The Colleyville Garden Club’s Promenade, a tour of residential gardens set for Sunday, will focus this year on four unique gardens.

Those private gardens, each characterized by distinguished landscaping, will be open for public inspection from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

One Asian-inspired garden features a koi pond, arched bridges and graceful walkways through a lush collection of flora, while another demonstrates the power landscaping has on a new home. A third oasis offers a colorful treat for the senses, and a fourth boasts private gardens, a formal French garden and an active brook.

At each site, special plants will be labeled and Colleyville Garden Club members will be available to answer gardening questions. The day also will include a raffle, plant sale and an educational exhibit highlighting gardening books.

Chairing the event will be Suzanne Hughes. Tickets to Promenade are $12 in advance and $15 the day of the tour at the garden locations. Ticket outlets are Foreman’s and Market Street in Colleyville; Blooming Colors and Marshall Grain Co. in Grapevine, Green Mama’s Organic Gardening Center in North Richland Hills and Calloway’s Nursery in Hurst.

Colleyville Garden Club, a nonprofit organization, raises funds to benefit club projects and charities, such as donating wind sculptures to Colleyville’s new McPherson Park, planting daffodil bulbs in public areas, establishing a demonstration garden at a school, planting trees for Arbor Day and awarding a college scholarship.

More information is available at www.colleyvillegardenclub.org.

The Colleyville Area Chapter of National Charity League, Inc. recently honored its 19 graduating seniors at a banquet held at Embassy Suites, Grapevine.

Wearing long, black evening gowns the honorees were escorted by their parents in the chapter’s Senior Presentation. The 19 Ticktockers, the designation given to the younger members of the national  mother-daughter organization, were recognized for their six-year commitment to community service, leadership development and cultural activities.

Honored were Shannon Ball, Catherine Champlin, Preslie Clancy, Lindsay Detzler, Paige Ebert, Carolyn Embry, Kate Fulgham, Emily Glavan, Lindsey Harry, Libby Hood, Mekenzie House, Lindsey Irwin, Kaitlin Kulaga, Lacey Mattson, Tara Scoville, Andrea Solomon, Maggie Till, Lauren White and Megan Wiese.

Jill Janicki chaired the special event, which featured a color scheme of black-and-white zebra print mixed with apple green. Assisting on the committee were co-chairwoman Jo Cummings, Stephanie House, Linda Bradley, Kelly Dorman, Deana Pueblo, Cindy Stites and Kelly Weiss. Marian Embry serves as the organization’s president.

Disney’s newest sensation, Demi Lovato turned 17 last August, but due to her filming commitment (she was in Canada filming Camp Rock 2 with the Jonas Brothers), she wasn’t able to truly celebrate her special day.   Now that the film has wrapped up, Miss Lovato recently returned home to her family in Colleyville and celebrated in “four-wheel” style.  How?  By dropping in on her uncle David De La Garza (Miss Lavato’s stepfather and manager is Eddie De La Garza’s, David’s brother), to pick up her first car: a new 2010 Mercedes-Benz E350. 

“At the very top of her list was a trip to the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles,” reports De La Garza, Finance Director at Park Place Motorcars. “She wanted to have a Texas driver’s license rather than a California one. And she would only buy a car from Park Place Motorcars’ for obvious reasons.”

Miss Lovato had ordered her new wheels back in July from Park Place Motorcars and clearly, this celebrity wasn’t just going for the basic model.  Only Cinderella’s carriage could out do this, and remember, Cinderella had to give hers back at midnight! 

“The car is as loaded as you can get a car,” said De La Garza.  “It has absolutely everything: a high-end sound system, iPod kit, Parktronic, etc.”

With the success of a top rated Disney Channel’s TV series, Sonny With A Chance, a successful Disney Channel Original Movie, Camp Rock, and top selling album (her second album Here We Go Again, debuted at #1 on Billboard 200 the past July), Miss Lovato has proven herself to be talent force that is here to stay…and now one that arrives wherever she goes in celebrity style!

Scary, cute and festive, pumpkins painted to suit a variety of moods, tastes and whims–not to mention pocketbooks, will go on sale at Circle of Friends’ annual painted pumpkin sale, set this year for 9 a.m. Saturday at The Village of Colleyville.

Hand-decorated pumpkins will be sold at this charitable event at 16 Village Lane, suite 120. The sale is sponsored each year by Circle of Friends (www.cofmidcities.org). a local organization dedicated to oncology and hematology patients at Cook Children’s Medical Center. Club members spend weeks preceding the sale decorating pumpkins with Halloween themes, Thanksgiving motifs and school mascots to raise funds for the group’s projects.

Acting as co-chairs of the fundraising event are Lorraine Cheney and DeAnna Bryant. Pumpkins will be sold from $3 to as much as $100, and the sale only lasts until the pumpkins are sold out, usually before noon. Pumpkin sales have averaged $15,000 over the past six years, according to Cathie Mollenhoff, who is serving as one of two co-presidents along with Barbara Boerner.

Established in 1984, the non-profit organization Circle of Friends sponsors projects throughout the year to support medical center patients. A major focus is Camp Sanguinity, a one-day camp held near Meridian, TX for 4- and 5-year-old patients. Throughout the year, Circle of Friends hosts other projects to benefit the hematology-oncology patients and their families.

Despite what was rather humid conditions (you don’t need a meteorologist…you can judge the humidity by the size of my afro), hundreds turned out for Blues Fest II.

I think organizers hit a high note with this one, and Blues Fest deserves an even louder third verse next year. The second annual outdoor blues concert hosted by The Blue Shoe Project drew families, teens, singles and a few politicians to the event on the lawn outside of Colleyville’s public library. With little more effort than carting a lawn chair, a music fan could hear Lucky Peterson, Tutu Jones, Texas Johnny Brown and Marquise “Big Daddy” Knox all for free.

E Social World was among the sponsors of the second annual festival. This year booths offered food and beverages, and the music, although blues-based, was eclectic enough to entertain a variety of tastes. And if you didn’t like the music, the people-watching was pretty entertaining, too.

The Blue Shoe Project, which boasts a Grammy win, was started by Colleyville father-and-son team Jeff and Michael Dyson. The Dysons’ why-not and let’s-try-it attitude has gotten them national recognition inside of five years.

Combine the Dysons’ passion for the blues with how successful Saturday night’s festival was, and I see huge potential for Blues Fest to grow. Colleyville, surrounded by Southlake’s Art in the Square, Grapevine’s many festivals, Euless’ Arbor Daze and Kellerfest, could use its own signature event. Why not gather up a big choir to sing with this one?

Lucky me! I was invited to three holiday teas…all in one day.

For some reason the same Sunday seemed to be the perfect day for National Charity League chapters around here to hold their annual teas.

Fine with me. I can flit from tea to tea to tea like the professional tea-sipper I truly am.

The first I attended was for a portion of the Colleyville Area Chapter at the gorgeous home of Beth Champlin and her daughter Catherine. The Champlins’ stunning tree dominates their entry–what a great welcome. Among those there were chapter prez Lee Ann Stanley, Carey Ebert and her daughter Paige, Nancy Edwards and her daughter Cassidy, Dana Feldman and her daughter Andrea Solomon, Patti Dzura and her daughter Lindsey, Judy Till and her daughter Maggie, Dr. Carolyn Helbert-Green and her daughter Carlee. Besides taking tea, taking class pictures was part of the afternoon’s activity, too.

Before that tea was over, I popped over the Colleyville Chapter’s tea honoring its seniors. In the beautiful home of Valerie and Ashley Hubbard, the seniors were introduced during those tea festivities. It was a formal break in the chit chat surrounding the two unbelievable tea tables–one decorated in sophisticated shades of white, the other more casual in festive red and white. Seen at the tea were Jo Pool with daughter Anna, Chris Orrell and daughter Avery, Deanna Marsh and daughter Andie, Judy Strittmatter and her daughter Whitney, and Ronda Poettcker and her daughter Allison

And last but not least, I headed to Christ Haven Chapel for the new Keller Chapter’s first-ever tea. It was my first time ever for an evening tea, so there were firsts all around. Organizers had transformed the building into a winter wonderland…oh-so organized for never having done this sort of thing before. Included at this tea were chapter president Tracy Williams and daughter Rachel,  Debbi Schneider and her daughter Abby, Ellen Rheinlaender and daughter Jennifer Pacione, Mika Meyer and daughter Kaila, Robin Ramsey and her daughter Emily, plus special guest Lesley Irwin, the group’s expansion advisor. The group brought toys and gift cards to be donated to Christ Haven for Children and Community Storehouse.

Three teas…one day…that holding my pinkie in the air was just exhausting.

Wow, i can’t believe this is finally up and running.  Now as you are reading and visiting this wonderful new site, please always keep in mind that we are constantly learning and updating for your benefit.  Also, and most important, please always keep in mind that that both Joy and I are not exactly techno brains….face it, we tend to get lost just after the login process on our side of the site!  (Love you Joy!)  So if you find a few errors or areas that need attention…PLEASE LET US KNOW!   This site is all about YOU and you wonderful organizations.  Please send us your press releases and photos.  And, best of all, send us LOTS of your photos.  We don’t want to just run one of two…we want to put them ALL up!!  If there are too many to send us by e-mail…then contact us and we can make arrangements to get them some other way…but we WANT to get them!  Remember, this site is for you and all about you. 

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