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A POPULAR AND LOUD CELEBRATION IS BACK WITH A BANG IN GRAND PRAIRIE.
THE TRADITIONAL FIREWORKS AT ASIA TIMES SQUARE OFFICIALLY USHER IN THE LUNAR NEW YEAR AND THE ARRIVAL OF THE YEAR OF THE SNAKE SNAKE IS VERY SYMBOLIC IN THAT IT REPRESENT A YEAR OF REBIRTH, A YEAR OF TRANSFORMATION.
SO WE AS THE SNAKE GROW AND SHED THE SKIN, WE TOO MUST LET GO OF WHAT WAS THE PAST AND THEN MAKE WAYS FOR A NEW BEGINNING, A MUCH BRIGHTER BEGINNING.
THAT NEW BEGINNING FOR THE NEW YEAR IN GRAND PRAIRIE ALSO BRINGS SPECTACULAR DRAGON AND LION DANCES AND MANY OTHER COLORFUL TRADITIONS THAT ARE PART OF THE ANNUAL CELEBRATIONS SHARED BY BILLIONS OF PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD, DETERMINED BY PHASES OF THE MOON AND THE CHINESE CALENDAR.
THE LUNAR NEW YEAR CELEBRATION CALLS FOR A MULTI-DAY FESTIVAL THAT WAS SPREAD OVER THREE WEEKS AT ASIA TIMES SQUARE.
LEADING UP TO THE VERY MEMORABLE FINALE ON THE FIRST WEEKEND OF FEBRUARY, EACH AND EVERY YEAR SEEMS TO GET BIGGER AND BETTER, AND THAT IS THROUGH UNITY.
AND AS WE REPLACE IGNORANT WITH ACCEPTANCE, WE CAN ALL JOIN TOGETHER, CELEBRATE TOGETHER.
AND LUNA NEW YEAR IS THE BIGGEST ASIAN HOLIDAY.
LOWE SAYS THAT THE SUPPORT FROM THE CITY AND THE COMMUNITY HAS MADE GRAND PRAIRIE'S LUNAR NEW YEAR CELEBRATION, ONE OF THE BIGGEST AND MOST POPULAR IN NORTH TEXAS.
A SURPRISINGLY PLEASANT LATE JANUARY SATURDAY MORNING BROUGHT MORE THAN THREE DOZEN VOLUNTEERS TO FISH CREEK LINEAR PARK, WHERE THEY DESCENDED INTO THE WOODS FOR THE FIRST MASSIVE KEEP GRAND PRAIRIE BEAUTIFUL CLEANUP INITIATIVE OF 2025.
IT'S KGP B'S SEVENTH ANNUAL FISH CREEK CLEANUP CHALLENGE.
AN INVITATION FOR VOLUNTEER GROUPS, INDIVIDUALS AND FAMILIES TO SPEND A MORNING GRABBING, GATHERING, FISHING OUT AND HAULING OFF HUNDREDS OF POUNDS OF TRASH, LITTER, AND UGLY DEBRIS THAT CONTINUES TO MAKE ITS WAY INTO THE WOODS CREEK BEDS AND WATERS ALONG THE PARK.
WERE YOU SURPRISED WHEN YOU GOT DOWN THERE AND TO SEE HOW MUCH TRASH THERE IS? YES, IT'S A LOT MORE THAN I REMEMBER.
IT'S ON ALL THE TREES WHERE IT'S HARD TO GET, SO HOLD ON.
WE TRY TO DO AS MUCH AS WE COULD.
WE JUST NEED A MINUTE TO TRY TO FREE IT UP AND THEN YOU GUYS CAN GO CRAZY GETTING IT.
WE WERE VERY APPRECIATIVE OF ALL THE BOY SCOUTS AND, AND YOUNG TROOPS OUT HERE LEARNING ABOUT THE QUALITY OF KEEPING OUR ENVIRONMENT CLEAN.
SO GLAD THE RESIDENTS FROM ALL OVER THE CITIES ARE COMING OUT AND JOINING US.
IT MAKES ME FEEL SO GOOD THAT, THAT THERE'S SO MANY PEOPLE THAT ARE JUST AS PASSIONATE AS I AM ABOUT MAKING SURE OUR ENVIRONMENT IS CLEAN.
WE HAVE LOTS OF PEOPLE OUT HERE TODAY THAT HAVE DROPPED WHAT THEY'RE DOING AND WE EVEN HAD ONE GENTLEMAN WHO WAS JOGGING BY EARLY THIS MORNING BEFORE WE GOT STARTED AND SAID HE'D COME BACK AND HE ACTUALLY DID COME BACK.
I SAW THE BOOTH SET UP OVER THERE AS I WAS RUNNING, SO I INQUIRED AND THEY TOLD ME THAT GUYS ARE DOING A CLEANUP.
I SAID, WELL, IN CASE I'LL JUST BE RIGHT BACK.
ANOTHER WHO CAME BACK SAID HE USED TO RIDE HIS BIKE AND WALK THE TRAILS AT THE PARK WHEN HE LIVED WITH HIS PARENTS NEARBY AND VOLUNTEERED TO RETURN BECAUSE HE WANTED TO BECOME PART OF THE SOLUTION TO WHAT HE SEES AS A VERY UNSIGHTLY PROBLEM.
BREAKS MY HEART, IT'S TERRIBLE.
SO I'M DEFINITELY GLAD THAT, YOU KNOW, I'M HANDS ON, YOU KNOW, DOING MY PART TO, YOU KNOW, MAKE IT BETTER.
I WANT IT TO LOOK NICE AND YOU KNOW, AS I'M WALKING BY, I NOTICED ALL THE TRASH AND BEFORE I NEVER LIKE ACTUALLY TOOK THE TIME TO ACTUALLY, YOU KNOW, GO ABOUT IT AND YOU KNOW, DO SOME CLEANING UP.
SO IT'S NICE TO, YOU KNOW, GIVE BACK TO THIS TRAILER AND CREEK THAT'S GIVEN SO MUCH TO ME.
BASICALLY, I JUST WISH PEOPLE WOULD THROW THEIR OWN THE TRASH IN THE TRASH CANS INSTEAD OF JUST THROWING IT ON THE GROUND OR THROWING IT IN THE RIVER.
I MEAN, THE TREES ARE ALL TWISTED UP WITH BAGS AND IT'S JUST, I LOVE NATURE AND IT JUST MAKES ME KIND OF SAD THAT, YOU KNOW, PEOPLE DON'T JUST THROW IT IN THE TRASH CAN.
WE SEE IT EVERY DAY AND WE COULD WALK BY IT, BUT TAKING THE FIRST STEP AND TAKING THAT INITIATIVE OURSELVES MAKES A BIG DIFFERENCE.
IT HAS TO START WITH OURSELVES IN OUR TEACHING, OUR CHILDREN, TEACHING PEOPLE THAT GIVING BACK IN THIS MANNER HELPS US, HELPS THE ENVIRONMENT AND THE QUALITY OF LIFE HERE IN GRAND PRAIRIE, THIS YEAR'S KEEP GRAND PRAIRIE BEAUTIFUL VOLUNTEER EFFORT WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR REMOVING 1,360 POUNDS OF TRASH FROM THE PARK.
YOU STILL HAVE TIME TO GET YOUR FREE COPY OF THE 2025 GRAND PRAIRIE CITY CALENDAR.
THE POPULAR PUBLICATIONS SPOTLIGHTS THE TOWN OF LOCAL AND REGIONAL PHOTOGRAPHERS.
THE 2025 CALENDARS ARE AVAILABLE WHILE SUPPLIES LAST AT CITY HALL.