"What You Wish the World Could Be"

I spent summers with family in Arlington for years before we moved back to Texas in 1975 and chose Arlington as our home. We immediately felt welcomed as were embraced by new friends, a great church family and classmates (Lamar HS Class of 77). Except for a few years during college, Arlington has been my home ever since. I even had the privilege of covering the city for several years as a reporter at The Arlington Daily News. With all that history comes wonderful memories. One that sticks out for me is one shared by thousands of other Arlington teenagers – working at one of the attractions in what is now the Entertainment District. If you were a teenager in Arlington those days, you most likely worked at one of two places: Six Flags Over Texas or Arlington Stadium. For me, it was Six Flags. I spent my summers among the throngs of people enjoying the thrills the park had to offer; only I was on the other side of the counter at the cash register. After clocking out, the park was open to employees to spend time together and just have fun. Beyond collecting my first real paychecks, Six Flags gave me lasting friendships and an opportunity to learn the value of showing up on time, working hard and being a dependable employee. For many who grew up in Arlington, Six Flags was “what you wish the world could be.”

Belinda Willis

Six decades at Lamar High School

I met my spouse Tom as a new student at Lamar High School, at the end of my junior year in 1979. His family, and now my family, too, has had a student at Lamar for every decade that it’s been around, from the 1970s through today. After Tom and I graduated in 1980, my younger brother Jim and Tom’s four younger siblings attended through the early 1990s. Our older daughter Tacy started there as a freshman in 2006, and our younger daughter Emma graduated from there in 2014. Several of their cousins have attended there, too, with the youngest…

Winning the National Medal of Honor Museum

One of my favorite Arlington memories is being part of the effort to bring the National Medal of Honor Museum to our city.It was an extraordinary opportunity, but it was never a foregone conclusion. Arlington was competing with communities across the country, and earning the museum required a tremendous amount of teamwork, creativity and determination. City leaders, community partners and residents came together around a shared belief that Arlington was the right place to preserve and tell the stories of America’s Medal of Honor recipients.I was proud to help tell Arlington’s story and demonstrate why our city, located in the…

0 comment

Recently active Posted first