The PROSPER TIMES | 10.13.17

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PROSPERTIMES Friday October 13, 2017 | Prosper, Texas

VOL. 1 | NO. 24

Prosper Profiles

WeAreProsper.com | $1.00

Prosper Pumpkinfest draws Record Crowds

Meet The Hendleys Renee Marler Renee@CedarbrookMedia.com The year was 2006. The population in the Town of Prosper was a mere 5,244 but would increase by five when Darrin and Rita Hendley moved to Prosper with their three children, Rose, Sarah, and Ross. Fast forward eleven years and the then-newcomer Hendley family are now familiar faces around the Town of Prosper, often seen welcoming new residents. Their story began in Georgia. An Italian girl from New Jersey meets a country boy from Vidalia, Georgia in college. Darrin was attending Southern Polytechnic State University in Marietta, Georgia and Rita was attending Kennesaw State University just ten miles away. Introduced by a friend, the two started on a journey that would bring them together and eventually to Prosper, Texas. Darrin gradated with a degree in Engineering and worked in the telecom industry for over 25 years. He retired and had a desire to start a business where he could interact with and help people. A year ago, Darrin became licensed and now owns his own Farmers Insurance office. Rita has had a successful career selling Premier Designs Jewelry for over 25 years and has led a bible study on Sunday mornings at the church they have been attending for about six years, Prestonwood North. Being from a large Italian family, Rita loves to decorate, shop, cook, and entertain. Her Sunday meals include lots of pasta and “gravy” as she calls it, which is red sauce to the rest of us. “My kids love it when I cook Fettuccine Alfredo, but I really just love to cook anything Italian,” she said. Darrin is a duck hunter and displays his ducks all around the house, even in Rita's office. “In many of my jewelry videos you can see ducks hanging on the walls,” she laughed. The Hendley's daughters both attend the University of Arkansas where they are active in the Kappa Delta sorority. Ross is a senior at Prosper High School and can be found every Friday night under the stadium lights helping lead the Prosper Eagles to victory. Both are active in the Prosper Chamber of Commerce and love finding new ways to interact with the community. In what could be described as a Hollywood love story twist, just as the Hendley's did 25 years ago, in 2015 Southern Polytechnic State University merged with Kennesaw State University. “Darrin can’t stand it that his school merged with mine, but it's kind of a neat story,” said Rita.

Mackenzie Johnson | The Prosper Times

Hundreds of pumpkins in the Pumpkin Patch and fall decorations throughout the park were used to transform Frontier Park into the 2017 Prosper Pumpkinfest on October 7th.

Heather Reynolds Heather@CedarbrookMedia.com It was a beautiful day for a wonderful community event last Saturday evening. Frontier Park was transformed into a Fall Festival for the entire family, complete with hundreds of pumpkins in the pumpkin patch, hay bales, scarecrows, fall inflatables and a

variety of different home-cooked chilis. The weather was perfect and over 5,000 people ventured to the park for the food trucks, shopping and live music. The entertainment was provided by the band In10City, who belted out Top 40s music and kept the massive crowds dancing all evening. They began their show at 5:00 and played until just past dark, allowing their light show to create

an even more fun party atmosphere. Along with the food trucks and Kona Ice, a big highlight of the event was the chili contest. There were seven different types of homemade chili to sample and vote on. Among the entries were a Wagyu beef chili, bison chili, chicken chili, lava beef chili and two different pots of brisket chili. To participate in the voting, after sampling their favorites,

festival attendees were given a dry chili bean to vote with. The beans were then counted and the chili with the most dry beans was declared the winner. Hotch and Shelly Van Blarcum, of Prosper, known as the Prosper Eggheads, won this year’s award with their Brisket Chili. See Pumpkinfest, page 3

No Rain Out for National Night Out Renee Marler Renee@CedarbrookMedia.com One of the best ways to build a safer, more secure community, is to know your neighbors. Each year, millions of neighbors across the United States take part in National Night Out, a focused campaign held on the first Tuesday in October, which promotes police and community partnerships as well as neighborhood bonding in an effort to increase safety. Despite the rain and cloudy skies, close to 30 neighborhoods in Prosper hosted National Night Out events, often referred to as block parties, even if they may have had to scramble a little. Prosper Police Officer Erin Hubbard, who helps the department organize community events such as National Night Out, said, “Some people moved their parties inside to garages, but some people just rolled with it. The kids had a blast playing on some of the inflatables in the rain.” During the evening, first responders from Prosper Police and Fire Department made their way to Submitted Photo the various block parties to interact Chief Stuart Blasingame poses with some neighborhood kids at the National Night Out Block Party on Tuesday with the community, answer questions October 3 and to just strengthen the community “We have a great community here and I know families we are blessed to service in a fun and relationships. Prosper Fire Chief Stuart Blasingame says, friendly environment. We love getting to know we are growing, but no matter the size, we will “It's always one of the highlights of our year to the members of our community and the children always maintain that small town feel,” said be a part of National Night Out because it allows love to tour all the fire department engines and Hubbard. the Prosper Fire Department to interact with the ambulances.”

Prosper Mighty Eagle Band Earns Grand Champion Award Renee Marler Renee@CedarbrookMedia.com

The Prosper Times is featuring Prosper residents each week in “Prosper Profiles.” We want to bring to the forefront individuals who quietly go about their business with little to no fanfare. If you know of someone who qualifies for this spot, please send an email to let us know.

Submitted Photo

Prosper Drum Majors and Color Guard members show off their awards after the HEB Marching Contest on October 7

Prosper’s Mighty Eagle Marching Band took its show, The Lost World, on the road and wowed the competition Saturday at the HEB Marching Contest held at Pennington Field in Bedford, Texas. Seventeen bands, including Coppell, The Colony, Frisco Wakeland, Allen and others, competed in the contest, which lasted all day. The judging process consisted of a seven-person panel of adjudicators from across the U.S. taking into consideration all components of the marching show. The bands were given a 30-minute warm-up period and 10 minutes to move its more than 300 members to the gate. Prosper took first place in the preliminaries in Class 5A and overall, earning outstanding awards for Percussion, Music Performance, and General Effect, reported Director of Bands John Alstrin. Prosper scored in the top 10 highest scoring bands and advanced to the finals. In the finals competition, Prosper went head-to-head with the best of the best. Prosper was named Grand Champions by earning the highest overall score, receiving awards for music, visual, and general effect. See Mighty Eagle Band, page 3

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