PROSPERTIMES Friday September 15, 2017 | Prosper, Texas
VOL. 1 | NO. 20
Prosper Profiles
Prosper Fire Department Remembers 9/11 with Ceremony Joyce Godwin Joyce@CedarbrookMedia.com
Meet Melissa Randle Joyce Godwin Joyce@CedarbrookMedia.com When I asked Melissa Randle to be our Prosper Profile this week, she said, “Are you crazy?” Then she said something like, no one needs to hear about her. But I already knew that Melissa is a giving person who supports charities of all kinds and is always ready to help no matter the need. And that’s the kind of person we want to see in this spot. Melissa is a boy mom of two great boys ages 12 and 14 and lives with her husband Tommy Randle. The family has been in Prosper for 11 years in December. They moved from Frisco. She said when they lived in Frisco Tommy started playing golf at Gentle Creek once a week and she and the boys often joined him later for dinner. He started talking about moving to Prosper and looking at lots. She told him no way would she move and he just kept looking at property. I came kicking and screaming because I liked where I was,” Melissa said. “I was five minutes to everything and when your kids are young like mine were, that’s a big deal.” Tommy kept talking about it and looking at property and Melissa kept saying no. Finally, he found a big lot in Whispering Farms with a tree line going through it. He told his wife “I think this is where we need to be.” I said ok — very reluctantly, Melissa said. Tommy told her it was important to him that the kids grow up in a smaller town. At the time, the population was about 4,385 and now it’s more than 20,000. Now, Melissa says she loves it here and wouldn’t be anywhere else. She said her boys feel the same way. Melissa is an independent distributor for Lip Sense and says it really, really works. Her hobbies are golf, but she’s on the sidelines right now following last week’s elbow surgery. She said she loves to garden, volunteer, plan events, travel and watch her boys play sports. “That’s my whole life right there,” she said. The family has two dogs, one black and one yellow retriever. “They are the only ones in my house that listen to me,” she said with a smile. Since working with Lip Sense, a makeup company, she’s found she has a passion to help women look pretty. “It’s fun seeing people change their whole attitude when they look pretty,” she said. “I’ve seen transformations with ladies who leave feeling like a million bucks. I love seeing that transformation. Melissa met her husband when she was a loan officer and handled Tommy’s first mortgage. He is a native Texan but she went to high school and college in Oregon. Melissa is on the board of directors at Hope’s Door New Beginning Center and the Prosper Ladies Association. She helps with events and also volunteers at school. She has a passion to make a difference for people while enjoying life. She said her philosophy of life is you are always going to get what you put in. She added that she tried to be normal once, but it was the worst five minutes of her life. Her favorite quote comes from her grandmother: “Being happy doesn’t mean everything is perfect; it means you have decided to see beyond the imperfections.”
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This is a photo of the beam brought to Prosper from the World Trade Center debris which is now mounted on a trailer and maintained by the Prosper Fire Department.
Joyce Godwin/PROSPER TIMES
Jeremy Hunt, left, of the Prosper Fire Department and Derek McCord of the Prosper Police Department serve in the color guard for the 9/11 Memorial Ceremony. Shown here the two ceremonially fold the flag which was then lain on the steel beam from the World Trade Center, a mobile memorial to the 9/11 attack in 2001.
It was a beautiful morning and just right for a ceremony at Frontier Park where folks gathered to help the Prosper Fire Department honor the memories of fallen brothers and sisters in the attack on the World Trade Center September 11, 2001. Fire Department personnel had worked hard on the program presented Monday morning. It’s been a different program every year since the PFD began holding the programs. But one thing that’s been a steady component is the piece of steel firefighters hauled from New York City to Prosper. It’s about five-feet wide and has been mounted on a trailer the firefighters designed and performed much of the work on assisted by professionals for different things to come up with a mobile memorial, perhaps the only one of it’s kind in North Texas, to help educate children about what happened and to help adults remember. Emblazoned across the top are the words, “We shall never forget.” The program this year included several individuals who were there and who have personal stories to tell. The PFD Firefighters Association brought in a retired member of the New York Fire Department and his family for the event. Jose Prosper was here as both the speaker for the Prosper 9/11 Ceremony and a featured guest for the annual 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb held over the weekend in Dallas in which Prosper firefighters participate every year. Fire Chief Stuart Blasingame explained that they got to know Prosper because the names are the same. He said he and a few other firefighters were attending a conference and met Prosper at the conference and a relationship was formed. This was Prosper’s first visit to Prosper. But more seriously, Jose Prosper has a story to tell about experiencing the attack on America that centered on the WTC. He and wife Erica had young children at the time so life was a little different then and centered around feedings and baby activities. He was off that day, he said when he got the message something had happened. Prosper’s Police Chief Doug Kowalski led off the program with his own 9/11 story. He grew up in New York and was there for his birthday September 10. But he was called back to Texas forcing him to cut his trip short so he wasn’t there the day the towers came down. But Kowalski told a riveting story about two retired friends in their 70s. He said they had been life-long friends and were often together over coffee. When word of the attack got to John Kasason and Skeet, even thou they were in their 70s, they put on their uniforms and went to work. Kowalski explained that though he was known to everyone only as Skeet, “I called him Dad… No one will dominate this country because of the American spirit,” he said. Next to the podium was Prosper Police Sergeant Ron Castro who had also been employed by the New York City PD and came to the ceremony wearing his NYCPD uniform. “It’s my honor to speak to you,” he said. “It was a while ago but it seems like yesterday.” He talked about the uncertainty once the first part of the attack happened. “We knew we were under attack but we didn’t know what was coming next.” He said as they got back to Ground Zero it was a beautiful sunny day, but there, it was dark “and we could hardly see because of all the debris in the air.” He said, “We asked a chief what to do and the answer came ‘I don’t know, they are all gone.’” Since no one knew yet what was going on or what might happen next, Castro and others were asked to stand guard over a heliport site to keep it available and free from enemies. Later, he responded to a triage center along the Hudson River for survivors but no one ever came. Castro said he spent the next several weeks helping at Ground Zero with the recovery and clean up. “Almost 3,000 died that day and 1,000 since.” Castro named friends who were lost. Glenn Pettite responded on that day to take video that could later be analyzed and help the department see details that might have been missed otherwise. “He perished,” Castro said. See Remember 9/11 page 3
Prosper Town Council Approves Budget and Tax Rate Joyce Godwin Joyce@CedarbrookMedia.com
Joyce Godwin/PROSPER TIMES
PHS Principal Dr. John Burdett holds the microphone for PHS student David Syme to welcome all to the USA pep rally at Prosper High School.
Pep Rally Goes Off in True Prosper Form Joyce Godwin Joyce@CedarbrookMedia.com The drum line for the Mighty Eagle Band made its big entrance from the side of the arena last week just as it has in pep rallies for several years. It was the first pep rally of the 2017-18 school year and the drum line gave it a roaring kick off.
Any fears that this year’s pep rallies would be flat or less exciting were quickly squashed. From its beginning to its end, it was roaring, it was loud, it was exciting and it was fun. What more could one ask for in a high school rally. But there is more. David Syme, a special student, helped Principal Dr. John Burdett welcome everyone to the first pep rally of the year in which it was standing room only. Cruz of 106.1 KISS FM was also on hand to wish the Eagles well for this school year. He said he was impressed with what he saw in the pep rally. See Pep Rally, page 3
The new budget and tax rate were approved in Tuesday’s meeting as well as the Capital Improvement Plan for 2017-2018. Each project had been through multiple public hearings and reviews. Changes have been made and finalized and the Council approved each item. These plans may be seen on the Town’s website at www.prospertx.gov. In other business, the Council approved raising various Town fees which include fees for Certificate of Occupancy, Building Regulations, Review of Plans, Suspension of Permit, Food Establishments and Mobile Food Units, Health and Sanitation. Finance Director Kelly Neal said the fees have not been updated since 2010 and in some cases 2005. The agenda item was approved. There was also a Change Order on the docket for the Town Hall Infrastructure Project which was approved. “It is related to a significant change needed on the drainage system
to facilitate the project,” said Hulon Webb, Executive Director of Development and Community Services for the Town of Prosper. “Previously, the infrastructure improvements project included the construction of a temporary 550-foot drainage channel on the property south of First Street and two temporary drainage structures that crossed First Street to convey water to and from that channel. Concerns expressed by the owner of the property to the south, as well as a desire to minimize the impact on First Street traffic started discussions about possible alternatives.” Webb said an option was realized that could re-route the water west before it got to First Street, eliminating the need for the two drainage structures across First Street and the temporary drainage channel. This option would also eliminate the added cost of the temporary work, reduce the cost of the future First Street project’s underground drainage pipe, and eliminate previously planned construction related inconveniences to the motorists along First Street. The Council also approved: A resolution authorizing the town manager to sign an application to the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department Outdoor Recreation Grant for the development of the Whitley Place Trail Extension Project. Council members also discussed the Multi-Family Rental Inspection Program but no action was required or taken.
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