Friday, May 16, 2008

Frisco bringing the happy-haps to start the summer

By Jeff Cheney of Blogging Frisco

Frisco just finished one of our most important elections in a long time. However, there has been much more happening around Frisco than just the election.

This evening is one of my favorite events of the year, the Frisco Education Foundation Scholarship night. I am proud to have served on this Board for the last 3 years. This year we will be giving out the most scholarship money we have ever contributed.

Editor's note: Also see Bruce Springsteen at #4 and Jay-Z & Mary J. Blige at #10 for other big Dallas-area concerts.

A few weeks ago we had tens of thousands of people visit Frisco to attend the Jimmy Buffett and Edgefest concerts. My wife and I attended the Jimmy Buffett concert and we had a great time. Pizza Hut Park employees worked around the clock after the Jimmy Buffett concert to be ready for the Edgefest concert the following morning.

These two events were two of the highest grossing events in the country for the month of April. Here you can see the top 10 events (our two events ranked #1 and #8!).

A few weeks ago, the Frisco Dog Park hosted the first annual Rover Rally. I was honored to be one of the dog judges for the show. The turnout was very impressive and everyone seemed to have a great time with their dogs. My favorites were the winners of the cutest dog and the tail wagging contest. To learn more about this group visit www.friscodogpark.org.

On May 3rd we celebrated the opening of the Heritage Center. This new museum is located east of City Hall and next to the upcoming Babe’s Restaurant. Thanks to staff and the Heritage Association for all of their hard work on this project as they were working late nights to have it ready for the opening. Please stop by to learn more about Frisco’s past. It is a great educational opportunity for the kids as well.

Speaking of Babe’s Restaurant, we received a sneak preview of what is going to be a destination restaurant in Frisco. Several years ago, George Purefoy had bet the Mayor that he would eat a meal in Babe’s before his term was up. Well, there have certainly been delays in the construction and it is not scheduled to open for a few months. However, George made good on the bet as we hosted a party for the Mayor a few weeks ago at the restaurant and Babe’s catered the food from another location. I had never eaten at Babe’s before but now I see why so many people are excited about their opening.

Frisco hosted our Relay for Life Event in April. I was honored to be co-chair of the event along with Maher Maso. The attendance was phenomenal and the funs raised were in excess of $150,000. Our Frisco-Online.com team took home the first place award for the most funds raised again this year. Maher is already talking of stealing that title from us next year. Sounds like a challenge to me!

Mayor Simpson also hosted the First Annual DFW Mayor’s Conference. This is one of Mike’s projects that he wanted to accomplish before his term expired. Mayors and council members from across the metroplex came to Frisco to share ideas and best practices. Everyone was very complimentary of Mayor Simpson and Frisco staff for hosting a well-organized event. We are all hopeful the event continues and other cities take turns hosting it each year.

Summer is quickly upon us and Frisco will be hosting many Family events for you to enjoy. I hope to see many of you around Frisco this summer!

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