Matt Lafata’s Weekly Email Newsletter

March 1, 2007 – Volume 6, Issue 9

matt@mattlafatamarketing.com – www.mattlafatamarketing.com

Longtime friend Nick Camp stopped by to have a drink with us recently to celebrate Erika’s and my engagement at the Embassy Suites-Frisco.

This newsletter and information source is designed to bring us all a little closer together each week by providing coverage of so many things going on in our community. There are so many amazing things in this newsletter, as there are every week. Please forward this newsletter to all your friends and neighbors and encourage them to sign up to receive it themselves. They will greatly appreciate you for it as no citizen should be without this important information at their fingertips.  Let’s work to get all Frisco citizens on this list as a more informed society is a more functional society.

If you have questions or have any community events, people or groups you want to recognize, fundraising events, or any newsworthy items you would like to see added and shared with more than thirty-five thousand residents and businesses in Frisco and the surrounding areas, please send me an email so I may include them. The newsletter goes out each Thursday and I need materials by the end of the day on the preceding Wednesday if you want something to be included.

If you received this from somebody else and would like to be added to the list, just send me an email. Your email address will never be sold or given to anybody else for any reason. All newsletters can also be found on our web site at www.mattlafatamarketing.com.

Inspirational Quote of the Week:

“Wise men speak because they have something to say, fools because they have to say something.” – Plato

For advertising opportunities, please contact sales@mattlafatamarketing.com

In this jam packed issue you will find lots of great information. There is something for everyone including the following…

Capitol Buzz by Rep. Ken Paxton: 30

Matt’s Blog - Blog - an online diary; a personal chronological log of thoughts published on a Web page – LAST UPDATED 1/30/07

Newsletter Staff Members and Contributors

Matt Lafata – Editor and Publisher – 214-336-3355

Kaleigh Lafata – Tornado Talk

Sarah Ianace – Happenings in Frisco ISD

Glenn Kopanski – Landscape Design

Pedro Checo – Advice from Dr. Checo

Joe Hockaday, CPA – Today’s Tax Talk From Joe!:

State Representative Ken Paxton -- Capitol Steps

Citizen of the Month and Neighborhood of the Month Details

Meadow Hill Estates was the February winner of Neighborhood of the Month. Their picture and story was published in the February 15, 2007 issue.

Mr. Paul Clark was the February winner of Citizen of the Month.  His story was published in the February 22, 2007 issue.

If you have a citizen or neighborhood you would like to nominate for March, please send it to me by the end of February…

The Citizen of the Month will focus on a person in Frisco who has been nominated by another individual. He or she could be a person who has recently done something special that contributes to the well-being of our city and/or its citizens, or it could be somebody who has had (or currently has) an interesting career or experiences that could be shared with our readers.

The Neighborhood of the Month will highlight a particular neighborhood in our city. I am looking to hear from you as to why your Neighborhood is so special.

Please send an email to community@mattlafatamarketing.com to nominate and explain why a Frisco citizen or a neighborhood should be honored with this monthly recognition.

“Dear Neighbor” Column:

Hi Neighbors, in attempt to assist The City of Frisco Residents with their Spring Projects this newsletter would like to start a ‘Dear Neighbor’ column for questions and inquiries about home improvements.  Such improvements might include questions regarding accessory buildings, sheds, patio covers, gazebos, fences (new or replacements) foundation repairs, re-roofing projects, arbors, room additions or alterations, tall grass, trash, outdoor kitchens, fire-pits, spas and pools.

It would be something similar to the famous ‘Dear Abby’ or ‘Heloise’ column, where readers submit their questions or concerns and the response is printed in this newsletter.  This newsletters’ reader’s, as the citizens of Frisco, will be able to ask for information in regards to home improvements, general building practices and property nuisances. 

So, if you have questions or home improvements, general building practices property nuisances or any newsworthy items you would like to ask and have shared with all our readers, please send them to me at community@mattlafatamarketing.com so I may include them.

Question of the Week:

Q. I noticed that some dirt is being moved around on a plot of land on Legacy just south of Wakeland High School. It is on the east side of Legacy. Any idea what is being developed there?

A. On the property directly south of Wakeland HS will be an assisted living facility. This has been approved by the Planning & Zoning Commission and has obtained building permits and releases.

Wine Question of the Day:

Since we enjoy a glass of wine from time to time, we have become more fascinated with wine in general and in trying to learn more about wine. This week’s question…

Q. Is there specific etiquette I should follow when a bottle of wine is brought to my table in a restaurant?

A. Here are the typical steps the server may go through when serving a bottle of wine, and how you may wish to respond:

1) They show the bottle, label showing, to the person who ordered the wine. This is just to make sure they brought you the correct bottle of wine. Check the wine label to make sure it is what you ordered.

2) They open the bottle and may hand you the cork or place it on the table. If they hand you the cork, you have no obligation to sniff it. If you do, you are simply making sure that the bottom of the cork, where the wine has been in contact, does not smell moldy (like wet cardboard)and there is no indication that any wine has seeped out of the bottle. But you may politely decline when offered the cork and look forward to tasting the wine.

3) The server will then pour 1/3 of a glass of wine for you to taste. This is your chance to determine if the wine is bad or not. It rarely will be bad. You can swirl the wine to release the aroma if you like, smell it and taste it. If you are not comfortable with these tasting rituals and trust that the wine is probably fine, you can simply taste the wine, or pass on tasting it and prompt the server to serve the wine.

4) Finally, the wine server will fill your glass to the appropriate level as well as fill the glasses of your fellow diners.

How to “Whitelist” this Frisco Community Newsletter in Your Spam Filter:

With the advent of outrageous volumes of unwanted email these days, of which I get a ton, it's unfortunate that legitimate email publications like this are not being seen by some of the readers who enjoy those publications. There is much fear today that the email publishing/marketing industry is in serious trouble, due to mistakes in filtering when legitimate email is erroneously tagged as unwanted email.

While we applaud the anti-spam industry for removing the plethora of unwanted email from many of our mailboxes, from time to time, some legitimate email publications are mistaken as unwanted.

Sometimes, this results in our mailings bouncing back, with requests for us to respond to challenge/response messages to prevent future filtering. However, due to the size of our list, it's nearly impossible for us handle the volume of such requests.

To that end, please realize that we want our readers to always anticipate and enjoy the valuable information that this community newsletter delivers.

If you currently use an anti-spam program or service, we ask that you take just a minute or two to add this newsletter to your "safe" or permitted email sender list. This usually involves simply adding our sending address (From:) to your whitelist, safelist, or list of privileged senders. This is commonly known as whitelisting a publication. Simply add the email addresses of matt@mattlafata.com and matt@mattlafatamarketing.com.

Featured holiday of the week

March 4 is the Jewish holiday of Purim…"The Feast of Lots"

Purim celebrates the deliverance of the Jewish people during the days of King Xerxes of Persia. According to the story a young Jewish girl saves her people from annihilation and the malice of Haman. The story is contained in the Book of Esther, which is read in its entirety on Purim. When the Haman's name is read aloud everyone hisses, boos and twirls their graggers to drown out the name. Interestingly enough the story of Esther is the only book in the Bible that makes no reference to God (Christian or Persian) or a religious observes of any kind.

Purim occurs on the 14 day of Adar and on the 15th in the cities of Jerusalem. Adar is the twelfth month of the Jewish calendar. As with all Jewish holidays, Purim begins at sundown.

This Day in Disney History – March 1

Being big fans of Disney, I thought I would include a little bit of Disney history…

1910:

Legendary actor David Niven is born James David Graham Niven in London, England. His Disney credits include the 1977 Candleshoe in which he played multiple roles, and the 1976 No Deposit, No Return. (Film fans will know Niven from Around the World in Eighty Days, The Guns Of Navarone, The Pink Panther and as Sir James Bond in the unofficial spoof Casino Royale.

1924:

Disney's Alice Comedies debut with the short Alice's Day at Sea in a handful of east coast theaters. The combination live-action and animated film features young Virginia Davis as Alice.

1930:

Disney animator & techincal genius Ub Iwerks, the first animator of Mickey Mouse, officially leaves Disney to set up his own animation studio. (His character Flip the Frog will eventually fail and he will later return to Disney.)

1940:

A rare instance of Walt Disney's praise occurs at a "Bambi" screening of two minutes of test animation by Frank Thomas and Milt Kahl. After seeing the footage, Disney turns to the two animators with tears in his eyes and says "Thanks, fellows. That's great stuff, no kidding. Those personalities are pure gold." Walt seldom gives a direct compliment.

(When "Bambi" is completed it will have the fewest lines of dialogue of any Disney animated feature.)

1941:

Walt Disney's speech "Our American Culture," is broadcast during an intermission of the Metropolitan Opera. Walt's words include: Once a man has tasted freedom he will never be content to be a slave. That is why I believe that this frightfulness we see everywhere today is only temporary. Tomorrow will be better for as long as America keeps alive the ideals of freedom and a better life. All men will want to be free and share our way of life. There must be so much that I should have said, but haven't. What I will say now is just what most of us are probably thinking every day. I thank God and America for the right to live and raise my family under the flag of tolerance, democracy and freedom. (These words will be echoed some 60 years later by Disney President Michael Eisner after the terrorist attacks of September 2001.)

1971:

Actor Jack Davenport - known for his role of Norrington in both Disney features Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest - is born in Suffolk, England.

1992:

At the 36th Annual Grammy Awards, Tim Rice and Alan Menken win seven Grammies for Disney's Aladdin, including one for Song Of The Year for "A Whole New World."

1996:

The Hilton Head Resort in South Carolina, a Disney Vacation Club resort property, opens. A 5-hour drive from Disney World, the resort is fashioned after a 1940s hunting and fishing lodge.

1998:

Bug Juice, a documentary series about a group of kids that attend summer camp, officially premieres on the Disney Channel.

1999:

At Disney-MGM, a third drop is added to the drop sequence for the Tower of Terror attraction. Also, Doug Live (a new stage show) opens replacing Superstar TV.

Kali River Rapids (a whitewater rafting adventure) and Maharajah Jungle Trek both open in the Asia section of Animal Kingdom.

2002:

The Atlanta Braves take on the Florida Marlins in their first big-league preseason game of the year at Disney's Wide World of Sports in Florida.

2003:

Epcot features the final performances of Tapestry of Dreams, coinciding with the end of the 100 Years of Magic celebration.

2005:

Disney releases its 1942 classic Bambi for the first time on a special 2-disc DVD. The original soundtrack is also released on CD. 

The premiere of Disney's live-action film The Pacifier takes place at the El Capitan Theater in Hollywood, California.

2006:

The soundtrack to Disney's High School Musical reaches the number one spot on the Billboard 200 for the first time.

This Day in Music History – March 1

Since Erika and I are very passionate about our music, I thought we’d start including some music history here in the newsletter…

2004, Michael Jackson unveiled a new website, www.mjjsource.com. The site featured a celebration of his music career plus news on his current criminal trial, including short biographies of his attorneys and a calendar listing upcoming court dates.

2001, Sean 'Puffy' Combs became the star witness of his own defense in a New York court claiming he didn't have a gun during a shooting in a New York club. The singer claimed he thought he was being shot at.

1997, a Motley Crue fan who claimed his hearing had been irreparably damaged after a show in New Jersey had his lawsuit thrown out of court. The judge told Clifford Goldberg who had sat near the front of the stage, knew the risk he was taking.

1997, 'Bowie Bonds' were issued on the US Stock Exchange. Linked to David Bowie's back catalogue albums with money earned on the bonds via interest from royalties, investors could expect to make an 8% profit in about 10 years.

1994, Nirvana played their final ever concert when they appeared at The Terminal Einz in Munich, Germany. The 3,000 capacity venue was a small Airport Hanger. The power went off during the show so they played an impromptu acoustic set including a version of The Cars 'My Best Friend's Girl.'

1989, R.E.M. kicked off the US leg of the 'Green World Tour', in Louisville, Kentucky.

1989, Madonna started a $5 million sponsorship deal with Pepsi Cola.

1986, Gary Glitter was admitted to hospital, suffering from an accidental overdose of sleeping pills.

1986, Mr Mister started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Kyrie', the groups second US No.1, a No.11 hit in the UK. Also the group's album 'Welcome To The Real World' went to No.1 on the US album chart.

1975, Bob Dylan started a two-week run at No.1 on the US album chart with 'Blood On The Tracks' his second US No.1 album.

1975, The Eagles went to No.1 on the US singles chart with 'Best Of My Love', the first of five US No.1's for the band. The highest chart position in the UK for the group was No.8 with the 1977 single 'Hotel California.'

1975, winners at this years Grammy Awards included; Paul McCartney for Best pop vocal on 'Band On The Run', Olivia Newton-John won Record Of The Year for 'I Honestly Love You' and Stevie Wonder won Album of the year for 'Fulfilling- ness First Finale.'

1974, Chris Difford placed an advert in a shop window 'lyricist seeks musician for co-writing' Glen Tillbrook answered the ad. The pair went on to form Squeeze.

1974, Queen began their first headlining UK tour at The Winter Garden's Blackpool.

1974, Sara Lowndes filed for a divorce from her husband singer, songwriter Bob Dylan.

1968, Elton John's first single 'I've Been Loving You To Long' was released on the Phillips label, it didn't chart.

1966, Gene Clark of The Byrds announced he was leaving the group due to his fear of flying.

1961, Elvis Presley signed a five-year movie deal with producer Hal Wallis.

1958, Buddy Holly and the Crickets began their only UK tour, a 25 date, twice- nightly package with Des O'Connor, Gary Miller, The Tanner Sisters and Ronnie Keene and his Orchestra.

Today in History – March 1

Ok, so I like history in general…

Today is Thursday, March 1, the 60th day of 2007. There are 305 days left in the year.

In 1781, the Continental Congress declared the Articles of Confederation to be in force, following ratification by Maryland.

In 1790, Congress authorized the first U.S. Census.

In 1864, Rebecca Lee Crumpler became the first black woman to receive an American medical degree, from the New England Female Medical College in Boston.

In 1867, Nebraska became the 37th state.

In 1872, Congress authorized creation of Yellowstone National Park.

In 1932, Charles A. Lindbergh Jr., the 20-month-old son of Charles and Anne Lindbergh, was kidnapped from the family home near Hopewell, N.J. (Remains identified as those of the child were found the following May.)

In 1945, President Roosevelt, back from the Yalta Conference, proclaimed the meeting a success as he addressed a joint session of Congress.

In 1954, Puerto Rican nationalists opened fire from the gallery of the U.S. House of Representatives, wounding five congressmen.

In 1961, President Kennedy established the Peace Corps.

In 1967, U.S. Rep. Adam Clayton Powell of New York, accused of misconduct, was denied his seat in the 90th Congress. (The Supreme Court ruled in 1969 that Powell had to be seated.)

In 1981, Irish Republican Army member Bobby Sands began a hunger strike at the Maze Prison in Northern Ireland; he died 65 days later.

Ten years ago: Severe storms hit Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee and Mississippi, and spawned tornadoes in Arkansas blamed for two dozen deaths. Rescue teams fought snow, high winds and wild dogs as they tried to bring help to an earthquake-devastated region in northwest Iran, where the death toll was estimated at 3,000.

Five years ago: Space shuttle Columbia blasted into orbit on a mission to renovate the Hubble Space Telescope. NASA said its Mars Odyssey spacecraft had found evidence that vast regions of Mars may abound in water. Under pressure from prosecutors, the Archdiocese of Boston agreed to turn over the names of people allegedly molested by priests. Grand American series driver Jeff Clinton was killed during practice in a crash at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

One year ago: President Bush, en route to India and Pakistan, made a surprise visit to Afghanistan to show U.S. support for the country's fledgling democracy. Actor Jack Wild, who'd played the Artful Dodger in the 1968 film "Oliver!," died in Bedfordshire, England, at age 53.

Just a reminder - this newsletter is put together with information from many different sources. You can also view this newsletter and past newsletters in the News section of my web site at www.mattlafatamarketing.com. If you do not receive your emailed newsletter for some reason, please visit www.mattlafatamarketing.com each week as some mail servers block emails that are sent to multiple recipients. Just remember that if you don’t get it by each Friday, you can read it on the web site.

For advertising opportunities, please contact sales@mattlafatamarketing.com

All the opinions, endorsements or recommendations in this newsletter are mine alone and they do not necessarily reflect the opinions or views of any organization or group with whom I am affiliated or the individuals who are a part of such organizations and groups.  You should not rely on any statement made in this newsletter as evidenced of how I may act as a member of any organization or group.  Inclusion of news, events and other information in this newsletter does not imply an endorsement; it merely serves as my effort to be of service to the readers.

All About Frisco:

In our continuing efforts to bring information to our great community, we have updated our web site with listings of:

·         Frisco Neighborhoods and Homeowner Associations

·         Churches and other places of Worship

·         Clubs and Organizations

·         The Frisco Independent School District and other Schools

Visit www.friscocommunity.com to access this information and I look forward to your feedback. This site will continue to grow and evolve over time.

About Matt Lafata:

Matt Lafata is the proud parent of three children and moved to Frisco from Gloucester, MA in January, 1999. Mr. Lafata has helped build several highly successful businesses for more than 20 years. A long-time business consultant and entrepreneur, he is the Director of Sales and Marketing with the Frisco-based HR technology consulting firm HRchitect (www.HRchitect.com). He is also the founder of several marketing and public relations agencies including The Matt Lafata Marketing Group (www.mattlafatamarketing.com). Previously, Mr. Lafata was an Executive Vice President of a computer software company where he was responsible for corporate development, strategic supervision of marketing and sales, product development and more. Mr. Lafata studied finance and business management at Salem State College in Salem, Massachusetts.

Mr. Lafata is involved in numerous organizations throughout Frisco. He is in his 2^nd term as a Frisco City Council member and is also involved in the following…

·         Former Deputy Mayor Pro Tem on the Frisco City Council

·         Former Planning & Zoning Commissioner

·         Graduate of Leadership Frisco

·         2005 recipient of the “21 Leaders of the 21^st Century” by Inside Collin County Business

·         Graduate of the Citizen’s Police Academy and a member of the Alumni group

·         Youth sports coach

·         Past board member for the Frisco Family Services Center

·         St. Francis of Assisi Knights of Columbus Member

·         Member of the Frisco Heritage Association

·         Member of the Frisco Association for the Arts

·         Community Advisory Board member for the Frisco Women’s League

·         Board member for the Frisco Square Municipal Management District

·         City of Frisco Technology Committee member

·         City of Frisco Budget and Audit subcommittee member

·         Tax Increment Finance board member

·         Co-Director of the Mrs. Texas United States Pageant

Matt recently became engaged to Erika Howe of Frisco, who also has three children.

If you wish to be removed from this list, please send an email to matt@mattlafata.com.

With so many items in this issue, here is a duplicate Table of Contents…