CAFFEINATED COWTOWN CLEANUP
2026 is the Year of the Happy Hour for AHNA’s Cowtown Cleanup crew. Because it’s an early morning call, there will be coffee a-plenty waiting for you. Saturday March 28 is the date for the big annual event. This is Fort Worth’s 41st year to stage this citywide cleanup roundup.
This is a great way to involve your kids, meet your neighbors, and pick up trash in the neighborhood. Gloves and t-shirts are complimentary when you sign up ahead of time.
The Heights crew is signing up folks right now. Contact Shanna Cisneros at shafw@aol.com or text her at 817-992-6722.
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BLOOD DRIVE AT MASONIC LODGE
The Arlington Heights Masons from Lodge No. 1184 are hosting a community blood drive to benefit Scottish Rite Children’s Hospital. The event will be held at the Masonic Temple at 4600 Camp Bowie Blvd. on Saturday March 7, 2026 from 8:00 a.m. until noon. Make a difference in the lives of the children at Scottish Rite Hospital.
Please sign up in advance to schedule a time to donate your blood by clicking on the portal below:
For more information contact Jason Parker at parkerjm@me.com.
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DECEMBER UPDATE
from AHNA to all our neighbors
We will not have a December AHNA meeting. We look forward to seeing everyone at our next membership meeting.
Tuesday January 20, 2026
6:30 p.m.
Fort Worth Firefighters Hall
3855 Tulsa Way @ Crestline Road
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THANKSGIVING POTLUCK 2025
The annual AHNA Thanksgiving Dinner was fabulous. More than one hundred of our closest friends and neighbors joined in this year’s festivities. AHNA Vice President Shanna Cisneros put together a fantastic Year in Review slide show, as well as providing heavy lifting to set up the tables and décor. Thanks also to the helping hands of Kim & Trey Mesman, Melissa & Paul Hunter, and AHNA Board members Tom Sisolak & Patricia Ward.
Many thanks to all the neighborhood chefs who entered this year’s Turkey Cookoff Challenge:
- Jerry Bodiford representing Tulsa Way
- Pat and Bob Gorden representing Hillcrest Avenue
- Charles Lew representing western El Campo Avenue
- Rachel Malone representing central El Campo Avenue
Special thanks to Charlie Geren and Railhead Smokehouse for the delicious turkey breasts.
The spacious main meeting room at the Fort Worth Firefighters Hall is an ideal place for AHNA to stage its annual Thanksgiving Potluck Dinner, as well as all of its monthly membership meetings.
AHNA board member and former pro golfer Tom Sisolak (far right) was joined by friends and neighbors (left to right) Emily, Susan and Frank Everts, and Lane Greener.
Jason Parker, Alaina Parker, Lynn Taylor, and Rob Searle (left to right) were part of the delegation from Arlington Heights Masonic Lodge #1184.
This was Rachel Malone’s first year to enter the AHNA Turkey Cookoff Challenge. She chose the traditional approach for cooking her turkey at 350 degrees in the oven, with a 450 degree preheat.
After several years of competing in the Turkey Cookoff, Bob Gorden with wife Pat have perfected the art of deep frying a whole turkey.
No task is too small for AHNA President Lori Murray-Bosken, the indispensable lynchpin in the potluck operation, as well as all of AHNA’s undertakings throughout the year. You are an awesome leader, Lori.
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TUESDAY’S THANKSGIVING POTLUCK
It’s more than just about turkey.
As old- fashioned as it sounds, the annual Thanksgiving Potluck Dinner is all about enjoying good food in the company of your neighbors. Young and old alike look forward to attending this highly anticipated community event every November.
This year we break bread and give thanks on Tuesday November 18 at 6:00 p.m. at the Fort Worth Firefighters Hall at 3855 Tulsa Way at Crestline Rd.
This event is open to everyone. Bring your friends. Bring your children. It’s BYOB, so bring your own libations.
RSVPs not required, but much appreciated to president@arlingtonheightsna.com.
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NOVEMBER YARD OF THE MONTH
A rose-covered arch is a prominent feature in this month’s Yard of the Month.
Debra Barrett had been pining to move back to Arlington Heights ever since she moved from Ashland Avenue many years ago. “I just love old homes,” she says. As a hobby, Debra and husband Dan bought and restored eight homes before they purchased 2310 Western Avenue in March 2024. This one has ended up being their favorite.
They bought the 100-year-old bungalow from a family who had owned it for more than fifty years and had done almost no updating as it devolved into a rental. It took the Barretts five months to renovate before they moved in. “I envisioned a pink rose-covered cottage,” says Debra. The Barretts scraped the front yard down to the dirt to put in irrigation and enlarge part of the sidewalk to create a circular section of it that leads up to the house
The arch was a decision Debra backed into. “When we bought the house, the front porch had a cover over it that I planned to re-do,” she explains. “I planted climbing roses there so they would grow over the cover. After we took off the porch cover, I liked all the natural light that came into the living room and decided to leave the porch uncovered. So, that’s when I bought a metal archway for the roses to climb on.” It’s taken about a year and a half for the roses to cover the arch.
Another defining feature in the Barrett’s yard are the stone pillars they added by the front sidewalk and driveway. “I wanted to give the feeling of a fence and to separate the street a little from the house,” Debra says. Next to the pillars Debra has planted rosemary, baby wax myrtle shrubs, and Texas honeysuckle that will eventually climb up the pillars. A new redbud tree is staked close to the street.
Debra loves plants with fragrance, so she planted creeping thyme in the parkway beds. “I wanted to create a pleasant experience for all the walkers we have in the neighborhood” she says. If someone or their dog steps on the thyme, they’re going to get a whiff of thyme.
The front beds are lined with a curving limestone border and filled with antique roses, a variety of lavender, sweet alyssum, purple aster, a camellia. Under the 30-foot tall crepe myrtle that came with the house is a new bed of oakleaf hydrandea, Dan’s favorite. On the south end of the bed is a Nellie R. Stevens holly, selected because it won’t get too tall and it produces berries the birds love.
The Barretts chose to replace the crumbling concrete and blacktop driveway with gravel to help mitigate the drainage challenges in their neighborhood. The coral vines that climb the wall along the driveway are original to the house.
Pots in the circular section of the sidewalk and on the front porch change seasonally. Right now they are a combination of mums, sweet potato vine, geraniums, chamomile, and fragrant jasmine. Rosemary is the usual winter standby.
Debra is a real estate agent who has a talent for staging and occasionally does interior decorating. Dan is a retired attorney and former Texas State Representative.
Congratulations to the Barretts for being selected as AHNA’s November Yard of the Month. They received a $25 gift certificate to Archie’s Gardenland and a year’s membership in Arlington Heights Neighborhood Association, courtesy of AHNA.
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FREE ADMISSION TO BOTANIC GARDEN THIS WEEKEND
Bring a plastic shopping bag or a clean, dry plastic bottle to Fort Worth Botanic Garden this weekend and get in free, courtesy of H-E-B Grocery.
The weather for this weekend is forecast to be in the 80s with no rain in sight. Perfect for a visit to Botanic Garden.
Starting Friday November 14 through Sunday November 16, free admission to Botanic Garden will be offered to guests who enter the garden with a clean, dry plastic bottle or single-use plastic bag from any retailer. This is courtesy of H-E-B’s Our Texas Our Future initiative. The garden opens at 8:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. every day.
Thank you H-E-B!
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