🤠 Diamond Rio + a $0 Adoption Day

Hey, y’all!

The North Texas Fair and Rodeo closes out this weekend in Denton, and the last three days look great. Aaron Watson plays Friday night. Diamond Rio plays Saturday. Here is the part that got my attention: one $25 gate ticket covers the fair, the rodeo, the livestock shows and the concert. The only thing you pay extra for is the carnival armband.

Saturday is the day closest to my heart, though. Lewisville Animal Services is waiving every adoption fee to close out Clear the Shelters. Every animal, zero dollars, and it still covers the spay or neuter, the microchip and the shots. There is a fourteen-year-old cat named Ronnie who has been waiting since July 28 while everybody walks past him toward the kittens. I’m really pulling for this guy to get picked up this weekend. Doors open at noon and it is first come, first served, so do not sleep in.

Me and Tess are thinking of getting getting breakfast at Arepas Street in Old Town. Venezuelan, counter service, doors at 8 a.m. We are going for the pabellón arepa: shredded beef, black beans and sweet plantain in one pocket.

Labor Day weekend is still a week out, but summer is already packing up. Water Works is down to weekends only and closes for good on Sept. 7. Parents: get the kids some water time while you can.

- Jason

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North Texas Fairgrounds
2217 N Carroll Blvd, Denton, TX
Friday through Sunday, August 28 to 30, 2026
Gates 5:30 p.m. Friday, 1 p.m. Saturday and Sunday
$25 adults, $5 ages 7 to 12, free ages 6 and under
Get Tickets

Ten days of fair, and it all comes down to these last three. Closing weekend is when the fairgrounds quit feeling like a carnival and start feeling like an event.

Bull Blowout runs Friday and Saturday at 7:30, freestyle bullfighting mixed right into the bull riding. Sunday swaps in Celebracion Del Toro.

Main Stage goes up at 9:30 every night: Aaron Watson (listen on Spotify) on Friday, Diamond Rio (listen on Spotify) on Saturday, and Los Pescadores Del Rio Conchos (listen on Spotify) closes it out Sunday.

Here's the part worth underlining, because most places don't do it this way. Your gate admission covers all of it. The fair, the rodeo, the livestock shows, the concert. One ticket. The only thing you pay extra for is the carnival armband.

Advance sales closed last Friday, so it's $40 at the kiosks now, good 6 to 11. That's rides only. Your gate ticket is separate.

Seniors, military, first responders and teachers knock $5 off at the gate with ID.

Parking's $15, or park free and ride the shuttle from First Baptist or TWU. Shuttle only runs Saturday, though, so plan around it.

Sunday night is the last untll next August. Go while there's still a bull in the chute.

Old Town has a Venezuelan counter now, and it opens at eight in the morning. That makes it one of the most convenient spots in Lewisville. Breakfast, lunch, dinner. Same room, same short wait, no matter when you walk in.

It sits on the Main Street block with the Playhouse and Beasley's, bright and small and counter-service, and parking's free whether you take the lot or the street.

First time in, order the pabellón arepa. Shredded beef, black beans, sweet plantain and cheese, all in one pocket. A reviewer last month said it better than we can: sweet plantains, savory beef, salty black beans, messy but so good.

The cachapa is the other one people come back for, a sweet corn pancake folded over soft cheese. Past that, the tequeños get named constantly, the sopa de mondongo has more review photos than anything else on the menu, and the chicha, a creamy Venezuelan rice drink, keeps showing up as the surprise of the meal.

Two practical notes. Most stuffed arepas run $10 to $14 in house, but the delivery apps mark it up, so order at the counter if you can. And service can drag at peak. That's just the cost of a small kitchen cooking everything to order.

Price: $$
Hours:
Sun-Wed 8 AM - 9 PM
Thu-Sat 8 AM - 10 PM

If you've driven the corner of Cross Timbers and Arrowhead the last twenty years, you know this place as Schmitz Garden Center. It’s the same yard but with a new name since 2023, and it’s run now by Steve and Karen Cammack.

One thing before you go: the entrance is on Cross Timbers Road, not Arrowhead. GPS sends folks to the wrong side.

Here's why we're running them in August instead of April. Their own North Texas garden calendar says: September is the second spring, and October is the month that actually matters.

Plant one thing all year, plant it in October. So right now is when you walk the yard and mark the spot where a shade tree would've saved you this summer. Fall is tree-planting season up here, and everybody forgets until it's 40 degrees out.

They stock for our dirt specifically. Texas natives are the stated specialty, plus Cedar Elm, Chinese Pistache, Texas Red Oak, Nellie R. Stevens holly for screening, Encore azaleas, Knock Out roses, and the soil amendments people ask for by name.

But the staff is the real difference. Aubrey and Ryan both get named in reviews for hunting down specific varieties. One customer walked out with a pickup full of plants you won't find at Home Depot or Lowe's. Another had called around to the tree farms and found everybody else quoting 25 percent higher.

Best of Denton County three years running. Something in your yard dying? Bring a photo or a cutting and get a real answer, not a shrug.

Hours:
Tue-Sat 9 AM - 5 PM
Sun - Mon Closed

4 beds
3.5 baths
3,467 sqft
0.22 acre lot

A) $799,900

B) $875,000

C) $929,900

D) $1,050,000

Movie Pizza Co. is open at 359 Lake Park Rd., Suite 132, Lewisville, TX, in the old Old Hag's Pizza and Pasta spot. The pizzas are named after movie lines: "To Infinity and Beyond," "Just Keep Swimming," "There's No Place Like Home."

Past the gimmick, it's built as a family room. Movies rolling, arcade games, prize machines, pool tables, a full bar for the grown-ups, and a pizza and salad bar buffet from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Hours are 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. (at a minimum but they said they stay open later depending on volume), seven days a week.

The idea comes from Jamie Creevy, former director of operations for Underdogs, Pennywise Pub and Vinifera at the River Walk, with local businessman Trenton Young.

Creevy said the idea started with a question every parent asks: where can we take the kids for a fun, family-friendly dinner? Looks like you have an answer.

Source: crosstimbersgazette.com

Aoki Head Spa and Skin filed with the state on Aug. 11 to build out 2300 Highland Village Road, Highland Village, TX, the space Studio 360 Med Spa & Boutique left back in early 2025. Construction's expected to start in September and wrap in December. No opening date yet.

If you haven't run into the concept, a head spa treats your scalp the way a facial treats your face. Cleansing, massage, treatments aimed at scalp health and hair loss. Aoki pairs the Japanese head spa side with Korean facials, lifts and acne work, and says its methods lean on traditional Korean herbal medicine.

First location opened on the Frisco and McKinney border. Others followed in Plano and Southlake. Highland Village makes four.

Source: crosstimbersgazette.com

After more than four decades in Dallas, the North Texas Irish Festival is packing up for the North Texas Fairgrounds in Denton, TX. The all-volunteer Southwest Celtic Music Association announced it Aug. 6. The first Denton run is Saturday and Sunday, March 13 and 14, 2027.

Figure multiple stages of live Celtic music, Irish step dancing, cultural demos, storytelling, shopping and food. Performers and ticket sales get named in the coming months.

Denton Mayor Chris Watts called it a nod to the city's rep as an arts-and-culture destination. Discover Denton's Kristi Criswell pointed at the obvious upside for hotels and restaurants. And NTIF entertainment director Sheri Bush said Denton's known for embracing music and creativity, which lines up with what the festival's been for forty-plus years.

Source: crosstimbersgazette.com

The Lewisville Police Department Open House runs Thursday, Sept. 3, from 5 to 8:30 p.m. at the Tittle McFadden Public Safety Center, 1187 W. Main Street, Lewisville, TX. Come and go, no ticket.

On the schedule: short building tours, SWAT gear on display, a Drone Team demo, and the K9 unit. Police Chief Brook Rollins gives a welcome address at 5:30 p.m. in the training room.

Worth going just for the building. It's 116,000 square feet: police administration, fire administration, Fire Station #1 and the Office of Emergency Management, plus a hardened emergency operations center and a five-story secure garage. Most of us drive past it every week and have no idea what's inside.

Sources: cityoflewisville.com | facebook.com

Ronnie is fourteen. Not fourteen months. Fourteen years. And he's been sitting at the Gene Carey shelter since July 28, watching folks walk right past him toward the kittens.

Here's what the staff wrote about him, in full: "Ronnie is a sweet boy who gets along with people and pets alike. He doesn't have any prior history with kids, but we suspect that he would do just fine." That's the whole bio. We're not going to invent more personality than the shelter gave him. What we can tell you is what's on the sheet: buff domestic shorthair, 13.2 pounds, neutered, litterbox trained, good with other animals.

A senior cat is a specific kind of good deal, and it's worth saying out loud. He’s done growing, done climbing your curtains and done surprising you. He's vaccinated, microchipped, treated for fleas and already fixed.

Now the timing, and this is the part to act on. Clear the Shelters has adoption fees at $30 through Friday, Aug. 28, and then on Saturday, Aug. 29 every fee is waived entirely. Normal price is $90.

The shelter's closed Sunday, and Monday is appointment only, so your real walk-in windows are Thursday and Friday at $30, or Saturday at zero. First come, first served. If two people want the same animal, they run a drawing.

Gene Carey Animal Shelter and Adoption Center
995 E Valley Ridge Blvd, Lewisville, TX 75057
Tuesday-Friday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Saturday noon to 5 p.m.
(972) 219-3478
Ask for animal ID 61431883

🎬 Cinema Nights: Dog Man - Galaxy Theatres Grandscape, 5740 Grandscape Blvd, The Colony, TX | seating 6:30 p.m., movie 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. | Free | More: thecolonytx.gov
Free, but reserve your seat ahead of time for this one. The Colony Parks and Rec runs a free indoor movie with a Create-a-Comic Challenge, and kids who finish theirs win a prize. Rated PG, and air conditioned.

🎸 Sounds of Summer: Bombshell - Corona Stage & Lawn at Grandscape, 5752 Grandscape Blvd, The Colony, TX | 8 to 10 p.m. | Free | More: grandscape.com
Arena rock tribute out on the big lawn. Bring a blanket or chairs, leave the coolers and outside alcohol at home, park free in the Crest Auto garage. It's 200 yards from the movie, so you can do both.

🐾 Clear the Shelters $30 Day - Gene Carey Animal Shelter, 995 E Valley Ridge Blvd, Lewisville, TX | 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. | $30 per animal | More: cityoflewisville.com
The warm-up to Saturday's free day. Want to actually meet the animals without a crowd? Friday at $30 is the quiet version.

🧸 Sensory Play - The Colony Public Library, 6800 Main St, The Colony, TX | 10:15 to 11:15 a.m. | Free | More: thecolonytx.gov
Come-and-go discovery stations for toddlers and preschoolers, built around the senses and fine motor skills. No registration, so showing up late is no problem.

💦 Old Town Splash Park - 535 W College St, Lewisville, TX | 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. | Free | More: playlewisville.com
Ninety spray features, no standing water. The umbrella pavilion seats 25 and rents for $50 per four-hour block if nobody's claimed it.

💧 Doubletree Ranch Park Splash Pad - 310 Highland Village Rd, Highland Village, TX | 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. | Free | More: highlandvillage.org
Open daily through Labor Day, except Thursdays. Playground, fishing pier, and a covered pavilion for when everybody needs a break from the water.

🏄 The Cove at The Lakefront - 417 Lakefront Dr, Little Elm, TX | 4 to 8 p.m. | $11 ages 2 to 14 and 50+, $14 ages 15 to 49, free under 2 | More: thecoveatthelakefront.com
Friday runs the cheaper weekday rate, and the 4 p.m. open means you can roll straight from school pickup. Indoor and climate controlled, with a lazy river and a FlowRider.

🏖️ Little Elm Beach - Little Elm Park, 701 W Eldorado Pkwy, Little Elm, TX | noon to 10 p.m. | $10 per vehicle | More: lakefrontlittleelm.com
Real sand, ten volleyball courts, one of the largest open swim areas in North Texas. Paid parking runs Fridays through Sundays until Labor Day, and it's per entry, not per day, so a lunch run off-site costs you twice. Pack a cooler. No lifeguard on duty, but they keep courtesy life jackets at the beach.

🌳 LLELA Trails - Lewisville Lake Environmental Learning Area, 201 E Jones St, Lewisville, TX | 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. | $5 per vehicle | More: llela.org
Heads up, the gatehouse is card only now. No cash, no Amex, no tap to pay. Go early, and leave the dog home. No pets anywhere on the property.

🧸 NTX Toy Show - NTX Arena at The Vista, 2401 S Stemmons Fwy, Ste 4000, Lewisville, TX | 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. | $3 advance, $6 at the door, ages 10 and under free with a paid adult | More: visitlewisville.com
More than 150 tables of vintage and modern toys, action figures and diecast, all indoors and air conditioned. Buy ahead, the door price is double. Free parking, and the venue's upstairs.

🥕 Denton Community Market - 317 W Mulberry St, Denton, TX | 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. | Free | More: dentonmarket.org
Producer-only market, local farms and makers and food trucks. Free all-ages yoga runs 9:30 to 10:30 behind the Quaker House. Closes at noon instead of 1 if the forecast tops 100, which up here it might.

🌊 Water Works Park - 2400 Long Rd, Denton, TX | 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. | $19 for 48 inches and up, $14 under 48 inches, $6 non-swimmers | More: dentonwaterworks.com
Weekends only since Aug. 15, and the season ends Sept. 7. You're running out of Saturdays. The $6 non-swimmer rate is handy if one parent is just there to chaperone.

🧘 Tai Chi in the Plaza - Wayne Ferguson Plaza, 150 W Church St, Lewisville, TX | 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. | Free | More: visitlewisville.com
Instructor Lowell Johnson runs the 16-movement form. No registration, no cap, no gear. Works for older kids and grandparents in the same group.

🎨 Meet the Artist: She Found Her Way - Lewisville Grand Theater, 100 N Charles St, Lewisville, TX | 3 to 5 p.m. | Free | More: visitlewisville.com
Mixed-media artist Crys Nelson builds assemblage pieces out of discarded objects, and she'll be there to talk about it. Good stop for a kid who likes making things. Free parking on Main and Church.

🥬 Flower Mound Farmers Market - The River Walk, 4203 River Walk Dr, Flower Mound, TX | 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. | Free | More: riverwalkflowermound.com
Produce, baked goods and handmade crafts every Sunday. The River Walk paths and water features give the kids somewhere to burn energy between booths.

🌊 Water Works Park - 2400 Long Rd, Denton, TX | noon to 7 p.m. | $19 for 48 inches and up, $14 under 48 inches, $6 non-swimmers | More: dentonwaterworks.com
Opens at noon on Sundays. Kids 6 and under, and anyone in a life jacket, need an adult in the water with them.

🐂 Bull Blowout and Aaron Watson - North Texas Fairgrounds, 2217 N Carroll Blvd, Denton, TX | gates 5:30 p.m., rodeo 7:30 p.m., concert 9:30 p.m. | $25, $5 off for seniors, military, first responders and teachers with ID | More: ntfair.com
Bull riding plus freestyle bullfighting, then Aaron Watson the second it ends. One ticket covers both. Rodeo seating's first come first served, so get in the stands early.

🥃 BENDT Distilling tour and tasting - 225 S Charles St, Lewisville, TX | 6 p.m., about 45 minutes | $10 per person, 21+, reservation required | More: bendtdistillingco.com
Walkable from Old Town, and it ends in a guided tasting. The fill-your-own single barrel bottles are all at hazmat proof right now, 146 to 147. That doesn't happen often.

⚽ Premier League: Crystal Palace vs Manchester City - Cosm Dallas, 5776 Grandscape Blvd, The Colony, TX | 2 to 4 p.m. | $11 general admission, reserved from $17 | More: grandscape.com
Eleven bucks is the cheapest way into the 87-foot dome all weekend, and it's a mighty good excuse for a long Friday lunch.

🤡 IT in Shared Reality - Cosm Dallas, 5776 Grandscape Blvd, The Colony, TX | 11:59 p.m. | from $17 dome reserved | More: grandscape.com
Brand new this weekend. Cosm, Warner Bros. and Little Cinema built the first horror experience for the dome, where the sound and the room run right past the edges of the frame. Friday is one midnight showtime only, and it's rated R, so under 17 needs a parent along. Saturday adds 2 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. if midnight is a bridge too far.

🤘 Strawberry Hospital, GulfWarGameboy, Safe Word, Keyring, Emogen33 - Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studios, 411 E Sycamore St, Denton, TX | doors 7 p.m., show 8 to 11:30 p.m. | $10, 18+ | More: rubberglovesdenton.com
Five bands for ten bucks, set times posted ahead of time. Rubber Gloves is where the Denton scene landed after Andy's closed.

🎨 Three free galleries at the Grand - Lewisville Grand Theater, 100 N Charles St, Lewisville, TX | 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. | Free | More: visitlewisville.com
Fresh Ideas 2026, Tears to Glory and She Found Her Way, all hanging at once, all free, all in one building. Stacks neat with dinner in Old Town.

🐂 Bull Blowout and Diamond Rio - North Texas Fairgrounds, 2217 N Carroll Blvd, Denton, TX | gates 1 p.m., rodeo 7:30 p.m., concert 9:30 p.m. | $25, $5 off with senior, military, first responder or teacher ID | More: ntfair.com
Final night of the Bull Blowout, and Diamond Rio is the closest thing to a legacy act on this year's stage. Free shuttle from First Baptist and TWU runs 1 p.m. to 1 a.m., Saturday only.

🥃 BENDT Distilling Saturday tours - 225 S Charles St, Lewisville, TX | 1 and 3 p.m. | $10 per person, 21+, reservation required | More: bendtdistillingco.com
Two slots, both daytime, which pairs well with lunch in Old Town on either end. The bottle and gift shop's open noon to 5.

⚾ MLB: Red Sox at Yankees in Shared Reality - Cosm Dallas, 5776 Grandscape Blvd, The Colony, TX | Starts at 6 p.m. | $17 general admission, hall reserved from $22, dome reserved from $33 | More: grandscape.com
Yankees and Red Sox, both chasing a wild card, and the dome drops you inside the bowl. Full food and cocktail service right at your seat.

🎸 My Veronica, Palefire, Smothered, Audiobaton - Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studios, 411 E Sycamore St, Denton, TX | doors 5 p.m., show 7 to 11 p.m. | $15, all ages | More: rubberglovesdenton.com
Four bands out on the patio. Early doors at 5 means you eat first and still catch the whole bill.

🎨 Three free galleries at the Grand - Lewisville Grand Theater, 100 N Charles St, Lewisville, TX | 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. | Free | More: visitlewisville.com
Saturday's the last day of the week the Administrative Hallway Gallery is open. It runs Tuesday through Saturday, then it's dark.

🎻 Possessed by Paul James - Dan's SilverLeaf, 103 Industrial St, Denton, TX | doors 2 p.m., show 3 p.m. | $12 advance, $15 day of show, 21+, unless accompanied by a parent | More: danssilverleaf.com
A Sunday matinee at Dan's. That almost never happens. One-man-band gospel-punk-fiddle, and twelve bucks is a steal for that room. There's a $75 reserved table for four that includes admission, but it's not sold at the door.

🐂 Celebracion Del Toro and Los Pescadores Del Rio Conchos - North Texas Fairgrounds, 2217 N Carroll Blvd, Denton, TX | gates 1 p.m., rodeo 7:30 p.m., concert 9:30 p.m. | $25, $5 off with ID | More: ntfair.com
Closing night. Ultimate Bullfighters runs a bull games format, different from standard bull riding, and the main stage closes out in Spanish.

🎸 homewrecker album release, with Oresteia, As The Grass Withers the Flower Fades, Ballista - Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studios, 411 E Sycamore St, Denton, TX | doors 6:30 p.m., show 8 to 10:30 p.m. | $15, 18+ | More: rubberglovesdenton.com
Record release out on the patio. A Sunday night album release is about as Denton as it gets.

🎨 Meet the Artist reception: She Found Her Way - Lewisville Grand Theater, 100 N Charles St, Lewisville, TX | 3 to 5 p.m. | Free | More: visitlewisville.com
Crys Nelson works in mixed media, painting, print and assemblage built from discarded objects. The gallery's normally closed Sundays, so this is the only Sunday window all month.

One day a year the number on the kennel card goes to zero, and that day is this Saturday. Lewisville Animal Services is waiving every adoption fee, every available animal, to close out NBCUniversal's Clear the Shelters campaign.

Normal fee is $90, and this isn't a stripped-down deal either. It still covers sterilization, microchip, viral and rabies vaccines, heartworm testing where it applies, a year of city registration for Lewisville residents, and a gift bag on the way out.

Doors are at noon on Saturdays, and it's first come first served, and if two people want the same animal at open, staff run a drawing.

Bring a government ID, be 18 or older, and if you rent, get your landlord's approval sorted before you show up.

You don't have to live in Lewisville to adopt.

Go look at Ronnie first. We’re pulling for this senior cat to find his final home.