Taste of Europe invites people to come and join them as they celebrate an early Valentine’s Day. They will have delicious Russian Cuisine and an evening of Russian Music.

Performers:

• Andrey and Yulia Yarovoy will play a wide repertoire for Piano and Violin. For more info on them: http://promusica.com.mx/apreggione
• There will also be a magic show by Michael Yarovoy.

You are welcome to bring your own beer or wine.
              ($5 per person will be added to your bill to cover entertainment cost.)

Arlington’s biggest all-you-can-eat sampling of the best restaurants and beverages in town is celebrating its 28th year with the biggest, most exciting Taste yet! The evening includes a silent auction, a Big Board auction, live music by Anton Shaw & The Reason, sponsor displays, all surrounded by Arlington’s distinctive, unique restaurants.  

Taste of Arlington is much more than a great evening — you’re helping to raise money for thousands of kids in our community.

Kids who need fun, educational arts programs and a safe place to stay after school – Kids who need positive role models and a chance to learn and try new things - Kids who look forward to meeting new friends at summer camp – whether it’s camp at the YMCA or Theatre Arlington Camp – At-risk kids who couldn’t experience any of these opportunities without our help.

Arlington Convention Center   1200 Ballpark Way, 76011

Tuesday, October 26, 5:30 – 9:30 pm

 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

Thursday, October 7 − Friday, October 8    7:00 pm 

Gourmet Spaghetti Dinner Concerts    at   

Courtyard Villa,    1801 W Division, 76012   

$14 – $16

GNISMER FARMS – OCTOBER PUMPKINS   

You Pick or We Pick

OPEN, OPEN, OPEN beginning October 1st, 1:00 pm to 8:00 pm. October hours will be Tuesday through Sunday 1:00 pm to 8:00 pm.

Don’t limit your fun to just picking pumpkins, there are many other tasty fruits and vegetables to be picked fresh from our garden  and some will be available for sale on the Wagon.    

Fall Estimated Schedule:

October - U-Pick Pumpkins

November – Egg Plant, Lettuce, Greens. Beets, Pie Pumpkins, Tomatoes, Peppers, Squash and more

December – Broccoli , Cauliflower, Cabbage, Onions, Pac Choi, Napa Cabbage, Chinese Cabbage, Squash, and more

Located at 3010 South Bowen Road,  76016 

More info:    817.469.8704       www.gnismer.com

7th Annual — September 25, 2010  

In anticipation of this year’s Front Street Festival, Arlington Historical Society Director, Geraldine Mills, takes us on a video tour of some of the most happening places in Arlington — Fielder House, the newly-renovated Arlington Music Hall, Levitt Pavilion Arlington, Theatre Arlington, and Knapp Park.

Front Street Fesitval is an exciting and affordable weekend celebration. Watch this video to learn about all of the weekend events you can attend in addition to the fun at Front Street!

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!

Please join us from 6:30 – 10:00 p.m. as the League celebrates another successful membership drive. A festive evening complete with food, entertainment, and of course, ice cold margarita, it will be “Margaritaville” meets the museum!

The event is free for all Arlington Arts League members. Guests and prospective members are welcome with new membership or a donation of only $10.

Festive casual dress is requested.

Location: Arlington Museum of Art, 201 West Main Street, Arlington, 76010

For additional information, contact the Arlington Arts League hotline
at 817.274.5790 or visit the Arlington Arts League website
at http://arlingtonartsleague.org/3152.html.

Bring the entire family to downtown Arlington for ECOFEST ARLINGTON on September 18, 10:00 am – 10:00 pm  at the Levitt Pavilion.

Ecofest is a free, family-oriented event that stimulates environmental awareness, and promotes stewardship across North Texas.  Lined up along the festival streets that surround Founder’s Plaza, local businesses will showcase their green products and practical do-it-yourself solutions for home improvement and maintenance.

The day will be filled with entertainment from local musical talents performing on the Levitt Pavilion stage. Food and drink will also be on hand.

Attend classes on do-it-yourself projects to reduce consumption of natural resources, and take part in discussions on various environmental issues and what we can do to help reduce, repair and prevent these problems in the future.

Demonstrations will be given throughout the day by vendors and others groups, like The Critterman and the Blackland Prairie Raptor Center.

Kids can learn and have fun too! Games and educational classes will be available for children to enjoy.

More info can be found at:  http://www.arlingtontx.gov/ecofest/

…a toe-tapping salute to all things Arlington starring familiar faces from our city in very different roles. Former Mayor Richard Greene is back for the third time to narrate the “show without a story” which features:

• The ladies of the Junior League,
• The UkeLadies of First Baptist Church,
• Miss Persis’ Prime Time Steppin’ Cows,
• the Arlington Good Times Chorus,
• and lots of other fun acts!

The show starts at 3:00 pm on Sunday, September 26, at the Arlington Music Hall. Dessert is served afterward, and big prizes will be raffled off. Join the fun and celebrate Dance Theatre of Arlington’s 30th birthday!

Tickets are $25.  Call 817-860-1327 for more info.

The helpful man in the campus police uniform was still sitting amiably outside the book store admiring the insatiable lines of students aching to see how much heavier their book bags would be this year.  Help desks for the trembling new freshmen dotted the shady parts of campus, along with tables full of activities to sign up for. The only disappointment of the first day was that I would not be able to see each and every one of my grinning professors until Monday.  Right?  

Here’s what you can’t miss this week:

Maverick Cookout and Activities Fair Day:  (Wednesday September 1st, 11am to 1:30 pm, UC Mall)  Learn more about all UT Arlington has to offer and enjoy a discounted hamburger lunch (vegetarian option available).  At the Activities Fair Day, over 150 student organizations and campus departments will have tables brimming with information.  There with also be a live band performing throughout the duration of the event.

The Carter Blood Drive:  (All Week)  Be a Maverick, Donate Blood! Buses will be on campus to collect donations outside of the Library and the University Center. No appointment is necessary to donate, but please bring a photo ID.

Remember, you can save up to three lives from one donation!

School Supplies Drive for Webb Elementary:  (All Week)  Benefiting underprivileged students at Webb Elementary.  Donate paper, pens, and other school supplies! You can check your local Wal-Mart for lists of supplies needed.  Boxes are located in the lower level of the UC and in each residence hall office.

For the Full Event Calendar:  http://www.uta.edu/events/main.php?view=week

Myles Cooper is a UTA student and contributing writer for arlingtonVIBE.

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.