West Plano People (Newspaper) - December 29, 2006, Dallas, Texas m SOCIETY West Piano Home Tour 2A H WEDDINGS See who said WEEKEND Jack Ingram rings in B FRIDAY DECEMBER 29 VOL3 ISSUE 51 ONE QUARTERS Church Enjoys Fruits of Its Labor Congregation excited over new worship center By Krystal De Los Santos Staff Writer Though construction at Bent Tree Bible Fellowship is at times inconvenient for parishioners church said the addition ulti mately will help congregants minister to those in their own communities Earlier this month construc tion workers walled off the churchs main lobby causing some confusion for those try ing to get from one side of the building to the other When you remodel your house you have to step around some dust said Tun Harkins the executive pastor Theres no way to get from one side to the other without going through the sanctuary during services Because of the temporary location of the entrances ush ers ask those arriving to serv ices late to wait at the door and cross through at designated times so that services are not disrupted The million addition will more than double the capacity at Bent Tree Bible Fellowship adding 125000 square feet of space to the foot facility PHOTO Elder board members Mike Wiltz and Curtis Hoffman along with Senior Pastor Pete Briscoe board member Burton French Executive Pastor Tim Harkins and Elder Chairman Kurt Baxter A new auditorium will replace the existing sanctuary The old sanctuary will become a childrens area and will be connected with the new worship auditorium via a community center which will be a comfortable loung ing space with a coffee bar and baptismal fountain We hope people will use it as a way to connect with others in a casual comfort able environment Harkins said Maybe well have some live entertainment where people can bring a friend and relax and listen to some nice music Two separate buildings a gym and a facility also See CHURCH Page 0 Pioneers Above Huffman Elementary students Alex Walls Ali and Fabian Fuentes create dolls from materials like those the pioneers used during the schools Pioneer Days Left Sarah Handley 6 displays a colorful pasta necklace that she fashioned Below Teacher Caroline Presley assists Rafael Herrera 7 with a pat tern hes tracing on foil to present as a gift to his parents Piano Considers Planning Sculpture Festival Committee meeting to determine cost size location details By Sarah P Henry Staff Writer The city of Piano is in the process of planning a large scale sculpture exhibition that city officials hope will make its debut in the fall of 2008 The inspiration came from Sculpture in the Park a display located at the Benson Sculpture Garden in Loveland Colo that con sists of works of more than 200 sculptors from around the world Loveland has hosted the show for 24 years and it draws more than 20000 vis annually Most of the sculptures displayed are for sale Piano City Councilman Shep Stahel spoke with a councilman from Loveland about the event at the National League of Cities and thought it might be a possibility for Piano Stahel presented the idea to Piano Creative Arts Manager Jim Wear and research on the feasibility of the project began A group of city staff mem bers called the Sculpture in the Park committee meet ing to discuss the cost of such a project as well as the best location One possibility is Oak Point Park at Spring Creek Parkway and Jupiter Road which offers more than 800 acres of finished park area Wear also said the com plans to make mone tary requests to the council by September 2007 He said he is enthusiastic about the project because of the potential increase in the citys hotel tax which supports nonprofit arts See SCULPTURE Page IN Christ Church Places Piano in the National Spotlight in 2006 Parish breaks with Episcopal Church over gay bishop By Krystal De Los Santos Staff Writer As West Piano residents pre pare to celebrate the begin ning of a New Year 2006 will no doubt be remembered as eventful Looking back several news stories have recorded the changes challenges and achievements the commu has faced that helped pro pel West Piano forward JANUARY 2006 E Peterson Emergency Pianos Fire E Peterson retires and accepts a pres appointment as Region IV director of the Federal Management Agency Fort Worth Assistant Fire Chief Hugo Esparza took the reins as Pianos new chief In other news Texas Sen Florence Shapiro of Piano was appointed chair of the Senate Select Committee on Education Reform and Public Finance Shapiro would later lead the Texas Legislature in finding a solu tion to replace Robin Hood the states property tax sys tem for funding schools which was deemed by the Texas Supreme Court FEBRUARY A transfer student at Shepton High School was beaten bloody by two other students His parents com that the school See REVIEW Page 4A Piano Parkway to be Widened by End of Year Project includes railroad quiet zone at Parker crossing By Krystal De Los Santos Staff Writer Commuters in West Piano will soon see traffic relief at a portion of West Piano Parkway between the Dallas North Tollway and Park Boulevard The city of Piano and Collin County are each pay ing million to widen the road transforming it from a divided road to a divided thorough fare If youve ever been out that way you know we only have one lane in each tion from International to Park and the lanes dont line up said city engineer Alan Upchurch Its a matter of providing additional capac ity for the traveling public The city and county also are adding a right turn lane on the eastbound side of Piano Parkway at the inter section with the Dallas North Tollway The Piano Parkway improvements will start this month and take six to eight months to complete The majority of the proj ect involves work around the airport so there will be very little impact on traffic there but when they begin work at the intersection of the Dallas North Tollway there will be instances when they have to close the outside lane adjacent to where theyre working Upchurch said The lane closures will for the most part occur during nonpeak traffic hours between the hours of 9 am and 4 pm In addition to the Piano Parkway improvements the partnership will pay for improvements at Parker Road and the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad in far west Piano What were doing there is reworking existing pave ment to implement a quiet zone at that crossing which means the train will not have to sound its horn in advance of the intersection so those residents will not have to put up with the sound of the train horns Quiet zones are a rela new idea among the United States railways resulting from a federal rule Sec PROJECT Page WEEKEND tt I felt that it was important to commit to the flaws in her so that the transformation is that much greater and her journey is more powerful Naomi on playing the frivolous Kitty in The Painted Veil Thunderstorms
