Commercial Roofing Contractors in Roanoke, TX

Here are festivities scheduled for the Fourth of July celebrations in Keller, Roanoke, Fort Worth and Trophy Club.

July 3: All American Fireworks & Festival

Roanoke’s annual Fourth of July festival will include music from Texas High Road (5 p.m.) and The After Party (7:15 p.m.); a dozen food trucks; inflatables, games and the Texas Bubblers. Registration is open online for the pie-eating contest. The fireworks show starts at about 9:25 p.m. 5-10 p.m. Free (admission). Free shuttles to the event are available starting at 4:45 p.m. Check the website for available pickup locations. Roanoke Community Park, 201 Park Drive, Roanoke. www.roanoketexas.com/3rdofjuly

July 3: Keller Lights

This year’s Independence Day festivities put on by the city of Keller will feature live music by Rob Brooks, Ben Hatton and the Keller Area Youth Jazz Orchestra; a hot dog-eating contest; and more. The grand finale fireworks show will launch at 9 p.m. over the pond behind Keller Town Hall. Attendees can also catch a shuttle to and from the event at Life Church or Keller High School from 4-11 p.m. 6 p.m. Free. Keller Town Hall, 1100 Bear Creek Parkway, Keller. www.cityofkeller.com

July 4: Fort Worth’s Fourth

Head to the banks of the Trinity River to enjoy food, live music and other entertainment along with what organizers say is the largest fireworks show in North Texas at 9:30 p.m. Attendees are welcome to bring their watercraft to float on the river until 8 p.m. The event is produced by the Tarrant Regional Water District. The website includes a map for parking. 5 p.m. Free (admission). Panther Creek Pavilion, 395 Purcey St., Fort Worth. 817-698-0700. www.fortworthsfourth.com

July 4: Fireworks Celebration

Trophy Club’s Independence Day party will feature tunes from 10-piece band Limelight as well as family-friendly activities, such as a rock climbing wall, a zip line, yard games, a bounce house and more. Various food vendors will be available, and a fireworks show will conclude the evening at around 9:40 p.m. Attendees are encouraged to bring lawn chairs and blankets. 6-10 p.m. Free (residents), $10 (nonresident wristband for children’s activities). Independence Park East, 500 Parkview Drive, Trophy Club. bit.ly/3zd1yyU

Editor's note: This post has been edited to correct errors in the Roanoke event. Music will be from Texas High Road (5 p.m.) and The After Party (7:15 p.m.). The fireworks show starts at about 9:25 p.m.

After growing up in the Sugar Land, Texas, area, Kasey Salisbury graduated with a degree in journalism in 2018 from The University of Texas at Austin, where she was the copy chief at the campus newspaper, The Daily Texan. She joined the Community Impact Newspaper team as a copy editor in October 2018 and is based in Austin.

Roanoke history lies nestled in amongst the current businesses, keeping its story quiet

Are you as guilty of this as I am? As I drive, I’m so focused on my destination – and the other vehicles on the road – that I rarely pay attention to my surroundings.

As much as I relish the small pieces of the past that remain in our local area, I drive on past, failing to notice them. My blinders are on even when I drive down Oak Street into Roanoke’s historic downtown.

I recognize familiar landmarks. I need to turn right at the blue building, Classic Café, to get to Mil Amores on 377 for my favorite lunch. It’s always the same. Two tacos – one a fish taco and one al pastor. My lunch is always topped off with one of their tasty fruit waters. My favorites are pineapple and watermelon. But I’m also happy with a hibiscus or horchata.

If I’m headed to meet friends at Inzo Italian Kitchen, I know they’re on the west side of Oak Street, just north of the car wash. I think they know my order when I walk in the door. Here I relish a delicious Greek salad with a grilled chicken breast. And an order of fried mozzarella sticks for all of us to share.

Or I might be headed to Hey Sugar Candy Store at the end of the same block. There, a cold cream soda transports me instantly back to childhood. Over the past few years, I’ve come home with many packs of Black Jack gum to send to my mom – which sends her back to her childhood.

On other trips, I stop at the Oak St. Pie Co., right next to Babe’s Chicken. There my favorite sugar of choice used to be a Millionaire Pie. Lately, it’s only been on the menu occasionally. But that’s alright, because there are plenty of other concoctions to tempt me. Have you tried their fudge? It’s to die for.

Alas, in all of these trips, so often associated with a food fix, I often fail to see the history interspersed among the newer buildings. The historic Masonic Lodge is one. I drive right on past and barely even notice it.

Sitting on the northeast corner of Oak and Austin Streets, the white structure has seen many changes to Roanoke in its 114-years. And it keeps sitting there quietly, tucked back from the street, remaining steadfast as the town around it evolves.

The Roanoke Mason’s are even older than the building. The first Masons in the area met at Elizabethtown, two miles west of Roanoke. A charter for Lodge 348 was granted in 1872. When the railroad came through Roanoke, activity gradually shifted from Elizabethtown to Roanoke and Elizabethtown disappeared – except for the cemetery that remains to this day. Lodge 349 dissolved in 1885.

In 1885 Lodge 668 formed in Roanoke. Finding a permanent meeting place was a challenge. On September 5, 1908, they voted to buy the lot on Oak Street and build their own two-story building.

The first floor was used for a variety of purposes – banquets and dinners, receptions, and school parties. Other organizations also used it, like Woodmen of the World or the Women’s Home Demonstration Club. The upper level was reserved for the Mason’s meeting room.

I vow to drive with my eyes more open from now on, when I pass areas rich in history. But we’ll see. I have a feeling that the delightful aromas and tastes tempting me from some of my other favorite destinations may cloud my observation. In jonesing for a bite of fish taco, I’ll probably drive right on past the history that lies hidden on Oak Street, nestled in right among the every day businesses that get our attention.

Mil Amores, 500 US-377 suite B, Roanoke, TX

682-237-7077

https://milamoresrestaurant.com/

Inzo Italian Kitchen, 101 S Oak St, Roanoke, TX

(817) 890-4280

https://inzoitalian.com/

Hey Sugar Candy Store, 111 S. Oak Street, Roanoke, TX

682-831-9900

https://www.heysugarcandy.com/

Oak Street Pie Company, 110 N Oak St, Roanoke, TX

(817) 490-0994

https://www.facebook.com/oakstpies/

Trisha Faye’s passion is writing about people and places of the past. You can find her at trishafaye.com

James Rowe '23, Lilly Blair '22, Cyrus Pace '23 and Selam Mekonnen '23 all qualified for the finals of the National Collegiate Sports Analytics Championship, and Rowe, Pace and Mekonnen earned a second-place finish in the Game Analytics Division.

By Roanoke College News

A team of three Roanoke College seniors bested clever minds from around the country to earn second place in the Game Analytics Division of the AXS National Collegiate Sports Analytics Championship in early February.

James Rowe ’23, a sport management major from Charlotte, North Carolina; Selam Mekonnen ’23, a data science major with minors in sports analytics and statistics from Germany; and Cyrus Pace ’23, a sport management major from Roanoke, competed in the contest held Feb. 1-2 and were outperformed only by the team from Syracuse University. The championship was meant to be hosted by the Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, but organizers switched it to a virtual event after a severe winter storm crippled travel in and out of Dallas.

The competition was based on individual work, with team standings compiled by average scores of schools with three or more competitors. Contestants had to analyze a large spreadsheet of play-by-play basketball data; isolate a team, player or type of play; distill the data into a small number of insights; and highlight those in a five-minute presentation. The students were seeded into seven groups, with the top two in each group advancing to the next round. Pace and Mekonnen advanced to the second round, while Rowe was a close third in a highly competitive group.

Lilly Blair ’22, a math, economics and actuarial science major, also qualified for the championship in a semifinal round that took place in November 2022. However, Blair, who is on Roanoke’s women’s lacrosse team, had a lacrosse scheduling conflict that prevented her from participating in the final.

Faculty advisor Roland Minton, a professor in the Department of Math, Computer Science and Physics, said it was a shame the students lost the opportunity to network face-to-face with judges, who often are “in recruiting mode” at the championship, but they all gained valuable experience in sports analytics. Rowe said they did get a chance to meet and chat with some of the judges over Zoom.

Both Rowe and Pace have interned with the Rail Yard Dawgs, a professional ice hockey team based in Roanoke, and Rowe has also worked with the Salem Red Sox. Mekonnen had a data analysis internship with AMDEX Corp. in Maryland.

Although they didn’t get to sample Tex-Mex cuisine in Dallas, Minton treated all four students to dinner at Alejandro’s Mexican Grill as a congratulations for their performance in the competition.

Star Stagecoach Route on Roanoke Road

Sometimes the backroads hide pieces of history, tucked away from the roads more often traveled. The ‘scenic route’ my dad would call it, reminiscent of all the Sunday afternoon drives we had when I was a youngster.

Roanoke Road doesn’t run for too long of a stretch.

Walnut Street in Roanoke, Texas turns into Roanoke Road as you head south, right before you cross 170 into Westlake, and it ends at Mt. Gilead. I hadn’t gone this way too often, preferring the busier and more efficient 377. That is, more efficient on the days you don’t catch the red-light sequence at the wrong time. But recently we had a string of appointments in Keller and decided to go this back route simply to enjoy the beauty of the land and relish the slower pace.

You won’t travel quickly on Roanoke Road, as most of the way the speed limit is 30 mph. There are a few twists and dips up and down. I wouldn’t recommend this road on an icy day. Recently, after traversing this route several times, I discovered something new.

A stagecoach used to travel this route.

From 1854-1859, a weekly stagecoach star route delivered mail. It followed a path from Alton to Birdville and much of this route became Roanoke Road many years later.

Alton and Birdville were the two county seats at that time. They were later replaced by Denton and Fort Worth.

At the beginning of the Civil War there were thirty-one stagecoach lines operating in Texas, delivering passengers and mail. After the Civil War, hundreds of mail contacts for Texas routes were let.

The star routes began in 1845 to reduce mail transportation costs. Congress adopted an Act on March 3, 1845, abandoning its preference for stagecoaches. Future contracts were to be awarded to the lowest bidder for what “may be necessary to provide for the due celerity, certainty and security of such transportation.” These bids became know as “celerity, certainty and security” bids, which postal clerks shortened to ‘three asterisks or stars (***). The bids were soon known as star bids and the routes became known as star routes.

It seems odd that even back that many years ago, government agencies were concerned with cutting costs as much as in today’s world. In 1845, more the two-thirds of the Post Office Departments budget was allocated for transportation. By 1849, the Department cut transportation costs on all routes – horseback, stage, steamboat, and railroad. The budget was trimmed by 17%, even despite the route distances increasing by 20%. The star routes played a huge factor in these savings, cutting per-miles costs from 7.2 cents to 4.5 cents.

One of these Star Routes ran right through this area. Take a drive south on Roanoke Road, to Thornton Drive in Westlake. You can see the historical marker that is the only remnant left of this piece of history from 150 years ago. The drivers in those days weren’t even traveling the 30-mph that seem so slow and pokey to us now.

According to the marker, mules pulled the stagecoaches in this area. The roads were unimproved, so mules were better able to navigate the terrain. And they were safer as they were less desirable to the Indians in the area.

It makes our nice slow peaceful drive of today seem pretty easy and carefree now, doesn’t it?

A common phrase in a kitchen inspired the name of a Roanoke restaurant.

“‘Yes, chef’ is how you always answer your head chef; it’s a term of respect,” said Rodney Dabon, co-owner and CEO of Yeschf Creole Restaurant, located inside the Oak Street Food and Brew food hall at 206 N. Oak St., Ste. 110.

Originally from New Orleans, Louisiana, Dabon worked in the hotel industry on the culinary side as an executive sous chef and executive chef at several area hotels, including the Hilton Fort Worth. When COVID-19 hit in 2020 and hotel business dried up, Dabon started catering and making deliveries with Fort Worth Foodies.

“One of the Foodies administrators told me about the Roanoke food hall. I thought it would be a good spot to start my own place,” Dabon said.

He opened Yeschf in October 2021. A chance meeting last summer would bring Dabon together with co-owner and CFO Clyde Vasquez.

“I met Rodney at Anderson Distillery & Grill just down the street,” Vasquez said. “We got to talking and found out that we not only shared business goals, but we were aligned spiritually as well.”

Yeschf offers a variety of Creole and Cajun dishes, including Louisiana gumbo, crawfish bisque and Creole jambalaya. Po’boy sandwich options include shrimp, oysters and hot sausage. Other uniquely named dishes include Raging Cajun, which is spicy fried chicken with corn maque choux, and Monday’s Chores, which is fried chicken with red beans and jasmine rice.

“The name comes from people needing to cook something that didn’t need tending to while they were out doing their chores,” Dabon said of the latter dish.

For those wanting something sweet to cap off their meal, Yeschf offers lagniappe, a Cajun-French word meaning “a little extra” and often used to describe something good. In this case, that little extra is the restaurant’s beignet bread pudding with TX Bourbon sauce.

Dabon said that restaurants in Texas claim to serve authentic Creole and Cajun cuisine, but the true test comes when someone from Louisiana tastes the food.

“People from Louisiana can be harsh critics,” said Dabon. “They’ll come in to see if we’re just another Texas knock off or if we’re the real deal. They keep coming back for more, so I guess that answers that.”