Life Connected. TO WHOM AND WHAT ARE WE CONNECTED

Special Contribution by Marc Rylander

Just about anyone on any given day can make their way around Celina, Texas, and have an encounter with two words that are quite familiar to people who call this place home. They are found on maps and materials put out by the City. They adorn the Water Tower and City Council Chambers. They are printed on our master plans and reflected in the name of this magazine, Life Connected Adopted as the hometown motto just a few years ago, the words have become a familiar description of the culture that makes Celina so unique; yet their deep meaning and what they represent can sometimes be missed to those who may see them as a casual cliché.

Far more than a catchy slogan or a motto inked by marketing minds, these two words define the core of Celina. They reflect Celina’s past, present, and future. They encapsulate special moments across storied decades that deepened the ties that bind us. They bring to mind those who came before us and, though gone from us now, left a legacy that still impacts who we are and what we are as a community. Life Connected. is really an expression of the soul of this place. To many, it’s emotional. It’s historical. It’s as much about what was as it is about what is and what will be.

As our City faces rapid changes and growth, Life Connected. must be talked about. While every city’s history has imperfections, the stories, people, and moments within this motto must be introduced and reintroduced over and over again if we truly desire to maintain that beautiful uniqueness that has been so richly intertwined with our history and growth. Most importantly, as the stories are told, we must do so with a clear intention to educate all who come here with the living legacy of this town by explaining to whom and to what are we connected as we pass it on.

Our Lives Are Connected To The Celina Before Us

We can never look at the excitement around us today without acknowledging the broad shoulders upon which we stand. Residents today are connected to pioneers who chiseled this community from the wild northern Collin County plains. We stand on the shoulders of Postmaster John Mulkey who borrowed the name Celina from a town in Tennessee and gave us our identity…the shoulders of the family of William Willock, who made the land available for the heart of the town we know today, so that Old Celina could move and the community could thrive from the arrival of the railroad…the shoulders of J. Fred Smith, who in 1907 laid out the Downtown Square that, to this day, is the epicenter of life and trade in the city.

We were shaped and inspired by early civic leaders who embraced the arts and opened an opera house here in 1917. We are connected to business entrepreneurs who, by the 1930’s, operated a dry goods store, seven gas stations, two drug stores, an ice cream factory, two grain elevators, a flour mill, two ice houses, three cotton gins, a lumber yard, a shoe shop, a jewelry store, a blacksmith shop, a bank, and a movie theater.

We build toward the future upon the broad shoulders of passionate educators who built a modern brick school building at the turn of the last century, rebuilt it after a fire, then rebuilt it again after faulty construction. They never stopped building school facilities that would allow generations of educators to prepare our kids to lead and change the world.

We embody the patriotism of war heroes who represented our town in every major military conflict, including the many young men and women who fought and served in WWII. The nearly two dozen of them that never made it home from that war, and more that died in other conflicts. All of their names are etched on the veteran’s monument on the Downtown Square.

And, yes, we stand on the shoulders of some memorable football seasons and victories—moments etched in the history of our hometown that are forever celebrated and cherished. Eight state championships…11 title game appearances…44 state playoff contests…and the impressive record of 68 wins in a row.

When we talk about Life Connected., we must always remember we are first connected to the Celina before us.

Our Lives Are Connected To The Celina Beside Us

While Life Connected. represents and reminds us of a deeply-rooted and rich past, we also stand on the most fertile foundation for the explosive excitement we experience today. Our once-tiny farming community is now a destination for people around Texas.

Our lives are connected today to a Celina beside us that is becoming one of the most attractive places in the United States to people who are eyeballing a location to build a home, a business, and a family. It’s a place where new residents are welcomed, where local businesses are supported, and where values long ago instilled are still cherished.

Our lives are connected today to that historic Downtown Square that now boasts a growing list of some of the finest restaurants and retail places. We have locations where our residents can gather and celebrate one another and our great community. We have parks that offer spaces for kids and adults to play and enjoy the thrill of winning games and learning the lessons that come from losing some. We have historic homes being restored and new neighborhoods being built. We have new infrastructure expanding and aging structures that are being reimagined.

We are connected to an exciting new college community. What began as a vision in the heart of longtime Celina resident Brenda Goodell became a reality when Collin College opened its beautiful 70-plus-acre campus, offering students of all ages a chance to further develop and grow their minds and skills and to study in a library named in memory of her life and vision.

Our lives are connected today to Celina ISD, a school system that values children and places their success in the classroom and beyond as its highest priority. It’s a district that offers buildings, technology, and athletics facilities that rival some colleges.

We are a community and people connected to those values today—values that from our earliest days have been a beacon of hope and light on these plains. Life Connected. welcomes new families, people, and ideas, but it does so without compromising the soul of Celina for the sake of progress. Our values are who we are. They have connected us for over a century and should connect us until the end.

Our Lives Are Connected To The Celina Beyond Us

Residents of Celina can never exclusively focus on our past and our present. No life-giving organism can exist without preparing for and embracing the next breath— for that which is to come. Life Connected. is, therefore, also about the Celina beyond us.

If one has sat down and talked with our City leadership, taken time to look at our master plans for the future, and perused the plans in the hearts of the Economic Development Corporation or Chamber of Commerce, they would be confident that the community is ready for the Celina beyond us. If one has driven out and seen the master-planned communities rising from the ground, measured the impact of this being the first Gigabit City in Texas, noticed the overwhelming success and growth of community events, and seen the respect Celina has in the eyes of our North Texas neighbors, then it is easy to see that we are connected to a Celina beyond us that can hold true to the place we have come from while catapulting to that which we are becoming.

And now, our unique and fabulous story is wrapped up in the City’s motto, Life Connected.

Granny’s Mangiamo Italian Market & Deli

Silos in Celina

Swirls Bakery

PRESTON A1 Locksmith and Browning Safes

3-D Dance

First State Bank

Local Liquor

Kolache Shop

7 Brews

Starbucks

Metro Express Car Wash

Monarch Veterinary Clinic

Legacy Bagels

Swig Restaurant

Sharkey’s

Huddleston Building Restaurant FRONTIER

Daylight Donuts

Which Wich/Paciugo

Allergy & Asthma of Prosper & Celina

Gideon Math and Reading

AT&T Store

Cook Children’s Health

OMG Tacos

Rockstar Martial Arts

Methodist Family Medical

Doe Branch Medical and Professional Offices

McDonald’s

Whataburger

*SOME BUSINESSES LISTED ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE

Driving around the Lone Star State, residents and guests in Texas will certainly notice the iconic silver and black historical markers dotting the landscape along the highways and byways of our 250 counties. Each gives a verified account of a person, place, or event that impacted the storied history of this state or a county near the marker. According to the Collin County Historical Commission, this county has over 200 State Historical Markers and over 50 County Historical Markers. Surprisingly, with such a storied past, Celina is home to only a handful of these historical markers.