Pictured with Arby’s General Manager, Bryan Washington and Arby’s Marketing Coordinator, Milica Barbir is Wylie resident Evelyn Hardin. Mrs. Hardin, a loyal Arby’s customer, won $10,000 during Wylie Arby’s Grand Opening festivities playing the Roll the Dice game.
Congratulations, Evelyn!
Well, City Councilman David Goss called it as the above picture was being taken by Anne Hiney of Troy Aikman and I on Wednesday evening. “There’s the lead-in picture for the Wylie Today story!”
Turns out he was right. I’m sure you will see plenty of pictures of this event in the next week or so as I couldn’t count the amount of cameras on-hand. I have a few from the event that I will post below, and I might just add a gallery here in the near future. But to lead-in, yeah, that’s me and Hall of Fame quarterback, 3 time Super Bowl Champion, the greatest Fox Sports NFL analyst and former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman. I like to mix it up.
City of Wylie Mayor John Mondy was completely jubilant this evening and with good reason. The people involved have been working on this deal for over a year and tonight was another step towards $600,000 in additional sales tax revenue for the city. It was another step towards a thousand newly created jobs in the city. It was another step towards keeping the citizens of Wylie shopping in Wylie. I’m really surprised we didn’t see Mayor Mondy break out some Riverdance moves.
Major kudos go out to Wylie’s Public Information Officer, Craig Kelly. Aside from seeing him run around picking up yoga flyers someone had left on the tables, the event went on without a hitch. Hundreds of people were in attendance for the groundbreaking ceremony and Dickey’s BBQ.
On hand to speak at the event was Wylie Economic Development Corporation’s Sam Satterwhite, Texas State Representative Jodie Laubenberg, Direct Development Sr. VP Don Bouvier, City of Wylie Mayor John Mondy and Troy Aikman.
Mr. Bouvier related the event to an Oscar speech as he mentioned so many people involved from the beginning that required accolades. He spoke further about four legs of a table and if one breaks or can’t support the weight, the table fails. He spoke very highly of the City of Wylie staff and administration and said they delivered on everything they said they would do. Now it was Direct Development’s turn to deliver on their promises.
Super Target Summer of 2009!
Some other players that need mentioning are the City of Murphy and the City of Sachse. Murphy made a small plot of land available to Wylie that was required for the development at the corner of 544 and McCreary. Sachse agreed to build a road to connect the back end of the development to Hwy 78. As Mayor Mondy said, “This has truly been a community effort”.
Troy Aikman talked about the special place in his heart for Wylie. You see, his wife was born in Wylie, though she didn’t stay very long. “I’m pretty sure if there had been a Super Target here, she would have stayed a bit longer.” he mused continuing on to talk about credit card statements and things I am so completely familiar with. He went on to talk about how great Direct Development is and how proud he is to be a part of such a great team. He knows that Direct Development isn’t a build and run type of company. They plan, build and maintain. Their developments are works to be proud of and that is why he chose them.
Overall, the event was a huge success and we can expect to see bulldozers out in the fields within a few weeks as road construction begins. This thing is moving forward quickly, people. And a ton of people were involved to make it happen. This is a fantastic day for the Great City of Wylie.
Look for more images soon and the small images above are clickable, leading to a larger image.
The first North Central Texas Basic Agricultural Field Day is scheduled for Friday, April 25th from 8 A.M. to 4 P.M. at the
“This new field day is designed to provide all participants—whether they are farmers and ranchers or just interested in agriculture—with a broad-based educational opportunity to learn about many facets of an agricultural operation,” said David Annis, agricultural consultant with the Noble Foundation’s Agricultural Division. “ We’ve brought together agricultural specialists and consultants from the Noble Foundation,
Registration is from 8:00 to 8:30 A.M. followed by the morning session, which will include discussions on selecting the appropriate farm equipment for various agricultural operations and farm equipment safety. Attendees will then divide into three groups and rotate between three brief presentations on farmstead planning/resource evaluation, soil sampling and pasture management. Sessions on pond management, fencing, multiple crop horticulture, hoop houses, cattle management, goats and horses will follow.
“The North Central Texas Basic Agricultural Field Day will provide farmers and ranchers with information that can be utilized immediately in their operations,” Annis said. “It will also give those who are new to the agricultural field or might be interested in starting agricultural operation abundant information that they can pull from in the future”.
To pre-register or obtain a brochure with further information contact Agent Rick Maxwell at r-maxwell@tamu.edu or via telephone at 972-548-4233.
From the Wylie Community Newsletter:
The Second Annual Wylie High School Job Fair is this weekend. Sponsored by the Education Committee of the Wylie Chamber of Commerce, the Saturday, April 5 event will offer students age 16 and older the opportunity to apply for full and part-jobs with area businesses and companies. Students can attend either the morning session from 10 a.m. to 12 noon or the afternoon session from 1 to 3 p.m. in the Auxiliary Gym of the school. The chamber anticipates 20 or more businesses at the event, and Sonic, Pac Sun, Chase Bank, Home Depot, Victoria’s Secret, Affordable Dental & Medical, Firestone, Chili’s, Viewpoint Bank, Wal-Mart and Charlotte Russe are a few of the companies that plan to participate.
Mr. Cleto Rodriguez from San Antonio Texas is coming our way to kick-off our first “Comedy for Your Soul” event at Hunter’s Place in Wylie, Texas…just 5-7 minutes north of Firewheel Mall at Hwy 78 & Ballard Street. We want you to come out and be the first to experience a Christian entertainment venue…a place for God’s people to loosen up, enjoy good clean comedy and share joy!
No smokin, no alcohol, no cursing, no fussin…just living, loving and laughing as we fellowship with family and friends. We will keep it if you keep coming to Keep Laughing!
Featuring: Phyllis Mutzman, Marvin Michaels, Denzel Snipes..Tickets at www.ticketweb.com Hunters Place 102 North Ballard Street, Wylie TX 75098 972.429.0047 host, Ms. Vickie voted one of the top 20 funniest moms in America. WE WILL HEAR YOU THERE!
March 7th and 8th!
We are 10 days away from Twisted Zen’s Rock Band Battle of the Bands. Have you been practicing? Wait, do you have a band yet? If you really want to live the life of a rock band, you’ll put an ad in the paper and wait for the players to call you. You have a phone, right?
You have them come over to your “jam room” for auditions. It’s okay if you don’t allow them to plug in for fear of waking up your parents in the next room. After all that, you pick the player that can drink more than you. That’s how rock bands work. Trust me.
From what I understand, three bands have signed up so far and they look serious. I mean, look at these guys.
Serious business.
Another band is so serious, they haven’t even had the opportunity to take a press photo yet. And the third band is reportedly driving in from Phoenix. They are only traveling in true rock band style though if they show up in a beaten down van and have to “borrow” gas money to drive back home. That’s how rock bands work. Trust me.
The official event page can be found here. Get ready to rock. March 15th!
I just drove by Albertson’s Express on 544 and Westgate, and they are having a gas price markdown blowout!
Gas was $.25 off today’s prices. Word’s getting around, traffic is building up at this location.
Pack up your picnic baskets and get in line!
Update - the promotion is over and all is back to normal.
PRESS RELEASE - DIRECT DEVELOPMENT TO DEVELOP 64.5 ACRE RETAIL DEVELOPMENT IN WYLIE
DALLAS, Texas (February 25, 2008) Direct Development, a private commercial retail real estate development and investment company, today announced that it has purchased 64.5 acres located at the southeast corner of FM 544 and McCreary Road in Wylie, Texas. Direct Development intends to develop a 575,000 square foot retail shopping center, Woodbridge Crossing Shopping Center, which will be the largest retail center located in Wylie when it is completed in the summer of 2009.
“Woodbridge Crossing would not have come to fruition without the collaboration of several key groups,” remarked Don Bouvier, Senior Vice President with Direct Development. “The City of Wylie, the Wylie EDC, Target Corporation, the previous owner—Don Herzog, and countless others worked together to bring this needed amenity to Wylie residents.”
This transaction involves a $12 million public-private partnership between the City of Wylie, the Wylie Economic Development Corporation and Direct Development. Direct Development will immediately develop more than 1.5 miles of adjacent roads, public utilities, traffic signals along FM 544, and a bridge over Maxwell Creek and receive reimbursement over a 12 year period. John Mondy, Mayor of Wylie, Mindy Manson, Wylie City Manager, and Sam Satterwhite, Wylie Economic Development Corporation, were very instrumental in the development, which is expected to kick-off with an April 2008 ground-breaking ceremony.
“Woodbridge Crossing will serve as a new gateway to our thriving, growing, City and have a positive impact on the quality of life and ongoing economic development efforts in Wylie,” said City of Wylie Mayor, John Mondy. “Partnerships with our neighboring cities, Murphy and Sachse, along with the hard work by city staff, City Council and Direct Development, were key to the success of this project.”
Super Target will be the anchor tenant of Woodbridge Crossing, with the Target Corporation simultaneously closing on 13.6 acres within the 64.5 acre development. A “to-be-named” department store, numerous “junior-anchor” retailers and several well-known restaurants have also expressed an interest in the project. More than 150,000 people within Wylie, Sachse, Murphy and East Richardson are within the development’s primary trade area.
The site is part of a 186 commercial planned development, owned by Herzog Development Corporation, which includes zoning for an adjacent 100 acre sports facility complex and a 20 acre senior housing project.
David Watson formed direct Development in November of 1997, and the company was recently ranked 22nd among the Dallas 100 fastest growing private companies. In May of 2006, Troy Aikman joined the firm as principal due to the firm’s integrity and quality of development projects. Over the last 10 years, Direct Development has developed or acquired 33 shopping centers comprising over 3 million square feet of commercial retail properties, and has offices in both Dallas and Austin. Additional information on Direct Development is available at www.ddevelopment.com or call (214) 891-3222.
Yeah, for the next few weeks, anyway. I can’t see myself visiting soon if this keeps up. My stroll through Wylie 15 minutes ’til noon was pretty interesting. Zero cars in line at the Wendy’s drive-thru. Zero cars in line at the Taco Bell drive-thru. Heck, even the seemingly always packed Chili’s parking lot provided ample parking. All because of Arby’s.
The field next to Arby’s was working out nicely as an overflow parking lot. All the spaces allocated to Arby’s were full. The drive-thru line was two cars away from spilling out on to 544. I’m sure it’s all because of the free advertising Arby’s has received from Wylie Today. A cut of the sales should be demanded!
So I guess I’ll be “thinking Arby’s ” for another few weeks because I surely won’t be eating there. Well, I suppose if there is only one or two or three cars in the drive-thru line, I might take the chance. If I just so happen to need gas and then milk and then Red Bull and then dog food and then a tractor from Tractor Supply Company throughout the evening and notice a small line, I’ll take the chance. Surely during one of those individual five trips the Arby’s line will be short enough for me to access.
The perfect opportunity to live your dream. Or relive your past in my case. Or just to prove that you possess the skills to compete with the greatest local video game rock bands. Twisted Zen brings this opportunity to your doorstep on March 15th, 2008. Actually, doorstep is not that accurate. Really, you have to drive up to Monkey’s Pub & Grub in Sachse. That is the location of this grand event.
I’ve been a fan of the Guitar Hero series for a long time. But I’m just a measly ole PS2 user and didn’t have the opportunity to play Rock Band until a couple of weekends ago when I visited some friends of mine who had the setup going on. I don’t remember having so much fun playing a video game. Once I got accustomed to the difference in game guitars, I really enjoyed playing this one so much more. I only caused the band to fail, well… let’s not talk about that.
One thing I can’t play is the drums. Foot-hand coordination is apparently not my strong suit. I played one song and didn’t want to embarrass myself further. But secretly, I want to play those drums, man. I just need to play alone for a little bit. To practice, you know? I don’t mind looking like a fool in front of myself. The singing was also really fun, but odd. For example, I hit 96% of the vocals when I sang an old Iron Maiden song, Run to the Hills. But I know that anyone listening was calling the SPCA to report animal abuse. I hate singing falsetto and I felt like that is what I had to do to match the notes of the legendary Bruce Dickinson.
Anyway, I’ll remind you about this event in the weeks to come. If you are going to compete in this event, send me an email and I’ll make you look like rock stars. Get practicing!
For more details on this event, visit the official event page at Twisted Zen.