-2009, a whopping 48.8 per cent according to USTA.com. 

I had to find out the reason I had not heard about their multi-award winning facility, 18 total since its inception in 1995.  I made an appointment by dialing the general phone number at Arlington Tennis Center as quickly as possible.  Within 24 hours I found myself walking across a pristine lawn, all the while gazing at the wooden Adirondack armchairs among the tennis courts, before striding through the front doors of the multi-million-dollar Arlington Tennis Center.

I was greeted by assistant director Lisa Willaims and escorted to the current facility director Sheryl Osborn, the recipient of the prestigious United States Professional Tennis Association Facility Manager of the Year in 2008.  The same year ATC was also recognized as the United States Tennis Association Outstanding Facility of the Year

Mrs. Osborn has been employed at ATC since 1996, and the staff are mostly part-time employees.  “Virtually all of our staff at least have bachelor’s degrees, several have masters and most of the remaining team are working on achieving degrees,” said Mrs. Osborn.

Arlington Parks and Recreation, which won the United States Professional Tennis Association Organization of the Year in 2009, maintain the delicious grounds engulfing the 20, lighted courts of the public facility, as well as giving support financially.  ATC also works closely with the University of Texas at Arlington and Arlington Independent School District tennis programs.  

Tournaments from both UTA and AISD are regularly played on the courts at ATC.  “Over 50,00 people a year pass through Arlington Tennis Center.  Whether it’s for tournaments, programs, drills or for the pro shop.”

Tennis can be played by practically anyone of any age across the globe, it is a family sport.  “Tennis teaches you how to focus, plan, concentrate.  Skills you can take with you for the rest of your life,” said Mrs. Osborn.  ATC has taken this heavy task of teaching aspiring Roger Federers or Maria Sharapovas and applied one of the newest teaching methods available for children.  “One of the things we have really tried to focus on in the last three years is a method for teaching [10 and under] children tennis called Quickstart,” said Mrs. Osborn.

Quickstart is a very recent development in the tennis-teaching industry that ATC jumped on very quickly; in 2008 they were the first tennis center in the area to incorporate the program. The method is very simple for Quickstart in that it is a program patterned after the development processes of children in other sports.  Basically, it is taking the rackets, balls and courts and making them smaller for children so that their tennis equipment grows along with them and their involvement in the sport.  This method seems obvious because of its popularity in virtually every other traditional sport, but it was only recently that tennis adapted low compression balls, smaller rackets as well as “Quickstart courts,” which are approximately half the size of a normal court, for the sole purpose of speeding up the learning process for children involved in tennis. At ATC the USPTA certified professionals are charged with teaching tennis to children. 

There have been two milestones at the Arlington Tennis Center this year that testify to the national prominence of the facility as well as its reputation in the USTA.  In June the U.S. Open Sectional Qualifying Tournament for men and women was held at ATC, of which it was the only tennis center in Texas selected to host such an event.  This was also one of Mrs. Osborn’s proudest moments during her tenure at ATC, “It was the confidence USTA had in our facility to host the event, as well as in my abilities as a tournament director.”

In July [2010] ATC also hosted the five-day competition “Zone Team Championship” for boys and girls 14 and under, in which they were chosen to host the event from facilities across the nation.

The ATC  also has a partnership with the Arlington Bowling Congress and host banquets together for the participants in their events.  

Arlington Tennis Center      500 W. Mayfield Rd, 76014

Monday-Thursday; 8 am to 9:30 pm                 Saturday; 8 am to 5 pm                   Sunday; 12 pm to 8 pm

817-459-6163 to reserve a court or register for programs.

Website:   http://www.arlingtontx.gov/park/tennis/index.html

 The constant teasing of autumn weather has been the cause of the electric surge on campus it seems.  Personally I’ve been thinking about pumpkins for the last 60 hours and it’s bound to drive me mad eventually, but all the gourd gawking is a direct result of an assignment I feel compelled to excel on, being my Small Business/Big Trend business feature for Specialized reporting.

My tramping through Arlington in search of the best small business to do my story on brought me first, but only briefly to the Downtown Arlington Farmers Market, located on Mesquite St. headed North – a little past the court house and over the train tracks and then WHAM just to your right is parking and Front St. where white tents will be plainly visible.  

The Downtown Arlington Farmers Market is open from 8:00 am to 1:00 pm on Fridays and Saturdays, so I was straggling a little when I arrived around noon.  There were still plenty of pleasant people to speak with about my article, including John Carter, owner of Carter Farms in the Bowie area, who had a large variety of some of the most succulent looking produce I’d seen in a while.  His pumpkins caught my girl-friends eye, we had just purchased around 6 pumpkins from Green’s Produce and Plants over on Arkansas the weekend before, so my face immediately drained of color while I was simultaneously thinking about how pretty Carter’s looked and how much I really did like good-looking pumpkins.

This brush with the Farmer’s Market led me immediately down the rabbit hole idea of my article being something about local outdoor/indoor markets and their pumpkins.  Since I’d really kind of missed my chance with the Downtown Arlington Farmers Market due to my incompetence at arising before 10 am, and the article being due before they reconvened on Friday, I headed back to Green’s Plants and Produce with pumpkins in mind.  I learned as much as I could about where their pumpkins were from and I found the staff to always be genuinely polite and ready to answer any of my questions.

The UTA experience for me this week has been straight shot, sans chaser, legitimate, incessant learning in motion.  The cool 60 to 80 degree weather has been the best relief from the boiling suspicion that all that information being absorbed in your lobes is going to ignite any minute and set off a chain reaction among the student body of Maverick-orange-and-blue explosions, directly resulting from spontaneous human combustion.

Here’s whats going on this week:

After Dark in the Park; Friday October 8th 5pm to 11 pm:  Festival at the Living Science Center for young children. It features storytelling, a pumpkin patch, entertainment, and crafts. This day is specifically for disabled children.
Volunteers for this project will be helping with environmental education programs and games.
You can sign up to volunteer either by calling us or coming to our office in the basement of the UC.  Located at River Legacy Park.

UTA Ladies RAD self-defense class; Saturday October 9th, 9am to 6pm: FREE -RAD- Self Defense Course for all UTA Ladies – Faculty, Staff & Students- All materials and instruction are furnished at no cost.Please arrive at the MAC entrance at 9:00 am Saturday to be directed to the RAD classroom-MAC room 135. UTA Police, Certified RAD instructors, will help lead class participants in such topics as:
1. Self Defense and the law
2. Risk Awareness
3. Risk Avoidance
4. The Decision to Resist
5. Ten Basic Principles of Self Defense
Register on-line at uta.edu/police scroll down to crime prevention

Located at the MAC

The Downtown Arlington Farmers’ Market, still in the early part of its establishment, has seen great success in the short time that it has been in operation. Located on Front Street, near the central library and the newly rennovated Arlington Music Hall, the Downtown Farmers Market features an average of 25 booths each weekend. Originally open just Fridays, the market has expanded to Saturday hours as well. Fresh produce, locally made honey, art, and crafts can all be found; Farm fresh eggs and grass-fed ribeyes sell like hotcakes!

Joe heads up the main operations of the market, and it’s clear that, to him, this is way more than just some hobby. He works diligently to bring in new vendors and to keep the regularly returning vendors happy. He offers up the building he owns on Front Street to provide shade, he coordinates tent/canopy rentals, and he works hard to continually get the word out. A lifelong gardener, this former city council member understands full well all of the benefits that local farming brings — not just to our health, but also to business — and he wants to share these opportunities with the city of Arlington.

Joe spoke at this year’s Ecofest Arlington, which took place this past Saturday, September 18th. He talked to the community and festival attendees about what really happens when you support local growers, versus the big corporate farm entities. Local food, he says, is not only better for healthier living and better quality products, but it’s great for the local economy.

When you purchase tomatoes from the farmer from Mansfield, the money from the sale stays within the local economy. Not only that, a much larger percentage of the sale stays in the pocket of the farmer. Because the food is being sold directly from producer to buyer, there is no middleman taking a cut. It’s a win-win for both consumer and farmer — the consumer gets fresher, healthier food, and the farmer makes a larger profit.

To hammer home the benefits buying local, Joe has printed t-shirts (available at the DAFM) that say “Know Your Farmer!“. Joe reminds us that we value “knowing” our doctors, our dentists, our children’s teachers, our mechanics, etc. — knowing your farmer should be no different. Have questions about the freshness of food? Ask the farmer directly. He/she can tell you when the produce was picked, how it was transported to the market, and just about anything else you’d want to know.

Joe’s love for urban gardening doesn’t stop with the Downtown Farmers’ Market however. He is currently pursuing an idea to transform the city-owned land adjacent to the market into Arlington’s community garden. The concept centers on members of the community — folks like you and me — working together to plant seeds, nurture growth, and harvest its rewards. We share in the investment, as well as its success. Joe has visited the community gardens in other cities, like Coppell, to learn more about what it takes to make such a garden work. Besides needing cooperation from the city to use the land, a certain level of infrastructure is also required: water, security, etc….and of course, a dedicated crew to organize its implementation.

The potential is great, according to Joe, for what such a community garden can bring to this city. It can help educate people about healthier eating, and it can be a place for families to enjoy with their children. He believes it will attract Arlington residents to participate more in the downtown area, creating buzz and bringing more patrons to the farmers’ market and other downtown venues.

Time will tell whether the community garden vision becomes reality. In the meantime, Joe and the Downtown Arlington Farmers Market keep on keepin’ on! The market is open Friday and Saturday mornings, from 8am til 1pm. For more information, visit their facebook page.

What do you think about the community garden? Have you been to the farmers’ market in Arlington? How do you feel about what the market does for local and small business owners? Share your thoughts with us!

Community Events Planned for September and Beyond  

The new NFL season is here now, and so are plenty of community events to get you jazzed up about the 2011 Super Bowl in Arlington!

Unless you’ve been living in a far-away alternate universe, you know the Big Game is coming to Arlington on February 6. Your city has one event after another planned to get — and keep — you excited.

ArlingtonVIBE filmed this interview with Convention & Visitors Bureau President Jay Burress. He shares what’s going on in September and the following months as part of the pre-Super Bowl festivities. Take a look and see why It’s More Than A Game!

Be sure to watch this video all the way to the end — there’s a message there to keep you coming back to our site. (Think: prizes).

Arlington business woman Connie Sheen is the owner of Mijo’s restaurant and catering service. Located on West Park Row, Mijo’s has been an Arlington favorite for 15 years.

Many of your traditional Mexican favorite dishes are available at Mijo’s, in addition to their custom creations. Their twist on a chicken-vegetable soup is out of this world, and the fajitas with grilled corn bits and superbly sauteed peppers and onions are the best around. The apricot chicken, though not always on the menu, is a Mijo’s hidden treasure not to be underestimated.

Connie is busy these days working on a second Mijo’s location in south Arlington, near I-20 and Green Oaks Blvd. The new restaurant is planned to open in October 2010.

The VIBE sends a special thank you to Connie for sponsoring the VIBE, and for providing great food and atmosphere for a recent VIBE get-together. Connie is a successful Arlington independent business woman whose success story is one we’ll continue to follow and share as the new Mijo’s location opens this fall.

To learn more about Mijo’s, visit http://www.mijosfreshmex.com/

This post, highlighting an Arlington woman, is part of a series commemorating Women’s Equality Day.

Shout-out to food-lover Shaleah Poster for letting us use his great photos of Mijo’s.

Mijo’s Restaurant in Arlington features Mexican food made with the freshest ingredients,
and a light touch that brings out bright flavor in every dish. They offer flavorful burritos, tacos, enchiladas, quesadillas…and reasonable prices too.

The Mijo’s “Fresh-Mex” Experience includes:

• Mijo’s fish tacos
• grilled Caribbean chicken salad
• homemade tamales
• chips and fresh salsa bar
• platters, starters, salads, nachos, desserts and lots more
• vegetarian meals

Mijo’s Catering adds the fresh zing of Mijo’s authentic Mexican food to any special event, corporate, school, church or family gathering.

Contact Information:
For more info on Catering Service and Menu, visit:
www.mijosfreshmex.com
or call 817-226-3001

IMAX is a digital projection system with two digital projectors plus image enhancers and custom lenses that make the images on screen appear clearer and with greater brightness and contrast. The digital sound is exclusive to IMAX and there’s special acoustic paneling inside the theater.

Upcoming Hollywood movies which will be released in IMAX include:

- Inception (Aug 13th)
- Hubble (Aug 20th)
- Avatar (Aug 27th…. one week only!!!!)
- Resident Evil: Afterlife (Sept 10th)
- Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole (Sept 24th)
- Megamind (Nov 5th)
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Part 1 (Nov 19th)
- Tron: Legacy (Dec 17th)

For more information, visit http://www.amcentertainment.com/Theatres/AMC_The_Parks_At_Arlington_18_Dallas/Ft__Worth/

Phone: 1-888-AMC-4FUN (movie times); 817-505-4517 (guest services)

Have you been to an IMAX movie before? What’s your favorite?

The menu is simple, featuring an assortment of specialty drinks ranging from Arabic and American coffee, to be purchased by the pot, to a variety of fresh-squeezed juices, to the mint or sage teas.

Appetizers range from traditional salads, such as Greek and Caesar with Chicken, to native Lebanese dishes like Tabbouli (tomatoes, parsley, and onions) or Fattosh, to Custed Lintel Soup, or Hommous — a Mediterranean appetizer that consists of chickpeas pureed with tahini sauce, lemon juice, and a hint of fresh garlic, all of which is served with olive oil and pita bread.

More Mediterranean dishes present themselves, most noticeably in the Mixed Maza Combo Tray that contains of a mix-match of a little bit of everything — Hommous, Baba Gannosh, Tabbouli, Fattosh, stuffed grape leaves (Dolmades), mixed pies (containing both lamb and chicken), Kibbee, and Falafel. There are also Greek sandwiches, called Gyros, that are one kebob skewer of char-grilled cubes of tender seasoned meat (lamb, chicken, beef), tomatoes, pickles, onions and tahini sauce wrapped and toasted in pita bread.

For dessert there is the Baklava, a Lebanese kind of walnut and cinnamon pastry, and the most winning compliment to a great meal.

Christina Bily works at the Beirut Rock Café part-time while also being in the nursing program at UTA. When asked what she liked most about the restaurant she responded “I like the food, the customers and the atmosphere.” Bily also commented on the hard work of owner Kassam Benjar who works side by side with his employees 7 days a week, 12 hours a day.

The Beirut Rock Café stands out among other less unique fast food stops located around the UTA campus.

More info: Call Beirut Rock Café at 817-860-5499

The Peddler Show takes place from 10am to 4pm on August 13th-15th.

Location: Arlington Convention Center, 1200 Ballpark Way 76011

More info: http://www.peddlershow.com/

The VIBE talked to Arlington’s own Melissa Lawson, who performed at the Levitt Pavilion’s July 3rd concert. The Arlington Community Band and Arlington Civic Chorus also played for the large crowd on Saturday.

We spoke with B.J. Cleveland and Persis Ann Forster as well, who did the play-by-play of the 45th annual downtown Arlington parade.

Were you there at the parade?
The concert?


How did you spend the 4th of July?

River Legacy Mascot, Forest the Squirrel

“Forest the Squirrel” greeted hundreds of kids and parents to the North Texas water park, who came to compete in these one-of-a-kind cardboard boat races. The annual event was organized by River Legacy Foundation, with the support of Arlington Parks and Recreation Department. There were many colorful and cool designs, big and small boats, fast and slow, and even a few sinkers. During the event, contestants were interviewed by Jay Ryan, and the races were announced by Barry Sanders.

The VIBE sends a big Thanks to River Legacy’s Kristi Payne, Diana Marquis, and volunteer coordinator, Alma Pohler for inviting us.

For a list of the 2010 winners visit: http://www.riverlegacy.org/cbrresults2006.html

So, did you build a boat and set sail?
Have you been to River Legacy Parks or the Science Center?
What do you think about these unusual boat races?