Fresh Picks features the top stories posted by our contributors at neighborsgo.com for and about Garland, Wylie, Sachse and surrounding communities after deadline for this Friday’s print edition.

>>GARLAND/WYLIE/SACHSE

• Wylie Girl Scout to host sign ups

• New immunization rules go into effect Aug. 1

• Garland High’s drill team ready for football season

• Garland church group helps build Habitat house

• RichlandCollege sets up volunteer recognition program

• FTA Productions to host auditions for play in Garland

• Richland’s Garland campus hosts travel management reception

• Toll rates to increase starting in September

>>HOT BLOGS
Our Town:
neighborsgo.com/blog/sue

Lisa Z’s Big Adventure:
neighborsgo.com/blog/LisaZAdventure

Retirement Advice:
neighborsgo.com/blog/financialhealth

Everybody has had to overcome some type of setback in life.

This statement is straight forward enough, as everyone faces obstacles in day-to-day living and while in pursuit of a long-term goal.

For McKenna McGough of Garland, a pair of hearing aids was more than a setback – it made her feel isolated and different.

For McKenna, the best way to get past this disability was not necessarily gaining the ability to hear, but finding a friend who could comisserate with her.

Winter, a dolphin at Clearwater Marine Aquarium in Florida, was that friend. Someone who shared that feeling of being different and having to overcome an adverse circumstance.

Rockwall/Rowlett editor Dawn Redig's story about McKenna’s relationship with a dolphin named Winter shows how a friend is one of the biggest blessings any person can have. See Dawn’s full story about the amazing bond formed between a dolphin and a little girl wanting to fit in on page 16.

This week’s issue as a whole takes this theme of friends working together. These friends may not have been working to overcome a form of adversity, but it did show people overcoming their differences.

South Garland Little League sent its 17- and 18-year-old all-star team into the state tournament with a roster comprised of athletes from all over Garland ISD.

During the school year, these ballplayers were opponents, but for a summer, they were all teammates working together for a common goal. They became a support network and a group of friends – in a way it was like the movie Sandlot.

Going from the baseball diamond to the limelight of the Granville Performing Arts Center, other groups of friends joined talents from across the Dallas-area to put together a theatre production of the classic Rogers and Hammerstein production, The King and I. Frequent Garland <i>neighborsgo<i> contributor Mark Ryan took the time to see these young friends take the stage and snap several impressive photos that can be seen on page 15.

As the school year draws near, be on the lookout for photos and stories of friends getting back together and having their annual reunions as the doors to their respective campuses open up for 2009-2010. Send us your photos of best friends and you could have a chance to be featured in an upcoming Back-to-School issue of neighborsgo, which will run Aug. 7, 14 and 21.

For now, enjoy the last days of summer and try to soak up the last bit of vacation and staycation in the next several weeks.

Marcus Murphree is the Garland/Wylie/Sachse editor for neighborsgo and can be reached at 469-330-5638 or mmurphree@neighborsgo.com.

By Marcus Murphree

The cliché “Home is where you make it” stands very true for Melvin Bullitt and his family.

An alumnus of Naaman Forest High School, Bullitt has gone on to make waves in the NFL as a hard-hitting defensive back for the Indianapolis Colts, but he still takes the time to come home and give back to his hometown football league and community.

His football camp that he and several other NFL players hosted in Garland showed this type of dedication to community. The camp was free, and Bullitt and his fellow coaches made sure not to leave until every participant had the opportunity for an autograph, photo or handshake.

In the eyes of a child, these athletes are heroes.

Bullitt was joined by several NFL players, including Jackie Battle, Joe West, and former NaamanForest alum and Colts defensive back Jacob Lacey.

Melvin Bullitt’s younger brother Bradley, now a linebacker with TylerJunior College, also joined the workouts.

However, it was not only the children participating in the event that were thrilled with the appearance of these athletes, it was their high school assistant principal, Janet Wyatt, who sang the praises of her former football players.

“It’s a good reunion for them to come back, and it’s great for them to give back to the community,” Wyatt said at the end of the camp.

The participation from the athletes’ families also helped keep the camp moving last Saturday. Jerry Bullitt, Melvin and Bradley’s father, had a hand in running the camp as well as raising his sons to reaching this point in their athletic career.

“My dad was my biggest football influence when I was younger,” Melvin Bullitt said. “He played in the NFL, and knew what I wanted to do and helped me get there.”

Melvin is making his way up several NFL blog boards this season, showing his talents on the playing field, however, anyone from 900 miles south of Indy knows Bullitt’s true home lies in Garland, Texas where he is not a star defensive back making punishing tackles, but a local kid keeping his heart in Texas.

Marcus Murphree can be reached at 469-330-5692 or mmurphree@neighborsgo.com.

IN OTHER NEWS!

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Fresh Picks features the top stories posted by our contributors at neighborsgo.com for and about Garland, Wylie, Sachse and surrounding communities after deadline for this Friday’s print edition.

• South Garland Little League season comes to close

• Garland church group helps build Habitat house

• Hail damage raises insurance flags in town

• Garland resident participates in state poetry conference

• Local poets to meet at library

• Richland Garland to host travel management reception

• Area students participate in Patty Greenville production

>>HOT BLOGS
Lisa Z’s Big Adventure:
neighborsgo.com/blog/LisaZAdventure

Retirement Advice:
neighborsgo.com/blog/financialhealth

Our Town:
neighborsgo.com/blog/sue

Garland/Wylie/Sachse:

Fresh Picks features the top stories posted by our contributors at neighborsgo.com for and about Garland, Wylie, Sachse and surrounding communities after deadline for this Friday’s print edition.

Tollway continues eastward expansion

Collin County gymnast overcomes injury to win nationals

Sachse resident earns ExxonMobil summer job

Boys Chorus audition dates set

Richland College sets up metal camp to show teens technical careers

Garlnad teen cast in 'As You Like It'

North Texas History Center encourages patrons to 'shop unique'

Tips for keeping your garden healthy this summer

Senior center hosts square dancing classes

Wylie East Drill team officers win awards

HOT BLOGS & VIDEOS

Video:
neighborsgo editors check out Harry Potter opening night festivities in Garland 

Blogs:
Retirement Advice with Sue Ricker

Our Town with Sue Watkins

Families across America will be touched this summer by the efforts of the Millennials. That’s right, the Millennials – a generation defined by a hip buzz word.

Some research calls this one of the most thoughtful groups of young men and women while others see this as a rebellious pack of youngsters who are also called the “yes generation.”

From coast to coast this summer, hundreds of these 20-somethings will be biking across the country to raise money for and participate in various affordable housing construction projects.

The organization, called Bike & Build, made a stopover in Garland last week to work on a home construction project with Habitat For Humanity of Greater Garland. The construction coordinator, Peter Muhl, of Sunnyvale helped oversee the project and was thrilled at the efforts of the 31 volunteers.

Muhl had nothing short of praise to give to all of the younger volunteers he has seen this summer working on the Habitat house.

“We have them all summer long coming in and giving back to the community,” Muhl said regarding the volunteers ranging from school organizations to church groups to Bike & Build.

While on the worksite in the rain last week, I was able to get a stronger feel for why these young volunteers decided to forgo a summer of internships, job seeking or vacationing to try and help others. A brief morning shower did not stop the project – if anything it was seen as a way to cool down in the Texas heat.

The sentiment was the same throughout the job site. The cyclists like riding their bikes, traveling and being around people who share similar views. At the beginning of the summer, these 31 cyclists were all perfect strangers. In another month, they will be pulling into their final stop in San Francisco.

In neighborsgo fashion, we would love to hear your stories about summer mission trips or volunteer projects as well.

Send those photos our way and keep us posted at neighborsgo.com. Remember the best and timeliest stories, photos and videos can find their way into an upcoming print edition.

Marcus Murphree is the Garland/Wylie/Sachse editor and can be reached at 469-330-5638 or mmurphree@neighborsgo.com

Fresh Picks features the top stories posted by our contributors at neighborsgo.com for and about Garland, Wylie, Sachse and surrounding communities after deadline for this Friday’s print edition.

Car washes raise band's funds

July 4 weekend parties unite old, new friends

Summer camp counselors speak out against bullying

Garland residents join Rowlett Tea Party Patriots

Sam Johnson backs bill to help special needs children

Library to show free screening of 'Twilight'

Boys Chorus audition dates set

Senior center hosts square dancing classes

Lakeview law student attends national convention

Wylie East drill team returns from camp

The closest I have ever been to a political protest was my senior year in college when several students from my university camped outside the rodeo claiming animal cruelty at the 2008 Southwestern Livestock Show and Exposition.

Needless to say, I was far from understanding what a grassroots protest was and even further off my rocker when I thought it was nothing more than whiney 20-somethings who were rushing to be the first ones to complain about some type of issue.

In 2009, the Taxed Enough Already – or TEA Party – movement changed my views of protests forever.

It was not teenage angst or a frustrated college student venting in public (though there were younger protesters present), but rather a group of people unified not by party lines, but rather by a distinct vision of a government that needs to represent its people. The participants were tired of bailouts, taxes and health care reform.

The attendees were veterans, divorcees, whole families, single parents and people wanting to make a noise about getting their government’s attention.

It was refreshing.

Admittedly, I filed my taxes by myself for the first time this April and there is plenty I don’t yet understand about the “big world,” but it was nice seeing people from generations ahead of me protesting and standing up for everyone.

Tea parties aside, last weekend’s holiday activities were a perfect way to let Texans know that summer has fully arrived. Daytime highs pushing triple digits, cold drinks, cookouts and classic cars reminded me why there are few places that can match a good Texas summer day.

For a chance to be featured in an upcoming issue of neighborsgo, post your latest stories, photos and videos of your summer activities to neighborsgo.com.

Also in the coming weeks, be on the lookout for some new videos from our “foreign correspondent” Lindsay Toler – this time she is in Canada previewing the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Marcus Murphree is the Garland/Wylie/Sachse editor with neighborsgo and can be reached at 469-330-5638 or mmurphree@neighborsgo.com.