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Pleasantville: Frisco attempts to be named friendliest small town
Jen Jordan and Bob Shatz were greeted by children at a Story Time event held at Frisco City Hall. Photo courtesy of Frisco Public Library.
By Anthony Tosie, atosie@starlocalnews.com
While the residents of Frisco already know how great the city is, soon that greatness may be receiving national recognition. The city is vying for the title of “friendliest town” as part of a “Best of the Road” competition hosted by Rand McNally and USA Today.
From June 23 to June 25, Frisco was visited by the Rogue Riders, a two-member team judging the six towns in the friendliest town category of the competition. The Rogue Riders, which consists of Jen Jordan and Bob Shatz, are visiting each town to determine what “friendly” really means.
“I think ‘friendly’ is such a broad and vague term to try and define, so it’s really what does that mean to the town,” Jordan said. “I think we’re discovering here that, as such a young community, friendship and being friendly means reaching out to your neighbors, making sure everyone’s included, and [being involved in] the community.”
One thing the duo wasn’t prepared for: Texas-style cooking. When visiting local restaurants, such as Babe’s Chicken House and Kenny’s Burger Joint, Jordan and Shatz were quickly struck by the style of food as well as the serving sizes.
“The portions definitely stand out – very delicious home-style cooking,” Jordan said. “The steak last night was just spectacular. I had a really unique fillet stuffed with crawfish that was delicious. Bob’s prime rib was amazing.”
Shatz agreed with Jordan’s assessment of Frisco food: “They had the largest burger I’ve ever seen at Kenny’s Burger Joint…I took on the seven-pound burger. I only got through a quarter of it, but even the quarter would have been the biggest burger I’ve ever seen.”
Another thing neither Jordan nor Shatz was adequately prepared for was the Texas heat, as Jordan grew up in Denver and Shatz was raised in Detroit.
“This was definitely a warm welcome in many ways,” Jordan said.
The visit to Frisco marked the third stop on the Rogue Riders’ tour; the duo previously visited Murray, Ky., and Joplin, Mo. While both Murray and Joplin had collegiate teams, neither could offer the professional sports experience Frisco offers.
“In Murray there was Murray State University, where we visited their basketball camp, and in Joplin we visited with the Outlaws collegiate baseball club,” Jordan said. “But here we got to go see the Major League Soccer team [FC Dallas], and the facilities here are very impressive – the stadiums are great.”
During their trip, the Rogue Riders attended FC Dallas and Rough Riders games. At the latter game, Shatz threw out the opening pitch.
The next stop on the Rogue Riders’ friendliest town tour is College Station. Following that visit, the team will visit Cloudcroft, N.M., and San Luis Obispo, Calif.
Additional information on the Randy McNally and USA Today “Best of the Road” competition can be found at www.bestoftheroad.com. Other Best of the Road categories include the most beautiful town, most fun town, most patriotic town and the town with the best food. The winners of each category will be announced July 16.
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