If you couldn’t make this month's neighborsgo meet-and-greet at Starbucks in Mesquite, I’m sorry to say that you missed out — big time. But don’t fret, more are planned for the future and may be in other locations as well, so there are plenty of opportunities to make up for missing, but I’m not going to kid you — it was a pretty cool turnout.

Assistant Editor Naquanna Comeaux was very happy to meet everyone for the first time and was quite pleased at how the day went.
“Nearly 30 people showed up to the meet and greet for a healthy exchange of ideas, questions and comments regarding Mesquite neighborsgo,” she writes in her weekly blog, which you can find at neighborsgo.com/blog/Naquanna_Comeaux. “Free coffee and gift cards were given out, and everyone was truly enjoying themselves. I noticed how Jenice and her Mesquite contributors interacted with one another – it was like one, big happy family.”
And it most definitely was a family, with regular contributors Virginia Chase, Sergio Garcia and Rodney VanSickle telling their tales of how they started writing and sharing news about the community on neighborsgo.com. I was glad to finally meet some of you in person for the first time — Annette Cox, DeAnn Foster, Teresa Gibson and Abbey Marley. And I was pleasantly surprised to get to visit with Mesquite City Councilwoman Shirley Roberts, who said she would like to see neighborsgo become a daily section. She and Jeann Wisenbaker provided great feedback about what kind of news they want to see in our publication.

Civic news, more diverse content and traffic updates were on your wish list for our paper. And several of you said you enjoy neighborsgo because it’s a newspaper that you can always find out what’s going on in your community. Please rest assured that the future of this publication will bring all of these things to you and more … more news and more community feel. Keep your suggestions coming and contributions posted to our Web site. Thanks so much to everyone who came out Friday. And I would like to extend a special thanks to Ian Halperin, director of public information for Mesquite ISD, for stopping by and bringing MISD news to neighborsgo.com.

There were so many more of you who came that I wish I could list here, but you know who you are. And without you, your newspaper wouldn’t be even half of what it is today.

Well it’s that time again.

Don’t you think it’s been way too long since we have chatted, face to face?

We shall get that chance once again next week when neighborsgo will host a meet and greet from 11:30 to 2:30 p.m. Feb. 13 at the Starbucks on Town East in Mesquite. Come ready for a free coffee of your choice and prepared to pick my brain about everything neighborsgo and neighborsgo.com. And if you don’t mind, I will do the same because I really want to know what you think about where we are as a media source and where we are heading. What to you like about our publication and what don’t you like? Be candid; I can take it! I hope to see all of you there.

And there is another place I would love to see you…get it? Love? It’s on neighborsgo.com talking about your stories of Valentine’s Day romance. Post them by Monday and I will make sure they get in print just in time for the “big day” or as I like to call it “the day everyone gets flowers but me.” Pity party, table for one!

In other news, you may have read Naquanna Comeaux’s article about DallasCountyCowboyChurch’s grand opening in Balch Springs slated for this Sunday. If you didn’t get a chance to read it, visit neighborsgo.com/stories/29215. We failed to mention the time, however. The event begins with services at 10:30 a.m. It should be quite the to-do with appearances by city officials and Dr. Randel Everett, executive director of the Baptist General Convention of Texas and a chuck wagon lunch.

For more information, visit cowboychurchofdallascounty.com.

Last weekend I had the pleasure of being a part of something, well, magical.

I don’t know if you have ever been to an artlovemagic show, but it is something that can truly be quite the experience. Musicians, artists, poets, photographers and the Dallas/Fort Worth community (and sometimes beyond) came together for artlovemagic’s Underground event featuring Dallas’ hidden talents. At events such as Underground, artists remove all barriers and attendees get to know who these creators are. I happened to be one of them last weekend and displayed some of my photography along with my cousin and artist Riki Johnson. And Mesquite’s own Andie Collard, who is also an artist, worked the event as a second pair of hands — helping everyone with their displays and keeping busy with the welcome table.

If you would like to see some photos from the event, visit neighborsgo.com/photos and search for artlovemagic.