Bluebonnet Trails 2021

Bluebonnet Trails M A G A Z I N E

2021

Festivals | Food | Music | Entertainment | Shopping | Fun!

Bluebonnet Trails Festival April 16-18 Presented by Ennis Garden Club EVEN T

Friday, April 16

S C H E D U L E

Saturday, April 17

Sunday, April 18

10am-9pm Arts & Crafts

8am - 12 pm: Ennis Bluebonnet Market

10am - 6pm: Arts & Crafts

Starts 7pm: Le Freak

10am - 9pm: Arts & Crafts

Starts 4pm: Spazmatics

Starts 7pm: Infinite Journey

* Times subject to change.

@VisitEnnisTexas Visit Ennis, Texas Ennis Bluebonnet Trails Festival Ennis, Tx: A Main Street City Downtown Ennis Bluebonnet Market EnnisMainStreet EnnisBluebonnet VisitEnnisTexas

www.visitennis.org www.bluebonnettrail.org #EnnisBluebonnets21

COMPLETE SCHEDULE OF FESTIVAL EVENTS, ENTERTAINMENT LINE-UP & INFO IS AVAILABLE AT bluebonnettrail.org

ADMISSION IS $5 FOR ADULTS MUST PURCHASE AT THE GATE. NO PRE-SALES. CHILDREN AGES 12 & UNDER ARE FREE

Your 2021 Official Bluebonnet Trails Magazine is possible thanks to the advertisers in this edition. We encourage you to patronize them throughout your visit to Ennis and the Bluebonnet Trails. This magazine is a publication of The Ennis News, working in conjunction with the City of Ennis, Ennis Garden Club and Ennis Chamber of Commerce. Copyright 2021. All rights reserved.

Bluebonnet Trails is published once a year and distributed throughout Ennis. To advertise or if you have any story ideas, call 972-875-3801 or email nikki@ennisdailynews.com Cover photo courtesy of Gretchen Day 2021 BLUEBONNET TRAILS

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A Special Welcome from Ennis, the bluebonnet spirit of Texas

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elcome to Ennis, where the bluebonnets bloom in April but the bluebonnet spirit pervades in us all year long. Ennis, designated the “Official Bluebonnet City” and the “Official Bluebonnet Trail” of Texas, is home to 40 miles of mapped Ennis Bluebonnet Trails sponsored by the Ennis Garden Club.

We missed seeing everyone enjoy the beautiful wildflowers last year and are beyond thrilled to provide visitors and locals with a bit of normalcy through the beauty of nature and the fun and an outdoor festival. This has been a very different year for everyone and we are so blessed to bring back the Ennis Bluebonnet Trails Festival with a bang on the newly redesigned Dallas St. The festival takes place on April 16th-18th and is three full days of live music, food, kids’ activities, beer and wine garden, shopping and more. We have three incredible headliners this year that will have guests dancing all weekend long! Get wild Friday evening with Le Freak, the World’s Greatest Disco band.

On Saturday sing along to “Faithfully”, and “Don’t Stop Believing” with Infinite Journey, an internationally known Journey cover band. The Spazmatics will bring their highenergy 80’s dance party on Sunday to close out the event.

“Take On Me”, “Wake Me Up”, and “Come on Eileen” will have guests busting out their best 80s dance moves.

During your stay, make sure to visit Ennis’ historic downtown where you will find wonderful shopping and dining. You can also get a first look at our brand new Dallas St. which we are transforming into a beautiful tree lined boulevard. Make sure to stop by the Bluebonnet Spirit Shop located at 204 W. Knox St. to shop all sorts of Ennis gear including hats, water bottles, bags, coffee mugs and the official Bluebonnet Festival shirt. You can also enjoy the Bluebonnet Market featuring fresh produce, baked goods, hand spun pottery, jewelry, clothing and more. This unique shopping experience is a local favorite! Located on N. Dallas St, the market is open every Saturday from 8am-noon April through October. During festival weekend, the Bluebonnet Market will be located on S. Dallas St. There are also numerous attractions in Ennis either for this

visit or the next time you join us. Watch your favorite movie under the stars at the popular 7 screen drive-in theatre, the Galaxy Drive-in Theatre. Catch a live play at the Ennis Public Theatre or at Theatre Rocks. Check out an action packed drag car race at the Texas Motorplex or enjoy watching a race at the Big O Speedway, an oval dirt track. If you are traveling with your furry friend, stop by the new Puppy Patch dog park and dog wash located at 302 N. Dallas St. Mark your calendars for our next festival, The National Polka Festival. This unique family festival is fun for all ages with plenty of dancing, authentic Czech food, shopping and more. Trust us, you have never experienced polka like this before!

Another upcoming festival includes Blues on Main on June 12th-13 featuring live music and a Sunday brunch.

Celebrate freedom at Ennis Freedom Fest with a charming Red, White and Bike Parade and HUGE firework display on June 26th. In October, enjoy the downtown haymaze all month long and Autumn Daze on October 30th. Then kick off the holiday season with the annual Christmas Parade of Lights and block party on December 2nd.

Don’t forget to download our free mobile app, Ennis Y’all, where you will have access to an interactive bluebonnet trail map with points of interest including a herd of longhorns and Sugar Ridge Winery, two must-stop places along the trail! You can also find places to eat and shop around town and can check out upcoming festivals. Use the app while you are in Ennis and to plan your next trip back.

Please stop by the NEW Ennis Welcome Center to say hello, be greeted with a “Hi Y’all” and get more information about the trails or your visit to Ennis. We are located at 201 NW Main and can be reached at 972-8784748. Visit us at www.visitennis.org.

Welcome to Ennis Y’all!

Ashley Colunga City of Ennis Marketing and Communications Director

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Ennis Welcome Center is Bluebonnet Central

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nnis Welcome Center is Bluebonnet Central - 201 NW Main St. You can pick up information and the bluebonnet trails map all April, download it from the mobile app Ennis Y’all or find it online at www.bluebonnettrail.org.

Ennis Welcome Center hours in April only are Monday - Saturday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Closed Easter Sunday, April 4. www.visitennis.org for visitor information.

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Ennis Garden Club presents

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A P R I L 1 6 -1 8 | 2 0 2 1 he Ennis Garden Club will host its annual Bluebonnet Trails Festival in downtown Ennis, at 100 N. Dallas St. April 16-18, 2021. You can enjoy three days of arts and crafts, obtain bluebonnet souvenirs, involve the children in activities for them, enjoy exciting live music, and take in scenic country rides featuring all of the beautiful bluebonnets along the designated trails. A map will help guide you.

10a.m.-9 p.m.- Friday, April 16 | 10a.m.-9 p.m.-Saturday, April 17 | 10 a.m.- 6 p.m.-Sunday, April 18 For more information, contact the Ennis Welcome Center at 972-878-4748. Or, check out the Ennis Bluebonnet Trails Festival on Facebook or visitennis.org or bluebonnettrail.org

2021 SPONSORS

Ennis State Bank | Ennis Steel Industries | Buc-ee’s | Ennis Garden Club FBM Property Management | Epicenter Productions | Ennis Main Street Ennis Economic Development | First State Bank | Ennis Arts Commission 2021 BLUEBONNET TRAILS

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Welcoming the world back to life, back to spring and to the Bluebonnet Trails

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very year about this time we look forward to returning outside into the warm sunshine after Winter’s dark days. This year even more so because we are also looking forward to getting outside and celebrating after our long year of Covid quarantine.

Everyone has been touched in some way by Covid. We hope all our Ennis friends and family will rebound from the pandemic just as the earth rebounds from Winter, the cold and seasonal darkness.

The great poet Oscar Wild wrote “A flower blossoms for its own joy” I don’t know anyone who isn’t ready to get outside and see those flowers blossoming full of joy. We are all joyous to see an end to a year of unprecedented chaos. We have been unable to walk into our Schools and Churches; the places that provide safety and sanctuary. Through tears, we’ve seen countless businesses close because of the pandemic. We’ve witnessed political turmoil like has not been seen before in our lifetimes and that will be forever noted in American history books.

After all this, the wildflowers return to remind us that life can get back to normal. We can return once more to a peaceful prosperous society. We can shake hands, give hugs and watch the wildflowers bring color back into our world.

The Ennis Garden Club welcomes everyone back to the Bluebonnet Trails & Festival. We had to take a year off, but we have planned a fabulous time for everyone to make up for it. The trees will be budding. The butterflies will be dancing in the air. Step outside, pause and take a deep breath. It feels so good to be outside! Garden Club members all participate to bring our friends and neighbors together in welcoming back Spring and the bluebonnets. The dedicated staff at Ennis Main Street will present a festival that will welcome us all back outdoors to downtown Ennis where we will see so many in the community that we’ve missed seeing.

I joined the Garden Club in 2015. Everyone in Ennis has been so nice to me from the time I arrived here in 2008. My husband and I both enjoy the community we have found here. I treasure the time that I got to spend in studio at Interior Ideas with LaJuan Schlegel, painting and listening to her stories. LaJuan introduced me to the Garden Club. The Garden Club is a service 10

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Dianne Frossard Born: Hammond, Indiana High School: Buchanan High School - Buchanan, Michigan College: Amber University - MS Business Administration Family: Husband - Johnny “Tex” & Dachshunds, Chloe & Ruby Painting above by Dianne: Bluebonnet Blues

organization. We engage in programs that benefit this community. One of our most treasured programs is Senior Living and Nursing Home therapy. The ladies of the Garden Club help residents of the local senior communities make flower arrangements that they can keep to brighten up their lives & living spaces.

When you are at the festival, we hope you will stop by our both staffed by the ladies of the Garden Club. We’d love to see you! There will be fabulous souvenirs for sale and we will be able to point you to where you can pick up your free Bluebonnet Trails Map. The chairman of the Bluebonnet Trails Festival is our own Sandy Anderson and she works diligently to promote our city. She knows where the best blooms are and will make sure you know how to find them.

There are also Texas Master Naturalists who are members of the Ennis Garden Club. Together our two groups maintain and promote the Kachina (kah-CHEE-nah) Prairie. The Kachina Prairie, located on Baldridge Street, in Ennis, is a 30-acre patch of native Blackland Prairie. The Texas Land

cont’d from page 10 Conservancy acts to protect our prairie as a wildlife habitat, native plant community and scenic landscape for all Texans now and for generations to come. We welcome you to come outside and enjoy a walk on the prairie trails.

Irish Poet Nikita Gill writes “I hope you are blessed with a heart like a wildflower. Strong enough to rise again after being trampled upon, tough enough to weather the worst of the summer storms, and able to grow and flourish

even in the most broken places.” It’s been a tough year, but we will rebound like the wildflowers always do. You can’t trample us Covid. We won’t let you crush us winter cold & snow. We will blossom. Ennis will grow and flourish. We are Ennis strong and our community has come together and we will succeed.

We welcome you all to the 2021 Bluebonnet Trails Festival!

Dianne Frossard, Ennis Garden Club President

ENNIS GARDEN CLUB OFFICERS

RECENT EGC PRESIDENTS

Dianne Frossard President/Treasurer Frances Arkusinki 1st VP/Programs Chair Carol Blaha 2nd VP/Membership Chair Morgan Ruffin 3rd VP/Yearbook Chair Irene Dugger Recording Secretary Tish Bouska Corresponding Secretary Pat Warren Parliamentarian

Dianne Frossard, 2019- 2021 Julie Hejny, 2015- 2019 Anne Anderson, 2013-2015 Nancy Swindell, 2009-2013 Laurie Hicks, 2007-2009 Celia Yowell, 2003-2005 The club began in 1946.

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Downtown Ennis Bluebonnet Market joins the Bluebonnet Trails Festival on Saturday, April 17.

Come check out our vendors!

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Ennis Garden Club reaps what they sow

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nvesting in today to build promise for tomorrow, the Ennis Garden Club is a committed steward of the bluebonnet, the state flower of Texas.

To widen the blooming swath that flourishes in the area, members of the EGC distribute bluebonnet seeds annually at the Veterans Memorial Park. The EGC strives to promote the conservation of the bluebonnet for this area.

They are eager to bring awareness of the bluebonnet to the general public.

This year, they are educating visitors about the special relationship between the bee and the bluebonnet. With the average spring temperatures in March and the unique shape and color of the bluebonnet blooms, they are ideal

conditions for the bees to gather nectar. Bees are the number one pollinator of the bluebonnet. Bluebonnets do not self-pollinate. The buebonnet species relies on the bees to survive for the next generation.

Cultivating a land that produces the perennial bonnets assures more for the coming season. It reverses the lesson of Aesop’s Fable; killing the goose that laid the golden eggs. The short-sighted action destroyed the profitability of an asset.

The actions of the EGC reflect another idiom – you reap what you sow, only their behavior is for the benefit of others. Stocking the soil with the seeds of the Lupinus texensis results in the world’s top natural wildflower show.

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Fun Facts about Ennis Bluebonnet Trails • Ennis Bluebonnet Festival is #16 of the 30 Gorgeous Travel Locations: Most Pinned Places on Earth on Mashable.com. How fun! See link on www.visitennis.org on the bluebonnet trails page.

• Celebrities visit us each year and TV shows are filmed here. Morgan Fairchild has made several visits to the Ennis Bluebonnet Trails and is always a delight!! Little Women Dallas, a Lifetime Show, was filmed here. Norman Reedus from Walking Dead Fame, filmed part of his show, Ride with Norman Reedus, here in 2018. Ennis bluebonnets are featured in Flight of the Butterflies, a wonderful IMAX movie. Ennis was the only area in 2011 that had flowers across the state so they filmed here.

• Ennis Bluebonnet Trails attracts professional photographers from all over the United States.

• The trails are mostly driving trails but we do have designated areas for photos and areas you can get out and walk. We suggest contacting the Ennis Welcome Center for

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information and to see the map for points of interest.

• Ennis Bluebonnet Trails have many animals to view on the drive. Donkeys, horses, sheep, goats, etc... and they are part of the attraction, too - but please do not pet the animals on the trails.

• Speaking of animals - Cows will not eat the bluebonnet plants.

• Ennis Bluebonnet Trails attract national and international visitors. Texas Wildflowers are popular!! The month of April is the busiest tourism month for Ennis as visitors come in all month to see the wildflowers and is great for the economy.

• There are many other flowers on the trail, too such as verbena, Texas Yellow Start, Indian Paintbrush, etc.

• The Ennis area bluebonnets are the Texas Bluebonnet, Lupinus Texensis, and are natural to Ellis County. There are Ennis parks that are seeded by the Ennis Garden Club, City of Ennis and Keep Ennis Beautiful.

cont’d from page 14 • The Ennis Welcome Center is open 7 days a week in April for bluebonnet season, except Easter Sunday, April 4.

Trail maps are distributed from the Ennis Welcome Center each day.

• Visitor info for Ennis is available at www.visitennis.org and at www.bluebonnettrail.org for Ennis Bluebonnet Trails Festival. Follow Visit Ennis, Texas on Facebook, instagram and twitter and follow Ennis Bluebonnet Trails Festival on facebook. The Ennis Welcome Center can be reached at 972-878-4748 and is located at 201 N.W. Main St. #EnnisBluebonnets21 on instagram • Ennis developed a city app, Ennis Y’all, that lists attractions, the bluebonnet map, dining, and lodging, etc.

• Ennis, the bluebonnet spirit of Texas is the city’s brand.

• An interesting coincidence is that the bluebonnets almost always reach their full glory on the Ennis Bluebonnet Trails on or about April 21st. This is San Jacinto Day, the day when Texas, in 1836, won its independence from Mexico at the Battle of San Jacinto.

• Even though it is not illegal to pick the bluebonnets, you are encouraged not to pick the wildflowers but to let them remain to reseed in the future years.

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Ennis Bluebonnet Market Find it fresh off the vine!

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eason No. 8 of fresh-picked produce begins seven months of Saturdays at the Bluebonnet Market.

Planted on North Dallas Street in the heart of Ennis, the market continues its deserving theme: handpicked, handmade and hometown style.

Like it was back in 2014, the farmers market remains true to charging vendors nothing to display and sale their food and wares. In fact, the only cost required is a $50 health permit fee for food vendors.

Area residents and out-of-towners shop from 8 a.m. until noon beginning April 3 through October. Former Mayor Russell Thomas sometimes visits early for his fill of fresh vegetables to cook in a stew or soup or for a weekend salad. Some families have utilized a visit to the market as an occasional activity to select items they will use to prepare a meal.

A’Lara Smith, the market director, expects 30 or more vendors this year, including a number with at least three straight years on the market front lines, like Oak Grove Organic Farms, Circle M Farm, Irene’s Kitchen, Ken’s Peppers

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& Stuff, Herb Baumgartner’s Pottery, St. Emma’s Farm, Big Rock Winery, David’s Paleo Kitchen, and Big & Rich BBQ. Some of this years’ new booths are from Telico Farms (Ennis), with a variety of organic mushrooms including shitake, maitake, and lions’ mane. Kiddie Kreations (Fort Worth), a variety of baked goods. Mama-Ella’s Popcorn Kitchen (Lancaster), who serve a variety of flavored popcorn, cobblers and bread. Dalisay Clay (Garland) has handmade clay jewelry. Dinah’s Door Décor (Palmer), offering a variety of handmade home décor and accessories. Love Penelope Grace (Ferris) with handmade accessories and home décor.

Pizza Rosa (Ennis), making and dishing up pizza.

Returning again will be Make-It-at-the-Market. Kids of all ages are invited to come and make crafts each week.

With the gorgeously redesigned streetscape, the setting and family feel at the market brings our wonderful vendors and guests back each week. Admission and parking is free.

Be sure to follow the Downtown Ennis Bluebonnet Market on Facebook for the most current updates.

Get your official Bluebonnet Trails T-shirt ...and lots of other Ennis gear at the all new Bluebonnet Spirit Shop located at 204 W. Knox St. during April and at the Ennis Garden Club Headquarters Tent, April 16-18.

https://bluebonnetspiritshop.com/-shop

Monitor onitor Bluebonnets Online Are you a bluebonnet lover?

There are places online that will tell you where the blooming is underway in Texas! Check out www.wildflowerhaven.com or Texas Wildflower Report on Facebook for the latest information to track the bluebonnets in Texas! The official Ennis Bluebonnet Trails Festival Facebook page has up-to-date information for vendors and visitors alike. Also check out the Ennis Bluebonnet Trails website at bluebonnettrail.org.

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ANNUAL ENNIS BLUEBONNET TRAILS “The history” Sponsored by Ennis Garden Club, Federated in 1947

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arly in 1939, a trail was marked by Louis Clarke along a path at Country Club Lake, where he had roads cut and signs made.

The far-sighted gentleman was to live to see his dream brought into full realization through the Ennis Garden Club.

The first trails committee was appointed by Mrs. Ernie Roller, club president in 1951. Mrs. C.A. McMurray was the trails chairman. Our Bluebonnet Trails from that day forward to today include three routes that have a combined distance of 45 miles. All of the bluebonnets and wildflowers in this area are natural and were never seeded.

The variety of bluebonnet in our area is “Lupinus Texensis” and our bluebonnets are in full bloom closes to San Jacinto Day, April 21. Our Bluebonnet Trails Festival is always scheduled the third weekend in April – except if Easter falls on the third weekend, then it’s the second weekend.

Approximately 1,000 nature enthusiasts traveled the bluebonnet trail on the first day.

Some 400 cars were registered at the information booth.

The maps and information were free to our visitors then as they are today.

The original trail at Country Club Lake was set aside in 1985 as a protectorate of the Natural Area Preservation Association known as Kachina Prairie. This 30 acres of blackland prairie is part of approximately 1,000 acres remaining in the United States. There are some 280 named species of grasses, wildflowers and trees in Kachina Prairie, which is an ongoing project for the Ennis Garden Club.

As far back as I can remember, the Ennis Garden Club Trail Headquarters were originally set up on Ennis Avenue on the front lawn of the Ennis Public Library. We would

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- Sandy Anderson

Chairman of the Ennis Bluebonnet Trails Project

have our free maps and directions, our homemade sandwiches, fresh baked cookies, and cold drinks for sale, along with our souvenirs of homemade aprons and bonnets, postcards, hand-painted t-shirts, coffee mugs, and stationery. The Ennis Art Club was invited to set up with us to display and sell their original art work and paintings. The Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts might be on hand to assist with handing out maps and giving directions.

In 1990, we met with the Ennis City Commission to move our festival headquarters to Pierce Park on Main Street. We were getting bigger and needed more space.

For several months before our festival, we would be making our souvenirs and a couple of weeks prior to the big weekend we would be out nailing up cardboard signs on all the telephone poles on our trail route to help guide our visitors along with the map to view the bluebonnets.

Our publicity chairman would send out festival packets full of information to our local and surrounding newspapers, including Dallas and Fort Worth, and magazines such as Texas Highways and Southern Living, hoping for mention of our festival for free, as we are an easy day trip from Dallas and Fort Worth.

Today, our trails have grown over the past 20 years to some 100,000-plus visitors, who come to Ennis the month of April, including 20,000 on festival weekend. Also, in April, there are 1,000 to 1,200 bicyclists from the Greater Dallas Bicyclists Club that ride our north trail.

The Bluebonnet Trails souvenirs chairman makes sure we have a couple of new shirts on hand, picture postcards of the bluebonnets and wildflowers of our area, tote bags, jewelry, etc. This is one way we bring in money for our

project and our club, and we now have about 70 vendors who set up with us for the three-day festival. Handmade arts and crafts, food, and a children’s area, etc., are part of it. We encourage our shops, restaurants and service clubs to be involved.

The Ellis County Commission Precinct 2 helps us place blue signs and arrows that help direct our visitors.

The signs are up for the month of April, and the club provides a banner that hangs for the entire month of April at Interstate 45 and Ennis Avenue.

We have visited our school children to teach them all about wildflowers and the care of them. We teach our visitors as well on when to plant, when it is safe to mow, and how to care for and enjoy wildflowers and bluebonnets. The Ennis Garden Club takes donations from the festival and places this money in a fund for re-seeding areas in and around Ennis for the years to come. We continue to seed Veterans Memorial Park and Bluebonnet Park to give our visitors a place to view and enjoy the bluebonnets in Ennis. The city of Ennis seeds the Meadow View Nature Area, a large area by the lake. Keep Ennis Beautiful volunteers also seed our local parks.

In 1990, some of us worked hard with the City of Ennis, The Bluebonnet City, to open the Ennis Convention & Visitors Bureau, to be supported with the hotel-motel

tax of Ennis, to advertise outside of Ennis our festivals and our museums, our shops, and our restaurants.

With the bureau came new opportunity. The staff sent out media packets and emails to the newspapers, magazines and local television stations. The staff continues to market and advertise this event and takes the phone calls year round from visitors who are wanting information about our trails and festival.

Now, in 2021, the city of Ennis tourism department is located in the new state-of-the-art Ennis Welcome Center located at 201 NW Main. This beautiful new center will be bluebonnet central for the first time since opening in 2020. Everyone is so excited to welcome thousands of bluebonnet seekers and to show off this beautiful gem in downtown Ennis. The festival has grown too over the years and has added top headliners in entertainment and more and continues to draw big crowds.

The festival is rarely ever cancelled, like it was in 2020, and and we never really know how good the show is going to be until about the middle of March to the middle of April. Visitors never complain, as most know without the fall rains and a good winter we will not have a good year.

But, most come anyway. They love the beautiful countryside. We always let them know so they can cancel, but they hardly ever do. We roll out the red carpet and it is always a great day in Ennis. We have all the souvenirs displayed at the festival and if the bluebonnets are not in the field, they are always on the front of cookbooks, a throw, t-shirts, jackets, and postcards.

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Bands bring nostalgic fun to Bluebonnet Trails Fest

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resh, spring air and family fun are in season during the threedays of the Bluebonnet Festival, April 16-18 in downtown Ennis. In the middle of a wonderful month of the Texas State Flower in full bloom, the Bluebonnet City once again provides a great opportunity to safely enjoy nostalgic fun downtown.

Le Freak

Billed as the world’s greatest disco band, they will open the Bluebonnet Festival on Friday night. Full of adrenaline and color, not to mention platform shoes, bell-bottom pants and pumped up hair, Le Freak will show out with great nostalgic fun.

They’ll hit the top with Le Freak by Chic, the Car Wash, Earth, Wind and Fire hits, KC and the Sunshine Band, Rick James, the BeeGee’s, Village People and a 70’s disco review. A Metroplex area entertainment headliner, they return to Ennis by popular demand.

Le Freak has done every type of event imaginable from

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corporate parties, weddings, birthdays, Debutante’ balls, festivals, bar mitzvah, fraternities, sororities, spelling bee contests, puppet shows and reportedly that includes indoors, outdoors, underwater, and in outer space.

Infinite Journey

This five piece Journey Tribute Band delivers a musically immersive Journey experience, focusing on the overall sound, solos, and most especially the soaring vocals that make Journey so iconic. The original group formed in San Francisco in 1973 and enjoyed their greatest public success between 1978-1987 when Steve Perry joined as lead vocalist. Donovan Duke does Perry so well you’ll be excused for thinking he is actually on stage.

Infinite Journey hails from the Dallas area and will take you back decades when the good luck of the scarab beetle, seen in their logo, was alive and well.

They play a wide mix of classic rock, to pop rock, arena rock, to jazz

cont’d from page 20 fusion and soft rock. Don’t Stop Believing, Faithfully, Wheel in the Sky, Who’s Crying Now, Separate Ways and Open Arms are just a few of their biggest Journey hits.

Spazmatics

High-energy, high-hilarity, high-fiving your friends all afternoon long with the ultimate 80’s tribute band.

The nerdy, new wave dance party is the biggest name of the Bluebonnet Festival lineup, and they take the stage at 4:00 p.m. on Sunday, April 18.

A myriad of songs make up their show, including Take On Me, Devo’s Whip It, Rick Springfield’s Jessie’s Girl, the Outfield’s Your Love, Rebell Yell by Billy Idol, Just Can’t Get Enough by Depeche Mode, What I Like About You from the Romantics, and other notables by Joan Jett, the Cars, the Ramones. Livin’ on a Prayer by Bon Jovi, My Sharona by the Knack and Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody are big with fans.

As lead guitar player Bjorn puts it, “I would say we’re the next step below a Broadway show.” The Spazmatics concert is spiced with skits, costumes, choreography, music and more. “Our choreography is really well-worked out and it’s very precise,” added Bjorn. “But also just basically wholesome, good fun. We’re a rock band, but we’re good for all ages, from 6 to 86. I think our band is real friendly towards all ages.”

LE FREAK LIVE ON STAGE - 7PM

FRIDAY, APRIL 16

INFINITE JOURNEY LIVE ON STAGE - 7PM

SATURDAY, APRIL 17 SPAZMATICS LIVE ON STAGE - 4PM

SUNDAY, APRIL 18 2021 BLUEBONNET TRAILS

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Get the App!

Everything Ennis in one location

Courtesy Photo/Mary Davis

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Ennis stepped up its digital game with the launch of the mobile app Ennis Y’all. People want easy access to information and they want it to be all in one location which is exactly what the app will provide.

The app features include: • GPS enabled Bluebonnet Trail map complete with points of interest such as photo opportunities and pop-up shops • Complete directory of restaurants, shops, attractions and hotels with photos, descriptions, GPS map, phone number, website and social media channels • List of events by date with the ability to add the event directly to your calendar • Ability to bookmark items so all of your favorite locations are saved in one section • Location-based push notifications to remind people of upcoming events This app is extremely beneficial to both visitors and locals alike. Ennis Y’all encourages everyone to “explore our charm.”

Ennis Y’all, available for iPhone or Android.

Bluebonnet Photo Contest

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ave a camera? Enter the Bluebonnet Photo Contest! Thousands of photographs of the Ennis area’s bluebonnets are taken each year. Some are panoramic views of fields in bloom. Others are of animals and the flowers. Many people pose for a photo in the bluebonnets. Amateurs and professionals alike enjoy taking the photos. If you are one of those, then consider entering the annual Bluebonnet Photo Contest.

Information is available at www.visitennis.org.

Past years’ winners can be viewed online at www.visitennis.org/photocontest.htm Some of the 2019 winner photos are included below and were taken by, from left to right, top to bottom: Newton Hightower, Morgan Collier, Laura Huey, Ken Ray, Eriko Masukawa and Shresth Upadhyay. See more winners on page 28.

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Kachina Prairie An Ennis treasure

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lease include Kachina Prairie as part of your tour of Bluebonnet Trails, and enjoy a vanishing icon of Texas – a true native prairie! There are abundant birds and wildflowers to view and photograph.

Wildflowers you may see include bluebonnets, Indian paintbrush, prairie verbena and Texas star daisy. You may also spot a red tailed hawk, blue heron and other birds.

The Prairie is an e-bird “hot spot.”

Kachina Prairie is an Ennis treasure – a 30 acre remnant native, never-plowed prairie, now being actively conserved by a coalition of the Ennis Garden Club, Indian Trail Master Naturalists, City of Ennis and the Texas Land Conservancy.

A special note on visiting the Prairie: The Prairie is a “wildscape.” There are mowed trails but not groomed trails. There are no facilities and the ¾ mile trail, while mowed, is not suitable for open toed shoes. Despite all its beauty, the Prairie includes poison ivy, snakes, fire ants, stickers and the like.

Picnicking is available just down Baldridge Street, where there is a park with a family area, picnic table and view of the lake. At the Prairie, the basic rule is “take only photos, leave only footprints.”

Directions to Kachina Prairie: If you are starting from the downtown area of Ennis, take Ennis Avenue through town, west to the traffic light at Jeter Drive. Turn right on Jeter Drive and follow it about a mile to Baldridge Street, where there is a Church of Christ on the northwest corner.

Turn left (west) on Baldridge and the Prairie entrance is on

Bluebonnets at Meadow View Nature Area - Ashley Colunga 24

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the right, in about half a mile. 1816 W. Baldridge, Ennis, Texas 75119.

Wildflower walks during Bluebonnet Trails Festival Weekend: The Indian Trail Master Naturalists are offering wildflower walks at the Prairie at the times listed below.

Meet at the entrance to the Prairie. These walks are cancelled if it’s raining and are subject to change. Please visit www.txmn.org/indiantrail/ for the latest updates.

Saturday, April 17, 2019: 10 am, Noon, 2pm & 4 pm Sunday, April 18, 2019: 1pm & 3 pm While in town, please visit the Ennis Welcome Center at 201 NW Main St., and the Ennis Bluebonnet Trails Festival, sponsored by the Ennis Garden Club, in downtown Ennis on April 16-18, 2021.

Pick up a bluebonnet map and take a drive along the beautiful bluebonnet trails this weekend, too. For more information, please to go visitennis.org, bluebonnettrail. org or call 972-878-4748.

Legend of the Bluebonnet

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ne of the most beautiful of many legends associated with the bluebonnets says that a long time ago, the Comanche Indian Tribe was being annihilated by starvation, cold and disease. The Great Spirit revealed to the tribe chieftains that all would be made right if their most valued and cherished possessions would be made into a burnt offering and scattered to the four winds. A little Indian princess, the daughter of the highest chief, overheard the council and immediately made ready to sacrifice her beautiful doll with a headdress from the bluejay. While all were asleep, the ritual was performed on a hillside not far from camp. The next morning, where the ashes had fallen, there was a beautiful spread of blue flowers, the same shade as the bluejay’s feathers. These flowers, the legend says, were the bluebonnets which, until this day, bloom in Texas in the spring.

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Blues on Main and Ennis Freedom Fest are must-dos!

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aturday, June 12, Blues on Main hits downtown Ennis, featuring The Legendary Creators, an amazing vocal group performing hits from the late 60s through the 90s. New this year, Sunday Brunch!

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aturday, June 26, begins downtown with the annual Red, White and Bike Parade. Come see hundreds of people in patriotic garb, showcasing their decorated rides.

The festival then moves west to Veterans Park, 2301 Ennis Parkway, where families will find music, vendors and fun activities.

2021 Ennis Freedom Fest culminates with a spectacular fireworks display after sundown.

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CALENDAR OF EVENTS

We’re glad you’re here for the Bluebonnet Trails and Festival, but there are more events to come!

April - October April 1-30 April 10 April 16-18 April 22-24 April 22-May 2 April 23 - May 8 May 28-30 June 4-20 June 11-27 June 12 June 26 July 15-25 Aug 20 - Sept 5

Bluebonnet Market (formerly the Farmers Market), 100 N Dallas St., Sat. 8am – noon Ennis Bluebonnet Trails, www.bluebonnettrail.org Don’t Mess with Texas Trash Off, litter cleanup event, www.KeepEnnisBeautiful.com Ennis Bluebonnet Trails Festival, www.bluebonnettrail.org Ubbi Dubbi Festival at Texas Motorplex Laugh Theatre at Ennis Public Theatre www.ennispublictheatre.com Sherlock Holmes: The Adventure of the Priory School at Theatre Rocks www.theatrerocks.com National Polka Festival, www.nationalpolkafestival.com Walking Across Egypt at Ennis Public Theatre Theatre Rocks National Playwright Competition Winner Blues on Main Festival downtown Ennis, www.VisitEnnis.org Ennis Freedom Fest, www.VisitEnnis.org Disney’s Frozen Jr. at Ennis Public Theatre The Red Velvet Cake War at Ennis Public Theatre

October 1-31 October 9 October 7-10 October 8-24 October 30 November 27 December 2 December 1-31

December 3-12 December 4 December 12

Hay Maze & Pumpkin Patch FREE! North Plaza Parking, 302 N Dallas St. Annual Lion Pride Fall Sweep, litter cleanup event, www.KeepEnnisBeautiful.com NHRA Fall Nationals at Texas Motorplex www.texasmotorplex.com The Sound of Music at Ennis Public Theatre Ennis Autumn Daze fall festival, www.VisitEnnis.org Small Business Saturday downtown Ennis Lights of Ennis Parade & Block Party in downtown Ennis Lights of Ennis events in downtown Ennis include cookies with Mrs. Claus, horse drawn carriage and wagon rides, Elf Seek and Find game, a giant snow hill, photo ops & more!

Beasley’s Christmas Party at Ennis Public Theatre Lucky’s Car Club Car Show & Toy Drive Our Lady of Guadalupe Celebration

**Events are subject to change. Please confirm before driving long distances. Follow Visit Ennis, Texas AND Ennis Tx: A Main Street City on Facebook and Twitter. Download the mobile app Ennis Y’all. Visit the website www.VisitEnnis. org. Call 972-878-4748.

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More of the 2019 winner photos are shown here and were taken by, from left to right, top to bottom: Eriko Masukawa, Deborah Moore, Steven Ng, Steven Autry, Darla Budd and Morgan Collier.

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Stop by the Museum, too!

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he Ennis Railroad and Cultural Heritage Museum is located at 105 N.E. Main Street in Ennis.

At the museum, watch a brief video of the history of Ennis, enjoy the railroad memorabilia, the dioramas, the depot replicas, china exhibit from the old rail lines, Czech dolls from the old country store and more. There are also souvenirs for purchase.

Hours of operation are: Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m., and Sunday, 1 p.m. - 4 p.m.

For more information, call 972-8751901, go to www.visitennis.org or follow the museum on Facebook at Ennis Railroad and Cultural Heritage Museum.

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2021 BLUEBONNET TRAILS

Downtown Ennis Renewed F or years the hopes of a city whose downtown was seriously damaged and, faced with the likelihood of never coming back, had a fresh vision born in the hearts of people. Pacing back and forth like a new father, the revitalization of the Bluebonnet City came to blooming life. Nearly 20,000 residents have witnessed the growth of new housing sectors and incoming businesses. They have sprung up along the I-45 corridor and in downtown, a mile west of the interstate.

May 13, 2013 was the date when 13 local twisters ravaged the area, including one that strolled down midtown toward the east on Ennis Avenue. Once the effects, which included the loss of vitality between McKinney and Main, had taken their toll, what rose from the collapsed heap of bricks was a new-found purpose. Ideas of rebuilding and restoring began to outnumber thoughts of vacating and starting over elsewhere.

Right in the middle of it all the Historical Society

helped foster a desire to parlay seeming defeat into a spirit of revival.

Even old buildings that had perhaps outlived their usefulness have seen investors step in to do much more than a face-lift. Work has largely been completed on Dallas Street, including a huge undertaking beneath the five blocks of North and South Dallas.

Minnie McDowal Park, formerly a theatre downtown, has been a huge benefactor. So have plans for new restaurants and night life, retail, offices, apartments and lofts, banking and a fenced in dog park at North Plaza.

The city’s heartbeat is alive and well.

Festivals and wholesome events that fill the calendar make Ennis a growing destination for families. A multicultural mesh give credence to sustaining that life for years to come. Most of the venues bring thousands of people, and then there are the tens of thousands that flock to the Bluebonnet Trails and National Polka Festival.

The magnetic appeal of Ennis is related directly to the vibrant life of this community. It’s alive, and contagious.