Hello and welcome back to South Texas and the great Rio Grande Valley! We are excited that you have come back to visit us. And if it is your first time here – we want to wish you a great big welcome, too. You are going to love your time here.

If you aren’t in the Valley yet, we hope you find your way safely to your South Texas home and enjoy your stay with us this season.

We say it every year, and we hear it every year from our Winter Texan friends – the Valley is a great place to be. You can always find great people, great friends, great weather, good food, and a variety of things to do.

Although it is taking a little bit longer this year to see some cooler temperatures, I am still eager for those nice, crisp, cool mornings that encourage you to get out and enjoy the outdoors. We always hope that as you come our way, the cooler temps start following you as well. And it looks like we’ll have a little reprieve from the 90’s this week.

We are eager to see your smiling faces, as are the parks, Wintertainers™, restaurants, and so many others. The Valley truly enjoys having our Winter Texan friends visit. Several cities roll out the red carpet (so to speak) with events welcoming you back – typically held in December. And we always hate to see you go – after all, we are here for, and because of, you.

Get ready for a busy season, too. I have seen Wintertainers™ posting their busy schedules already. We are already seeing fall events – and holiday events – being planned or underway. Soon you will see your parks hosting fundraisers, food collections, and other events to help support your local communities during the holidays.

Parks are also getting their activities started and should be in full swing soon, if they aren’t already. Every year, the parks find new ways to entertain their residents. Many will find music, entertainment, arts and crafts, plenty of food, dancing and so many more activities to participate in at their parks, and parks throughout the Rio Grande Valley. There are over 200 senior parks in the Valley to choose from, and many of them have full schedules during the season.

Currently, cities are holding fall festivals, but soon there will be Christmas events. Check your local museums for their Dia de los Muertos exhibits if you want to get a taste of some of the culture you can find in the Valley. And if your park hasn’t had theirs yet, I am sure most will be having Halloween events where everyone is encouraged to dress up and have some fun – those events always have great photo opportunities.

While parks have their own lists of entertainment, you will find the Valley has plenty of local talent, events, and shows as well. There is the McAllen Convention Center and Performing Arts Center, Harlingen Community Theatre, McAllen Community Concerts, McAllen Wind Ensemble, Valley Symphony Orchestra, LJISD Folklorico, and other local theatres and school plays and dance ensembles you might want to check out. With the holiday season approaching, there will be plenty of opportunities and events to attend.

We try our best to keep you informed about all these events throughout the Valley.

We are also always looking for those great stories within the parks. Many parks have interesting people that others should know. Or they might just have an odd type of event – like turtle racing – that is worthy of a story, or a photo or two. You also have organizations that are doing good things for the community. We want to know about these events and people. And if you can’t write a story, we can send someone that can or just give us the information and we’ll take it from there.

If you have a story idea, we love receiving your suggestions and hearing from you. Send your ideas to news@wintertexantimes.com. Types of stories we might be interested in could be profile pieces, unique activities, or events in your community, how your park is involved in local charity work, or any myriad of human-interest stories we might stumble across in our Winter Texan parks. If it’s something you think is worth sharing – share it with us.

Like I said earlier, with the holidays just around the corner, I am sure plenty of parks are holding their own events collecting food donations, socks, school supplies, etc. – these are things we like to hear about and share with your community. And if you just need to get the word out about that special event for a charity, let us know, and we will see how we can help you out. We love sharing what you are doing. We love seeing the photos – and sharing them. Let others know what fun you are having by sharing your fun activities with us.

We are here to help you along the way and get the news that matters to you on our pages, Facebook, and our website.