...for City of Southlake news, business, and community happenings.
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- Festival
Friday, September 22, 2023
The Carroll Middle School Jazz Band competed in The Pride of Texas Music Festival recently. The event was Tuesday, May 12 at the iT’z in Euless.
The students performed extremely well, and received the highest score possible from all judges – First Division/Superior. Comments from the judges included: “Great style and balance.” “Very unique!” “Amazing job!” “Overall great articulation and style!” “Very nice!!” “Such fun music! You did a great job.” “This group understands jazz language!” Click here for more information about the Pride of Texas Music Festival.
The CMS Jazz Band will have its final concert at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 27 at Carroll Middle School.
Join the Senior Activity Center at the 23rd Annual Mid Cities Greek Fest at the St. John the Baptist Greek Orthodox Church in Euless. They will be serving up all the classics; gyros, feta, souvlaki, spanakopita, moussaka and much more! Tastings and sample platters will be available. Baklava will be served as the perfect way to finish off the meal. Live Greek music and traditional dances will also win your attention.
The Southlake Senior Activity Center bus will depart from the Center on Friday October 10, 2014 at 10:30AM and will return back to the Center at 3:30 PM. Please note that the arrival and return times are subject to change. The registration fee for this event is $3.00. Please bring money for lunch and other purchases.
If you are interested in signing up for this exciting outing, you can register at the Southlake Senior Activity Center located at 307 Parkwood Drive, Southlake, TX 76092. Please contact (817) 748-8315 if you would like more information.
The 5th Annual Harvest Festival is quickly approaching. Start preparing your costumes for this year’s edition of the Halloween costume contest and get ready for the new pumpkin decorating contest. The Harvest Festival will run from 11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. on Friday, October 31, 2014 at the Southlake Senior Activity Center. The registration fee is $4.00 per person which covers lunch and all extras.
Join us for food, drinks, games, and fellowship. If you are interested in entering a pumpkin in the pumpkin decorating contest, entries must be received on either Monday, October 27 or Tuesday, October 28. Entries received outside this time frame will not be accepted. Make sure to bring a bought/baked good to participate in the Cake Walk. The pre-school children from Rockenbaugh Elementary will also pay a visit so we ask that you bring a bag of candies to pass out.
If you are interested in signing up for this annual tradition, please register at the Southlake Senior Activity Center located at 307 Parkwood Drive, Southlake, TX 76092. Please contact (817) 748-8315 if you would like more information.
Dawson Middle School Theatre Arts competed in their UIL One Act Play on February 25th at Byron Nelson High School.
Their production of The Crucible received an “Excellent” rating after competing against Medlin Middle School (The Magic Well) and Tidwell Middle School (Persephone).
“Overall the competition was a huge success and Dawson staff and directors are incredibly proud of their hard work,” said Dawson Theatre Teacher, Michael McNay.
Peyton Proksch was recognized as Best Technician for Dawson Middle School. Allie Coates and Emmy Pratt received Honorable Mention acting awards. Anna Chase Lanier and Obinna Megwa received All-Star Cast recognition. Miranda Campin was recognized as the Best Actress of the entire festival.
The Christmas countdown has begun! Bells will soon be ringing and thousands of lights will be sparkling throughout Southlake Town Square and the entire city as the holiday season gets underway. As one of the busiest times of the year for both retailers and residents, the City of Southlake Economic Development Department has launched its one-stop resource for holiday events and activities: www.SouthlakeHomeForTheHolidays.com.
With a snowflake theme and photos from previous holiday events, the festive website is organized into 12 primary categories with descriptions, dates and times for holiday happenings November 23 through December 24.
Kicking off the holiday season is the Annual Tree Lighting in Town Square November 23 with Santa Claus himself flipping the switch at 6:30 p.m. Festivities will take place from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. and include performances by local choirs and the Southlake Community Band, as well as free activities for everyone including photos with Santa, carriage rides, snow hill tubing and holiday food and drink. The holidays are not complete without giving a wish list to Santa, so don’t miss the opportunity to see him in person at Santa’s Village November 23 – December 24.
A new section this year is Town Hall Events with a full calendar of holiday events for the entire family, including:
and more!
Another important purpose of the website is to promote local businesses and encourage people to “Shop Southlake” during the holiday season. The Store Events section of the website lists events hosted by Southlake businesses and the Shopping & Dining section links directly to the business directory. The website also lists Black Friday store hours for retailers in Town Square and throughout the city.
Informational sections such as Parking & Directions help visitors to the area and the Holiday Concierge, located at 1253 Main Street (across from Sweet & Sassy) provides helpful tips, restaurant menus, and gift cards for purchase.
The website will be continuously updated and businesses and community organizations may submit information for posting to visitinfo@visitsouthlaketexas.com.
Young musicians at Dawson Middle School have a lot to celebrate this spring. In recent weeks, students in the Wind Ensemble and Symphonic Band received top honors from judges in all their competitions. These winning scores mark the first time that both bands earned straight ones in all their competitions.
“Mr. Guerrero and I are both so very proud of these amazing young musicians!” said Band Director David Stone. “They have worked countless hours and truly represented Dawson Middle School. Special thanks go to Becky Bailey who also works with both of these bands on a daily basis!”
On Tuesday, April 3, both the Wind Ensemble and Symphonic Band traveled to the Eisemann Center in Richardson to compete at the Peak Music Festival. This was the first time the competition doubled as a pre-UIL warm up for students. Both bands earned straight ones from all three judges and received positive as well as constructive comments. The Symphonic Band had two superior musicianship awards given to the Flute and French Horn sections. The Wind Ensemble received superior musicianship awards to Tiger Yang (Tuba), Carleigh Grupe (Piccolo), Mia Bergeron (Flute), Matt Landers (Clarinet), Natale Ton-nu (Piano) and the Trombone Section.
On Friday, April 13, the Symphonic Band performed at the MCL Grand Theater in Lewisville for the Region 24 Concert and Sightreading Competition. The band played “Courage”, by Harold Bennett, “Fantasy on an Irish Air”, by Richard Saucedo and “Colliding Visions”, by Brian Balmages. All three judges gave the band superior ratings and outstanding comments. After their stage performance, students quickly went to the Black Box theatre to prepare for sightreading. In the sightreading room, the students are given a new piece of music and, under the direction of Mr. Guerrero, they must perform the piece. This part of the competition is timed and Guerrero only has 7 minutes to review the music before time is called and the students must perform. A new panel of judges reviewing the sightreading performances gave straight ones to the DMS Symphonic Band.
The Wind Ensemble also went to the MCL Grand Theater and competed at the Region 24 Concert and Sightreading Competition. This competition was held on Wednesday, April 18. The band performed “A Walk in the Morning Sun”, by Pierre La Plante, “Kindred Spirits”, by Brian Balmages and “Lassus Trombone”, by Henry Fillmore. Like the Symphonic Band, all three judges awarded straight ones and commented on how mature and musical the students performed. The sightreading portion of the contest followed. Due to the Wind Ensemble playing a Level 3 sightreading piece (Symphonic Band plays a Level 1), the students received an extra minute of time to prepare. Again, the band received straight ones from all judges.
Visit the DMS website to learn more about the campus and upcoming events, including Band Tryouts on May 5, the DMS Percussion Bash scheduled for May 9 and the Band Spring Concert on May 15.
The Carroll Jazz Band is hard at work this spring. Led by director David Lown, members of the Jazz Ensemble took home top honors at the UTA Jazz Festival on Friday, March 2. The students had an outstanding performance, winning the 5-A II division. 
This is the third such win in a row for the Carroll Jazz Ensemble. Ten of the 17 members of the Jazz Ensemble were also awarded Certificates of Excellence for their individual performances. Those students are Harrison Edwards, Brandon Satterfield, Benjamin Scaggs, Cameron Brewer, Reid Appleby, Tanner Deters, Daniel Tubbesing, Christopher Cunningham, Ryan Adler and Ellie Miller. The Jazz Orchestra, which is Carroll’s top group of musicians was last year’s Festival Sweepstakes winner. These students were invited to perform non-competitively as this year’s exhibition band during the awards concert on Friday night.
Lown and his talented group of students are also celebrating a recent addition to the department . At the March 5 Carroll ISD School Board Meeting, Trustees accepted the donation of a baby grand piano. The 1988 Schafer & Sons baby grand piano is valued at $5,000 and will be used by members of the Carroll Senior High Jazz Band.
To learn more about Carroll Jazz and upcoming events visit the group’s website.