BURLESON — Harvest House is hosting its annual Vineyard Vibes community concert and vendor fair April 27 from noon to 7 p.m. at Lost Oak Winery with all proceeds benefitting Harvest House.

The event will feature live music headlined by Burleson’s own Texas country artist Phil Hamilton, food trucks, local vendors and “family-friendly” entertainment, Harvest House stated in a press release Monday.

“Come for the music. Stay for the memories. Leave knowing you’ve made a difference,” Harvest House stated.

Bands September Moon, Texas High Road and Riley Gilbreath and Lone Star Blue and local children’s dance groups will also perform at the event.

The local food trucks will offer barbeque, Tex-Mex, desserts and more. Local vendors will offer “unique” art, home decor, boutique clothing and jewelry. Lost Oak Winery will have award-winning wine available to purchase.

General admission to Vineyard Vibes costs $25 online at vineyardvibesbtx.com and $30 at the door.

Harvest House encourages guests to bring lawn chairs and blankets for lawn-style seating. Free parking will be available onsite. Pets are welcome.

Proceeds from the event will benefit Harvest House’s dedication to feeding, clothing and restoring families in need throughout the community, Harvest House stated in its press release.

“Don’t miss out on this exciting day of music, food, and fun—all for a great cause,” Harvest House stated.

It’s time for the community of Burleson and the surrounding area to have a trusted source of information and news.

That’s why Brad Allard, a retired Burleson ISD teacher and Hill College professor and host of the podcast “Mr. Allard’s Neighborhood,” launched an independent internet-radio station “Community Radio TX” in January.

“We don’t have a newspaper, we don’t have an over-the-air radio station,” Allard said. “A lot of people say it’s difficult to advertise, market and find out what’s going on because we don’t have that source of local information. They get most of their news about what goes on in this area from Facebook, which is sometimes accurate and sometimes not.”

Allard will provide Community Radio TX listeners–on the TuneIn, Audacy and Live365 apps–with news and information about what’s going on in the area that he gathers from taking over the Municipal Matters of BTX Facebook group. Allard has taken over administrating Municipal Matters since the original admin Sarah Carlson is moving, which Allard thinks is unfortunate for Burleson.

Along with relaying info found in Municipal Matters on the station, Allard plays his community podcast, “Mr. Allard’s Neighborhood,” which already provides listeners with information about the community through interviews with local leaders and business owners.

Allard also wants to play more podcasts besides his own on the station.

Besides podcasts and the First Baptist church service, Allard plays 60s and 80s music for listeners.

Allard doesn’t want to just play the same 60s and 80s music he hears on other radio stations though.

“Sometimes I turn on some of the other stations that play what I’m playing, and it’s like I could tell you I could bet my house mortgage it’s going to be either Tom Petty or Fleetwood Mac or Pink Floyd, which I used to like when I heard it the first thousand times,” Allard said.

Another way Community Radio TX differs from other stations is that, because it’s internet radio, it doesn’t have to be listened to within a certain range.

“If you’re taking a four-hour drive somewhere and you just want to put music on and not think, you’re not going to have to be changing the station because you get my show, you put it on TuneIn or Live365 and can just let it roll,” Allard said.

Community Radio TX is also a tool for local businesses and organizations to advertise.

“It’s meant also to be a marketing tool for small businesses that are having to compete with these chains,” Allard said. “I like some of these chains fine, but they’ve got a lot larger budgets than a mom-and-pop restaurant or a boutique of some sort.”

Another way Community Radio TX differs from other stations is in its advertising experience. Allard didn’t want to create the same experience he’s had listening to talk radio where commercials make up 20 minutes out of an hour of listening.

Community Radio TX’s ads are each one-to-two minutes long and are played two-to-three times per day.

Wanting to advertise for local businesses is part of what made Allard want to start Community Radio TX.

In a networking group Allard’s in, he’s heard local-business owners talk about how difficult it can be to market without social media which can be costly.

Allard thought he could help with this by creating a community radio station where these businesses could advertise to an engaged local audience. He was apprehensive though because of his previous attempt at running a local radio station.

Allard always wanted to be in radio and tried running an internet station about three years ago, but it “totally failed,” he said.

“I thought because I have such good taste, everybody’s going to want to listen to my playlist, and of course it failed because it really wasn’t about the listener and it was more about me,” Allard said.

Allard was inspired to give radio another try by a quote he heard at a networking event. The quote was about entrepreneurial acts starting with acts of courage.

“I drive by businesses here all the time, and these guys–these men and women in this town–took the act of courage to say ‘I want to start a boutique, a restaurant, boot store, fill in the blank,’” Allard said. He thought he could take a similar act of courage.

Now that Allard’s taken that act of courage and launched Community Radio TX, he wants to make it a go-to source of local information and a go-to marketing tool for local businesses.

“My hope is that when people think about getting local information or business opportunities or ads or [info on] what’s going on in their communities, that [Community Radio TX] is one of the first things they think of,” Allard said.

Allard doesn’t just want the station to be Burleson’s go-to source though. He wants it to serve most of Johnson County.

For Community Radio TX to become that go-to source, it needs support both from listeners and sponsors.

Allard said sponsoring the station is affordable as is, but he also offers a 50%-off discount on sponsorships to businesses that sponsor the Mr. Allard’s Neighborhood podcast.

As for getting listeners, Allard understands that while he sees Community Radio TX as something that can become known to and listened to by many community members, right now he’s asking people to “alter their listening habits.”

“A lot of people listen to podcasts. They listen to Dan Bongino and talk shows like that or sports talk, or they put it on some of these country-western stations that are around like The Ranch and all that,” Allard said. “That’s all great, but I’ve got to try to squeeze in there somehow.”

If Allard can get people to change their listening habits to tune in to Community Radio TX for local information, the community could become more informed and its local businesses could thrive.

Check out Community Radio TX on TuneIn, Audacy or Live365.

BURLESON — Holy Cross Christian Academy announced breaking ground on its fifth through 12th-grade campus down the road from its current facility Tuesday.

The single-story, 13,240-square-foot facility—designed to “provide an advanced learning environment” for fifth through 12th-grade students—is expected to be ready by December, HCCA stated in an email Tuesday.

HCCA will hold a groundbreaking ceremony open to the HCCA community, supporters and media February 25 at the new campus’s site less than a mile away from the current facility at 1500 Tarver Road, HCCA stated in a press release Tuesday.

Phase-one of this nine-phase master project includes six classrooms, an art room, a science lab, a collaboration room, a multipurpose room and a storm shelter, HCCA stated in its press release.

The project also features a security system integrated with HCCA’s existing campus, a septic system, detention pond, drive lanes and landscape features, HCCA stated.

HCCA called the new campus a “milestone marking the next phase of the academy’s long-term vision for growth and excellence in Christian education,” HCCA stated.

HCCA head of school Karen Matejka is excited for the development and believes it’s been a “long time coming,” she said in HCCA’s press release.

“We are thrilled to finally break ground on our [fifth through 12th-grade campus] and are looking forward to partnering with mission matched families to cultivate Christian leaders and thinkers,” Matejka said. “We hope to be a beacon of light shining on Burleson and the surrounding area.”

Diverse Studio led the campus’s design and focused on “harmonizing education with the surrounding environment,” HCCA stated in its press release. Diverse Studio is “honored and excited” to contribute to the project, Diverse Studio partner Francisco Velasquez said in the press release.

“Expanding Holy Cross Christian Academy with a campus that inspires learning, harmonizes with nature, cultivates growth, and enriches community has been a deeply collaborative effort,” Velasquez said. “Together, HCCA’s board members, administrators, educators, Diverse Studio, Rudick Construction Group, and consultant teams have worked hand in hand since day one to bring HCCA’s vision to life.”

Rudick Construction Group is “thrilled” to lead the construction and “bring this vision to life,” Rudick Construction Group CEO Clay Rudick said in HCCA’s press release.

“This project is about more than just a building—it’s about creating a space that will shape the educational journey of students for generations,” Rudick said.

The project team includes Campbell Landscape Architecture for landscape design, RLG Consulting Engineers as the civil engineer, Datum Engineers as the structural engineer, HP Engineering for mechanical, electrical and plumbing services and Sugar Hill Engineering for septic-system design, HCCA stated in the press release.

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BURLESON — Students, staff and basketball-game attendees evacuated the Burleson High School arena Friday at approximately 7 p.m. when a fire alarm went off after smoke emitted from a popcorn machine.

The building was evacuated for approximately 15 minutes. The Burleson Fire Department arrived and left within 10 minutes.

A Burleson firefighter said smoke from a popcorn machine triggered the alarm.

The fire alarm went off in the fourth quarter of the Burleson Lady Elks varsity basketball game.

Burleson High School staff directed students, staff and basketball-game attendees to evacuate the building shortly after the alarm went off.

The evacuation delayed the remainder of the girls basketball game and the start of the Burleson Elks varsity basketball game against the No.3-ranked Mansfield-Summit Jaguars.

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BURLESON — City Market will be closing permanently within the next two months, owner Kurt Jaeger said in a video on Facebook Monday.

The owner of the City Market building “unexpectedly” served Jaeger an eviction notice, Jaeger said.

Jaeger said he and “the entire City Market family” are “devastated, heartbroken and shocked” and that this isn’t their choice.

“It deeply saddens us that we will not have the ability to pass down the store’s history to the next generation of our family,” Jaeger said.

Jaeger said he isn’t finished fighting for City Market to remain open and that he will provide updates later.

“We are still praying for a miracle,” Jaeger said.

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BURLESON — One of Northwest Renfro Street’s lanes will close Tuesday for three weeks due to construction, the City of Burleson announced Monday.

A contractor will replacing the pavement on Northwest Renfro near the intersection at Clinton Street. The work is expected to take approximately three weeks, Burleson stated on Facebook.

Two-way traffic will be maintained, and traffic-control measures will remain in place 24/7, Burleson stated.

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BURLESON — Paris Baguette Bakery Cafe will develop its first North American manufacturing plant in Burleson, city staff announced at the Burleson City Council meeting December 9 at City Hall.

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BURLESON — Those in Burleson and the surrounding area interested in going through a haunted-house maze on Halloween can travel to Fort Worth and pay $54.99 for Cutting Edge, or go to Waxahachie and pay $42 for Screams, or go to Fright Fest at Six Flags in Arlington for $70. Or you can stay right here in Burleson and go through the “Nightmare on Alsbury” maze for free, thanks to Gregg Marsh.

Marsh is a retired firefighter and Halloween enthusiast who’s been running a free haunted-house maze at his house on Alsbury since 2006.

He expects over 1,000 people to visit the maze every year and doesn’t charge any of them a dime–although he does accept donations.

“Most people say I should charge at least $5, but I never want anyone to show up and not be able to go through the haunted house because of money,” Marsh said.

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Peter Parker was an ordinary teenager until he was bitten by a radioactive spider and gained the proportional strength, speed and agility of a spider and adhesive fingertips that allowed him to stick to walls. When his uncle Ben died tragically, Peter chose to use these abilities to help people–for with great power there must also come great responsibility.

The guy who walks around Burleson dressed as Spider-Man wasn’t bitten by a radioactive spider. He doesn’t have any of the comic-book character’s super powers. He does feel a sense of responsibility when he wears the costume though.

The responsibility Burleson’s Spider-Man feels is to spread positivity–cheering people up and giving them something to talk about.

“It’s really fun interacting with all the different people, seeing people from all different walks of life just kind of talk to me and everything, and kind of helping make their day a little more interesting,” Burleson’s Spider-Man said in an interview.

Burleson’s Spider-Man–a 25-year-old retail employee who chooses to keep his true identity a secret–has been roaming the streets of Burleson dressed as his favorite superhero, Marvel Comics’ friendly-neighborhood wall-crawler since 2020. Since then he–like the actual Spider-Man–has become a staple in his community.

“Of course he’s an icon around Burleson,” said photographer Ashley Lee who’s lived in Burleson for 14 years. “Everybody knows him and everybody sees him.”

Lee’s first interaction with Spider-Man was on her 12-year-old son’s birthday party when she happened to see Spider-Man walking down her street. She said she flagged him down and that he “could not have been nicer” when she asked him to join the party and take pictures with the kids.

“We had a bunch of 12-year-olds here who lost all their minds,” Lee said of the reaction to Spider-Man joining the party.

Birthday parties are a regular part of Burleson’s Spider-Man’s life now along with events for the city, schools and other organizations.

Those who haven’t seen him at a party or event have probably seen him taking the walk he takes at least weekly. That walk usually comes after hanging out in Old Town at Daydream Coffee Co. or on the bench in front of Pandan. From there, he heads down Ellison Street to First Baptist Church Burleson before turning on Johnson Avenue, walking past Warren Park and Burleson Collegiate High School to Walgreens and turning on Hidden Creek to head to Bailey Lake.

When he first started doing this, he didn’t imagine he’d become as known as he is in Burleson.

“I never thought I’d be kind of renowned around here,” he said. 

When he first started dressing up as Spider-Man in public, he was worried people would think he was trying to bother them or get attention. However, he said the initial reactions were “surprisingly positive.” “A lot of people got a kick out of it,” he said.

“I definitely got stares,” he said. “People were definitely like ‘Okay that guy looks a little weird.’”

He said he “completely understands” people who think what he does is weird. 

“A guy in his mid-twenties dressing up as Spider-Man in public is definitely a little weird.”

Despite it being weird, he dresses up as Spider-Man in public because of the effect he sees it has on people and the effect that has on him. 

He needed that effect in 2020 after a “bad breakup” left him feeling “the saddest” he’d ever been.

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Burleson City Council member Victoria Johnson is wildly active within the Burleson community and is dedicated to making sure that the city and everyone around her is successful. She’s lived in Burleson most of her life after moving here at the age of five and only moving away temporarily for college. 

On a normal day for Johnson when she’s not getting her kids ready for school or doing chores around the house, she spends a lot of time in meetings for both her place on the city council and her role in the North Central Texas Council of Governments, where she currently serves as the Vice President. She also volunteers in the art room and in physical education and participates in the Parent Teacher Organization at The Academy of Nola Dunn–where her two children attend school–and participates in the Rotary Club.

Brad Allard, a former Burleson High School teacher of Johnson and current host of the Mr. Allard’s Neighborhood podcast, says Johnson is a “wonderful” person who’s “devoted to her family and to this community.”

“[Johnson] has always been deeply interested in government and policy,” Allard said. “When she was a student in my classes at BHS, she was very much invested in learning about how to make government work and how to develop the best policies. She was, and is, a very bright and mature young woman. Plus she’s devoted to her family and to this community.”

This community is what Johnson loves most about Burleson. 

“Even though we’re growing incredibly fast, you generally still know people and you can still go out and get recognized,” Johnson said. “The city is great for the sense of community and feeling together.”

Since moving to Burleson in the early 1990s, Johnson has seen the city change in a lot of different ways. 

“Since I moved here, we now have a variety of activities, shopping, places to eat, and more. When I was a kid, Burleson had very little,” Johnson said. She added that when she was growing up in Burleson there was “Albertsons, K-Mart and then nothing.” She fondly remembers it being a massive deal resulting in loads of traffic and eventual police intervention when the Chili’s opened.

Johnson sees the impact that a lot of the growth is having on Burleson. She said she’d advise Burleson’s newcomers to take advantage of community events and activities like the Trash Bash, Boo Bash, Farmers Market and any city committees. She added that “if you get involved, you’ll feel so much closer to the community and maybe find a reason to love it as much as I do.”

Johnson looks forward every year to events such as the Hispanic Heritage Festival, the Juneteenth Festival and Founder’s Day and is thrilled with how much they all have grown and continue to grow. Her favorite places in Burleson are the Mayor Vera Calvin Plaza, Bailey Lake and Oak Valley North Park–adding that she loves “pretty much all of our parks.” If she could only choose one place in Burleson to eat at for the rest of her life, she’d struggle to pick one and choose Fresco’s and Mojos.

One aspect of Johnson’s involvement in the community that she’s proud of is her role on the North Central Texas Council of Governments, which was a large part of her re-election campaign in May. 

The NCTCOG is the metropolitan planning organization that distributes federally-funded transportation dollars to north Texas municipalities.

Johnson was seemingly set on joining the COG before ever even being elected to city council because she learned during her time working in the U.S. House of Representatives that “they are some of the best of the best in metropolitan planning organizations.” 

Her position on the NCTCOG allows Johnson to see and vote on things coming to Burleson in the future. She said she’s excited for the new pickleball place off of Hidden Creek and for the new Craftmasters campus to open up and bring opportunities to Burleson. 

“My focus is on bringing more good paying jobs to Burleson,” Johnson said. 

Johnson will conduct her first meeting of the NCTCOG in September, which she is excited but nervous about.

Something not many people know about Johnson is that she’s always wanted to be a pilot.

“I’ve dreamed of it since I was a kid,” Johsnon said of being a pilot. She noted that she’s taken several lessons but hopes to finish when her kids are older. In true fashion of her deep commitment to the community, she added that anything that may pull her away from either being a mom or a council member–in that order–“must feed back into the community or my children.”

Growing up Johnson had working parents and decided early on that she wanted to be a parent who spent as much time with her kids as possible. Because of this, she spends a good amount of her time that’s not already dedicated to community matters volunteering in everything that she can at the elementary school. 

Victoria lives for her family and doesn’t necessarily want to be a stay-at-home-mom but says that when she would work she would miss her babies “tremendously.”

Victoria Johnson is a friendly and very dedicated civil servant in the city of Burleson.