Southlake Tennis Center (STC), a beloved fixture in the Southlake community and one of the premier public tennis facilities in the country, is celebrating its 25th anniversary with a fun-filled day of tennis, games, and community connection on Saturday, May 10, starting at 9:30AM, followed by a special Pro Exhibition at 11:30AM.

Since opening its doors in October 1999, STC has grown from a small complex with 13 hard courts and a temporary pro shop into a nationally recognized tennis destination. This year’s celebration is even more special as May is National Tennis Month, a time when tennis communities across the country promote the physical, social, and mental benefits of the sport. May 10 also marks “Hit to Be Fit Day,” a nationwide initiative encouraging people to get active through tennis—making it the perfect day for players of all ages to hit the courts and celebrate.

Over the last 25 years, STC has received numerous honors, including the USTA Outstanding Facility of the Year Award—twice—and most recently being named a USTA Premier Facility in 2024, an honor shared by only 50 facilities nationwide and only two in Texas.

STC’s impact on Southlake has gone far beyond the court. Through community events, charitable partnerships like the Mid-Cities SOS Tennis Benefit for SafeHaven of Tarrant County, and hosting tournaments for players of all ages and skill levels, STC has remained a cornerstone for recreation, socialization, learning, and connection in the city. 

“Reaching 25 years is an incredible milestone for the City of Southlake,” said Mia Gordon-Poorman, general manager and long-time leader at STC. “We have been so fortunate to partner with the City to provide a public facility that has been honored both locally and nationally for its excellence in facility management, innovative programming, and meaningful community engagement.”

To celebrate its silver anniversary, Southlake Tennis Center invites current and former players, families, and fans to come out and enjoy a morning of exciting activities for all ages:

Event Highlights – Saturday, May 10 (Starting at 9:30AM)

Adult Activities:

• Cardio Triples Drill: Co-ed, three players per side, exciting points play.
• 105: A fast-paced doubles game with big points for winning shots (2.5+ level).
• Demo Court: Try out racquets from Yonex, Head, Babolat, and Wilson, plus serve speeds will be tested with a radar gun.

Kids Events:

• Parent-Child Red Ball Tournament: Fun for families, with players earning discounts on summer camps and classes.
• Kids Olympics: A tennis-themed obstacle course with age-based prizes and unlimited runs through the course.

All activities are $5 each, require registration, and include a $5 pro shop voucher—play and save while celebrating!

Pro Exhibitions (Starting at 11:30AM)

• STC’s talented coaching staff will take to the same red, orange, and green courts that kids use—showcasing advanced skills in a fun, fast-paced format for families and young players to enjoy up close.

“We’re proud to have been a part of so many lives in Southlake and to have helped grow the game of tennis here,” said Stephen Poorman, STC’s director of tennis since it opened in 1999. “This celebration is our way of saying thank you to the community that’s supported us every step of the way.”

To help celebrate the journey, STC is inviting the community to share its most memorable moments. Send your favorite STC photos and stories—past or present—to stc25anniversary@gmail.com to be entered into a drawing for a $250 Pro Shop gift card.

From its humble beginnings to becoming a state-of-the-art facility with indoor courts and a full-service clubhouse, Southlake Tennis Center has remained dedicated to making tennis accessible, inclusive, and fun for everyone. The May 10 celebration is a tribute to that mission and a glimpse into the exciting future still ahead.

For more information and to register for May 10 events:

https://playtennis.usta.com/southlake-tennis-center/EventsV2   

817-421-5605

info@southlaketennis.com

ABOUT SOUTHLAKE TENNIS CENTER

Located within Bicentennial Park in Southlake, Texas, STC is a city-owned facility with 17 lighted hard courts and two indoor courts that are climate controlled.  STC is the largest public tennis facility in Northeast Tarrant County. Open seven days a week, STC maintains a full schedule year-round with adult league play, a junior program for all ages and levels, private and group lessons, and tournaments.

Galaxy Theatres Grandscape is now offering an unforgettable experience with its exclusive D-BOX motion seats installed just in time for summer blockbuster season. D-BOX is an immersive seating technology that uses haptic effects to synchronize over 65,000 motion, vibration, and texture sensations with on-screen action, creating a lifelike, premium movie experience. The action is brought right to your seat with every jump, punch, turn on screen, and bass drop in the score.

The theater features 18 D-BOX seats across one of its 15 screens. This cutting-edge technology pairs perfectly with the theater's advanced Sony 4K laser digital cinema projectors, delivering stunning clarity, brightness, color, and contrast for an exceptional picture quality.

D-BOX seating is revolutionizing the moviegoing experience and will bring films like Thunderbolts, Final Destination, and Mission: Impossible to a whole new level. For an additional $8 per ticket, guests can elevate their movie experience on a first-come, first-served basis when purchasing through Galaxy Theatres’ website and box office.

Experience nonstop thrills with the new action-packed film Sinners, now in theaters, featuring state-of-the-art seats that move with every action-packed scene.

Galaxy Theatres is located at 5740 Grandscape Blvd Ste. 100, The Colony, TX 75056. 

Visit their website at https://www.galaxytheatres.com/movie-theater/grandscape to reserve your tickets today. 

By Angelo Piersanti

During the 2024–2025 school year, Zac Ladd, Shelton Assistant Head of Upper School, and Tripp Givens, Shelton Upper School Engineering and Film Faculty, launched Shelton’s inaugural semester-long Urban Homesteading course for sophomores, juniors, and seniors. The program aims to foster deeper connections between students and the natural world by offering opportunities for year-round engagement, including animal and plant care, seasonal tasks, and leadership roles for older students.

Mr. Ladd says there’s value in students stepping away from technology and engaging in real-world, hands-on learning. “In a time when so much of this generation’s life is spent on screens, I think it’s important to do something hands-on,” he says. “Learning how to care for animals or build something like a chicken coop is incredibly valuable and practical. These are skills students can carry with them for a long time.”

The Shelton Urban Homesteading class centers around project-based learning. Over the spring semester, students focused on learning routines for maintaining Shelton’s beehives. They also worked to establish a chicken coop and vegetable garden. These projects involved designing and building the coop and raised garden beds, as well as selecting chicken breeds and plant varieties. Numerous tasks had to be completed as part of these objectives.

Students identified an appropriate site on campus that would meet the basic needs of the chickens. Along the way, they learned valuable practical life skills such as measuring, cutting, and fastening building materials, as well as how to prepare the soil and operate various power tools. 

Shelton senior Lydia Stroh says the hands-on nature of the Urban Homesteading class makes learning more meaningful and memorable. “It’s very interactive, and I feel like you learn more by doing,” she says. “With outdoor education, you learn by trying — like taking care of animals — and that kind of trial-and-error approach helps it stick.”

While working on the chicken coop and garden projects, students began to express interest in developing an aquaponics system. This initiative was driven by students’ desire to create a sustainable, closed-loop system that would eventually feed and water plants in specialized beds by periodically flooding them with nutrient-rich water from an attached fish tank. Extensive research and experimentation with tubing, water conditioning, pumps, and siphons shaped the planning of the system.

A curiosity for how things work — and how to fix them when they don’t — led students to explore plumbing valves and the possibility of 3D printing them. They are currently testing a small-scale version of the system using goldfish and a standard fish tank. Eventually, the system could be scaled to produce both fish and plants for human consumption.

All of these challenges test the students’ abilities to acquire new knowledge and skills, and the Urban Homesteading program seamlessly integrates concepts across engineering, science, and math to develop solutions. Ladd particularly enjoys watching his students come up with ideas, adapt their prior knowledge to the problems at hand, and innovate in new directions.

The program's success relies on the instructors following the students' interests and questions —students drive the learning process. This flexible strategy encourages students to take ownership of their learning and embrace the rituals of trial and error as an essential part of it.

As the Urban Homesteading program grows and evolves, it promises to provide Shelton students with a unique and enriching educational experience. Ladd now envisions Urban Homesteading as the cornerstone of an expansive Outdoor Education program, spanning Pre-K through 12th grade and anchoring the school’s long-term vision for sustainability.

Thank you to the Shelton Parents' Association and Shelton parents for supporting this and other Shelton programs. 

Sheraton Dallas is proud to welcome Miguel Neira as the new Executive Chef. With over 16 years in the hospitality industry, Neira will oversee all aspects of the hotel’s food operations, including the management of banquet facilities and four distinctive food and beverage outlets. Neira brings a passion for culinary innovation, leading an energized kitchen to develop unique, seasonal menus that are globally inspired while using only fresh, locally sourced ingredients.

Born and raised in a small coastal town in Ecuador, Neira’s passion for food was ignited early in life. He learned the art of fishing and developed an appreciation for the unparalleled quality of fresh, ocean-sourced ingredients. These formative experiences laid the foundation for his culinary philosophy: food should be pure, fresh, and reflective of its origins.

Neira has traveled all over the world, immersing himself in a rich variety of culinary traditions. From the bold street food flavors of Cancun to the delicate pastries of France, his travels deepened his culinary understanding and expanded his palate. By blending the vibrant flavors of his Latin heritage with the refinement of international cuisines, he developed a unique culinary style that has shaped his career.

Neira began his culinary career with Marriott in 2007 as Restaurant Chef at the Renaissance Vinoy Resort in St. Petersburg, Florida. He held leadership roles in Cleveland, Chicago and Tampa, including Executive Banquet Chef at Sheraton Grand Chicago, excelling in large-scale events and high-volume operations. Since 2021, Neira has served as Executive Sous Chef at Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center, overseeing all culinary outlets, site inspections, and menu development to enhance the guest dining experience.

Neira’s expertise and innovative vision led him to his current role as Executive Chef at the Sheraton Dallas Hotel, where he continues to lead with a commitment to sustainability, community, and the power of food to bring people together.

“We are proud to have Miguel join Sheraton Dallas as Executive Chef and are confident his culinary passion, extensive travels, and unique talent will provide amazing results to our dining outlets and banquet facilities,” said Frank Quant, Sheraton Dallas Hotel’s Director of Food and Beverage. “We look forward to sharing his expertise with our guests.”

Providing more than 230,000 square feet of versatile event space, Sheraton Dallas Hotel features the perfect backdrop for any type of gathering. Offering the latest in technology with a functional and updated style, the versatile venues accommodate events of all sizes, from motivational team meetings, training and annual conferences to intimate social gatherings and large galas. With customizable catering options designed to complement any event's tone and scale, Sheraton Dallas’ culinary team is dedicated to delivering memorable dining experiences tailored to every guest’s taste and dietary preferences.

With four food and beverage dining outlets – Open Palette, Draft Sports Bar & Lounge, Open Mkt. Grab ‘n Go, and The Parlor – Sheraton Dallas features world-class culinary experiences. Open Palette serves fresh, flavorful American classics inspired by the hotel’s Dallas roots. Open Mkt. Grab ‘n Go provides a wide selection of healthy foods and plenty of options for those on the go. Draft Sports Bar & Lounge is a 4,000 square foot world of sports nirvana that provides the ultimate entertainment experience with 25 televisions, local beers on tap, outstanding eats, craft cocktails and a complimentary karaoke room. Available to book for special events, The Parlor is an upscale lounge bar with a retro style designed specifically for intimate gatherings regardless of the occasion.

Sheraton Dallas is the largest hotel in Texas with 1,841 guest rooms, a state-of-the-art fitness center with five Peloton bikes, an outdoor rooftop pool with stunning city views, and Club Lounge, in addition to the meeting and convention space and four dining outlets. Located right off the DART Pearl/Arts District station, Sheraton Dallas offers guests and employees a convenient location in the epicenter of Downtown Dallas. Dare to Discover Our Dallas.

For more information about the Sheraton Dallas or to book a stay, visit www.SheratonDallas.com.

Since its inception in 1985, one of the nation’s most impressive and unique Independence Day celebrations has been held in the North Texas town of Addison. While 4.4 square-mile Addison is only home to 17,000 residents, more than a half-million guests from across the nation come each year to celebrate Addison Kaboom Town!^® on July 3.

Rated by USA Today as one of the top fireworks shows in the country, the celebration is townwide, with watch parties at many of Addison’s 200+ restaurants (the Town has more restaurants per capita than any other city in the U.S.!), 22 hotels, and at a limited-capacity party in the 12-acre Addison Circle Park. The world-renowned fireworks and the incredible Addison Airport Airshow can be seen from anywhere in town. The Airshow, fueled by Million Air Dallas, features internationally acclaimed aerobatic performances, historic warbirds and more.

The Addison Kaboom Town! ^® 25-minute-long fireworks show is among the best in the nation, and it is simulcast on both local radio and on the town’s social media channels. Before the fireworks, there’ll be high-energy music at Addison Circle Park from both the 36^th Infantry Band, the Texas Army National Guard's esteemed Army band, based at Camp Mabry, Austin, Texas, and by The Elton Johns, a high-energy tribute band. Popular party band Emerald City All-Stars will perform after the fireworks. Families viewing the fireworks from Addison Circle Park will enjoy festival food, beverages and an activity-packed area for the kids!  

Tickets to the watch party in Addison Circle Park, $10 for ages 10 and older, $5 for kids 2-9 and free for kids 2 and younger, will be available at addisonkaboomtown.com on June 1. Tickets are required for every guest attending.

Guests who book a stay for July 3^rd at a participating Addison hotel will receive complimentary admission for six to the Kaboom Town! watch party in Addison Circle Park. This exclusive offer provides a convenient way to avoid traffic and enjoy one of the nation’s top Independence Day celebrations. Extend your stay and experience all that Addison has to offer throughout the holiday weekend.

Each year, Addison Kaboom Town!^®  is named among the top fireworks shows in the country. The spectacular, 4,000-shell show has been ranked as one of the top fireworks displays in the country by People.com, the American Pyrotechnics Association, Yahoo, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal and Travel + Leisure Magazine.

WHEN:               Thursday, July 3, 2025, 5-11 p.m.

                           5 p.m. – Addison Circle Park gates open

6:30 p.m. – 36^th Infantry Band

8 p.m. – Presentation of the Colors & National Anthem

8:30 p.m. – The Elton Johns

9:30 p.m. – Addison Kaboom Town! Fireworks

10 p.m. – Emerald City All-Stars

WHERE:              Addison Circle Park, 4970 Addison Circle, Addison, Texas 75001

Memorable views can be found from anywhere in Addison, but special watch parties hosted by many of Addison’s more than 200+ restaurants and 22 hotels offer spectators a unique viewing experience. A list of watch parties will be available on the website closer to the event.

TRAFFIC

NOTES:               The popularity of the Addison Kaboom Town!^®  fireworks show may cause some traffic delays, specifically following the fireworks show.  Book your hotel rooms now!  Addison hotels quickly fill up for this annual event.  Spectators are encouraged to spend the night in Addison at any of our hotels or remain at their favorite restaurant till traffic subsides.

EVENT

NOTES:               Concessions are available in the park.  Guests are not permitted to bring coolers into the park.  Absolutely no alcohol can be brought into or out of Addison Circle Park.  Beer and wine will be available for sale within the park.

COST:                 $10 for ages 10 and older

                           $5 for ages 2-9

                           Free for those under 2, although a ticket is required.

Tickets are required for each person attending the limited-capacity party in Addison Circle Park. Tickets will be available online June 1. Book an Addison Kaboom Town! hotel package and enjoy quality accommodations, a cooling neck towel and guaranteed admission to the park for up to 6 guests.

WEBSITE:           AddisonKaboomTown.com