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Our best face forward
It is hard to believe that Memorial Day Weekend is already upon us.
 With it, of course, comes the annual Farmers Branch rite of passage from Spring to Summer that we like to call Liberty Fest. Now in its fourth year, Liberty Fest means a lot of different things to many different people. To some, its an occasion to join the community in celebration of a specifically American holiday weekend. To most, we hope, its the chance to observe and pay tribute to the sacrifices, in defense of our freedom, of our men and women in uniform. And, to all, its a great way to enjoy a fun Saturday, and a free concert, in the unique and always interesting environment of the Farmers  Branch Historical Park. There is another group that holds its own perspective on Liberty Fest. On Saturday, you'll see scores of folks in red Liberty Fest t-shirts with the word "Staff" written on the back. Although spearheaded in excellent fashion by Meredith Dowdy and the Parks and Recreation Department, Liberty Fest is a true exercise in unity with employees from every area of the City organization working across departmental lines towards a common goal of putting our best face forward. To them, Liberty Fest is an opportunity. It's an opportunity to make each and every guest feel welcome, included and at-home. It's an opportunity to show the region and the state the nature and character of our community. And, it's an opportunity to "wow" you - not necessarily a big "wow" (although, those are nice), but a series of little "wows" throughout the day of your Liberty Fest experience. So, on Saturday, look for the red shirts if you have a question or need assistance of any kind. I'll have one on, too, so come find me. And, expect the "wows." They'll come to you.
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Memorial Day Tradition
Liberty Fest to make memories for 2013 holiday weekend
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Country music entertainment for Liberty Fest includes (clockwise from top left) Easton Corbin, Jack Ingram, Kayla Conn, Breelan Angel and Randy Houser. See the schedule column for expected performance times.
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FARMERS BRANCH ~ This year, with all festivities concentrated within the boundaries of the 22-acre Farmers Branch Historical Park, Liberty Fest 2013 promises to be an engaging experience. Themed as a country music festival, the Park's gates will open at 12 noon on Saturday, May 25. The evening's featured, and free, concerts will present three of country music's most acclaimed artists on the charts today with Easton Corbin, Randy Houser and Jack Ingram. Activities throughout the day will include the Burgers & Brews tasting area with the best in local burgers and sliders along with craft beers available for $3 per tasting. The Arts & Craft Marketplace will feature one-of-a-kind handmade items from local vendors. There's fun to be had in The Zone with rides on a zip line, bungee trampoline, mechanical bull and more for $2 per ride or $10 for a wristband that allows unlimited rides all day. For all ages, the KidZone is free and includes a game truck, bounce house, bubble station and more. The patriotic ceremony that will start the evening's activities will include a portrait presentation by artist Phil Taylor, and the American Fallen Soldiers Project to the family of Army Sgt. Wesley R. Durbin who was killed in Iraq in 2008. Free tickets are required for admission to the Historical Park for Liberty Fest and are available at City facilities, online through May 22. Admission to the park on the day of the event will be $10 for anyone not presenting a ticket.   
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American Fallen Soldiers Project to honor area hero
FARMERS BRANCH ~ Since the inception of Liberty Fest, artist Phil Taylor and his work have been a part of the very fitting occasion to honor
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Sgt. Wesley R. Durbin
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the American military and especially those who have given what Lincoln described as "the last full measure of devotion." From his studio near Farmers Branch, Mr. Taylor, his wife, Lisa and the others that comprise the American Fallen Soldiers Project, are constantly at work, bringing fallen American servicemen and women to life in portraits that are presented to their families. At each celebration of Liberty Fest, the American Fallen Soldiers Project portrait presentation is a poignant and meaningful tribute to one, representing many. This year's honoree is Army Sgt. Wesley R. Durbin, a one-time Marine who returned to the military, in the Army. Sgt. Durbin was killed in 2008 at the age of 26. The ceremony to present the portrait in honor of Sgt. Durbin is scheduled for 5:30 p.m., before the evening's featured entertainment begins. For more information, visit www.americanfallensoldiers.com
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Liberty Fest 2013 takes place completely within the confines of the  Farmers Branch Historical Park at:- 2540 Farmers Branch Lane, between Denton Drive and Ford Road, just east of the DART Green Line Tracks
Getting there by Train: - Take the DART Green Line Light Rail either from Carrollton to the north or from all points to the
 south to the Farmers Branch Station where the Farmers Branch Historical Park is a short five minute walk to the south.
Getting there by Car: Parking for Liberty Fest 2013 is free and available, with free shuttles to the park, at:  - Metrosquare Business Park, two blocks so uth of the Historical Park on Ford Road.
- Janie Stark Elementary School, 12400 Josey Lane
- Farmers Branch City Hall, 13000 Wm. Dodson Parkway
Disabled parking will be at: - Old Buchanan Printing building,12400 Ford Road, just south of the Historical Park
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FARMERS BRANCH ~ The weekly update on the Interstate 635 expansion project has been made available by LBJ Express, the construction team responsible for the five-year project that will completely renovate the freeway from the Dallas North Tollway to Interstate 35E. This update is for 
Wednesday, May 22, 2013.
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LBJ Express Finished Project Animation
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Westbound LBJ, Midway Road, and Marsh Lane will be closed for major bridge construction work during night-time hours of May 31, June 1 and June 7. Closure hours may vary due to the pace of work but will be confined to 7pm and noon. Southbound Midway and Marsh will be detoured on Valley View to Webb Chapel. All westbound LBJ traffic will be detoured along the westbound frontage road from the Midway exit to the Marsh entrance ramp. LBJ freeway main lanes will be reduced from four lanes to three lanes in both directions beginning on June 3 for an indefinite period during construction.
Valley View (at IH35E): The IH35E northbound frontage road left lane will remain closed at Valley View through June. In addition, there will be various lane closures along Valley View between the IH35E frontage roads for several weeks to facilitate construction of a new IH35E northbound entrance ramp over Valley View.
IH 635/IH35E Interchange: Several major closures are being planned for June although some dates have changed. LBJ westbound will be closed on the nights of June 14-16. The ramp connecting IH35E northbound to LBJ westbound will be closed on the nights of June 28-30.
Denton Drive: The westbound LBJ frontage road between Josey and Denton will be closed on the nights of May 20-24 for bridge construction. Denton will be closed for bridge work scheduled for the nights of June 28 and 29.
Josey Lane: Construction of the permanent paving and drainage on Josey will require various lanes closed through June 10.
Webb Chapel: Webb Chapel will be closed on the nights of June 4 and 17. Various lanes of Webb Chapel will be closed for paving following completion of work at Marsh and Josey. The expected duration of the paving work is June 10-July 25.
Marsh Lane: The pavement and bridge work on Marsh south of Ridgeoak will continue through June 7 when all through lanes should be reopened. All through lanes on Marsh are now open during peak periods.
Rosser: Expect intermittent one-lane operation of traffic across the Rosser bridge May 13-27 for installation of the ornamental pedestrian fence.
Valley View at LBJ: Valley View will be closed on the nights of June 3 and 13 for bridge construction.
Midway Road: The southbound left turn lane on Midway Road between the LBJ frontage roads and the westbound to eastbound U-turn lane will remain closed indefinitely. Expect various lanes to be closed on Midway at LBJ during off-peak hours. The right southbound lane of Midway south of LBJ is closed until May 28 for drainage installation. The eastbound Midway exit is scheduled to be closed on the nights of June 10-12 and June 14-15. The eastbound frontage road east of Midway may be closed during off-peak hours daily through June. Midway will be closed on the night of June 14 for bridge construction.
Welch Road: Welch is narrowed to one lane in each direction at LBJ for through May 25 for drainage work.
Other Locations: Various main lanes of LBJ will be closed frequently during night-time hours. There will also be intermittent night-time closures of various LBJ entrance and exit ramps. All scheduled work is tentative as permitted by weather conditions and other factors.
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Volume 3 | Edition 21 | Number 117 
is published weekly by the Communications Office
of the City of Farmers Branch, TX.
Two-time TAMI Award Winner for Best eNewsletter in Texas
Given by the Texas Association of Municipal Information Officers
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12 noon
Gates open
Free with ticket / $10 without 12 noon to 5:30 pm
Burgers & Brews
$3 per tasting12 noon to 11 pm
Arts & Crafts Marketplace
12 noon to 9 pm
The ZONE
$2 per ride or $10 wristbandKidZone
Free All Day12:30 pm
David Chicken (Depot Stage)
1:45 pmProfessor Brainius (Depot Stage)
3 pm
Breelan Angel
4:15 pm
Kayla Conn
5:30 pm
Memorial Day Tribute
Featuring the American Fallen Soldiers Project6:15 pm
Jack Ingram
7:45 pm
Randy Houser
9:15 pm
Easton Corbin
ALL PERFORMANCES ON MAIN STAGE UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED
ALL TIMES SUBJECT TO CHANGE
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KIDZONE
Family fun is found in the Liberty Fest KidZone, open from 12 noon until 9 p.m. and free for all ages. Activities will include bounce houses, a bubble station, the ever-popular game truck, face painting and colored hair spray, firework art and the chance to "make your own ice crea  m."
THE ZONE
Ages 5 and up may want to try the varied experiences in The Zone, open from noon until 9 p.m. Activities in The Zone include a 100-foot zip line, bungee trampolines, a mechanical bull, rock climbing wall, velcro wall, obstacle course and photo booth. Each ride in The Zone will be $2 or unlimited rides can be had with a $10 wristband. BURGERS & BREWS  Local restaurants will be on hand to offer specialty sliders and sample-sized burgers in hopes of becoming the best burger of Liberty Fest. Along with the burgers, special craft beers will be available for tasting. Coupons for tasting and voting will be available from 12 noon until 5:30 p.m. for $3 each (per beer tasting, specialty slider or burger).
ARTS & CRAFTS MARKETPLACE  Area artisans will be showing and selling their wares at the Arts & Crafts Marketplace at Liberty Fest 2013. All manner of specialty goods, including original art, jewelry and much more will be on display. The Arts &?Crafts Marketplace will be open throughout the day, until the close of the event.
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Concession vendors at Liberty Fest will be wide and varied with food and beverages available for purchase, including:
BBQ - Ice Cream - Kettle Corn - Funnel Cakes - Ribbon Fries - Corn Dogs - Mexican Food - Sausage & Wild Game - Crepes - Pizza - Shaved Ice - Burgers & Fries - Beer - Wine - Margaritas
ATMs Will Be Available on Site
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Aden Black set to sing for Liberty Fest
FARMERS BRANCH ~ After stunning the crowd, hosts and crew with her talent at "Good Morning, Texas" last week, 12-year-old Aden Black of Farmers Branch is ready to sing "God Bless America" Saturday night at Liberty Fest.
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Aden, along with Sydney Anderson and the duo of Laura Burnett and Bonnie Dillingham, were selected as the top three video auditions in the 2013 Liberty Fest Facebook Singing Contest and posted to Facebook, looking for "Likes."
At the deadline, Aden's audition had garnered 577 votes, Laura and Bonnie had 364 while Sydney posted a respectable 193.
Aden, a sixth-grader at Dewitt Perry Middle School, will be singing onstage during the Memorial Day Tribute that will open the Saturday evening performances at Liberty Fest.
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 Memorial Day weekend in Farmers Branch is about families and about patriots. This young man was amazed by the sea of red, white and blue at last year's Liberty Fest celebration. Photo by Derrick Birdsall
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Click on the video or print links to download different media for the Farmers Branch Office of Economic Development and Tourism Year End Report
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About the City of Farmers Branch
 An historic community in the geographic center of the DFW Metroplex, Farmers Branch boasts a residential population of 28,800 and a daytime employment population of 66,000. Located on the northwest border of the City of Dallas, the City's 27 parks and lush greenbelts feature nationally-acclaimed, award-winning soccer fields, football facilities as well as baseball and softball complexes. The city's location in the center of the Metroplex and only 15 minutes away from both DFW Airport and Love Field, along with the 2,200 hotel rooms within the city, make Farmers Branch an ideal location for residents and for business. For more information on the City of Farmers Branch, visit farmersbranch.info, visitfarmersbranch.com, lovethebranch.com
or call 972.247.3131. |
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