tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14280637378073312022024-03-04T20:45:23.773-08:00Homegrown McKinneyMcKinney, Texas is a picturesque town 30 miles north of Dallas.Rheahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11027061380778030388noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1428063737807331202.post-14288096215149368322010-09-09T06:03:00.000-07:002010-09-09T06:03:00.292-07:00Those sirens are called our Outdoor Warning System<div style="text-align: center;">Yesterday's storms set off <a href="http://www.civildefensemuseum.com/sirens/sirenpx.html">tornado sirens</a> and dropped about a foot of rain, making for a pretty wet and dramatic day!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">However, before the day was done, we spotted one of these in the sky:</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;">It doesn't matter how many times I see a rainbow in the sky, each time is beautiful and magical. </div><div style="text-align: center;">And such a sweet symbol of hope at the end of a storm. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;">The Outdoor Warning System is operated by the <a href="http://www3.mckinneytexas.org/www/oemdefault.aspx">City of McKinney's Office of Emergency Management</a>.</div>Rheahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11027061380778030388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1428063737807331202.post-24398029796724669022010-09-08T06:03:00.000-07:002010-09-08T06:03:00.600-07:00Random Shots around town<div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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</div>Rheahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11027061380778030388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1428063737807331202.post-27728793916211506622010-09-07T05:58:00.000-07:002010-09-07T05:58:00.082-07:00Frogging Around<div style="text-align: center;">McKinney's adorable town square has shops and restaurants of all sorts. </div><div style="text-align: center;">Antique stores, cute clothing store, a consignment store, a winery, a boutique hotel....and frogs.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Yep, you heard me right.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Frogs.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Most of the shops have a painted frog planter on their doorstep.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-brRb3laI8IAEQPTJdTtYBrmyeMyV4hqaz0uytZ_6bzbAzcQiHmcDZ_2xE6ab42Ye73oWzaDlAckIarY-dhWeq-hA0898WtlqGweIuDxhc7xLdKzSUE4SpOj9KgIBkMozhctknLeXyBU/s1600/McKinney+Frog+Collage2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-brRb3laI8IAEQPTJdTtYBrmyeMyV4hqaz0uytZ_6bzbAzcQiHmcDZ_2xE6ab42Ye73oWzaDlAckIarY-dhWeq-hA0898WtlqGweIuDxhc7xLdKzSUE4SpOj9KgIBkMozhctknLeXyBU/s400/McKinney+Frog+Collage2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;">The frogs are guides to shopping.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;">I decided I didn't want to be left out, </div><div style="text-align: center;">so <span style="font-size: large;">I bought myself a frog</span> this weekend as I toured town square taking photos. </div><div style="text-align: center;">And mine now sits on my back porch, sporting some <a href="http://www.calloways.com/"><span style="font-size: large;">sweet potato vine</span></a> growing out the back. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjJmNSz3IaW8R8VaIvd47H_lUSDDHDgqGyTeIWER67jKFw2P17jTBbOmK7-ZMFuwgIpfZPWbPp1C016e81sk9f-T2oRVeGsa_eeRTNWPrBmL8hAG_ISIFYJffb9_W_wiRYH89hPK7HzXk/s1600/My+Frog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjJmNSz3IaW8R8VaIvd47H_lUSDDHDgqGyTeIWER67jKFw2P17jTBbOmK7-ZMFuwgIpfZPWbPp1C016e81sk9f-T2oRVeGsa_eeRTNWPrBmL8hAG_ISIFYJffb9_W_wiRYH89hPK7HzXk/s400/My+Frog.jpg" width="300" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;">I don't have a name for him yet...any suggestions?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7i5THv7ySltau7me6jFT-C9llnU-KXf2UXlosW8mgkkeuQx_bCpxh8a3SLHxd4YDTAEi-KWuDKEYUVhIG-D_1xXn6OAtO1hEEf9hl8XLGjgYyBq_Y6VNEbL_BJpNnJWmoXK5Ooi_A0aQ/s1600/Back+of+my+frog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7i5THv7ySltau7me6jFT-C9llnU-KXf2UXlosW8mgkkeuQx_bCpxh8a3SLHxd4YDTAEi-KWuDKEYUVhIG-D_1xXn6OAtO1hEEf9hl8XLGjgYyBq_Y6VNEbL_BJpNnJWmoXK5Ooi_A0aQ/s320/Back+of+my+frog.jpg" /></a></div><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;">Do you want a frog?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;">Have you seen the frogs in downtown McKinney?</div><br />
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</div>Rheahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11027061380778030388noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1428063737807331202.post-63723325955454263292010-09-06T10:26:00.000-07:002010-09-06T10:26:32.471-07:00Founded in 1848<div style="text-align: center;">McKinney, one of the oldest towns in North Texas, was named for Collin McKinney, </div><div style="text-align: center;">a <a href="http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/treasures/republic/declare-01.html">signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence</a>.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;">For the first 125 years of its history McKinney served as the principal commercial center for the county. </div><div style="text-align: center;">The county seat provided farmers with flour, corn, and cotton mills, cotton gins, a cotton compress and cottonseed oil mill, as well as banks, churches, schools, newspapers, and, from the 1880s, an opera house. Businesses also came to include a textile mill, an ice company, a large dairy, and a garment-manufacturing company.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;">McKinney was also home to James W. Throckmorton, the 11th governor of Texas and a U.S. Congressman.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;">Below is a photo I took yesterday of the historic Collin County courthouse that is now home to the </div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.mckinneyperformingartscenter.com/frameset.asp?aid=144">McKinney Performing Arts Center </a>(MPAC) </div><div style="text-align: center;">and the center of historic downtown McKinney, a charming shopping destination.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOWww-Rb2vftZeR1AaEFMccVhDoTO7lYDG1n0QPjG1tcGD3CJLmTcgXgTkGcIQnrxsz1DVVEfSOZ33efcJurH9n4ci5xUirTG-7E7ZwmX68nlv71LUINzWj119YLmzHAA6yKF8Ffz9b2Y/s1600/Picture+060.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOWww-Rb2vftZeR1AaEFMccVhDoTO7lYDG1n0QPjG1tcGD3CJLmTcgXgTkGcIQnrxsz1DVVEfSOZ33efcJurH9n4ci5xUirTG-7E7ZwmX68nlv71LUINzWj119YLmzHAA6yKF8Ffz9b2Y/s320/Picture+060.jpg" /></a></div><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;">A <span style="font-size: large;">random fact</span> you might not have known:</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">In 1908 McKinney <span style="font-size: large;">banned elephants</span> on the town square after a circus parade damaged the newly-bricked streets.</div>Rheahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11027061380778030388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1428063737807331202.post-63290495528301289632010-09-05T19:22:00.000-07:002010-09-05T19:24:11.961-07:00Homegrown McKinneyI have an idea.<br />
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I'm starting a blog to celebrate <a href="http://www3.mckinneytexas.org/www/default.aspx">McKinney, Texas</a>.<br />
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I want to highlight the history of the town & historical markers, local events & celebrations, favorite shopping spots, the arts community, local artisans, <a href="http://www.tmtd.com/">Third Monday Trade Days</a>, and anything and everything else.<br />
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I'd like to interview people who've lived here all their life...and people who've just moved here.<br />
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It will be interesting to see if this will take off and how it might evolve.<br />
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Let's see what we can come up with...a blog for the people of McKinney, by the people of McKinney.Rheahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11027061380778030388noreply@blogger.com0