Number 226, July 2022
City of University Park, Texas, 3800 University Blvd.
Melissa Rieman selected 2022 Citizen of the Year
Melissa Rieman, chair of the 2022 La Fiesta de las Seis Banderas gala and past president of the Friends of the UP Public Library, has been selected University Park’s 2022 Citizen of the Year.

Originally from Garland, Melissa attended Lakeview Centennial High School and then was a Rangerette at Kilgore College. After her time there, she attended SMU where she was on the pom squad, and graduated with two degrees, one in history and the other in public relations.

Following her graduation from SMU, Melissa became a teacher and taught dance, which eventually led to her becoming a drill team director. While she loved this experience, she decided to shift directions and ended up in the corporate world, working for TXU and Ingersoll Rand. This career change moved her to Atlanta for a few years, before she decided it was time to move back to Texas.

After looking for houses in the Dallas area for over a year, Melissa and her late husband, Russell, found the perfect home in University Park to raise their family in, close to Highland Park High School. Her family has lived in that same home for 19 years, and her two children grew up going to HPISD schools. Her son, RJ, attended HPISD through 9th grade, and then transferred to Trinity Christian Academy. He is an upcoming junior at Oklahoma State University majoring in business, and her daughter, Riley, recently graduated from Highland Park High School and will be attending SMU in the fall. Following in her mom’s footsteps, Riley also just made SMU’s cheer squad.

When her children were entering elementary school, Melissa was traveling a lot for work, and she decided to take a step back from the corporate world and help her husband run his business, while also joining the Bradfield PTA. Little did she know, this was just the beginning of a long résumé of community involvement.

In addition to serving on the PTA for both Bradfield and Highland Park High School, Melissa has chaired the Bradfield auction twice, was the President of her son’s Young Men’s Service League group, was the treasurer on the board of the Children’s Medical Center Women’s Auxiliary, is the Chair of the board for Fair Park, was the President of the Friends of the University Park Public Library and served on the Education Focus Group for the Centennial Master Plan project. She also started the Raider Challenge fundraiser at Highland Park Middle School and the Scots Challenge fundraiser at the high school. Melissa is especially proud of her role as the PTA President of Highland Park High School during the 2019-2020 school year, which was during the thick of COVID and such a tumultuous time for all students, especially seniors.

“I have an innate need to try and help,” Melissa said when asked what the most rewarding part of her community involvement is. “Although I may not be able to always make something better, I can always get other people to help, and there are so many people in this community who want to get involved.”

As a matter of fact, the community is one of her favorite things about University Park. She also loves that University Park is a well-run city, mentioning that the City attracts amazing residents because of how it’s run. She continued, “I have a lot of faith that the City will always make smart decisions even if I don’t agree with them.”

Melissa was stunned and honored when Mayor Tommy Stewart called her with the news. She humbly said, “We have a whole community of citizens of the year! I am just one of 800 people who could have been selected!”

After riding in the July 4 Parade, Melissa will be presented with a plaque and a special Citizen of the Year gift during a brief ceremony at the gazebo in Goar Park. The Citizen of the Year award was created by the City Council in 2005 to boost public awareness and appreciation for the many residents who work, often behind the scenes, to better the City’s quality of life.
2022 Park Cities 4th of July Parade & festival in Goar Park
This year's parade will be held on Monday, July 4. The parade will start at Highland Park Town Hall at 9 a.m. and proceed north on Preston Road to University Boulevard, heading east until ending in Goar Park. 
 
For more information about the parade go to the Rotary Club of Park Cities July 4 parade page.


 
Post-Parade festivities in Goar Park
 
As the parade winds down, join us for some fun activities in Goar Park beginning at 9:30 a.m. The program at the Goar Park Gazebo will being at 11 a.m. The festivities in Goar Park will end by noon.   

Activities will include - 
 
  • Bounce houses 
  • Petting zoo
  • Face painting            
  • And more!   
UPFD 1925 American LaFrance engine/pumper part of Park Cities July 4 Parade
During Monday’s Park Cities July 4 parade, thousands of curbside residents will see a major piece of University Park history back in service. Much like a journey chronicled in a children’s storybook, after almost 100 years, one of University Park Fire Department’s earliest fire engines will join in the community’s annual celebration, driving through some of the same streets it traveled responding to emergencies in the 1920s and 1930s.  

Since the engine/pumper’s return to University Park last winter, in a labor of love, members of the City’s Equipment Services division have worked on getting it ready for its first public appearance. The restoration effort has involved equipping it with a modern braking system and a refurbished engine. 

Here’s the backstory:

Beginning years of service

Soon after UPFD’s first engine/pumper was destroyed while fighting a dormitory fire on the SMU campus, the department purchased a 1925 American LaFrance engine/pumper to replace it. The new piece of equipment remained in service until the late 1930’s when it was sold at auction.

Years later, an aficionado of antique fire equipment found the pumper in storage inside an airplane hangar at an old military base. That collector, Bobby Ramsey, an Assistant Chief with Travis County Fire Control, also owned a 1952 Seagraves pumper that he purchased from the city of Austin. While using the pumpers in various parades, for several years Chief Ramsey also used both to respond to fire scenes from his home.

A chance meeting and the long pathway home

In 2000, after Chief Ramsey passed away, the Jollyville Texas Fire Department purchased both pumpers from the Ramsey family so that they could continue to use them in parades and other community events. During that time period, wanting more information about the 1925 model, Chief Brad Landi contacted LaFrance and found that it was built for use by the City of University Park.

Advancing this story to the recent past, in 2020 the pumper was refurbished by Robert Behrens, who funded the entire project out of his own pocket. Initially, the Jollyville Fire Department planned on selling the reconditioned beauty to a fire museum, but plans changed when Chief Landi ran into UPFD Assistant Chief Scott Green at a training conference.

Soon into their conversation it was decided that the much-loved 1925 pumper should come home to University Park. In February 2021, UPFD purchased the pumper from the Jollyville Fire Department, and after being loaded on to a trailer, the pumper completed the trip back to its original firehouse accompanied by UPFD Chief Randy Howell and Assistant Chief Green. Chief Howell described the trip as very nostalgic, and said, “I couldn’t help but wonder as we were pulling off Central Expressway onto Mockingbird Lane, if the pumper was taking in the sites of the community it served nearly 100 years ago.”

Following the parade, the pumper will reside in the UPFD fire bay. The department plans to use it in parades and other community events for years to come.
Remaining summer reading programs
This summer the The UP Public Library is packed with offerings on Wednesdays to entertain and inspire all age groups from kids to grandparents! Remaining program dates and performers are listed below. 

  • July 13 - Cowboy Roper Robert Duke
  • July 20 - All About Animals
  • July 27 - Crafternoon - Ocean Animals
Friends of the UP Public Library book sales