By Elizabeth Brannon

On November 6, the Flower Mound Town Council will declare November as Arts Month.

The 21^st Annual Cross Timbers Artists Guild Open Studio Tour is Nov. 4 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Nov. 5 from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sixteen member artists in 13 studios will be open to share, demonstrate, show, and sell their wonderful works. A reception open to the public will be held at Art House, 6100 Long Prairie Rd #800, Flower Mound, on Nov. 3 from 7-9 p.m., catered by Verf’s Grill & Tavern. Representative works will include painting, clay & bronze, acrylic, jewelry, glass art, colored pencil art, fiber art, ceramics and art furniture. For more information, visit the guild website, Ctagmobile.com

The Fall Chalk the Walk will take place on Nov. 4 at Heritage Park from noon to 3 p.m.

Art Party will be held at the Library on Nov. 10 at 5 p.m.

Flower Mound now has three Art Walls at Town Hall, the Senior Center and the Community Activity Center. Residents can stop by these centers during regular hours to see the artwork in person.

The Town Hall Art Wall will feature new art from Beth Dilley in October and November. Town Hall will host an Artist Meet & Greet with Beth on Nov. 9, from 6–7:30 p.m. Residents are familiar with Beth’s works, as she has been featured on the Town Hall Art Wall and created the previous three community murals for Art Festival in Heritage Park. Beth’s new work reflects her growth and maturity as an artist and her exciting commitment to throwing out the old rules and starting anew with precision and beauty to create accessible art that’s non-specific.

The Senior Center Art Wall currently features art from Steve Falkenberg, a retired professor from Kentucky, who has a fascinating life story. Painting since high school, Steve says, “As a visual artist, I am captivated by the way things look. In everything I see I am interested in the way abstract properties interact to produce the visual experience and am drawn by a desire to capture that visual experience with paint. As a result, my work lives on a line between representation and abstraction.” Steve’s work will be displayed through the end of October. Learn more at Falkenbergarts.com

In November and December, the Senior Center Art Wall will feature art from Kurt Conner. An Artist Meet & Greet with Kurt will be Nov. 7, from 6–7:30 p.m. Kurt, a member of the Cross Timbers Artist Guild, has previously displayed his unique guitar art at the Town Hall, but this time, residents will be able to talk about his unique works and how he creates them. “Guitars are already pieces of art. My focus is to enhance the existing and re-present them in unique and personal ways,” said Kurt. “I’m not trying to reinvent the wheel – just offer some new and interesting ways for you to ROLL and, of course, ROCK!”

The Art Wall at the Community Activity Center will feature artwork to be announced.

If you’d like to see your artwork displayed on the town display walls or signal boxes, please email letitia.carter@flower-mound.com for more information.

Art Thoughts: “ART is a conversation between artist and viewer and the viewer needs to put some work in to fully appreciate the experience.” – Beth Dilley

Elizabeth Brannon serves on the Town of Flower Mound Cultural Arts Commission.

The town of Flower Mound will pursue an economic development strategic plan, although Town Council narrowly approved funding for the plan at the Oct. 16 meeting.

Council’s approval came in a 3-2 decision. The plan was approved with the inclusion of public meetings present in the scope of work.

Council members Jim Engel, Brian Taylor and Ann Martin voted for the plan, and council members Chris Drew and Adam Schiestel were opposed.

The background

The professional service agreement with TIP Strategies Inc. of Austin calls for the creation of the plan in Flower Mound. A council agenda memo stated the agreement will give the town a strategic plan that will examine the policies, relationships and organizational priorities that will influence the planning process and prepare a targeted assessment of factors that define the area's overall competitiveness.

“The overall plan will be tailored to meet project objectives, including tax base enhancement, compatible development opportunities, and quality of place preservation,” the agenda memo states. “This study will serve to identify both strengths and weaknesses that affect the town's ability to attract the type of projects necessary for a successful future. This strategic plan will be utilized to not only determine where we are, but also to look at potential new opportunities and what we are best suited for.”

The plan will look at the entire community, and both existing and future opportunities will be reviewed.

“Although this project will concentrate mostly on commercial development, it will take into consideration housing and quality of life issues that make Flower Mound a place for development,” the memo states.

The agenda memo stated TIP Strategies Inc. will conduct its work with input from Town Council, town staff and stakeholders within the community, and the company will be compensated through the economic development funds at a fee of $150,000 as well as up to $10,000 in preapproved expenses. Expenses for the strategic plan were approved in and appropriates funds from the fiscal year 2023-24 budget.

Zooming in

Schiestel said he thought the money provided for the project could be better spent on existing economic development program costs.

He asked Tom Stellman—CEO and founder of TIP Strategies, who attended the meeting—why the town should spend money on this plan when it is already “doing a pretty good job” with economic development strategy. The town has a strategic plan, Mayor Derek France pointed out later.

Stellman said the town has performed well up to this point in its planning and likely will continue to see growth coming, but he wondered whether it is the growth town leaders want. His company’s plan will provide a number of strategies, such as helping town officials anticipate trends showing up in the data to help them make sound decisions and ensure town leaders have tools in place to attract the growth it wants.

Schiestel said he was unconvinced, explaining he wasn’t against studies but found some to be unnecessary. He thought council “needs to be accountable to the public”; this study was “nonspecific”; and that town officials don’t know what the outcome will be.

“I think this is $150,000 that we can spend investing directly in economic development projects,” he said.

Drew suggested tabling the agenda item, saying he wasn’t sure what the outcome of the plan would be and asked to see examples of reports from other municipalities.

The other side

Engel offered a different take on spending money for the strategic plan, explaining the town has master plans for a number of areas, such as parks and thoroughfares. He thought this project was a master plan for economic development and would create a “larger document” for the town to have for an economic plan.

“There are much bigger opportunities that can develop that are not on the radar now,” he said. “It’s an investment into the town’s future to make sure that we get it right for what we’ve got.”

When France asked if the town had spent any money on a strategic plan for economic development, Town Manager James Childers said it hasn’t since 2012.

Assistant Town Manager Tommy Dalton said the 2012 plan document was not an overall strategic plan for economic development but a “site-specific plan” as it examined a number of sites in town. Once that plan was approved, there was change in council and town manager, and no movement was made on the document because it was shelved, Dalton said.

This project, though, will try to put together a plan and have actionable items that can be brought to council for its review, he said.

Childers said the plan would be woven into the town’s overall strategic plan and can connect to the other activities the town does across the board.

Government Reporter

Don joined Community Impact in February 2023 and covers city governments in Denton and Tarrant counties. He holds a journalism degree from Northwest Missouri State University, and has worked for newspapers all over Texas and one in Oklahoma. During his time as a reporter, he has covered all aspects of news and sports.

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Flower Mound's namesake is already recovering from a sweeping grassfire that hit Sept. 19.

More than a month after fire crews extinguished a one-alarm fire caused by nearby construction at The Mound—a giant prairie in the middle of town off Flower Mound Road—the area is already springing back to life, said Diane Weathersbee of The Flower Mound Foundation.

"A fire, even an intense fire like the one that hit The Mound, doesn't really do any harm to the actual growth—if anything, it revives the mound," she said. "That's why we always do these prescribed, practiced burns. We were mostly just worried about how fast this one started."

Weathersbee said the roots of the plants that make up the vegetation on The Mound—bluestem grass, switchgrass and Indian grass, among others—are between 10 and 12 feet deep, which preserves the plant's life when fires hit. It's why fires are a "natural part" of maintaining The Mound—as long as they are planned, Weathersbee said.

"Low, slow, patchy burns is what we prefer," she said. "It's how we maintain growth. Really, going forward, it's business as usual for us—everything is already starting to regrow."

What you need to know

Following an investigation, Flower Mound officials determined a town-contracted construction crew sparked the fire while cutting rebar near the southeast corner of The Mound. Minor damage from the fire was contained to a small area of cedar fencing surrounding The Mound, the fencing behind two homes off Warwick Avenue and a deck to one home off Warwick Avenue, according to a town release.

“Because we’ve done [a controlled burn] so many times before, it was like calling a familiar play from our playbook,” Flower Mound Fire Chief Paul Henley said. “The incident commander on scene already knew exactly where he should be placing his resources and how he should be using those resources. Our firefighters knew how to contain the fire quickly and safely, because they’ve done it in a controlled scenario many times before.”

Despite the size and speed of the grassfire, new growth was spotted five days after the original burn, according to The Mound's Facebook page. Crews with the Flower Mound Foundation have used the time following the burn to clear out more wood-heavy plants that have tried to grow, such as trees and other bushes, Weathersbee said.

Going forward

Weathersbee said there is "little" the foundation or fire departments can do to prevent "unplanned burns" at The Mound, especially during a burn ban. Something as small as throwing a cigarette into the area could cause a grassfire, she said.

In this case, some damage was reported to fences, yards and a deck in the nearby neighborhood, but no damage occurred to nearby homes—thanks in large part to the "defensible space" between The Mound and the surrounding structures, Weathersbee said.

"That's exactly why we have those buffer areas," she said. "We mow a 10-foot-wide perimeter on the sides of adjoining structures, and the fire department credited that for allowing the fire to slow down so they could stop it before it damaged anything."

The Flower Mound Fire Department also has a program in place called Ready, Set, Go—The Wildland Urban Interface Fire Prevention Program that explains anti-grassfire measures residents can take, Weathersbee said. But community vigilance is important, she said, even with fail-safes in place.

"Our neighbors have a responsibility to be fire wise," she said.

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In a new ranking of the top 100 places to live in America, Flower Mound fared well.

Very well.

Livability.com, a website devoted to researching and ranking small and mid-sized cities in the U.S., published last week its 2023 list of its top 100 places to live in the U.S. Livability only considers cities with populations between 75,000 and 500,000 because they’re “where most Americans create dream careers, build families, launch businesses and lead meaningful lives,” the website says. Livability partnered with Applied Geographic Solutions to curate a list based on nearly 100 data points and an algorithm accounting for the local economy, housing, cost of living, amenities, transportation, safety, education and more.

Flower Mound ranks No. 2 on the list, second only to Johns Creek, Georgia in terms of “LivScore,” the numerical score each city received in the Livability list. Livability said Flower Mound’s “safe neighborhoods, excellent schools, low property taxes, great medical care and a section of the town that borders Grapevine Lake” all contributed “to Flower Mound’s ranking as one of the best places to live in the U.S.” Community events, parks and golf courses also factored in to the rating.

Click here to see the full list.

A company that sells premium craft ice recently moved its headquarters from Philadelphia to Flower Mound.

Lux Ice recently relocated to 1200 Lakeside Parkway, where it will have over 100 employees once fully operational, according to a spokesperson for the town of Flower Mound.

Lux Ice is known for its large, ultra-pure ice spheres. The ice is entirely transparent and slow-melting, thanks to the company’s differential freezing and manufacturing process.

Click here for more information.

Donna Tarwater admits she may have looked at her husband, Scott, a tad sideways when he talked about them eventually playing pickleball together. Sure, Donna was coming off knee replacement surgery and couldn’t even walk down the hall without help, let alone pick up a new sport on the fly. But Scott, an avid outdoorsman still as active as ever at 74, was fascinated by the possibilities and convinced Donna that she’d be back on her feet in no time.

And when that glorious day came, he wanted them ready to hit the ground running.

“He loved to fish and hunt, but he was determined that pickleball would be our sport,” Donna said with a laugh. “He had me watching videos, YouTube … everything. He got our grandkids into pickleball — the craze had hit, and everything was pickleball.

“I was all-in on the idea, but I had to remind him, ‘First things first — let me heal.’”

Sadly, they didn’t get that chance. Scott, a consulting and hotel development professional by trade, passed away unexpectedly in October while he and Donna were on vacation celebrating their 45th wedding anniversary. His death rocked their family — the Tarwaters have two grown children, Renee and Reece, and eight grandkids — and sent shockwaves through a Flower Mound community that revered Scott for his commitment to giving back, connecting people, and ensuring everyone he met knew how important they were to him. Those who knew him best said he was a workhorse and a genuine friend for life.

Motivated to keep Scott’s memory alive, Donna, their children, and many close friends have since created the Tarwater Legacy Giving Fund. The 501(c)(3) charitable organization seeks to preserve Scott’s legacy of generosity and compassion by investing in the community and bringing people together through giving, sportsmanship, laughter, and love.

Though they are still working out the finer details, the plan is to provide financial assistance to local children and work with various charities to improve the lives of the less fortunate. Beyond monetary support, the fund aims to inspire others to give back and make a tangible difference.

“We are still new, but we already have a committee and are working out all the details for how this legacy fund will look moving forward,” Donna said. “We want to have something that’s long-standing and continues his legacy of giving back.”

And because Scott loved pickleball, the organization has put the sport at the center of its fundraising efforts. They held the inaugural Hit it Like You Live Pickleball Tournament on April 29 at Chicken N Pickle in Grapevine and raised approximately $45,000. Thirty-two teams showed up for the event, which featured both social and competitive players.

Medals were awarded to the top three teams in each division.

“I sprung the idea on Donna about putting on a pickleball tournament in Scott’s honor back in February,” said Bruce Schultes, the treasurer for the Tarwater Legacy Giving Fund. “Like any tournament, these things can take up to six months to assemble. But it came together fast, and in the middle of it, Donna somehow found time to form a foundation. That’s a credit to her.”

Donna said having a pickleball tournament at the heart of their legacy fund felt like a no-brainer.

“We called it ‘Hit it Like You Live’ because that has always been Scott’s ultimate saying,” Donna said. “Even before we had kids, he and his dad always said that. I couldn’t be more proud of how successful the first event was and that we are building a legacy that honors Scott. I would like to mention a thank you to all the sponsors who made this possible and also to the Cross Timbers Rotary, which was instrumental in providing volunteers and support. I know Scott is 100% smiling down on us. The kids and I always think about that — he’s looking down, smiling, and waving. This is right up his alley, and he’d absolutely love it.”

As for finally getting out on the court and playing pickleball for the first time, Donna said she is inching closer and closer.

And just like her late husband, she’ll be ready to hit the ground running.

“It will be a special moment for sure,” she said.

To learn more about the Tarwater Legacy Giving Fund, including ways to donate, volunteer, learn more about Scott Tarwater, or sign up for next year’s pickleball tournament, please visit tarwatergivingfund.com.

Firefighters were able to quickly put out the fire, which had spread across the mound the city was named after.

FLOWER MOUND, Texas — The flower mound that the City of Flower Mound was named for caught fire Tuesday afternoon.

Flower Mound firefighters were able to respond quickly at about 4 p.m., and were able put out the fire within an hour, the Flower Mound Fire Department said in a Facebook post. But crews were still extinguishing hot spots on the scene into Tuesday evening, officials added.

"The fire did cause small damage to the deck of a nearby home, but thankfully, the majority of the surrounding structures were undamaged," the post stated.

In an update Wednesday, officials said a construction crew, which was contracted by the City, sparked the fire while cutting rebar using a K12 circular saw near the southeast corner of The Flower Mound. At this time, the fire has been ruled accidental, officials said.

City officials said they were working with the construction company on next steps, including responding to insurance claims from property owners who were affected by the fire.

Minor damage from the fire was contained to a small area of cedar fencing surrounding The Flower Mound, the fencing behind two homes off Warwick Avenue, and a deck to one home off Warwick Avenue.

Denton County is still under a mandatory burn ban. A planned controlled burn at The Flower Mound scheduled for early November 2023 will no longer take place, officials said in Wednesday's update.

The City of Flower Mound website says the city was named after the mound, which is about 650 feet above sea level and 50 feet above the surrounding countryside.

"Texas' eminent historian, the late A.C. Greene, believed the hill received its name in the 1840s because of an unusual amount of wild flowers that grew on it," the website states. "This area was part of the great American Black Land Prairie that ran from Canada to the Rio Grande and from the Rockies to the Mississippi."

Only about 1,000 acres remain of the Tall Grass Prairie, which originally spanned about 20 million acres.

Wild flowers were abundant in wet springs in the area due to settlers using the mound as a hay meadow and never plowing it, the site says. More than 175 species of wild flowers have been identified by the nonprofit Mound Foundation. Many of the flowers found on the mound can be seen here.