Fannin County Commissioners Court joins with employees and supporters of Fannin County Children's Center after a Proclamation was approved by the court to declare that April 2025 is Child Abuse Awareness Month in Fannin County. "In 2024, Fannin County conducted 197 investigations into neglect or abuse, resulting in 33 confirmed cases and 12 removals," reported Stephanie Garcia, Director of Fannin County Children’s Center. photo by Lisa Loiselle

DCMGA Spring Plant Sale will be Saturday, April 26, 9:00 a.m. to 2 p.m. or sell-out at North Texas Fairgrounds, 2217 N. Carroll Blvd., Denton. The DCMGA 2025 Garden Tour is slated for May 10. This year’s Garden Tour truly has something for everyone. Enjoy watching seasonal creeks, sniffing fragrant roses, planting a succulent, or relaxing on a bench overlooking a pollinator garden dancing with bees and butterflies.

The newly renovated E.A. Randles Park, 3380 Ash Lane, has officially reopened to the public. This project transformed the park into a vibrant community destination with a new basketball court, parking lot, splash pad, play equipment, pavilion, and connected trail system. The improvements were primarily funded by MCDC, with additional contributions from parkland dedication funds and city bond funding.

For all you adults out there – do you remember when you used to have fun hunting eggs at Easter when you were kids? Well, now is your chance to experience again the excitement of an Easter egg hunt, only this time at dusk and with the opportunity to receive some great prizes. Easter After Dark will start at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, April 11 at the Audie Murphy/American Cotton Museum. There are all sorts of prizes in store for everyone who participates!

Experience the fun of art, wine, and live music at the annual festival April 11-13. "The Arts and Bloom festival is a vibrant celebration of the intersection between art and nature. This annual event brings artists, musicians, and wine enthusiasts from around the region to showcase their talents in beautiful Downtown McKinney. The festival offers a wonderful opportunity for the community to come together and enjoy the beauty of the season while supporting local artists and Downtown McKinney businesses," said Cultural District Director Andrew Jones.

1513 – Having spotted land on March 27, Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León comes ashore on what is now the U.S. state of Florida, landing somewhere between the modern city of St. Augustine and the mouth of the St. Johns River. Juan Ponce de León (c. 1474 – July 1521) was a Spanish explorer and conquistador known for leading the first official European expedition to Puerto Rico in 1508 and Florida in 1513. He was born in Santervás de Campos, Valladolid, Spain, in 1474. Though little is known about his family, he was of noble birth and served in the Spanish military from a young age. He first came to the Americas as a "gentleman volunteer" with Christopher Columbus's second expedition in 1493. In 1513, Ponce de León led the first known European expedition to La Florida, which he named during his first voyage to the area. He landed somewhere along Florida's east coast, then charted the Atlantic coast down to the Florida Keys and north along the Gulf coast; historian John R. Swanton believed that he sailed perhaps as far as Apalachee Bay on Florida's western coast. Though in popular culture he was supposedly searching for the Fountain of Youth, there is no contemporary evidence to support the story, which most modern historians consider a myth. In March 1521, Ponce de León finally returned to Southwest Florida with the first large-scale attempt to establish a Spanish colony in what is now the continental United States. However, the native Calusa people fiercely resisted the incursion, and Ponce de Léon was seriously wounded in a skirmish. The colonization attempt was abandoned, and he died from his wounds soon after returning to Cuba in early July. He was interred in Puerto Rico; his tomb is located inside the Cathedral of San Juan Bautista in San Juan.