2015 October Lakewood

REALITY TV STARS FROM OUR NEIGHBORHOOD SHARE STORIES ABOUT LIFE UNDER THE LENS

We’re proud of our deep

Dallas roots and equally proud to be the only real estate company sponsor of the

M-STREETS 5434 MORNINGSIDE AVENUE

$699,000 | 3 Bed | 3.1 Bath | Formals | Den | Updated | 2-Car Garage | 3,020 Sq.Ft.

CAROLE McBRIDE | 972.733.8835 | carole.mcbride@alliebeth.com

DALLAS 2616 PASADENA PLACE

$560,000 | 3 Bed | 2 Bath | 1,921 Sq.Ft. | 62x180 Lot

SUSAN BRADLEY | 214.674.5518 | susan.bradley@alliebeth.com

M-STREETS 5807 MONTICELLO AVENUE

$499,000 | 4 Bed | 2 Bath | 2,106 Sq.Ft.

LITTLE FOREST HILLS 9014 EUSTIS AVENUE

$399,900 | 3 Bed | 2 Bath | 1,964 Sq.Ft.

TIM SCHUTZE | 214.507.6699 | tim.schutze@alliebeth.com

LAKEWOOD 7211 LA VISTA DRIVE

$350,000 | 2 Bed | 1 Bath | 1,384 Sq.Ft. | 50x150 Lot

SUSAN BRADLEY | 214.674.5518 | susan.bradley@alliebeth.com

JAMIE NOONAN | 214.803.6171 | jamie.noonan@alliebeth.com 214.521.7355 | alliebeth.com

WHITE ROCK 7024 WAKE FORREST DRIVE

$299,000 | 2 Bed | 2 Bath | 1,398 Sq.Ft. | 2-Car Garage

SUSAN BLACKBURN | 214.912.2455 | susan.blackburn@alliebeth.com

Dream on Urban planners offer their sky’s-the-limit visions for Lakewood Shopping Center.

68

Parking puzzle

Is there a solution for Lowest Greenville’s parking problem?

21

Ruff life

Animal activist Shelby Bobsky is fighting to give animals in Texas the best shot possible.

26

Love in the limelight

In his new book, former ‘Bachelor’ Sean Lowe dishes on finding love on reality TV.

cover Made for TV

38

How much of reality TV is actual reality? Neighborhood TV stars give us a gilmpse.

by Danny Fulgencio

28

A new classic Mark Landson is giving classical music a fresh twist.

ON THE COVER: Photo of Jason Cohen by Danny Fulgencio

Photo

HOME SWEET HOME

It’s where your heart is

My father and mother have lived in the same house for almost 60 years.

The house has changed over the years

they’ve added a bedroom, a bathroom, an office and a den. They’ve painted, repainted, painted yet again and finally gave up and added metal siding to the outside of the place. They’ve mowed and tended the acreage so lovingly, I swear they know most of the blades of grass and even the weeds by heart.

They’ve fixed water leaks, solved electrical problems, dealt with foundation cracking, repaired broken windows (at least two caused by my childhood baseball game simulations throwing a ball against the wall), and dealt with all kinds of happy times and personal calamities there, too.

There are far more memories than problems in a house that has become a home, but the good times of the past still can’t change the realities of the present.

Today, the house and grounds are far larger than two jokingly self-described “old” people need, even as the house and storage buildings are jammed with just about everything anyone in the family ever acquired over the years — including what appears to be every school project my sisters and I completed from kindergarten through college.

They are not hoarders, at least in the current reality-TV vernacular. But like many of us, since they have room to save stuff, lots of stuff has been saved.

So I asked my dad what it would take to get them to move to a smaller home that would be easier to care for and would demand less from them as they continue try-

ing to defy the aging process.

He paused, thoughtfully I presumed rather than for that “give-the-kid-the-ideaI’m-actually-considering-this” effect, and said words that ring true regardless of age and status.

“I don’t know,” he told me. “It just seems a lot easier to stay put here where we’ve always been.”

It is easy for my sisters and me to express our concerns and offer our opinions, because of course we know what’s best for people other than ourselves. But only my mom and dad can determine what’s best for them, and if they choose to ignore us, should we blame them? They’ve done just fine over the years despite all of the things we’ve dragged them into, through and over.

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office administrator: JUDY LILES

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classified manager: PRIO BERGER

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EDITORIAL publisher: CHRISTINA HUGHES BABB

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managing editor: EMILY CHARRIER

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editor-at-large: KERI MITCHELL

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editors:

RACHEL STONE

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BRITTANY NUNN

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ELIZABETH BARBEE

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assistant art director: EMILY MANGAN

My parents have earned the right to live their lives how they see fit, not that they need my permission to do so anyway, and if health-permitting they want to ride off into the sunset in this house they’ve called home for so long, I guess that is their call. It certainly isn’t mine.

That point was clear as I left their home after a recent pilgrimage, driving off into the sunset myself.

There they were, arm in arm and waving goodbye while standing in the front door of the only home they’ve known together — just as they have so many times over so many years and under so many circumstances.

214.292.0493 / emangan@advocatemag.com

designers: LARRY OLIVER, KRIS SCOTT, EMILY WILLIAMS

contributing editors: SALLY WAMRE

contributors: SAM GILLESPIE, ANGELA HUNT, GEORGE MASON, KRISTEN MASSAD, BRENT McDOUGAL

photo editor: DANNY FULGENCIO

214.635.2121 / danny@advocatemag.com

contributing photographers: JAMES COREAS, RASY

RAN, JENNIFER SHERTZER, KATHY TRAN, ANDREW WILLIAMS, SHERYL LANZEL

Thanks to Curiosities in Lakewood Shopping Center and McShan Florist in East Dallas for lending props to “The Real World” cover story.

copy per reader. Advocate was founded in 1991 by Jeff Siegel, Tom Zielinski and Rick Wamre.

There are far more memories than problems in a house that has become a home, but the good times of the past still can’t change the realities of the present.

With mammograms, there is no magic age.

When to Get Your Mammogram

There’s a lot of information out there about mammograms, and Texas Health Resources is here to help clear things up. Because when it comes to mammograms, the most important thing to remember is getting one in the first place. And when you should start scheduling them depends on you and factors like family history, physical activity and lifestyle. Know your risks by taking our Breast Cancer Risk Assessment. And if you are at risk, an available comprehensive breast care program offers a full range of services, from screenings to treatment to recovery. Call to schedule your digital mammogram today.

1-877-THR-WELL | TexasHealth.org/Breast Allen | Dallas | Plano

Presenting your home to the world

6209 Bryan Parkway | $580,000

Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s International Realty

Lauren Valek Farris Vice President

469.867.1734

lfarris@briggsfreeman.com

Kelley Theriot McMahon Vice President 214.563.5986

ktmcmahon@briggsfreeman.com

LaurenAndKelley.com

WHAT YOU’RE MISSING

Lakewood Theater owners say they need tenants

After theater seats ripped out, no one knows what’s going on at the Lakewood Theater

Lakewood Theater seat dump sets off ‘alarm bells,’ city takes action

Steel City Pops will open new location at Casa Linda Plaza

Former Garland Road auto shop to become Oasis Smokehouse

Chik-fil-A and Carmel Car Wash plan new stores

“Thank you [for] investigating the situation and not just quoting the owner and implying that our neighborhood is crazy for our concern like other media outlets.”

— Mark Reeves

“I don’t know why the owners would be surprised by the reaction of the community. Or maybe it’s more evidence that they don’t understand Lakewood.”

— Woodrow Wildcat

“Figure out how to either get the city to reduce the number of parking spaces of find somewhere to put an attractive parking structure that could serve the area. Why is this so hard to do? That’s the way you make this deal work and save the theater.”

— Bink1

iPhone robberies continue despite arrests

“This is beyond ridiculous. The number of crime incidents in this area has dramatically increased and there has been no response from DPD. For this to occur repeatedly within blocks of the DPD substation should be an embarrassment to DPD and yet no real response. This will end with someone getting shot. Victim or criminal remains to be seen, but this is a powder keg.”

— CBS

“This lack of response has never been an issue before. Of course the bad guys will keep coming back. What’s going on here?”

— Susan

Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage

COMING SOON

UNDER CONTRACT

REDUCED

214-793-8787

SOLD

1535 Stemmons | $999,000 5/6/4 | East Kessler Park Hills Darlene Harrison | 214-893-7547

COMING SOON

214-418-2780

214-418-2780

214-336-3060

6023

|

3/2/2 | 2 living Lee Lamont | 214-418-2780

| 214-808-0242

SOLD

SOLD

2605

Rd. | $445,000 4/3/2 | Modern Elegance on huge lot

Jo Deering | 214-734-3100

UNDER CONTRACT

UNDER CONTRACT

COMING SOON

710 Kirkwood 2/2/2 Melissa McSpedden | 214-552-4972

9547 Galway | $275,000 3/2 Melissa McSpedden | 214-552-4972

4211 Rawlins #522 Palo Alto Townhomes, end unit Tom Sheshene | 214-604-9230

8631 Groveland | $229,000 2/1 | Eclectic Little Forest Hills Amber Looney | 312-404-2041

7233 Brennans | $549,000 Lee Lamont | Jorge Villalpando 214-418-2780 |

10520 Evangeline Way | $377,000 3/2/2/2 | Mid-Century Contemporary Jill Carpenter | 214-770-5296

6407 Anita | $569,000 3/2/2 | In Lakewood Robyn Price |

9121 Brady Dr. | $425,000 4/2.1/2 | Moss Haven Elementary April Cope | 214-755-2063

1252 Waterside | $399,900 3/2/2 | Under Contract Tom Sheshene | 214-604-9230

7131 Greentree | $995,000 3/2/3 | 2 living, large patio Lee Lamont |

6343 Velasco | $799,000 5/3.1/2 | Chef’s Kitchen, Pool Lee Lamont |

5026 Manett | $395,000 Zoned multi-family Lili Ornelas

Peavy

Mary

Winton

$404,500

DIGITAL DIGEST THE DIALOGUE

When it comes to the Lakewood Theater, it’s not personal, it’s business, says owner

“My read on it is that Preservation Dallas and Landmark can’t impact the interior or use. They’re already keeping the exterior intact, so it looks like you’re getting restaurants whether you want them or not. Churn will take care of the market failures so it looks like the activists were a day late and dollars didn’t matter.” — Joe

“It’s time for all you people who fought the parking lot a few years ago to finally admit that loosing the theater is your fault. Now all of you want the parking lot, but that ship has sailed. It’s somewhat humorous to see people who have no idea about commercial real estate tell the experts how to run their business when it’s you nonexperts who are the ones that are to blame for loosing the theater. If

WANT MORE?

Ron moved to Lakewood in 1972 and began selling Lakewood and East Dallas homes in 1978. The three Burch children attended Lipscomb, Long and Woodrow before graduating from three different Texas universities. The Lakewood Advocate asked Ron to furnish information for The Real Estate Report. him as the neighborhood expert on local home sales and prices.

Knowing Lakewood and East Dallas makes Ron the agent to help you buy or sell in this great neighborhood.

Ron Burch 214-394-7562

ron.burch@cbdfw.com

you non-experts had listened to the experts, there would already be a parking lot and Alamo would already be in operation.” — Jay

Cutcher

“Lakewood does not need more restaurants. We already have too many as it is. What we need is a place that can be useful to the community as a common meeting place.” — Jean Crawford

“I hope the owners know that the community will absolutely not support any business that compromises the architectural or functional use of that property. It has been a source of Lakewood pride and admiration for years. That building is a symbol and should be used and preserved as such.” — Scott

#1 RANKED HOSPITAL IN DFW Nationally recognized for 23 years

Once again, U.S. News & World Report ranked Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas first in the Dallas Metro Area. Baylor Dallas is nationally recognized in three specialty areas—diabetes & endocrinology, gastroenterology & GI surgery and neurology & neurosurgery—and high performing in eight specialties—cancer; ear, nose & throat; geriatrics; gynecology; nephrology; orthopedics; pulmonology and urology. Baylor Dallas also is recognized for excellence in treating COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) and heart failure. For you, these recognitions simply confirm our commitment to providing safe, quality, compassionate health care each day. It’s one more way we are Changing Health Care. For Life.™

For a physician referral or for more Physicians provide clinical services as members of the medical staff at one of Baylor Scott & White Health’s subsidiary, community or affiliated medical centers and do not provide clinical services as employees or agents of those medical centers, Baylor Health Care System, Scott & White Healthcare or Baylor Scott &White Health. ©2015 Baylor Scott &White Health BUMCD_1010_2015 CE 09.15

information,

Radiation oncologist Dr. Ramzi Abdulrahman leads a dedicated team of health care professionals who specialize in delivering extremely precise cancer treatments that allow our youngest patients to continue their journey into adulthood with fewer long-term side effects. UT Southwestern is the No. 1 referral center for Children’s Medical Center, and the only local facility that regularly treats children with advanced radiosurgical tools such as the Gamma Knife and CyberKnife. This is UT Southwestern—where scientific research, advanced technology, and leading-edge treatments come together to bring new hope to cancer patients.

To learn more, contact: Radiation Oncology at 214-645-8525 | UTSWmedicine.org/radonc

This is where we’re helping young patients put cancer behind them.

Q&A: Animal activist Shelby Bobsky

“I still have nightmares after watching videos on gas chamber [animal] euthanasia,” Lakewood neighbor Shelby Bobosky says. But unlike most, who see something unbearable and look away, she decided to do something about it. In 2012, Bobosky quit her job as an attorney to work pro bono as the legislative chair for the Texas Humane Legislation Network (THLN), a nonprofit organization that promotes the humane treatment of animals through legislation, education and advocacy. Once she learned that up to 50 Texas shelters still euthanized around 20,000 cats and dogs each year in gas chambers, she spearheaded a bill to end the barbaric practice in 2013, requiring shelters to use more humane lethal injection techniques. So what keeps her going? Read our Q&A to find out.

Shelby Bobosky and her pets: Photo by Rasy Ran

How did you get involved?

I got involved in 2011. I helped in a puppy mill raid, and it really changed my life. I could not believe that the State of Texas at the time did not have any regulations for puppy mills. I was a bored attorney who hadn’t really found passion. I went and helped, and at the same time I was introduced to THLN, and I thought, “Wow, this organization effectuates change for thousands of animals. Wouldn’t that be great if we could put a law in place that regulated puppy mills?” I was extremely attracted to that idea, and so I got involved in the board. The legislative chair was getting ready to retire, so she took a backseat recently, and I’m taking over. I’ve loved it ever since.

Tell me a little about Texas Humane Legislation Network.

We are celebrating our 40th year anniversary. The mission is to promote the humane treatment of animals through legislation, education and advocacy. At the end of the day, our real focus is legislation. Every session, which is every other year, we look at every bill that comes up that relates to animals, and then we decide, “Do we want to track it? Is it a good bill? Is it a bad bill?” We try to determine if it’s something we want to support or oppose, or whether or not we want to send out an action alert to our members all over the state. If it’s something we support, we call our members and tell them, “Call your legislator and vote ‘yes.’” If it’s something we oppose, we tell them to call their legislator and say, “This is a bad bill,” and we give them the reasons why.

How has social media changed the organization?

Before social media, there were actually huge phone trees. So you’d get 20 people to call and then you’d ask each person to call 20 people. Social media nowadays can be a lightening rod for furthering your cause. Legislation happens really quickly. You could find out on Monday morning that a hearing is set for Wednesday. So social media helps to spread the word and get a message out there really quickly. Instead of phone trees, we just put a message on social media that says, “Please call your legislature and tell them the following three things…” and it’s great because in the comment section you can see, “Done,” or “The

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Woodgrove Drive COMING SOON

Peavy Road SOLD

8643 Groveland Drive SOLD (BUYER REP)

Kilarney Drive $525,000 Sam Saladino

Collier

Collier

Collier

office says they’re already going to vote for it.” It’s unbelievable.

What really makes your blood boil?

Probably tethering. The tethering bill was one of those common sense bills, I think, brought by Rep. Kenneth Sheets (R-Dallas). That one really kills me because not a week goes by that I don’t get a picture of a dog on a chain, all over Texas. The purpose of the tethering bill is to provide food, water and shelter for animals that are outside 24/7. Whether that’s an animal in Wichita Falls, where it has been extremely cold, or a dog in South Texas that hasn’t had water in three days and it’s chained. That’s torture. So that’s one that we will bring back next session to try to pass. The City of Dallas has a wonderful tethering ordinance. We need something that covers the entire State of Texas because it’s the rural areas that really need our help. It’s not that you shouldn’t be able to tether at all, but if you’re going to tether make sure the dog has proper food, water and shelter. I just see so many pictures of dogs with these huge chains. I just can’t sleep at night without seeing these dogs. We will pass it next session, but unfortunately we have to wait two years to do that.

You live in Lakewood?

Yeah, and I must say: I love our East Dallas residents. They do such a phenomenal job with their dogs and with finding dogs and trying to get them back to their owners. We love our dogs and it shows. I wish we could be a model for other cities because I feel like East Dallas treats its pets like they’re family, and that’s how it should be.

You’re clearly an animal lover, so how do you do it? What drives you in such an emotionally taxing job?

It’s extremely difficult. There are horrible cases of animal cruelty out there, but seeing someone commit animal cruelty is not as bad as when you’ve seen commercial cruelty. When you have someone who says they just paid $800 for a dog, and now she says she’s turning it over to the shelter because it pees everywhere, that to me is the worst because it’s a part of that commercial cruelty that happens. So how do I convince that person? That keeps me up at night.

Brittany Nunn

VIEWFINDER

The little philanthropist

When Cooper England, a preschooler at East Dallas Developmental Center, celebrated his fourth birthday, he asked his friends and classmates to give him dog and cat food instead of gifts. “Cooper is a huge animal lover,” says his mom, Jo England. All told, Cooper collected about 200 pounds of dog and cat food, which he donated to the Dallas Animal Services Adoption Center.

Photos by Jo England

THE goods

SECTION to advertise call 214.560.4203

THE LITTLE THINGS

Stop by The Little Things for the perfect gift for the little ones in your life.

Monday - Friday 10am-6pm · Saturday 10am-5pm 5207 Bonita Avenue · 214.821.3015

Shop online at shopthelittlethings.com

YOGA MART

20% off anything Orange and Black for the entire month of October. Come in to see what you can find. Yoga Mart 6039 Oram (at Skillman) 214.534.4469 yogamartusa.com

Writer in Residence: Sean Lowe

By all odds, Catherine and Sean Lowe should never have met, let alone fallen in love. Of the dozens of made-for-TV couples produced on “The Bachelor,” only a precious few actually make it to the altar.

The Lowes, who settled down in Vickery Place after marrying last year during a televised fairytale wedding, are one of the most beloved couples to ever appear on the TV dating juggernaut that ABC created in “The Bachelor,” where a dashing suitor dates more than a dozen blushing potential brides simultaneously until he finds his princess. Unlike most bachelors before him, for Sean, that actually ended up being cast-mate Catherine.

Sean captured the unusual twists and turns of their romantic journey in his newly released book, “For the Right Reasons,” which he co-authored with Nancy French.

THE STORE IN LAKE HIGHLANDS

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ADVOCATE ORNAMENT

Call 214.560.4203

CITY VIEW ANTIQUE MALL

SAVE THE DATE! Shop 100 Dealers at our Annual Fall Antique Flea Market, rain or shine, October 31, 9-5. Fall Storewide Sale starts Wed.10/28 thru Sun. 11/1.

Vintage Holiday items arriving daily! 6830 Walling Ln. (Skillman/Abrams) 214.752.3071 cityviewantiques.com Like us on Facebook.

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ADVOCATE GOODS

More than 200,000 sets of eyes are checking out these items right now. Get your specialty items or featured products in front of your neighbors that love to shop local for unique items. Read online at advocatemag.com/digital

It begins with the story of his life prereality TV as a young football star, and it takes us through his fall from grace in college, which was a catalyst in his decision to be a part of ABC’s “The Bachelorette” in 2012. It was actually his sister and brotherin-law who signed him up for the show in the first place.

He made it almost to the bitter end of “The Bachelorette,” and he was even certain he would win bachelorette Emily Maynard’s heart, but she gave him the boot before the final round, leaving him heartbroken in third place.

Not long after, ABC offered him the role as leading man on its “The Bachelor” and he decided to take another chance at finding love in front of millions of viewers. Against all odds, the couple made it past the limelight – albeit not without a healthy dose of reality TV drama – and seem to have genuinely found true love.

Throughout the book, Sean offers plenty of behind-the-scenes glimpses into his life in front of the lens. In chapter 14, “The Decision,” Sean walks readers through the agony of having to choose between two

women — both of whom, he claims, he was in love with at the time.

As the final rose ceremony approached, he begged the producer for an unscheduled (and thus clandestine) chat with Catherine the night before filming the season’s finale. Traditionally, the bachelor ends the season by proposing to the woman of his choice on the final show, but Sean, who is deeply religious, needed to understand where Catherine was on her own spiritual journey before he could ask for her hand.

He also shared an intimate glimpse of what it was like to have private details of the couple’s life touted to sell tabloids — particularly the couple’s decision to wait until their wedding night to have sex.

“I hated that everyone wanted to talk about how I was the ‘born-again virgin bachelor,’ a phrase I had never used before in my life,” Sean wrote, later adding, “No one would’ve made jokes — or even found it noteworthy — had I been some sort of playboy, bedding women left and right.”

Brittany Nunn

Against all odds, the couple made it past the limelight –albeit not without a healthy dose of reality TV drama –and seem to have genuinely found true love.

Seeger

Turn down for classical

Lakewood neighbor Mark Landson is taking on the classical music industry.

All of it, from the way it’s structured to the way it’s presented to the way it’s consumed. If he had it his way he would change the whole experience — except for the way classical music gets street cred for being an extremely technical and dynamic form of music. He’d keep that part.

He founded Open Classical as an open mic for classical musicians, rotating around various coffee shops, restaurants and wine bars. Although the concept has evolved since it was first launched, the overall goal is to “dress down classical music without dumbing it down,” and he has clung to that vision above all else.

Bush NEW NEW

Bush

Mark Landson: Photo by Danny Fulgencio

Ave.

$925,000

Annapolis Ln. $399,900

7030

Vivian Ave. $418,000

Lakeshore Dr. $869,000

Coltharp

Guajardo

to join several orchestras and chamber ensembles, touring across the United States and Europe.

If anyone is allowed to be an elitist about classical music, it’s probably him, but that’s exactly what he doesn’t like about the industry — that it comes off as inaccessible and unapproachable.

“I had a longing for a different kind of classical thing, that just wasn’t what I was seeing happening,” he explains.

“I really wanted to bring it back to what I consider to be the most important part of classical music, which is the journey of emotions that is created through motivicbased compositions.”

He wanted to find a way for classical musicians to be realistic about how most people listen to music, especially young people. He began composing and formed a slightly more eclectic group called Neo Camerata in 2005, which performs at concert halls and rock clubs and everything in between.

Then in 2011 he started Open Classical in Dallas. The signature event is the classical open mic, where “professional and amateur musicians can play anything relating to classical music.”

Since its inception, Open Classical has expanded its vision to offer a slew of other fun yet professional, classical-themed events around the metroplex, most of which are the byproduct of collaborations with other Dallas organizations.

Ultimately Landson wants to challenge the structure of the classical music industry, which is top-down rather than bottomup, unlike other music genres, he explains. Within the classical music industry a few people at the top decide who gets “in.” If the entire music industry worked that way, it would be operating like “American Idol” all the time, Landson points out. Instead most rock or pop bands start small and build an audience on their own and then a company takes them in.

“In classical music that doesn’t hap-

pen,” Landson says — but he would like it to, or at least he would like to create a new avenue for classical musicians because without a hierarchy shift, he believes there will be no creative evolution within the genre. “The structure doesn’t allow it,” he says.

To that end, Landson and Neo Camerata recently toured with the band Say Anything through 30 cities to promote Open Classical and its goal to create a national network of regional touring routes for classical musicians.

If he’s successful, Open Classical will become an umbrella organization to help promote classical musicians and groups on a larger scale.

“We want to both make classical music a part of normal, everyday culture and provide new opportunities for new classical musicians, and a way for people to experience classical music in new and different ways,” he concludes.

No big deal.

—Brittany Nunn

$385,000

$650,000

Pastre

Get into the Buccaneer spirit for this amazing community event full of music, food, fun and running in support of J.L. Long Middle School. The Long Run winds runners through the picturesque neighborhood and along the Santa Fe Trail. Race begins and ends at J.L. Long, and the fun starts at 5:30 pm on Thursday, October 15th.

Top/ Shoe sketches. Bottom/ A small selection of Mondell’s shoe collection. Right/ Mondell at her home: Photos by Rasy Ran

These boots are made for talking

If you have a shoe, you have From squeaky-clean and shiny and soiled, East Dallas neighbor Mondell wants to collect them all.

All the stories, that is.

Mondell is a filmmaker, and been working on a documentary “Sole Sisters” about the female ence as told by women and their “It’s about telling women’s their lives and their memories — their relationships with their shoes,” dell explains. “It’s the shoes that fected you, whether they’re your your mother’s or your grandmother’s.”

Somewhat ironically, it’s Mondell’s own shoe story that was the inspiration behind the project:

“It’s a mother-daughter story,” “My mother was dying of pancreatic cer. She was very, very ill — on a drip. My sister and I went into her and we found all these shoes. this box of brand new shoes she opened. She’d never worn the shoes, they were red high heels. We took into her room and said, ‘Mom these shoes. You never wore them.’ she actually sat up in bed and talked for half-a-day.

“Those shoes did something to we thought, ‘My gosh, the doctors wrong. She’s going to recover.’ The thing offered us hope, and we kept ‘You’re going to get up, and you’re to dance in those shoes,’ and we about it. Of course with pancreatic she passed away shortly after, like for that part of the day we had happiness. That always stuck with Mondell has been filming the for more than two years. Already found thousands of stories like and although she has more stories she can use, she hasn’t stopped yet. If you have a story you’d like or know someone who would, go sistersfilm.com and submit your Brittany

Out & About

October 2015

Oct. 17

The Spree anniversary

The biggest band ever to come out of Dallas (literally) turns 15 this month. Neighbor Tim DeLaughter’s group that employs about 25 musicians at a time, even taking the whole crew on tour occasionally, at first seemed like a crazy idea. But the Polyphonic Spree made it. The band celebrates its 15th anniversary with an 8 p.m. performance.

Granada Theater, 3524 Greenville, 214.824.9933, granadatheater.com, $22

OCT. 2-NOV. 14

Serial killer

“Jack the Ripper-Monster of Whitechapel,” is a play that follows the theater’s melodramatic/comedic/terrorizing style. This show could be too scary for little kids.

Pocket Sandwich Theater, 5400 Mockingbird, 214.821.1860, pocketsandwich.com, $12-$25

OCT. 3

Holistic health expo

Learn natural healing techniques at Unity on Greenville’s holistic health expo from 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m. There will be food, massages and talks from holistic health experts.

Unity on Greenville Church, 3435 Greenville, 214.826.5683, dallasunity.org, free

OCT. 7, 14, 21 AND 28

Scary movie night

Every Wednesday, Sundown at Granada plays a free movie and offers half-price whiskey. The films this month are “Zombieland,” “Ghostbusters,” “Scream” and “Lost Boys.”

Sundown at Granada, 3520 Greenville, 214.823.8305, granadatheater.com/sundown-atgranada, free

OCT. 9

S’Wonderful

Celebrate the Music of George and Ira Gershwin in a 6:30-9:30 p.m. concert, plus food and drinks. Special guest Damon Clark performs with the choir. Proceeds from ticket sales and a silent auction benefit free public arts programming. St. Matthew’s Cathedral, 5100 Ross, cathedralartsdallas.org, 214.887.6552, $40-$50

OCT. 9-24

Love letters

Wingspan Theatre Co. opens its 18th season this month with “Dear Liar!” a play based on love letters between playwright George Bernard Shaw and his muse, Mrs. Patrick Campbell. Bath House Cultural Center, 521 E. Lawther, 214.675.6573, wingspantheatre.com, $20-$25

OCT. 10-11

Studio tour

The 23rd annual White Rock Lake Artists’ Studio Tour gives visitors a peek into the lives and artistic processes of more than 45 artists in the White Rock area. Take the self-guided tour from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. both days.

Start at the Creative Arts Center to pick up a map, 2360 Laughlin, whiterockartists.com, 214.320.1275, free

OCT. 15

Long run

J.L. Long Middle School’s only fundraiser helps pay for the items the school district can’t afford to supply. Registration and festivities begin at 5:30 p.m. A 1-mile fun run starts at 6 p.m., followed by the certified 5k run at 6:30. J.L. Long Middle School, 6116 Reiger, 972.502.4700, jllong.com, $10-$20

OCT. 16-30

Sleepy Hollow

The spooky tales of Washington Irving are the basis for “The Ghosts of Sleepy Hollow.” The play is recommended for ages 11 and up.

Dallas Children’s Theater, 5938 Skillman, 214.740.0051, dct.org, $12$40

OCT. 17

School carnival

Stonewall Jackson Elementary School’s fall carnival starts at 1 p.m. and includes rides, a hamster-ball racetrack, a petting zoo and pony rides, face painting, a cake walk and tons of treats. Food and ride tickets cost 50-cents each, and a wristband for unlimited activities (excluding food) costs $25.

Stonewall Jackson Elementary School, 5828 E. Mockingbird, free

Photo courtesy of primarytalent.com

OCT. 20

Transportation history

Local author and storyteller Rose-Mary Rumbley gives a 2 p.m. presentation, “The History of Traveling Around Dallas,” the story of transportation from the first car in Dallas to Carroll Shelby’s Cobra, trolley cars and DART light rail. Doors open at 1:30 p.m. Lakewood Library, 6121 Worth, 214.670.1376, lakewoodlibraryfriends.org, free

OCT. 22-24 AND 31

The headless horseman

White Rock Theater Project presents Legends of Sleepy Hollow, its take on the Washington Irving classic. The Mix at White Rock United Methodist Church, 9125 Diceman, andralaine@yahoo.com, $10

OCT. 24

Trunk-or-Treat

Dress up in Halloween costumes and go “trunk-or-treating” at Mata Montessori, 4-8 p.m. Listen to tunes spun by a local DJ, play carnival games, and vote on the best decorated trunk.

Mata Montessori School, 7420 E. Grand, matamontessori.com, $2 admission for children (adults free)

OCT. 26

Golf tournament

A fundraising golf tournament for Healing Hands Ministries starts at noon. Entry includes lunch and dinner. Lakewood Country Club, 1912 Abrams, 214.821.1491, healinghandsdallas.org, $165 per player

OCT. 31

HarvestFest

“Come one, come fall” to Robert E. Lee Elementary’s inaugural community celebration, 4-6 p.m., with cool raffle prizes, costume contests, music with local DJ Wes Garrett, trick-or-treating with neighborhood businesses and more. Robert E. Lee Elementary School, 2911 Delmar, free

Delicious

WABI HOUSE

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HOURS:

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DID YOU KNOW?

Wabi House on Lowest Greenville is the fulfillment of chef Dien Nguyen’s vision for a late-night ramen house there — although the late-night part hasn’t been fully realized yet. He’s still waiting on a specialuse permit from the city that will allow him to keep Wabi House open until 4 a.m., but in the meantime he’s got the ramen part down. Even the traditional ramen bowl, the tonkotsu, is packed with flavor and the spicy miso has the perfect amount of kick. Nguyen, who’s just a big foodie at heart, grew up in Fort Worth; he trained in cities all over the United States before deciding to open Wabi House because he believed Dallas was missing out on the ramen craze other cities have embraced. The restaurant is right on the corner of Greenville and Lewis, and it has a modern rustic flair, which makes it both dressy and casual. But mostly the design is sleek and simple because Nguyen wants the focus to be on the food — nothing obstructive.

“Like how you would have ramen in Japan, on a street corner,” explains the restaurant’s spokeswoman Teresa Nguyen. “The design fits [Dien Nguyen]. The whole concept is very him.”

—Brittany Nunn

HANGING LIGHTS WERE ADDED ABOVE EACH TABLE AFTER THE RESTAURANT OPENED SO FOODIES COULD HAVE BETTER LIGHTING TO TAKE PICTURES OF THEIR RAMEN BOWLS SEE MORE PHOTOS Visit

Clockwise: Beets ’n Brussels, Karaage, Spicy Miso: Photo by Rasy Ran

TASTE 3: NEW TO GREENVILLE |

Rapscallion

After more than a year of construction, this southern restaurant, which aims to bring a “true neighborhood bistro to the bustling Lowest Greenville,” opened recently. The wrapped scallions and hot fried chicken are worth the wait.

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Yucatan Taco Stand

If the open-air seating isn’t enough to convince you to hangout at Yucatan, the mile-high pile of messy nachos might be.

2023 Greenville, 469.779.9263

BBBop

The first of the cluster of new restaurants to open on Lowest Greenville, this place offers anything you could want in a Korean rice bowl, including a variety of sauce options. 2023 Greenville, 469.941.4297

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Not your Momma’s Fried Chicken from BBBop: Photo by Rasy Ran

PULL IN THE PUMPKINS

The leaves are changing from summer green to autumn orange and if you’re like me, you have waited all year for pumpkin season to officially begin. From savory to sweet, there are endless pumpkin recipes to get you in the spirit. One of my tried and true favorites is this classic Pumpkin Roulade with sweet Maple Cream Cheese Icing.

GROCERY LIST:

Pumpkin Roll Cake

6 eggs

2 cups granulated sugar

1 ½ cups pumpkin puree

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon cinnamon

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon nutmeg

Maple Cream Cheese Icing

1 stick (8 tablespoons) butter, unsalted

1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese

3 cups powdered sugar

1 tablespoon maple syrup

DIRECTIONS:

Pumpkin Cake

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F, grease a half-sheet pan and cover with parchment paper.

Beat the eggs and sugar until light in color.

Add pumpkin puree.

Combine flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg and fold into pumpkin mixture.

Spread the cake batter onto a prepared half-sheet pan.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 15-18 minutes or until cake springs back at the touch. Allow cake to cool before spreading a thin layer of maple cream cheese icing

to cover the entire top of the cake. Roll the pumpkin cake to make a log and refrigerate for 20 minutes to allow icing to set.

Spread the remaining maple cream cheese on top of the log.

(Optional garnish: sprinkle with chopped pecans)

Serve at room temperature and enjoy!

Maple Cream Cheese Icing

Combine butter and powdered sugar and beat until crumbly.

Add in cream cheese and maple syrup and mix until smooth.

Kristen Massad writes a monthly column about sweets and baked goods. The professional pastry chef graduated from the French Culinary Institute in New York City and owned Tart Bakery on Lovers Lane for eight years. She blogs about food and lifestyles at inkfoods.com.

THE

Neighborhood residents dish about their 15 minutes of reality TV fame

Running the gamut from voyeuristic trash to societal edification, reality TV shows have amassed over the past 15 years like old newspapers on an episode of “Hoarders.” The grand paradox of the so-called “reality” genre is its supremely contrived, controlled and cut-up content, which — while necessary for palatable programming — deprives us of those stories beneath the surface. We tracked down East Dallas people who have spent time on reality TV show sets. They share candidly about their experiences, what they learned and life after the cameras shut off.

SHARKBAIT

They say you can’t buy happiness, but East Dallas neighbor Gina Cotroneo wasn’t going to let that stop her from trying to sell it, or from going on the reality TV show “Shark Tank” to seek financial backing for her mission.

In 2000, Cotroneo founded Soul’s Calling, a line of accessories adorned with inspirational messages. It’s her passion project aimed at spreading joy and goodwill the same way her personal story once incited anguish and anger.

In the cover of darkness in the quiet of her own home, Cotroneo was raped in 1997. She wisely preserved the DNA evidence her attacker left behind, which led investigators to radio personality Gary “Babyfase” Faison, who has also been linked to five other rapes. Because of the horrific nature of the crime, the story quickly made the rounds through local and national media outlets. Cotroneo refused to be silent about the attack, and even went on “Oprah” to share her story.

Over the years she saw firsthand how much impact one person could have on the lives of others. Not only did the attack affect her, but it also resonated with her family, her friends and thousands of strangers who heard her story.

“It’s kind of like a ripple,” she explains. “This person had done something negative, and it affected everyone around me. So I thought there had to be a way to

“IT WAS BRUTAL. IT DEFINITELY ISN’T ‘HAPPY DOLPHIN TANK.’”

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do that with something positive.”

That’s when she decided to create Soul’s Calling to “even the score,” she says. She poured her heart, time and money into the business, which she operated alongside her full-time job in advertising.

Each of the products — brightly colored umbrellas, friendship bracelets and flip-flops with carved soles that leave words in the sand — was embolded with a message of positivity. Cotroneo also ensured that each item contained her own extra sprinkle of love as well.

“I hugged every package before it went out,” she says, “and I wrote letters to anyone who was manufacturing stuff for me in order to let them know what my objective was.”

Cotroneo’s idea was unique and innovative, and her products were well received across the nation.

“People really loved the products,” she explains. “But I didn’t have a partner. I was trying to do everything myself, and nobody can do everything. I was really good at the design and the marketing, since that’s what I do for a living, but not so good at running a business.”

After several years of peddling good vibes, Cotroneo was falling deeper and deeper into debt. Every time she thought about shutting the business down, another opportunity would drop in her lap, giving her hope to make one last ditch effort. In 2009 that opportunity was the chance to pitch her business on ABC’s hit reality TV show, “Shark Tank,” which offers entrepreneurs the chance to seek funding from billionaires, including Dallas resident Mark Cuban, to grow their brands.

“’Shark Tank’ actually found me,” Cotroneo says. “They really liked the human angle of my personal story. It was the first season of the show. I didn’t really think they would give me money, but I thought I could get a lot of publicity from it.”

She made an audition video, hired a lawyer to look over all the legal documents and started scrambling to put together a solid business plan.

“I was so freaked out,” she remembers. “I didn’t really have a business plan, so I was desperately trying to get help with that before the show because I’m an art person, so I was afraid I was going to get

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called on my numbers and feel like a total idiot and have them rip me apart.”

Before she knew it, she was on a plane to Los Angeles. Although she is very comfortable being in front of a camera, she still had to brace herself for what she anticipated would be a grueling interview process — and she was right.

The interview was about 20 minutes long, although only about three minutes made it on the show.

“It was brutal,” she recalls. “It definitely isn’t ‘Happy Dolphin Tank.’ What you see on air was edited together very kindly. Since I’m a rape survivor, I think they probably felt like they couldn’t really put some of the harsher stuff in there. They were not kind.”

Barbara Corcoran called her an evangelist who has no business selling products, adding that because Cotroneo didn’t want to work with manufacturers, she should just stand on a street corner with her philosophy.

“She was kind of right in a way,” Cotroneo says. “Dealing with manufacturers was the part I didn’t like.”

In an ironic twist, Kevin O’Leary, who Cotroneo calls “the mean guy,” complimented her during the show for knowing her numbers.

In the end, none of the sharks chose to invest in Soul’s Calling and Cotroneo came back to East Dallas emptyhanded.

The show generated some limited interest in the business, but not long after it aired she finally decided to call it quits on Soul’s Calling.

“I just thought, ‘I can’t keep going with this,’” she explains. “It left me with some large loans that I’m still not done paying off.”

But Cotroneo still refuses to let negativity cloud her thinking.

“The lesson, looking back, is that I should have set myself an exit strategy,” she says.

“I’m so not sorry I did it. The amount I was able to accomplish on my own with a full-time job, it was really good. A lot of people were helped and continue to be helped just by hearing the story.”

After the show aired, she received a stack of letters and emails from supporters who loved the product and were inspired by her story, and that support hasn’t stopped.

“People still email or call me about it every time that episode of ‘Shark Tank’ comes back on,” she says.

WHEELING AND DEALING

With its seemingly endless twists and turns of walls packed to the ceiling with everything imaginable, at first glance, you might think Jason Cohen’s East Dallas shop, Curiosities, was the backdrop of an episode of “Hoarders.” But upon further inspection, you’ll find a collection of carefully curated antiques with checkered back stories — the same hidden treasures that draw ratings on hit shows like “Storage Wars,” “American Pickers” and “Pawn Stars.”

“We were really looking to open something that weeded out all of the nanny antiques and crafts,” Cohen says, adding that one of his favorite finds was a set of antique glass eyes. “I like things with a story, with some mojo.”

It’s that unique eye, that taste for the unusual, that has repeatedly put Cohen under the lens on a slew of reality shows that capitalize on treasure hunters – although he’s quick to say “reality” is a generous description.

His time in the spotlight began when A&E prepared to launch “Storage Wars Texas” in 2010, a show that follows buyers who hope to hit pay dirt digging through the items surrendered to auction from unpaid storage lockers. Cohen, who at times has stocked his 9-year-old shop from storage auctions, was briefly considered as a cast member on the show’s first season.

“I know I shot a couple of screen tests,” he says.

Ultimately, he wasn’t selected a

series regular, but he was invited to be an appraiser (after the cast members “find” treasure in their lockers, they take it to an expert for appraisal). The show sent him some photos of antique whiskey decanters, giving him time to research the items before filming.

The crew along with cast-mates Ricky Smith and Bubba Smith arrived bright and early, and Cohen says there was no make-up or prep before cameras began rolling, but that’s pretty much where the “reality” ended. Script supervisors coached him on how to speak, leaving long pauses at prime moments to allow for commercial breaks. Producers balked at his first appraisal, claiming it was too low.

“They had seen some (whiskey

decanters) sell online for a ton of money,” Cohen says. “It’s a better show if they find something valuable.”

So he reshot the scene, this time stating the producer’s preferred price, although he made sure to add that he would never buy them. Despite that, he got a deluge of calls from all over the country from collectors who thought he’d pay big bucks for their vintage liquor bottles.

That appearance led to another appraisal gig on the short-lived “Flea Market Man.” He and his mother, Terry, were even considered for their own “Pawn Stars” inspired television show where sellers would bring them oddities to consider buying, which never came to fruition. He also shot an episode of a game show that seemingly never aired, where contestants compete in their knowledge of antiques and antiquities.

“I actually won that one, I made like $1,000. That was the only money I ever made from doing these [reality shows],” he says. “There were some other shows we shot for too, but I can’t remember the name.

I think I ended up on some sort of list, they just keep calling.”

Cohen, who says he never specifically sought out the attention, freely admits it’s been a lucrative national plug.

“I’ll always do it for the free publicity,” he says, adding that every time a rerun airs, he sees an uptick in business.

What’s more, the pervasive popularity of such shows has launched a new generation of treasure hunters. While Cohen used to have to travel the country looking for the right mix of oddities to stock his shop, now sellers regularly seek him out.

“When we first started we didn’t have very much of that,” he says. “Now, I have a lot more people coming in with stuff they found in storage units.”

But, he contends, “reality” is a misnomer on these shows. “They call it reality but it’s so scripted, it’s not real at all,” he mutters.

—EmilyCharrier

POWERFUL IN PINK

Chef Blythe Beck has everything she needs to be a television star: the talent, the personality, the unrelenting determination and the voice.

Just add a dash of pink and a few too many curse words, and poof; you have “The Naughty Kitchen with Blythe Beck.”

These days Beck has her work cut out for her opening Pink Magnolia, a Southern-inspired restaurant in Oak Cliff. But before she flew south, she lived in East Dallas and worked at Central 214, where “The Naughty Kitchen” was filmed.

“I paid lots of money in rent at the bars over there,” she quips in her distinctive, gravelly voice.

“The Naughty Kitchen,” which aired on Oxygen in 2009, is all about Beck because that’s the way she wanted it, and she usually gets what she wants.

Even as a little girl Beck wanted to be on TV, she says. Oddly enough, the talent that got her there — cooking — wasn’t even on the menu at the time.

In college she was “The queen of takeout,” she says. On one of her trips to pick up a to-go order, Beck landed a job as a hostess because the general

manager of the restaurant liked her voice, Beck recalls. It wasn’t long before she begged to be given a place in the kitchen, working expo (the person who coordinates the magic that happens between the wait staff and the cooks).

“It was sweaty and dirty and gross,” she says. “I was like, ‘I’m home.’ I went home and told my parents, ‘Mom and dad, I know what I want to be. I want to be in the restaurant business.’ It took the entire Christmas break to finally convince them.”

She moved to Texas to attend the University of North Texas to major in hotel and restaurant management with a minor in business. In the first class she took something clicked, she says.

“I thought it was like a spiritual moment,” she laughs. “There were all these raw ingredients and I put my stink all over them, and all of the sudden I made a biscuit.”

She set her sights on becoming a chef and working for Dean Fearing at The Mansion. The problem was, as her college guidance counselor pointed out, no one from UNT had ever worked for Fearing before.

Beck wasn’t deterred, and as it turned out she didn’t need to be because soon enough she was Fearing’s apprentice.

It was her first big break.

“I got paid $6.50 an hour, and it was the hardest thing I’ve ever done,” she says. “I was the only female, and I wasn’t allowed in the big kitchen. There was a prep area that smelled like dead fish and shame. I killed more lobsters than I even care to remember. But once I got past the sexual harassment and the regular harassment, they were like, ‘Oh she’s not leaving.’ I stayed and stayed and stayed.”

And she worked her way up the ranks, too. Eventually holding the position directly under the sous chef.

From there she went to Hector’s on Henderson to work as the sous chef. “I told the chef, ‘Sleep with one eye open because I’m taking your job,’” Beck says. “And he laughed, but within a year I had it.”

While Beck was working at Hector’s, Bravo’s “Top Chef” came calling, but Beck wasn’t interested.

It’s not that she wasn’t interested in being on TV; she just wasn’t interested in being on “Top Chef” because she anticipated they would try to set her up against her friends who were competing on the show, Casey Thompson and Tre Wilcox.

“Something didn’t feel right,” she

says. Not long after, she began shooting a “sizzle reel” to pitch her own show.

“Getting a show on television is so hard,” she says. “So hard. You go in and pitch to everyone — Bravo, Lifetime, TLC and Oxygen, which is where I wanted to go because Oprah owned it. Well then Oxygen was sold to NBC, so I couldn’t pitch with them.”

She came back to Dallas, and Central 214 reached out. At first she didn’t want to go back to working in a hotel, but she was convinced to change her mind.

“I thought, ‘Oh, I could see this place pink,’” she recalls, so she took the job. “Then three weeks later we sold the show,” she says — and to none other than Oxygen.

Within a week, Oxygen’s camera crews had descended on Central 214, adding to an already hectic time.

“I’d work all day as the chef of 214, and I was doing crazy press at that time because I had just been named the executive chef of Central 214,” she says, “and I was doing press for the show and shooting the show. Then we’d shoot b-roll. I was working like 20-22 hour days. It was nuts.”

The cameras loved her. If you’ve seen “The Naughty Kitchen” and wondered if Beck is acting out for the sake of the show, Beck is the first to tell you: “No, that’s all me.”

Not to mention she’s too complex to be a female character on American television. She’s both larger than life and grounded and somewhat selfdeprecating. She bold, outspoken and she cusses like a sailor, but she’s also an advocate for empowering women. Women shouldn’t have to be catty and mean-spirited to be on TV, she says.

One season of “The Naughty Kitchen” was enough for Beck. However, a lot of other opportunities grew out of that. She started doing things with Food Network, the Paula Dean Network and others, and she’s hoping for even more opportunities.

“I want to be back on TV,” she says.

“I love it. I have a dream for a big, pink bus tour where we go through America and tell people’s stories through their food. That’s my dream.

I want to put something pink and positive on TV. I want to focus on stuff that makes us feel good — especially women. I think women feel bad about themselves a lot of the time, and it’s like, ‘Why? We’re badass.’ ”

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COOKING WITH ATTITUDE

John Tesar earned the title as “The Most Hated Chef in Dallas” in a 2011 D Magazine piece, which cited rumors of the fiery tantrums he threw while working at The Rosewood Mansion. More recently, the chef has been engaged in a very public dispute with Leslie Brenner of The Dallas Morning News. Their feud cul-

minated July 17 of last year, when Tesar Tweeted, “@lesbren [expletive] you! Your reviews are misleading poorly written,self serving and you have destroyed the star system and you really suck [sic].” He was unhappy with her write-up of his East Dallas steak house, Knife. To this day he harbors a degree of resentment.

“I don’t think all her motivations are evil or unethical,” he says. “But, in acts of desperation, she’s gone to the dark side from time to time…Leslie seems to be the only one who doesn’t get John Tesar.”

Tesar’s unapologetic bluntness makes for great reality TV. He’s a regular on a

myriad of Food Network shows and was a contestant on Bravo’s “Top Chef.” The latter gig was difficult to come by. Tesar tried out for the show several times, but kept getting rejected.

“I auditioned for season one, but they considered me to be too qualified at that time,” he says. “As the seasons went by, they decided they needed more talent, better chefs.”

He eventually secured a spot on season 10, which was filmed in Seattle. Tesar found the setting invigorating. Being near Puget Sound inspired him to open a seafood restaurant in our neighborhood upon his return. Spoon closed late last year, but

it had a good run, earning positive reviews from a slew of media outlets and a nod from the James Beard Foundation. Tesar still considers the restaurant one of his greatest achievements as a chef.

“I’d love to reopen Spoon, but I’m worried whether Dallas would support it seven days of week, because it didn’t in Preston Center,” he says. “Seafood is still not mainstream here. That’s something we’re going to have to wait for.”

These days Tesar spends time with his wife and their son. He plans to open an Italian restaurant on Turtle Creek in the next few months and is “putting together a team to push John Tesar forward, not only as a chef, but as a brand.” He remains largely unshaken by the gossip surrounding his life. No matter how loud the chatter gets, he refuses to stop being himself.

“I’ve had my own issues with growth,” he admits. “I’m glad people have paid attention to my shortcomings and watched me overcome them.”

— Elizabeth Barbee

“I’M GLAD PEOPLE HAVE PAID ATTENTION TO MY SHORTCOMINGS AND WATCHED ME OVERCOME THEM.”

Lanese Barnett, the marketing director for Tommy’s Terrific Carwash in Dallas, could hardly believe what she was hearing.

It was March 2013, when Barnett received a call from a representative of the television network TLC — the same folks who brought us “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo,” “Toddlers in Tiaras” and “My Strange Addiction” — who wanted to inquire about filming an episode of one of the network’s shows at Tommy’s Ross location in East Dallas.

But that wasn’t the part Barnett was having a hard time wrapping her brain around.

The show was “Best Funeral Ever,” and that was the unbelievable part: TLC wanted to film a funeral at Tommy’s Terrific Carwash.

After Barnett got off the phone, she consulted her boss Tom Miller, founder and owner of the company. Was this something they wanted to do? Because despite popular belief, Barnett and Miller weren’t entirely sure all publicity is good publicity — particularly when it involves the sacred ceremony of ushering someone into the afterlife.

“Best Funeral Ever” focuses on the work

of Golden Gate Funeral Home in south Dallas, which has been hosting funerals for 35 years. Although the vast majority of their funerals are traditional ceremonies, about 10 percent of families come to them for a celebration.

This unique type of ceremony, called a “homegoing,” is rooted in African-American Christian tradition to allow friends and family to both celebrate the life of their loved one and send the deceased home.

“It depends on how you celebrate to bring about the grieving process,” says funeral home owner John Beckwith.

“Some funerals are really sad, and some are celebrations. We really enjoy doing the show for the families. For some it’s important to celebrate life, instead of mourning death.”

Some such celebrations get especially elaborate. In one case, the deceased loved breakfast. Not only did they offer a buffet breakfast, but the funeral service workers dressed up as bacon, eggs and pancakes. Another family celebrated someone who loved bowling by pushing the casket down a

bowling lane to make one last strike.

When TLC got wind of Golden Gate Funeral Home’s knack for extravagant funerals, they wanted in on the action.

The funeral TLC pitched for Tommy’s Terrific Carwash was for Camon Collins III, who passed away Dec. 30, 2012, at age 31. His prize possession was a 1978 Oldsmobile Omega, meaning he spent a lot of time at carwashes hanging out with his buddies.

After some deliberation Barnett and Miller decided if the family wanted a funeral at the carwash, who were they to stand in the way?

“We ultimately decided that this was something the family had chosen,” Barnett recalls.

Once they agreed, TLC coordinated the rest. Then on a Saturday morning in mid-April, production crewmembers from TLC, funeral service workers from Golden Gate Funeral Home and family and friends of Collins crowded the lot at Tommy’s Terrific Carwash.

Tommy’s Terrific Carwash continued to operate while TLC set up shop. The crew had a casket replicated after Collins’ Oldsmobile, which thankfully the deceased was not actually inside, that they were going to send through the carwash at the end of the service. In preparation, the crew sent a practice casket through the carwash several times to make sure the sensors were timed perfectly.

One moment in particular stood out to Barnett. While the casket was going through the carwash during a practice run, a mail deliveryman walked by and saw what was happening.

“He has his phone in his hand and he stopped and was looking, and I just remember thinking, ‘What could he possibly be thinking?’” Barnett laughs.

But despite the curiosity and doubt, the ceremony went off without a hitch.

A 15-person choir in traditional blue robes sang “At the Carwash,” and a pastor gave a carwash-themed eulogy.

“His ability to take a carwash and make it work as an analogy was mesmerizing,” Barnett remembers.

At the very end, the casket was sent through the carwash tunnel — water, soaps and all. The family seemed happy, and that made everything worth it for Miller.

“I have to admit, this was a request I never expected,” Miller says. “In the end, we were honored to participate.”

See studio for details. “Best” claim based on Net Promoter Scores from 2013 via Listen360.com.

S “ P v

STORIES

BY KERI MITCHELL

PHOTOS

BY DANNY FULGENCIO

How can we honor the historic Lakewood Shopping Center and simultaneously reposition it for the future? That’s the question we asked architects and urban planners to consider as they dreamed up what “could be” for the retail anchor of several old East Dallas neighborhoods. We gave them pie-in-thesky parameters rather than real world restrictions since this is an exercise in brainstorming, not a master plan proposal. Their visions varied, but they all coalesced around the theme of making the shopping center more of a gathering place for neighb ors. As one architect puts it:

LAKEWOOD SHOPPING CENTER

‘It’s a commercial success. It needs to be a community success.’

The legendary Doc Harrell opened his drugstore at the southwest corner of Abrams and Gaston in 1924, when Abrams was still a dirt road. The following year, investor Leo Corrigan partnered with developers Dines and Kraft to buy part of Lakewood Country Club’s property and build a shopping village on the former 18th hole, to the chagrin of nearby residents who preferred their pastoral setting.

Thus the Lakewood Shopping Center, as we call it today, was born. The old Lakewood library, now the Diener-Mills building on La Vista and old Abrams, operated as an ice cream parlor before the city bought it in 1937. The Lakewood Theater opened in 1938 followed by the erstwhile Lakewood Hotel across the street. Corrigan leased space to grocery stores at both ends of the property, and over time all the spaces in between filled with retail and service shops. The neighborhood grew up around it.

Tenants have come and gone, buildings have been renovated, remodeled and replaced. Urban decay hit, followed by urban renewal. Nine decades have passed, yet Lakewood’s shopping village still stands. A scant few of the original tenants remain, but new life fills the shells of some historic buildings — a winery in an old post office,

an orthodontist and boutique in an old library, a title company in the fire-ravaged remains of Doc Harrell’s drugstore.

“This is our inheritance from our Dallas ancestors. They gifted these to us,” says Brandon Castillo, president of the Dallas Homeowners League.

He’s referring to both Lakewood Shopping Center and other pre-World War II retail districts such as Bishop Arts, Deep Ellum and Lowest Greenville, which were “built when cars were not our main source

of transportation,” Castillo says. These older retail centers are more expensive to maintain, but they produce more, he says.

Castillo is part owner of an economic development firm, Ash+Lime, that focuses on neighborhood improvements. When he crunched the numbers, he found that the

Above/ A view of Lakewood Shopping Center in 1949, looking toward the southwest corner of Gaston and Abrams. Harrell’s Pharmacy with its distinctive turret is front and center; the Lakewood Theater tower is in the background. Top/ Part of a 1949 newspaper ad. Images courtesy of the Dallas Morning News Historical Archives.

“There’s one thing you can count on at an East Dallas gathering: Everyone in the room knows they have the answer, and none of the answers are the same.”

Lakewood

SHOPPING CENTER

Lakewood Shopping Center annually produces almost $200,000 tax dollars per acre the highest yield of these traditional commercial centers.

This is the kind of information that convinces Castillo of Dallas’ need to “build smaller.” We don’t need to wipe out entire areas to construct shiny developments, he argues; instead, “we need to look for the quick wins and the good investments.”

Castillo is among the new wave of urban planners and city builders who are bolstering their ideals with data. Also in this cohort is Patrick Kennedy, board chairman of North Texas’ Congress for the New Urbanism, who advocates that Dallas’ infrastructure should improve life for its residents rather than simply move cars through the city. Streets and rights-of-way are a “public resource,” Kennedy argued at the recent Dallas Homeowners League boot camp, asking “How do you rebuild them for the neighborhoods right next to them?”

Lowest Greenville and the Bishop Arts District are the flavors of the week. Their ascent as Dallas hot spots were aided by roughly $1.5 million each, in city funds that made streets friendlier to pedestrians and cyclists, plus “code relaxation” that kept parking lots to a minimum. Their success, though, is also their source of strife.

“Because they’re so rare and so successful, they’re drawing from the region,” Kennedy says. “We need 30 of these all around the city.”

Nobody wants to be the new Lowest Greenville with its traffic and parking congestion, Castillo points out. He echoes Kennedy’s sentiment that we need to create neighborhood rather than regional destinations, and Lakewood Shopping Center is fertile ground.

In a sense, this could be deemed a futile exercise. Castillo’s own numbers show that Lakewood already is wildly successful. Other areas of East Dallas clearly could use more help.

Councilman Mark Clayton, who represents Lakewood, noted shortly after he was elected that his focus will be revitalizing blighted areas such as Casa View in Far East Dallas. If the city invests in Lakewood, “what’s the economic benefit?” he asks. “If the city puts in a dollar, what does it get back?”

It’s a fair question. The data from Castillo and others, however, seems to support their view that Dallas should prioritize small investments in existing infrastructure rather than big investments in new development.

If the city does this, Castillo says, “we can stitch together neighborhoods once again and satisfy market demand for great places while providing a development model that creates more value for the city and wealth for the community.”

The Lakewood Shopping Center is at a crossroads. Over the decades, portions of the main section around the Gaston, Abrams and La Vista triangle were sold off and now have four separate owners. Much of that ownership turned over within the past decade, and neighbors watched as longtime local favorites — The Fan Shop, Lakewood Ace Hardware, Matt’s — disappeared from the landscape. Restaurants and bars now dominate the scene, and parking at the center is scarce on weekends and even some weeknights.

The parking problems may only escalate; owners of the historic but vacant Lakewood Theater continue to convey the likelihood that the space will be carved up into more retail and restaurant spots — no additional parking necessary, thanks to city regulations that were grandfathered in the ’70s.

Change continues to loom, and how neighbors feel about that depends on their various perspectives. As longtime neighbor and historic preservationist Norman Alston likes to say, “There’s one thing you can count on at an East Dallas gathering: Everyone in the room knows they have the answer, and none of the answers are the same.”

Perhaps if there is one thing we can all agree on, it’s this: Change shouldn’t just line developers’ pockets and fill the city’s coffers; it also should improve quality of life for residents. Increases in property value and more retail options could be construed as beneficial, yes, but is that the best we can hope for?

That’s the question we posed to neighborhood architects and urban planners. Instead of reacting to the inevitable zoning change here and parking proposal there, what if we could latch onto a bigger vision of what Lakewood Shopping Center could be?

We may never fully agree on the vision, but we should at least have the conversation.

WALKING CHALLENGE

We challenged people who live in neighborhoods adjacent to the Lakewood Shopping Center to spend two weeks using only their feet or bicycles to travel to the center and then tell us about their experiences. They also shared their favorite spots and how long it takes to walk to them. Find more observations from these neighbors, including their opinions on the biggest obstacles to pedestrians and cyclists, this month at lakewood.advocatemag.com.

BETH LAMB

Lakewood

0.3 MILES AND 8 MINUTES TO WHOLE FOODS

“I like walking in Uptown/West Village, but I wouldn’t actually want to live there. I like having a house with a yard, and I realize that the lower housing and retail density of our neighborhood means you have to walk farther to get places. Wider sidewalks, more shade trees, and better timed stoplights would help, as would having more interesting storefronts to look at. I enjoy walking through the neighborhood, seeing what’s new, much more than I like walking down Gaston, even though it’s faster that way.”

COMING UP P.54

ABRAMS

WALK THROUGH HISTORY

COMING UP P.65

SEE THE LAKEWOOD SHOPPING CENTER AS IT ONCE WAS ON THIS ARCHITECT-LED TOUR.

‘THOROUGHFARE’

IT FOREVER CHANGED THE LAKEWOOD SHOPPING CENTER, BUT WE DIDN’T GET WHAT WE BARGAINED FOR.

Lakewood

How the Abrams bypass threw East Dallas for a loop

In the early 1970s, a young urban planner by the name of Khan Husain took a keen interest in Lakewood. He had heard of the Abrams bypass, a city of Dallas proposal that would route traffic around the Lakewood Shopping Center and create a thoroughfare for East Dallasites to travel to the city’s central business district downtown.

With the city already investing in the area, Husain thought, why not identify additional solutions that could benefit the Lakewood business district and make the area more economically successful?

A planner ahead of his time, Husain partnered with merchants and Swiss Avenue Historic District residents to create a master plan for the Lakewood Shopping Center. At one of the first gatherings, he instructed them to walk around the center and record impressions, according to an October 1978 D Magazine story:

“The group found that if they crossed with the lights, it took five minutes to go from Skillern’s, on the Southwest corner of the Abrams-

Gaston intersection, to the Mickey Finn’s Billiard Parlor, on the Northeast corner.” Shoppers “felt uncomfortable,” the group told Husain. “They took their lives in their hands when they crossed the street. … Virtually all of the problems they isolated could be traced to traffic and [decentralized] parking.”

premacy,” as writer Susan Dominus puts it in an April 2015 New York Times Magazine article.

“For much of the 20th century, when the engineers running urban transit authorities thought about traffic, they thought less about the pedestrian experience and more about saving money, by saving time, by speeding movement, by enabling cars,” Dominus states. “They analyzed traffic flow, the backup of cars, stoplight times and right- and left-hand turns, all in an effort to keep vehicles moving freely and quickly through the city.”

The parallels between then and now are striking. What we have today is the same beast but a different animal.

In the ’70s, no one — neither the city nor the shopping center merchants nor even the surrounding neighbors, mostly of the “urban pioneer” ilk — were all that concerned with cyclists or pedestrians traveling to the center. It was a different time, and “the era of the car’s urban su-

This surely was the impetus for the Abrams bypass, which proposed to expand Abrams from two to six lanes between Mockingbird and Columbia. The widening of Columbia was completed in the mid-’70s, connecting Main Street near downtown with Abrams just south of the shopping center. In a 1974 article, The Dallas Morning News lauded the new connection for offering “direct access to town for thousands of motorists in Lakewood and East and Northeast Dallas.” After the bypass’ completion, the story

SHOPPING CENTER

“White flight would not happen if people had a sense of place where they belong and like to be.”

continued, “the Abrams-Columbia throughway will almost surely become one of the city’s busiest thoroughfares.”

The bypass was under construction as the neighborhood transitioned from a bedroom community to part of the inner city. Pretty much all of East Dallas between Lakewood and Central Expressway had been blanket-zoned as apartments in the ’60s, leaving the grand homes of Dallas’ early-1900s trolley suburbs in disrepair. Old East Dallas was then considered the worst of the city’s ghettos. By the ’70s, when the federal courts ordered Dallas’ schools to desegregate, white flight was in full force.

The Lakewood Shopping Center of the ’70s

Lakewood Hills

1.2

“I’ve never understood why there’s a major street [La Vista] that cuts through a tiny shopping center. The speed at which people come through there is crazy, and for the drivers trying to cross La Vista or turn within the shopping center, they will do it at any means possible, which puts cyclists and pedestrians in danger. Then there’s the intersection at Gaston-La Vista — it’s a four-ring circus and you might get out alive.”

was a deteriorating relic surrounded by mostly dilapidated neighborhoods. Doc Harrell, who had outlasted every other shop around, died in 1969, and the Lakewood Theater was showing dollar movies in an attempt to survive. The shops in-between and north of Gaston weren’t primarily retail stores but service shops — dry cleaners, plumbers, repairmen, automotive — and merchants were concerned with clearing out traffic so their customers could park and pop in easily.

As the city’s thoroughfare committee worked to create more routes between downtown and Dallas’ more recently developed outer-lying areas where the middle class lived, it only made sense to build one of those roads through the old, abandoned East Dallas ghetto. Plus, for all intents and purposes, people traveling downtown already treated Abrams and Gaston as throughways. The meeting of “two racetracks” is how one woman described the intersection of Gaston and old Abrams at a 1981 city council meeting.

Considering the car’s urban supremacy, it’s a credit to Husain and the progressivethinking group of merchants and residents that their master plan turned three blocks of

old Abrams road into a pedestrian mall — or, at least, that’s what they intended.

The mall was to have “broad walkways and lots of benches and greenery,” according to a 1974 Dallas Morning News article. Parking would be eliminated from Abrams Mall and from most of Gaston, which would become a “classic tree-lined, 4-lane divided boulevard with a landscape median and broad sidewalks.” Abrams Mall would be interrupted by only one lane of one-way traffic, and other streets within the shopping center, including La Vista, also would be converted to one-way one-lane roads with partially landscaped malls.

The plan and its committee received the Mayor’s Award for its efforts toward “environmental quality.” Lakewood’s master planners were the first in Dallas to recognize this as “something more than measuring air and water pollution and solid wastes,” said environmental quality committee chairwoman Jo Fay Godbey as she bestowed the award.

“White flight would not happen if people had a sense of place where they belong and like to be,” she said in praise of the plan.

Plans — and perhaps urban master plans especially — don’t always come to fruition, however. The bypass did eventually receive council approval in 1981, after the city and county both invested $1 million and a decade of work in the project. But the “Abrams Mall” Husain and neighbors envisioned is now Abrams Parkway, which is, by default, a two-way street with four lanes of parking stretching from the initial curve of the bypass at Prospect to the final curve at Junius. There is no “pedestrian mall” to speak of, unless we’re counting the three-quarter-acre Harrell Park at Gaston and Abrams, where the Abrams bypass construction took out the old Skillern’s drugstore.

It’s unclear why. Likely it had something to do with a lack of funds, as both the city and business owners had agreed to foot the bill for the reimagined space. What is clear is that the city and neighborhood had hoped to make the Lakewood Shopping Center both a more pedestrian-oriented area and one that had the potential to attract more retail specialty shops and restaurants. This paid off for the business interests; it’s been years since anyone has described the shopping center as “run down.”

Neighbors, though, never really received the gathering place they were promised — and would have a hard time getting there on foot or two wheels even if it did exist.

This recent aerial shot of the Lakewood Shopping Center gives a glimpse of the old Abrams Road — running directly north-south through the center — that is now parking lots. The Abrams bypass routed traffic around the shopping center.

NINA KOCH

MILES AND 23 MINUTES TO THE GINGERMAN

LAKEWOOD, REIMAGINED NEIGHBORS DREAM UP DESIGNS TO MAKE IT A GATHERING PLACE.

COMING UP P.56 & 58

n Retail/Restaurant

n Hospitality/Entertainment

n Office

n Parking Garage

n Multi-Family Residence

n Singe-Family Residence

‘Change the pedestrian perception’

That’s the goal of neighborhood architect Eddie Maestri’s vision for the Lakewood Shopping Center.

Maestri lives in Lakewood Hills and is known around our neighborhood for designing new and remodeled homes that regularly wind up on the home tour circuits. Right after college, however, he cut his teeth with architecture firm RKTL,

working with other architects and planners on projects such as The Domain in Austin. Its “park-like setting” mixes highend retail stores, restaurants, hotels, residences and even a “great lawn” with play areas and a regular entertainment schedule. It was designed for pedestrians.

Inspiration for The Domain came from Las Ramblas in Barcelona, a boulevard

cutting through the city center where pedestrians don’t have to compete with cars. RTKL also pulled ideas from Lincoln Road in Miami, designed in the ’80s and also inspired by Las Ramblas.

What’s to stop Lakewood from having something like this, Maestri wonders?

“It’s all about connections, how you perceive the space,” Maestri says.

Neighborhood architect Eddie Maestri’s brainstorms about what Lakewood Shopping Center could be include better pedestrian connections across Gaston and centralized parking so that concrete gives way to public space.

La Vista

Lakewood

SHOPPING CENTER

• He would start by centralizing parking in a few places. The first is the lot between Abrams Road and the U-shape of businesses in eastern section of the center owned by Lincoln Property Co. This is the most logical place to add a parking structure, Maestri believes, because it’s already next to a thoroughfare and because so many of the shops and restaurants have entrances on both sides.

• The next structure would be multiuse, similar to West Village’s interior parking structure. Maestri suggests a new multi-family complex on the west side of Paulus would be a fitting replacement for the underutilized parking lots and old office building there. The new building could wrap a parking structure that tenants would use, and so could shopping center customers.

• Another new structure could be built on the current Jack in the Box site, wrapped with retail space on the bottom floor. Maestri believes this would connect the shopping center to neighborhoods on the west. “Right now, the Lakewood Shopping Center is turning its back on Junius Heights and Swiss Avenue. There’s a vast nothingness in between,” Maestri says. It could be more cohesive, he says, so that “people are more likely to park somewhere else and walk.” He thinks another obstacle between the neighborhoods and the shopping center is the aging Faulkner tower, which is a prime opportunity for a boutique hotel, he says.

• The goal of the structures would be to get rid of parking lots along the old Abrams road (now Abrams Parkway) and turn it into public space unencumbered by cars. Restaurants could add patios for outdoor seating. Shops would be free to host sidewalk sales and events. “It’s better for businesses,” Maestri argues. “You think about the NorthPark lawn, Klyde Warren Park. It makes it more of a destination. People are more likely to linger.” The purple shape close to Gaston could be an ideal spot for live music and art shows, “similar to what they have at Klyde Warren,” he says. The red shape close to Faulkner Cleaners would complement that unique building and could be

DAVID BLEWETT

Lakewood Heights

1.0 MILE AND 19 MINUTES TO THE HEIGHTS

(FORMERLY LEGAL GROUNDS) FOR BREAKFAST

“We just moved here in February after 15 years in the M Streets. We have six children, and thought that since Vickery dead-ended at Tietze Park that there would be no fast traffic. We were wrong. Every day and at all times cars speed from Abrams west towards Skillman — even though the park is in the way. (It is never from west to east.) We love East Dallas — love the people and the sense of community. The downside? More and more people have discovered our area, and there is no obvious solution to improve the infrastructure and accommodate these additional people/ cars. Thus we have increasing numbers of people rapidly driving through our neighborhoods to get out to main thoroughfares.”

it wouldn’t feel like you’re walking that far. If it’s safe and it’s pretty and it’s an experience, people don’t mind it.” Along Gaston, he would replace a few parking spots with trees, so that “even though the street is the same size, it makes the driver slow down a bit, makes it a place rather than something you zoom through.” To help pedestrians cross at La Vista and Abrams Parkway, he would add swaths of a different pavement pattern, such as brick, to “identify the intersection and make it something you pay attention to.” Similar techniques were used on Lowest Greenville, he points out, where “changing the streetscape changed everything.”

• Maestri also wants make the shops that stretch between the Lakewood Theater and Starbucks permeable for pedestrians from one side to the other. A gate on the back side of Mi Cocina would allow patrons to access the restaurant and nearby retail from either side, he says. He also would add three tiny, 10-foot by 10foot shops behind the theater, similar to the incubator shops in the “town square” in Seaside, Fla. “It would be something that changes out and gets people moving through,” Maestri says. “Lakewoodstock has been such a success. If you build on that, it could be more of a long-term, fulltime experience. It goes with that ‘Keep East Dallas Funky’ kind of vibe.”

anything, he says — perhaps a walk-up restaurant or a T-shirt shop. He imagines the circle drive around Faulkner Cleaners as a great spot for a valet stand.

• Maestri wants to connect the shopping center south of Gaston with the existing tree-lined plaza outside of Lakewood Towers to the north. The bottom floor of that building would be an ideal space for restaurants and retailers, he argues, and the circular plaza is a natural patio space. He would use traffic calming measures and landscape techniques to encourage pedestrians from one side of Gaston to the other. “Part of the issue is what you’re walking past and what you’re walking through,” Maestri says. “If you just did a little bit of beautification on this street,

No single vision to overhaul the center would be unilaterally embraced in East Dallas, Maestri realizes.

“It provokes questions, but it’s a conversation to think about,” he says. What’s most important, he believes, is to create a pedestrian environment that connects the different sections to each other and to the neighborhoods. If that happens, he says, “it really does create a little downtown.”

PARKING REDUX

‘Downtown Lakewood’

That’s how Norman Alston and Brandon Castillo view the Lakewood Shopping Center.

“You have this downtown infrastructure with a suburban shopping mall feel,” Castillo says. “It doesn’t have a sense of place; it’s just a strip of shops and restaurants. It needs public spaces.”

Castillo is the founder of the Deep Ellum Outdoor Market and his economic development firm focuses on “neighborhood-level improvements.” His specialty is pop-up markets, food festivals and other conduits of “vibrant street life.” Alston, a longtime Hollywood-Santa Monica resident, is an architect who specializes in historic preservation and recently was retained by the Lakewood

Lakewood

SHOPPING CENTER

you’re not a priority” approach to infrastructure needs to end. “This is all built to get people on the other side of White Rock Lake to downtown Dallas,” Alston says. “What do we owe cross-town traffic? Nothing, really. Anything we do is going to inconvenience someone trying to go to work in the morning, including myself, but this will become a space that I’m going to enjoy.” It should be a place for interaction, for people-watching, for music, for artists and craftspeople, and for other activities that bring life, energy and variety to the shopping and dining experience, they say. They chose La Vista because “it will interfere least with existing businesses,” Alston says, “and my theory is if you shut down parking in front of a business, you’re going to make them madder than a hornet.”

Theater owners to guide them through the landmark designation process. The pair work together on the Dallas Homeowners League board, which coalesces neighborhoods to address issues.

“Lakewood Shopping Center functions, the businesses are full, it’s in a good spot, but it’s not as great a space as it could be, as it has been in the past,” Alston says. “It’s a commercial success; it needs to be a community success.”

• “Say we shut down car activity on La Vista,” Castillo says. They want to (1) recreate the concrete stretch between Abrams and Paulus for pedestrians. Alston says the “you’re not headed downtown so

• As part of the pedestrian mall, Castillo suggests creating a triangular plaza where Paulus, La Vista and Gaston intersect in front of Lakewood Towers, better known to neighbors as the Wells Fargo Bank building. “There’s already a fountain there and mature trees,” Castillo points out. “We want to make it permeable to that side of Gaston,” Alston adds. This combined with the shut down of car activity would create “a mini Klyde Warren Park all through La Vista.” The popular downtown park has demonstrated Dallas’ need for good public spaces throughout the city, Castillo says. “The great thing about Lakewood is that it doesn’t need millions and millions of dollars to replicate Klyde Warren Park’s success,” he says. “How can we assure people are at the Lakewood Shopping Center in the mornings, the afternoons and the evenings? Just give us places to park our bikes and eat frozen yogurt.”

• Gaston, especially between Abrams and Paulus, needs a “road diet,” Castillo says. “It’s four lanes of cars zooming by.” They would reduce total lanes to three (2), with space from the existing fourth lane reallocated for additional parking, wider sidewalks and bicycle lanes. This would slow traffic and create more dedicated space for pedestrians and cyclists.

• Castillo also wonders whether Abrams needs a road diet where it curves

In their dreams for what Lakewood Shopping Center could be, architect Norman Alston and economic developer Brandon Castillo envision a “mini Klyde Warren Park” all across La Vista.

People friendly areas with landscaping, special paving, lighting and accessories

Existing buildings within the improvement area

New commercial buildings in a form that complements adjacent existing commercial development

around the shopping center south of Gaston. What they did instead was create a roundabout (3) where Abrams meets Gaston that marks a northern “gateway” to the neighborhood, Alston says. A second roundabout (5) at Abrams and Paulus marks the southern “gateway” and together create a “compromise” for drivers, Alston says — they would slow cars curving around and moving through Downtown Lakewood but also would eliminate the Gaston-Abrams traffic signal, “giving through travelers the option of transitioning without having to stop, saving a little time.” They also want a pedestrian gateway (4) from the neighborhoods to the east in the form of an enhanced crosswalk between the existing Graham Park and the new La Vista pedestrian mall.

• To make the shopping center more cohesive, some of the suburban-style businesses should be converted to more urban structures that complement the remaining original buildings, they say. For example, 7-Eleven (6) could move so that the front aligns with Paciugo. Alston and Castillo also would replace the Jiffy Lube building (7) with a continuation of the successful shops — Zoe’s, Talulah Belle and so on — adjacent to it, and eliminate a row of parking in front of these stores to give additional space for patron use. “Who wouldn’t like to see a patio in front of Scalini’s?” Alston asks. Then the odd street configuration currently in front of Jiffy Lube gives way to green space. The circa 1968 suburban-style Jack-in-theBox (8) and the sea of parking in which it is set should be redeveloped as urban commercial stores, they say, so that the style of the adjacent Starbucks, Frost Bank, etc. continues around the corner, down Gaston. They would also convert the Bank of America site (9) across from Jack in the Box so that the commercial space fronts the streets with sidewalks wide enough for patios, trees or other pedestrian-friendly features. Similarly, they would stretch the commercial space adjacent to Compass Bank (10) to Abrams.

• Parking solutions are noticeably missing in Castillo and Alston’s vision, and that’s on purpose. Parking is “the stickiest problem right now,” Alston says, and he believes a parking study should be con-

BRANNON BURNLEY

Lakewood Heights

“There are not enough useful stores (like the Ace Hardware and UPS store, which were kicked out) to make Lakewood into a place where you can run errands, or enough interesting restaurants to make it an entertainment destination. It now seems way cooler to drive 20 minutes to the Bishop Arts District than to walk 5 minutes to Lakewood Shopping Center.”

ducted. “To me the overriding concern is if the tenants think there isn’t enough parking,” he says.

Ultimately, Alston and Castillo believe the Lakewood Shopping Center has ample room for improvements that could benefit both neighbors and businesses. The obstacles to such improvements loom large, not the least of which is four different owners — and that’s just the section south of Gaston.

But that’s not uncommon, says Alston, who has experience with historic projects in rural towns all over Texas.

“Downtown Lakewood is just like every other small town downtown I’ve ever seen fractured ownership, no single management structure, a lot of things going in different directions,” Alston says.

“It’s like a real neighborhood, but it could be better,” he continues. “There needs to be coordination, they need to be helping one another. This is an effort to give everybody a point of departure.”

Park like an Italian

The Italian term “parcheggio” sounds so much better than its English counterpart, “parking garage.” And in terms of function, it is, says landscape architect Kevin Sloan.

“I don’t like to use the word ‘parking garage’,” Sloan says. “It’s a scary, dark place where the pipes are hanging too low.”

A parcheggio, however, invokes a different nuance. In Italy, these are often parkand-rides outside of cities where people can leave their cars then use public transportation to travel to and within the city. Parcheggios are “the first experience,” Sloan says, “not just a box for putting cars in.” Many include coffee shops, retail stores, restaurants and comfortable shade for people waiting to board trains or buses.

Perhaps most importantly, Sloan says, a parcheggio “simplifies the problem of parking because it gives you, psychologically, a destination before you start your trip.”

available — as is often the case on weekends and even week nights, thanks to the uptick in restaurants and bars — it leads to an “every man for himself” situation, with cars haphazardly circling through the various lots.

This creates the opposite of a pedestrianfriendly environment.

“Could we compel the entire Lakewood area to have a parcheggio?” Sloan asks. “We over-individualize — this is my building and this is my property. We should centralize the parking, concentrate the cars, put them where they least offend the pedestrian environment. It makes the problem of parking easy to master.”

It doesn’t have to be a “dull utilitarian structure with florescent lighting,” Sloan argues. Look at NorthPark Center with its light and bright garages. Developer Ray Nasher was a very smart man, Sloan says.

Sloan is chairman of the city’s Urban Design Peer Review Panel, which evaluates project proposals from developers asking the city for government handouts. He also was part of an early effort to design a deck park over Woodall Rogers Freeway, which today is the popular Klyde Warren Park. So he knows a thing or two about Dallas’ ongoing battle between concrete and communal spaces.

just a mindset, honestly. It’s just a deal where people in Texas just don’t walk. It certainly doesn’t seem fiscally responsible to do something that’s going to make it easier for people. You’ve just got to get

“I think

Consider the dozens of flat, asphalt city blocks intermixed among the downtown skyscrapers, Sloan points out: “The problem in downtown Dallas is too much parking,” he argues, “but people feel like there’s a lack of parking because the lots are too spread out.”

Lakewood Shopping Center has the same problem on a smaller scale. There is no single place to park; there are several. The most obvious place is right outside the driver’s destination, but when no spaces are

“He didn’t want to drive the customers away because they were frightened by the parking structures. He realized that it can’t be an impediment to shoppers,” Sloan says.

The simple difference of NorthPark’s garages, or “garagelike buildings,” Sloan says, is the design.

“Women don’t feel scared when parking at NorthPark,” he says. “If you just rewire the problem — turn the garage from being an engineering problem to an experience — suddenly whatever it is doesn’t provoke the same reaction to, ‘Well, we’re gonna hafta build a parking garage.’

“If a structure is inevitable, the parcheggio has to be the medium. If the people are going to be frightened to go in it, it ultimately negates itself.”

Another key, Sloan says, is that a parcheggio shouldn’t merely add parking spots

“There is a lot of contempt on all sides of the road. From what I’ve witnessed, runners, cyclists and drivers all seem to be at odds, thinking the other should be the one to give in. It’s unfortunate that everyone is in such a hurry that taking a few extra seconds to avoid an accident is not worth the effort — and this applies to everyone on the road.”

to a location; it should allow for conversion of parking lots to parks and public space. NorthPark, ever the innovator, did this during its 2006 expansion, turning an original parking garage into CenterPark, a grassy field in the core of NorthPark’s outer square where children play, couples recline on picnic blankets and shoppers enjoy both a bit of nature and a quick cut-through.

Public space and parking doesn’t have to be an either-or, Sloan points out. “What if we designed a plaza or a garden that could temporarily store cars?” he asks. One example is the Trinity Groves “parking field” fronting Singleton, with decomposed granite and trees “so at any moment you can clear the cars out and have the starting area of a 5k,” Sloan says, or hold a street festival. It makes the parking area polyfunctional rather than monofunctional.

“And to individuals who say, ‘Oh that’s ridiculous,’ ” Sloan says, “so is putting a park over Woodall Rogers Freeway.”

JENNIFER FEHMEL Swiss Avenue

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Lakewood

Can naïve urban planners and greedy developers find common ground?

Dallas is a young city, unlike the centuries-old Italian metropolises where local landscape architect Kevin Sloan spent years as a professor. There, he experienced cities that had evolved over centuries.

Sloan chairs the city’s fairly new Urban Design Peer Review Panel, comprising a sort of who’s who of the area’s architects, urban planners and engineers. They give feedback on projects seeking city funds before these projects can receive the city’s green light. The views of the planners often clash with the views of the developers, feeding into stereotypes of the former as naïvely idealistic and the latter greedily pragmatic.

But Sloan, who settled in Dallas because he saw ample room for improvement, believes the two sides can find common ground. Though Dallas may be built on poor urban design, Sloan observed something in Italy that makes him optimistic: For cities that have survived the test of time, perhaps even more crucial than their original design were the designs that followed.

Take Capitoline Hill in Rome, which Michelangelo was commissioned to rework in 1538. His task was to reinstate this citadel of the earliest Romans as a present-day city center. His palette included two crumbling, ancient palazzos that faced each other at odd angles and weren’t complementary. Instead of destroying them, however, Michaelangelo reconstructed their façades and added a third palazzo to create a unique trapezoidal space, within which he fit an oval-shaped plaza. The result was the

Piazza del Campidoglio, one of the world’s great squares.

Campidoglio is an apt example of the late architect and urban planner Edmund Bacon’s “principle of the second man,” Sloan says. Here in Dallas, we are more likely to bulldoze a structure and build something bigger and “better” in its place, rather than using imagination to improve upon what is. The latter, Sloan says, is the task of the second man, whose posture of humility gives precedence to the work of the first man.

The other complication for us Dallasites is that we’re also Texans. Our forefathers historically have viewed land through the lens of extraction, Sloan says — take the oil out of the ground, plant the cotton in the field.

It shouldn’t be about “speculation, shortterm gain, ‘here is what this place can do now,’ ” Sloan says. “City-making is about investment, where what you build is directly related to the qualities of what it has to offer.”

He tells the story of a magnificent duomo, or church, in the Italian villa of Mon-

KATHERENE HOUGH

Lakewood Hills

1.3 MILES AND 24 MINUTES TO CURIOSITIES

“It’s kind of a trek to the Lakewood Shopping Center, and doesn’t that make me sound like a suburbanite? They would laugh at me in New York City. We love to vacation in big cities, love to walk, but here, you’re cutting through the golf course, and there’s just not a whole lot to distract you from the fact that you’re walking to that destination — you’re not walking past other businesses to check out, not running into other people walking to their destinations. I’m a Realtor, and I always talk-up how close we are to everything, and we are distance-wise, but it’s not like Uptown with that density of walkers.”

SHOPPING CENTER

“Can we create a world that has something to offer rather than just asphalt to drive on and parking spaces to park in? Something that delights us and makes us smile?”

0.4 MILES AND 10 MINUTES TO COCK & BULL

“I think we’re the most detached, even as close as we are, because of the lack of sidewalks and because of Abrams. The speed limit is 40 [mph] there, so people go, like, 60 [mph]. You know it’s bad if we’d rather deal with the parking situation at that shopping center than walk.”

reale. Within it is a fresco depicting King William II gifting the structure to the Virgin Mary. Sloan noticed something similar when he visited the famed Woolworth Building in Manhattan: One of the corbel statues depicts architect Cass Gilbert holding a model of the building — or, as Sloan interprets it, “giving the building to the person arriving in the lobby.”

“Something profoundly changes when your work is also in service of being an offering,” he says. “It’s a giving, not just a taking. We’ve grown up in another world, but our instincts want something different and we’re finding our way forward.”

As chair of the city’s Urban Design Peer Review Panel, Sloan must hold in tension the panel’s charge to ensure that projects should “contribute to Dallas’ economic success” and that they should also “demonstrate a high level of design” and “fit well within their context.”

“If we did that besides just worry about what the bottom line looks like, the bottom line would get bigger,” Sloan says. “Can we create a world that has something to offer rather than just asphalt to drive on and parking spaces to park in? Something that delights us and makes us smile?”

The Lakewood Shopping Center is not up for panel review. Still, Sloan believes, it’s an optimal place to focus such a conversation.

“What the community is asking is, ‘What will this place have to offer us?’ ” Sloan says. “That’s a very profound question.”

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SHOPPING CENTER

Lakewood Stroll through Lakewood Shopping Center’s history

How did Lakewood, or any area, get going commercially? Where did the trolley cars run, and how has the shopping center evolved since those days? How have economic dips and booms affected building design and tenant mix? And how did the Abrams bypass change everything — for better and for worse?

These are just a few of the questions neighborhood resident and architect Sally Johnson will discuss during the Dallas Historical Society’s walking tour of the Lakewood Shopping Center on Tuesday, Oct. 6, 5:30-7 p.m. The tour, part of the society’s “Pour Yourself into History” series, will start during happy hour at the Cock & Bull, 6330 Gaston; Johnson hopes to wind up on the balcony of the Gingerman, which has a great view of both the old Lakewood library and the Lakewood Theater.

“So much of the character that was here, of course, is gone, but I am going to point out architectural detailing and show people what does still exist — because it does if you’re looking for it,” Johnson says.

The tour is free; drinks at the hosting establishments are the responsibility of tour-goers.

FIND MORE INFORMATION and RSVP at dallashistory.org/education/special-events.

Above/ Doc Harrell’s pharmacy opened in 1924 and became a legendary hangout for neighborhood teens. A fire decimated the building in the ’80s but the turret was recreated to honor the original English village architecture along that stretch of Gaston. Left/ Harrell at his pharmacy counter in 1953.

As the theater goes, so goes Lakewood Shopping Center

It’s our neighborhood’s watchtower, a lighthouse, the grande dame of the Lakewood Shopping Center. What happens to the Lakewood Theater is a bellwether for the surrounding shops and homes.

Its storied history as a suburban Dallas movie house began in 1938, and last month the Dallas Landmark Commission set the theater on a path toward becoming an official historic landmark. Preservationists exhaled sighs of relief as the owners braced themselves for the grueling process. “We won!” said someone wearing a “Save the Lakewood Theater” T-shirt.

What happened in early September, however, was more nuanced than one side standing victorious while the other waved the white flag in surrender. Instead, at the commission’s open hearing on the Lakewood Theater, both sides came to the table and agreed to prove themselves.

The owners pledged to make good on their assertion that “we are not here to harm the Lakewood Theater; we are here to save it,” as theater co-owner Craig Kinney put it to the commission. And historic preservationists assured the owners that “this could be an advantageous process for you as well,”

Lakewood Theater opened as a suburban movie house in 1938. The city is trying to designate it as a historic landmark, but it currently sits vacant and may not reopen as a theater.

Lakewood

SHOPPING CENTER

as Landmark Commissioner Stephen Birch responded to Kinney.

Seats in City Hall’s council chambers were almost full of people who had shown up to support making the theater a historic landmark — possibly the largest crowd ever to attend a Landmark Commission meeting.

The owners could read the writing on the wall. They had hired a zoning consultant and zoning attorney to help smooth all the ruffled feathers, and when it came time for co-owner Craig Kinney to approach the mic and speak “in opposition” to the theater becoming a historic landmark, he told the pas-

chairwoman Katherine Seale committed to making sure city staff “receives the message that we do this in a very expedited way.”

“I certainly think it it’s the realm of possibility that it can happen within six months,” she said.

Anyone hearing these arguments for the first time could interpret the situation as one big misunderstanding. The owners were misinformed about the process, and the preservationists didn’t understand the owners’ intentions. Never mind the rendering of the Lakewood Theater carved up into restaurants and retail shops, and repeated insistence from the owners that this “plan B” is more likely than a theater tenant. And disregard the abundance of city documentation underscoring the complications involved in preserving Dallas’ history, however worthy.

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sionate crowd gathered that he wasn’t really opposed to the designation.

“We all know the truth here: The Lakewood theater is a Dallas landmark. It has been for decades,” Kinney said.

The problem, he said, is that “anybody that has been in the theater the past couple years can see that it’s in bad shape.” He rattled off a laundry list of repairs the theater needs, estimating it would cost around $1.5 million to restore it. And the problem with undergoing landmark designation, Kinney noted, is that it requires the city to sign off on everything.

“If I’ve got a broken window and it’s the middle of winter, 25 degrees out, snow blowing, I can’t wait 30 days to fix it,” Kinney said, referring to the timeline on the city’s website. He similarly didn’t understand “why would it possibly take two years to designate this beautiful building?”

The commission reassured him that those timelines were extremes, that a broken window is considered an emergency fix and can be done immediately. As far as how long designation will take, commission

Gathering everyone in the same room may indeed work out to both sides’ benefit. To their credit, the owners extended the olive branch by hiring someone from the opposition — neighborhood architect Norman Alston, who actively worked with the “Save the Lakewood Theater” effort (and whose visions for the shopping center appear on page 58). Alston, whose expertise is historic preservation, will navigate the owners’ journey toward landmark designation.

When Alston sat down with Kinney and co-owner Bill Willingham, he says it became clear that “what we have perceived as difficulty in the past is really just not being familiar with the process. There were no horns growing out of their heads or anything.”

“What they pounded into me is that they don’t have any intention of screwing up the theater, so I’ve been brought in to make sure we’re all pulling on the same rope.”

Alston reiterates that “it’s going to be as quick as this process could reasonably be expected to go.” But even if all its historic architecture and the interior murals, painted by Woodrow graduate Perry Nichols, are saved, the Lakewood Theater still may cease to be a theater. Just because the city designates a building as a historic landmark doesn’t mean it can dictate how it is used.

To that end, the commission proposed something a bit innovative: In the next few months’ process toward landmark designa-

“A lot of people walk and bike around the neighborhood, at all hours. I take comfort in that level of activity. Walkers say hi, smile and are not as concerned about how fast they must get from A to B as drivers tend to be — myself included.”

tion, the Lakewood Theater owners not only will work with the designation committee on the brick and mortar aspects of historic preservation; they also will work with a task force of neighbors to provide assistance on issues such as parking — which was a hang up in the owners’ negotiations with Alamo Drafthouse — to give the building’s historical use a better chance of continuing into the future.

As it stands, both the owners and preservationists are dependent on each other to get what they want — “a community asset that is also a real estate asset,” as Kinney’s zoning attorney described to the commission. Both sides have a matter of months to hold up their respective ends of the bargain, and the future of the theater hangs in the balance.

OH YES, THERE’S MORE ... VISIT OUR WEBSITE TO FIND UPDATES ON THE THEATER, READ OTHER HISTORICAL TIDBITS AND GIVE YOUR OPINION ON THE SHOPPING CENTER.

MATT WOOD

0.6 MILES AND 10 MINUTES TO YUMMILICIOUS WITH MY GIRLS OR GINGERMAN TO MEET FRIENDS

“We all know the truth here: The Lakewood Theater is a Dallas landmark. It has been for decades.”

Dude, where’s my parking spot?

Problems and potential solutions for Lowest Greenville’s nightlife

Story by Brittany Nunn | Photo by Danny Fulgencio

It’s Friday night and you just passed Belmont driving south on Greenville Avenue. Cars are lined up bumper to bumper, and everywhere you look thousands of people are milling around — walking along the sidewalk with their dates, standing in line for a popsicle with their families, and crowding around tables on the street-side patios eating, drinking and being merry.

Welcome to a typical weekend on Lowest Greenville. Now, try to find a place to park. We’ll wait. It’ll take you some time.

Originally built in the early-1900s, Lowest Greenville wasn’t designed to handle the traffic that has flooded the area since it became a local nightlife mecca. But what to do about parking on the popular street is a matter of debate, with some even questioning whether it’s an issue deserving of discussion.

Solution No. 1: Leave home early

Elias Pope, owner of HG Sply Co., says he would love to see more parking spots around Lowest Greenville. That said, the biggest

problem isn’t the lack of parking but that people don’t know how to find it.

Because the parking lots are scattered around the area, often tucked away in the surrounding neighborhoods, just locating a parking lot feels like an Easter egg hunt, especially for people who are unfamiliar with the avenue.

This is the “parking problem” most business owners on Lowest Greenville hear about from their customers — and they do hear about it from their customers.

“‘Parking sucks.’ We’ll hear that more often than not from patrons,” says Matt Tobin, a co-owner of Blind Butcher. “They tell us voluntarily. We don’t have to ask. But they’ll say it with a smile on their faces because they know it’s going to be like that. They knew it before they left their house.”

And that’s the parking problem, says District 14 City Councilman Philip Kingston — not the lack of spaces but the expectation of easily finding one.

A parking lot on Lowest Greenville packed with cars: Photo by Danny Fulgencio

“Every now and then I hear someone say, ‘It’s so hard to park there,’ and my response to them is, ‘Have you tried?’ ” Kingston asks. “It’s not hard to park there. It’s really not. You just have to separate yourself from the idea that you’re going to pull up to the front of the restaurant and park right in front of it. That’s not going to happen.”

The business association Lowest Greenville Collective is working on a parking map to post to its website in order to educate neighbors on where parking lots are located and which ones are safe to use.

Kingston believes neighbors should leave their homes with the mindset that they’re going to spend some time sharking the parking lots in search of an empty spot, park wherever that may be, and then walk a couple blocks to their destination.

Solution No. 2: Don’t fear tow trucks (at least not as much)

Even if Lowest Greenville has enough parking for everyone wanting to shop and dine, most lots and spots are marked for designated restaurants and threaten a trip to the tow yard for trespassers.

This adds to the confusion and makes the larger lots, such as the one behind Trader Joe’s, easy targets for drivers who don’t want to spend time looking for a parking space, or who don’t know where the other parking lots are located.

Businesses are beginning to team up to tackle this problem.

“For so long people were worried about parking in the wrong spot and getting towed,” says Elias Pope, the owner of HG Sply Co. “In the last couple years, the land owners have been working together to share parking.”

This new spirit of cooperation has been a welcome relief for establishments like Greenville Avenue Pizza Company (GAPCo), which has a slightly different parking predicament because of its high volume of both pick-up customers and delivery drivers.

“I know we’d have more customers if we had more parking,” says GAPCo owner Sammy Mandell, and it’s helped that the surrounding restaurants share their parking, plus HG Sply Co. allows GAPCo customers to use its valet services, he says.

It’s not a parking free-for-all, however. Trader Joe’s, for example, has begun hiring

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off-duty cops to watch its lot, though people skirt the rules by walking in the back door, circling the store and then walking out the front door where they land right on the Greenville Avenue sidewalk.

Also, Melios Brothers Char Bar will tow.

Solution No. 3: What about a parking garage?

“When you look at other forward-thinking places, they have nice looking parking garages,” Tobin says. “If it can work in Boulder, Colo. I don’t know why it can’t work in Dallas, Texas.”

But he knows neighbors would never allow it.

Kingston sides with neighbors, claiming there will “never, never, never” be a parking garage on Lowest Greenville.

“People from the [surrounding] neighborhoods understand that parking is one of the important controls that the neighborhood has over the intensity of the use of the commercially zoned structures,” Kingston says.

Neighbor Mark Rieves, who lives in Vickery Place and formerly served as the neighborhood association’s president, explains this theory in more depth.

City code requires restaurants or bars to have one parking space for every 100 square feet (with some variation), but retail parking requirements aren’t nearly that high. If Madison Partners and Andres Properties, the companies that own the vast majority of the property on Lowest Greenville, had claim to more parking, they could justify more bars and restaurants, which make more money. As it is, the landlords are forced to figure out other options. This, Rieves believes, strong-arms the developers into creating a mixed-use shopping center with both dining and retail.

“It sounds backwards, but adding more parking just adds to the problem,” he says.

Solution No. 4: Stop circling and valet

There are five valet stations available on Lowest Greenville on weekends, and the stand shared by HG Sply Co., Blind Butcher or Truck Yard is complimentary and all open to anyone patronizing shops and restaurants on the avenue.

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inspire the next generation. inspir

The problem, says Nestor Gonzalez, a runner for Dallas Valet on Lowest Greenville, is that valets regularly run out of parking spaces on Friday and Saturday nights, forcing them to shut down until spots open.

In search of a solution, businesses have sought the expertise of Pamè La Ashford, the city’s longtime program manager for parking services and enforcement.

Right now Ashford is working on a comprehensive plan for the valet services. In the next few months she hopes to enact a “corporation level valet service concept” that will be accessible to all businesses on Lowest Greenville. There would be multiple stands spaced out along the avenue accompanied by “maneuvering zones” approved by the city to ensure “less negative impact on traffic flow and quality of life of the surrounding entities.”

Once this is set up, educating the community will be key, particularly to encourage neighbors to use the valet services provided.

Solution No. 5: Walk, bike or Über

Kingston’s solution is that Dallasites should use this as an opportunity to get over their need to drive everywhere.

“If we can’t get passed that as a city, Dallas isn’t going to be a forward-thinking city,” he says. “We’re going to be a stunted hybrid where people can’t stand to do anything without their cars.”

The city spent $1.3 million in recent years to make the avenue more pedestrian and cyclist friendly, plus, pedestrians are beneficial for the avenue’s retail shops. Places like Steel City Pops and Dude, Sweet Chocolate pick up plenty of foot traffic as people meander the avenue.

So walk or ride your bike, Kingston says, and if you live too far away, just use Über.

Ultimately, if businesses, the city and the neighborhoods continue to work together, “and we don’t do anything except what we thinks benefits Lowest Greenville,” Pope says, he believes the parking problems will work themselves out.

“Everybody has their own struggles and fixes when it comes to the parking scenario,” Pope says. “It’s a work in progress.”

FRIGHT NIGHT FOR THE FAMILY

From pumpkin carving to houses of horror, East Dallas does Halloween right

COMMENT. Visit lakewood.advocatemag.com to tell us what you think.

Ancient Celtic villages understood the strength in community. They gathered every year on Oct. 31 to mark the end of their summer with a harvest festival, meeting with neighbors and sharing a huge sacred bonfire. They also took care to leave out gifts and treats for any evil spirits wandering around, a sort of guarantee for next year’s crop.

Who would have ever guessed that a modern-day East Dallas neighborhood would have so much in common with the Celts of yore? Sure, there are few crops to worry over in the city, and the bonfire — well, let’s hope no one lights one, sacred or no. But gathering with neighbors, the celebrating and sharing? Oh, and the evil spirits receiving treats? Now we call them little trick-or-treaters.

Stroll down Vanderbilt Avenue in the Lakewood Heights neighborhood on Halloween night and you’ll see. The stretch from Abrams to Tietze Park is barricaded (city-approved, of course) to traffic, allowing little vampires, princesses and ghosts to roam safely in their quest for ever more KitKats and Skittles.

“The vibe is fun and family,” says neighbor Heather McNamara. “Up and down the block, you’ll find food and drinks for kids and adults, and, of course, candy, candy, candy.”

But, she adds, the over-the-top decorations create the “scary vibe you must have on Halloween.”

Vanderbilt Avenue is a quiet street with more than the average number of young families. The big Halloween celebration evolved from neighbors hanging out in front yards, watching their kids play, and sharing a love of All Hallows’ Eve. Sarah Hale and friends decided a few years ago to make the night an all-out street party. All along the avenue you’ll find driveways with tables laden with hot dogs, chili, cupcakes, chips and dip, open to any and all. But it was husband Michael’s idea to create a haunted

house in the Hale courtyard.

“Fog, strobe lights, creepy characters that are motion-sensitive, giant spiders, witches that fly along a rope, Halloween music,” Sarah recalls of past displays. The entire family gets in on the act, too. Hale kids Ethan, Lyla and Audrey have played the roles of mummy, werewolf and “kitty vampire,” and Michael is always The Grim Reaper, scaring the daylights out of unsuspecting visitors. A candy reward awaits the brave at the end.

Some kids, she admits, have exited crying, and “there are definitely screaming adults,” too.

“I hate thinking we might be responsible for bad dreams,” says Sarah, so she warns visitors that it might be scary and offers them candy at the beginning if they choose to forego the haunted house.

In the same block lives the McNamara family, whose front lawn at Halloween will be creepily transformed into a graveyard. Along with the requisite tombstones are scary ghouls gathered in a circle. Web-covered corpses hang in trees and skeletons sit at the patio table. On the big night, the McNamaras add a fog machine, dry ice, and strobe lights, as well as creepy animatronics and inflatables.

Top/ Julie and Harry Scoville’s frightful yard decor. Lower left/ a pumpkin carved by Michael Hale. Lower right/ Heather McNamara’s daughters ready for trick-or-treating.

As much as they enjoy Halloween night, Heather McNamara reflects, “My favorite thing to see happens throughout the month.” The display starts coming together the first weekend of October. “We have had people knock on our door asking if they can take pictures of their children in the graveyard. Kids on the street will come in and play around, and the day we put up the graveyard, my husband always has lots of little helping hands.”

Older kids may want to meander down Vanderbilt to the 6300 block for a bit of Texas Chainsaw Massacre theatrics. Neighbors Julie and Harry Scoville, now in their eighth year of nightmare-inducing decorations, go the gory route. On the front lawn will likely be a headless body - some old clothes stuffed with newspaper, covered in blood and entrails: spaghetti boiled in red food coloring. Real chainsaws hang menacingly on the porch. Blacklights, a fog machine and recordings of screams and chainsaws complete the scary scene.

“There’s usually a wide range of reactions: fear, curiosity, humor,” says Julie. She recalls one “little bitty boy” who “screamed and ran back to his car. He didn’t even open the door, he jumped through the window and hid on the floorboard.” Julie ran after him and gave him a big handful of candy.

Leatherface and his chainsaw may not have been around to inspire the Celts, but they would almost certainly approve of the neighborly, all-in-fun vibe happening on Vanderbilt Avenue on the last day of October.

Patti Vinson is a guest writer who has lived in East Dallas for 15 years. She’s written for the Advocate and Real Simple magazine, and has taught college writing. She is a frequent flier at Lakewood branch library and enjoys haunting neighborhood estate sales with husband Jonathan and children, Claire (13) and Will (10). The family often can be found hanging out at White Rock Lake Dog Park with Dexter, a probable JackWeenie.

Lakewood Office Space

Nonprofits

The deadline to submit a photo to the White Rock Lake Conservancy’s fourth annual photo contest is Oct. 15. There are three categories — pro, amateur and youth. Entries can be submitted online at whiterockdallas.org or mailed to White Rock Photo Contest; P.O. Box 140227; Dallas, Texas 75214. Winners will be notified by Nov. 15.

The Rotary Club of Dallas presented the Service Above Self Teacher Awards to two East Dallas teachers, Elsy Serpas of Alex Sanger Elementary School and Erin Elliot of Stonewall Jackson Elementary School. The rotary club presents the award annually to teachers who demonstrate excellence and a willingness to go the extra mile to serve students and the community.

People

Residents of C.C. Young Senior Living have a new modern-art shade structure. The piece, commissioned by Ray and Nancy Ann Hunt, was created by Nicholas Dean of D2 Architecture in Dallas and was inspired by the work of artist John Henry.

Heisman Trophy winner Tim Brown, who graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in 1987, was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame recently. Brown, who also played for Notre Dame University, is the first and only Dallas ISD graduate to go to the hall of fame. Although he was recognized for his records and accomplishments during his 17-year career with the Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders, he said in an interview with The Dallas Morning News that he was also representing Dallas ISD when he received his lifetime honor.

HAVE AN ITEM TO BE FEATURED?

Please submit news items and/or photos concerning neighborhood residents, activities, honors and volunteer opportunities to editor@advocatemag.com Our deadline is the first of the month prior to the month of publication.

The Largest Historic District in Dallas Presents

BUSINESS BUZZ

The lowdown on what’s up with neighborhood businesses

Send business news tips to livelocal@advocatemag.com

Barbecue Oasis

The family friendly hipness keeps on coming to Garland Road.

Central Texas-style barbecue in an indoor/outdoor dining space is planned for the corner of Lakeland at Garland.

Oasis Smokehouse, from Jeremy DeLeon and partners, could open sometime this winter.

The site most recently housed Personal Touch Tree Service and the adjacent Ross and Greenville Automotive; both businesses relocated earlier this year.

Jack Keller of Keller’s Drive-In, who owns the properties, has been saying for years that he’d like a restaurant there that caters to the neighborhood.

The Oasis’ owners are recycling and reformatting the existing auto shop building and adding 2,700-square-feet of indoor space with seating for 120-130.

Casa Linda pops

Steel City Pops is expected to open its new location in Casa Linda Plaza as early as this month.

The shop, adjacent to Sample House & Candle Shop, will be the fourth Steel City Pops location in the Dallas area, including the one that opened on Lowest Greenville last year. A former artists’ loft space inside is being finished out to create a hangout while people enjoy ice pops; there will also be an outdoor patio.

Food and bev bites

Chick-fil-A is building on the site of the

former Legal Directories Publishing, 9111 Garland Road at Oldgate.

Unleavened Fresh Kitchen opened in September in Lakewood Shopping Center, next to Liberty Burger.

A liquor store, Lower G Spirits and Cigars, opened across the street from Granada Theater.

Vagabond, the Greenville Avenue bar across the street from Green Grocer, has closed after a year in business.

Shopping notes

The T Shop moved to another location within Lakewood Shopping Center, the former Uptown Yoga spot. The move triples the T Shop’s space.

A Kit and Ace store that opened on North Henderson recently is the Vancouver-based clothing company’s first Texas location. The shop sells “technical cashmere” that’s stylish, comfortable and easy, if pricey. Their $90 T-shirt is machine washable.

Real estate

The old carwash, on a wedge-shaped lot on Live Oak at La Vista, is being scraped for a Methodist Health System doctor’s office with up to three primary care physicians.

Construction on The Tradition at Lovers Lane, a high-end rental senior living community next door to Central Market, seems to have begun forever ago. Really, it was just a year and a half ago, and many residents are now settled in. An emergency room is still under construction at Lovers Lane and Matilda.

The future site of Oasis Smokehouse: Photo by Keri Mitchell

We know EAST DALLAS

Whether you are looking for a large lot in Forest Hills, a sweet tudor in Hollywood Heights, an historic home in the M-Streets, or a forever home in Lakewood, we can help!

Getting to know our clients and understanding their specific needs is what we do best!

When you are ready to make your next move, give us a call.

We’d love to share our love of East Dallas with you in the process.

SERVING AGES 3 MONTHS - ADULTS

4411 SKILLMAN

Preschool & Elementary School

214-826-4410

5740 PROSPECT

Nursery School & Adult Program

214-826-6350

DallasSpanishHouse.com

Founded in 1966, Highlander offers an enriched curriculum in a positive, Christianbased environment. By limiting class size, teachers are able to build a strong educational foundation to insure confidence in academics, athletics, and the creative and performing arts. Highlander offers a “classic” education which cannot be equaled. Monthly tours offered; call for a reservation.

Highlander School

9120 Plano Road, Dallas, TX 75238 214-348-3220

www.highlanderschool.com

Since 1966 The Tradition Continues…

There are two lasting GIFTS we can give our children: One is ROOTS and the other is WINGS.

II Corinthians 5:17

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the NEW has come!”

CLAIRE’S CHRISTIAN DAY SCHOOL

8202 Boedeker Dr., / (214) 368-4047 / clairesdayschool.com At CCDS, we encourage a child’s sense of exploration and discovery in a loving, nurturing, and safe environment. We offer a parent’s day out program with a play-based curriculum fostering socialization, motor skill development, and an introduction to academics for children aged 4mo – 3yrs. Our preschool for children aged 3-5 further develops these skills, along with a more focused approach to pre-math and prereading. At CCDS, we have developed our own science, math, and reading enrichment classes to ensure kindergarten preparedness for every child. We make learning fun!

HIGHLANDER SCHOOL

9120 Plano Rd. Dallas / 214.348.3220 / www.highlanderschool.com

Founded in 1966, Highlander offers an enriched curriculum in a positive, Christian-based environment. By limiting class size, teachers are able to build a strong educational foundation to insure confidence in academics, athletics, and the creative and performing arts. Highlander offers a “classic” education which cannot be equaled. Monthly tours offered; call for a reservation.

LAKEHILL PREPARATORY SCHOOL

Leading to Success. 2720 Hillside Dr., Dallas 75214 / 214.826.2931 / lakehillprep. org Kindergarten through Grade 12 - Lakehill Preparatory School takes the word preparatory in its name very seriously. Throughout a student’s academic career, Lakehill builds an educational program that achieves its goal of enabling graduates to attend the finest, most rigorous universities of choice. Lakehill combines a robust, college-preparatory curriculum with opportunities for personal growth, individual enrichment, and community involvement. From kindergarten through high school, every Lakehill student is encouraged to strive, challenged to succeed, and inspired to excel.

THE LAMPLIGHTER SCHOOL

11611 Inwood Road Dallas TX 75229/ 214-369-9201/ thelamplighterschool.org

Lamplighter delivers serious education wrapped in the wonder of childhood. The Pre-K through fourth grade years are fleeting, but filled with pure potential. What we, as parents and educators, ignite in these primary years establishes the trajectory of a child’s future. Lamplighter helps set children on a path toward rewarding lives as forever learners. The independent, co-educational school

promotes academic excellence through innovative curriculum that merges fine arts with language arts, math, environmental science, social studies, physical education, and Spanish

SPANISH HOUSE

4411 Skillman 214-826-4410 / 5740 Prospect 214-826-6350 / DallasSpanishHouse.com

Spanish Immersion School serving ages 3 month - Adults. We offer nursery, preschool, elementary and adult programs at two Lakewood locations. Degreed, native-Spanish speaking teachers in an “all-Spanish” immersion environment. Call for a tour today!

ST. JOHN’S EPISCOPAL SCHOOL

848 Harter Rd., Dallas 75218 / 214.328.9131 / stjohnsschool.org Founded in 1953, St. John’s is an independent, co-educational day school for Pre-K through Grade 8. With a tradition for academic excellence, St. John’s programs include a challenging curriculum in a Christian environment along with instruction in the visual and performing arts, Spanish, German, French, and opportunities for athletics and community service.St. John’s goal for its students is to develop a love for learning, service to others, and leadership grounded in love, humility, and wisdom. Accredited by ISAS, SAES, and the Texas Education Agency.

WHITE ROCK NORTH SCHOOL

9727 White Rock Trail Dallas / 214.348.7410 / WhiteRockNorthSchool.com 6 Weeks through 6th Grade. Our accelerated curriculum provides opportunity for intellectual and physical development in a loving and nurturing environment. Character-building and civic responsibility are stressed. Facilities

include indoor swimming pool, skating rink, updated playground, and state-of-the-art technology lab. Kids Club on the Corner provides meaningful after-school experiences. Summer Camp offers field trips, swimming, and a balance of indoor and outdoor activities designed around fun-filled themes. Accredited by SACS. Call for a tour of the campus.

YORKTOWN EDUCATION

5170 Village Creek Drive Plano, 75093 972-733-0800 YorktownEd.com Yorktown

Education is an independent, academically challenging private school for grades first -12. With a customized “Do What You Love” curriculum, students are educated with higher standards at earlier ages. Education is based on performance and not on age or grade levels. Yorktown graduates are in the top 1% of the country for SAT & ACT results and have a 100 percent college acceptance rate, with an average of over $100,000 in college credit and scholarships. Enrolling first through 10th grade for the 2015-2016 school year. Prospective Parent Open House Oct 20th 6-8 pm. Parent tours and student visits are available.

ZION LUTHERAN SCHOOL

6121 E. Lovers Ln. Dallas / 214.363.1630 / ziondallas. org Toddler care thru 8th Grade. Serving Dallas for over 58 years offering a quality education in a Christ-centered learning environment. Degreed educators minister to the academic, physical, emotional, social, and spiritual needs of students and their families. Before and after school programs, Extended Care, Parents Day Out, athletics, fine arts, integrated technology, Spanish, outdoor education, Accelerated Reader, advanced math placement, and student government. Accredited by National Lutheran School & Texas District Accreditation Commissions and TANS. Contact Principal Jeff Thorman.

to advertise call 214.560.4203

69%

of our readers say they want to know more about private schools.

BAPTIST

LAKESIDE BAPTIST / 9150 Garland Rd / 214.324.1425

Sunday School 9:15am & Worship 10:30am

Pastor Jeff Donnell / www.lbcdallas.com

PARK CITIES BAPTIST CHURCH / 3933 Northwest Pky / pcbc.org

Worship & Bible Study 9:15 & 10:45 Traditional, Contemporary, Spanish Speaking / 214.860.1500

PRESTONWOOD BAPTIST CHURCH / “A Church to Call Home”

Sundays at 11:00 am

12123 Hillcrest Road / 972.820.5000 / prestonwood.org

WILSHIRE BAPTIST / 4316 Abrams / 214.452.3100

Pastor George A. Mason Ph.D. / Worship 8:30 & 11:00am

Bible Study 9:40 am / www.wilshirebc.org

CATHOLIC

UNIVERSITY OF DALLAS MINISTRY CONFERENCE / udallas.edu/udmc

October 22-24, 2015 / Sponsored by Catholic Diocese of Dallas

Sessions on Faith, Scripture, & Ministry / Exhibitors / Music / Mass

DISCIPLES OF CHRIST

EAST DALLAS CHRISTIAN CHURCH / 629 N. Peak Street / 214.824.8185

Sunday School 9:30 am / Worship 8:30 am - Chapel

10:50 am - Sanctuary / Rev. Deborah Morgan-Stokes / edcc.org

LUTHERAN

CENTRAL LUTHERAN CHURCH, ELCA / 1000 Easton Road

Sunday School for all ages 9:00 am / Worship Service 10:30 am

Pastor Rich Pounds / CentralLutheran.org / 214.327.2222

FIRST UNITED LUTHERAN CHURCH / 6202 E Mockingbird Lane

Sunday Worship Service 10:30 am / Call for class schedule. 214.821.5929 / www.dallaslutheran.org

METHODIST

LAKE HIGHLANDS UMC / 9015 Plano Rd. / 214.348.6600 / lhumc.com

Sunday Morning: 9:30 am Sunday School / 10:30 am Coffee

Worship: 8:30 am & 10:50 am Traditional / 10:50 am Contemporary

WHITE ROCK UNITED METHODIST / www.wrumc.org

1450 Oldgate Lane / 214.324.3661

Sunday Worship 10:50 am / Rev. Mitchell Boone

PRESBYTERIAN

NORTHRIDGE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH / 6920 Bob-O-Link Dr.

214.827.5521 / www.northridgepc.org / Welcomes you to Worship

8:30 & 11:00 am / Church School 9:35 am / Childcare provided.

ST. ANDREW’S PRESBYTERIAN / Skillman & Monticello

Rev. Rob Leischner. / www.standrewsdallas.org

214.821.9989 / Sunday School 9:30 am, Worship 10:45 am

UNITY

UNITY OF DALLAS / A Positive Path for Spiritual Living

6525 Forest Lane, Dallas, TX 75230 / 972.233.7106 / UnityDallas.org

10:30 am Sunday - Celebration Worship Service

UNITY ON GREENVILLE / Your soul is welcome here!

3425 Greenville Ave. / 214.826.5683 / www.dallasunity.org

Sunday Service 11:00 am and Book Study 9:30 am

FAIR INTEGRATION

The State Fair of Texas is one of the few remaining places in our society where we mingle freely and happily with one another across all dividing lines of race, ethnicity, geography and class.

Think about it. Where else do Neiman Marcus shoppers and Wal-Marters stand together in a corny dog line? Where else do rural ropers and urban cowboys sit together in the stock-show stands cheering on a cow-milking contest? Where else do drivers of old Chevy pickups and new Corvettes swarm together to see the latest auto offerings?

When I lived for a time in South Alabama years ago, I learned that Mobile — not New Orleans — started the Mardi Gras tradition. But whether you line the streets of Bienville Square or Bourbon Street, you will find yourself competing for moon pies and cheap beads with someone right next to you who 364 days of the year is not right next to you.

Public events like a Mardi Gras parade or a state fair (and Halloween trick-ortreating?) are moments of social bonding we seem to work hard to minimize the rest of the year. How diverse are our neighborhoods really? They are divided mostly along economic lines; which turn out to be mostly along racial and ethnic lines more than we want to admit. How diverse are our schools? They are, like our neighborhoods, similarly divided. And our churches? More shame there than I want to confess.

We tend to congregate with PLU — people like us. And then we wonder why our politics are so divisive? Polls break down by such micro-categories that we now know how left-handed Vietnamese small business owners think about the role of Common Core on public education and whether

they are more likely to vote Republican or Democrat because of it.

America’s motto, e pluribus unum, translates “from the many, one.” It’s more a mission statement or aspiration than a statement of fact. It’s therefore incumbent upon all of us to be agents of unity in our communities.

Expanding our definition of neighborliness is a place to start.

People of secular faith as well as spiritual can embrace this project, but all religious traditions have rich resources from which to draw on in this endeavor. In the Jewish, Christian and Muslim faiths we find the dispute over and over that amounts to this question: “Who is my neighbor?” The more you define your neighbor in restricted and exclusive ways, the more divisive society becomes. The more expansive and generous your definition of neighbor, the more unified society becomes.

Jesus told the Parable of the Good Samaritan in direct response to this question, “Who is my neighbor?” The Samaritan was considered “other” to the Jews Jesus spoke with. Samaritans were considered religiously, ethnically and (maybe wrongly) morally inferior, yet Jesus saw that this man’s acts of compassion toward his wounded neighbor defined true neighborliness.

Why are we so divided these days? The arguments are many: air-conditioning (we don’t meet on front porches anymore); alleys (we park behind our houses and never have to say hello to those next door); wealth disparity (gated communities and suburbanism).

For people of faith, theology must dictate sociology. Demography need not be destiny. But that depends on us.

Big Tex is calling “Howdy!” to all.

The State Fair of Texas is a rare place where we all come together

George Mason is pastor of Wilshire Baptist Church. The Worship section is a regular feature underwritten by Advocate Publishing and by the neighborhood business people and churches listed on these pages. For information about helping support the Worship section, call 214.560.4202.

That’s a reason to smile

White Rock Orthodontics launched an essay-based scholarship award this past summer, awarding $1,000 to Alexis Saldana, 17, a student at the University of Texas at Austin. The orthodontics firm also awarded $100 to each of the seven other entrants.

CLASSES/TUTORING/ LESSONS

ART: Draw/Paint. Adults All Levels. Lake Highlands N. Rec. Ctr. Days: Mon & Wed. Students bring supplies. Nights: 1xt month workshop, supplies furnished. Jane Cross. 214-534-6829, GET READY, GET SET Get Ahead With Mathnasium. 214-328-MATH (6284) mathnasium.com/dallaslakewood

MAKERS CONNECT Craft Classes & Workshops. Led by & for Local Makers. Check Schedule: makersconnect.org/classes

PIANO LESSONS Experienced, Dedicated Piano Teacher References. Call Pat 214-827-7076

EMPLOYMENT

AVIATION GRADS Work with JetBlue, Boeing, Delta and Others. Start Here with Hands On Training for FAA Certification. Financial Aid if Qualified. Aviation Institute of Maintenance. 866-453-6204

HIRING EXPERIENCED PAINTER Int/Ext. Mon-Fri. jp2532@sbcglobal.net 214-725-6768

PET SITTERS, DOG WALKERS reply to http://www.pcpsi.com/join

SERVICES FOR YOU

AT ODDS WITH YOUR COMPUTER? Easily Learn Essential Skills. Services include Digital Photo Help. Sharon 214-679-9688

CONFUSED? FRUSTRATED? Let A Seasoned Pro Be The Interface Between You & That Pesky Windows Computer. Hardware & Software Installation, Troubleshooting, Training. $60/hr. 1 hr min. Dan 214-660-3733 / stykidan@sbcglobal.net

DISH TV Starting at $19.99/month (for 12 months) Save! Regular Price $34.99. Ask About Free Same Day Installation. Call Now. 877-648-0096

MY OFFICE Offers Mailing, Copying, Shipping, Office & School Supplies. 9660 Audelia Rd. myofficelh.com 214-221-0011

LEGAL SERVICES

A FREE CONSULTATION Wills/Probate/Guardianships. MaryGlennAttorney.com 214-802-6768

A SIMPLE WILL. Name a Guardian for Children. Katherine Rose, Attorney 214-728-4044. Office Dallas Tx.

PROFESSIONAL SERVICES

ACCOUNTING, TAXES Small Businesses & Individuals. Chris King, CPA 214-824-5313 www.chriskingcpa.com

BOOKKEEPING NEEDS? Need Help Organizing Finances? No Job Too Small or Big. Call C.A.S. Bookkeeping Services. Cindy 214-821-6903 Mobile. SEO Friendly. Maintainable.

NEED A NEW WEBSITE?

214.292.2053 LocalWorks.advocatemag.com is online too!

Brotherly love

Kory Ballard, a 13-year-old seventhgrader at Ann Richards Middle School, and Kaden Ballard, a 9-year-old fourthgrader at Alex Sanger Elementary School, pose for the camera on the first day of school.

MIND, BODY & SPIRIT

NEXGEN FITNESS Call Today For Free Session. 972-382-9925 NexGenFitness.com 10759 Preston Rd. 75230

UFC GYM WHITE ROCK Workout Blues? Train Different. Power/ endurance/results. 469-729-9900 ufcgym.com/WhiteRock

PET SERVICES

DOGGIE DEN DALLAS Daycare, Boarding, Grooming, Training. 6444 E. Mockingbird Ln. 214-823-1441 DoggieDenDallas.com

POOP SCOOP PROFESSIONALS Trust The Experts. 214-826-5009. germaine_free@yahoo.com

BUY/SELL/TRADE

TEXAS RANGERS AND DALLAS STARS front row seats. Share prime, front-row Texas Rangers and Dallas Stars tickets (available in sets of 10 games). Prices start at $105 per ticket (sets of 2 or 4 tickets per game available) Seats are behind the plate and next to the dugouts for the Rangers: seats are on the glass and on the Platinum Level for the Stars. Other great seats available starting at $60 per ticket. Entire season available except for opening game; participants randomly draw numbers prior to the season to determine a draft order fair for everyone. Call 214-560-4212 or rwamre@advocatemag.com

TOP CASH FOR CARS Any Car, Truck. Running or Not. Call for Instant Offer. 1-800-454-6951

ESTATE/GARAGE SALES

CLUTTERBLASTERS.COM ESTATE SALES Moving & DownSizing Sales, Storage Units. Organize/De-Clutter Donna 972-679-3100

TO

CALL 214.560.4203

214-321-4228

JESSE’S A/C & APPLIANCE SERVICE

TACLB13304C All Makes/Models. 214-660-8898

CLEANING SERVICES

A MAID FOR YOU Bonded/Insured.Park Cities/ M Streets Refs. Call Us First. Joyce 214-232-9629

AFFORDABLE, PROFESSIONAL CLEANING

A Clean You Can Trust

Staff trained by Nationally Certified Cleaning Tech. Chemical-free, Green, or Traditional Cleaning. WindsorMaidServices.com 214-381-MAID (6243)

ALTOGETHER CLEAN

Relax ...We’ll Clean Your House, It Will Be Your Favorite Day! Bonded & Insurance. Free Estimates. 214-929-8413. www. altogetherclean.net

AMAZON CLEANING Top To Bottom Clean. Fabiana.469-951-2948

CINDY’S HOUSE CLEANING 15 yrs exp. Resd/Com. Refs. Dependable. 214-490-0133

MESS MASTERS Earth friendly housecleaning. 469-235-7272. www.messmasters.com Since ‘91

TWO SISTERS & A MOP 20 Yrs Exp. 214-242-9885

WANTED: HOUSES TO CLEAN Windows, too! Great Prices / Refs. Family owned. 20 yrs. Reliable. Call Sunny 214-724-2555. grimestoppershere.com

WINDOW MAN WINDOW CLEANING.COM Residential Specialists. BBB. 214-718-3134

COMPUTERS & ELECTRONICS

ALL COMPUTER PROBLEMS SOLVED MAC/PC Great Rates! Keith 214-295-6367

BILL’S COMPUTER REPAIR Virus Removal, Data Recovery. Home/Biz Network Install. All Upgrades & Repairs. PC Instruction. No Trip Fee. 214-348-2566

IT SOLUTIONS/SUPPORT For Home & Small Business. Parental Controls Speciality. 8 Yrs. Exp. Husband & Wife, Licensed Minister called to His Work. Texas Tech Guru. 214-850-2669

CONCRETE/ MASONRY/PAVING

ALL EPOXY COATINGS, CONCRETE Countertops, Stamping, Staining & Designs, Floor Demo and Overlays Landscape Designs Call 214-916-8368

BRICK & STONE REPAIR

Tuck Pointing / Crack Repair. Mortar Color Matching. Windows And Door Cracks Etc. Call Don 214-704-1722

CARPENTRY

BO HANDYMAN Specializing In Historic

Renovations & Pro Remodels. Custom Carpentry, Doors, Kitchens, Baths & more. 214-437-9730

CONCRETE/ MASONRY/PAVING

CONCRETE REPAIRS/REPOURS

Demo existing. Stamping and Staining Driveways/Patio/Walkways

Pattern/Color available

Free Estimates 972-672-5359 (32 yrs.)

CONCRETE, Driveway Specialist Repairs, Replacement, Removal, References. Reasonable. Chris 214-770-5001

EDMONDSPAVING.COM Asphalt & Concrete Driveway-Sidewalk-Patio-Repair 214-957-3216

FLAGSTONE PATIOS, Retaining Walls, BBQ’s, Veneer, Flower Bed Edging, All Stone work. Chris 214-770-5001

FENCING & DECKS

FENCING & WOODWORK oldgatefence.com

charliehookerswoodwork.com 214-766-6422

HANNAWOODWORKS.COM

Decks, Pergolas, Patio Covers. 214-435-9574

KIRKWOOD FENCE & DECK New & Repair. Free Estimates. Nathan Kirkwood. 214-341-0699

LONESTARDECKS.COM 214-357-3975

Trex Decking & Fencing, trex.com

All Wood Decks, Arbors & Patio Covers

EST. 1991 #1

COWBOY

FENCE & IRON CO.

214.692.1991

SPECIALIZING IN Wood Fences &Auto Gates

cowboyfenceandiron.com

Swimming Pool Remodels • Patios Stone work • Stamp Concrete 972-727-2727 Deckoart.com

ELECTRICAL SERVICES

ANTHONY’S ELECTRIC Master Electrician. TECL24948 anthonyselectricofdallas.com

50 Yrs. Electrical Exp. Insd. 214-328-1333

GOVER ELECTRIC Back Up Generators. New and Remodel Work. Commercial & Residential. All Service Work. 469-230-7438. TECL2293

LAKEWOOD ELECTRICAL Local. Insured. Lic. #227509 Call Rylan 214-434-8735

TEXAS ELECTRICAL • 214-289-0639

Prompt, Honest, Quality. TECL 24668

TH ELECTRIC Reasonable Rates. Licensed & Insured. Ted. E257 214-808-3658

WHITE ROCK ELECTRIC All Electrical Services. Lic/Insd. E795. 214-850-4891

EXTERIOR CLEANING

G&G DEMOLITION Tear downs, Haul. Interior/Exterior. 214-808-8925

FENCING & DECKS

#1 COWBOY FENCE & IRON CO. Est. ‘91. 214-692-1991 www.cowboyfenceandiron.com

FLOORING & CARPETING

ALL WALKS OF FLOORS 214-616-7641

Carpet, Wood, Tile Sales/Service Free Estimates

DALLAS HARDWOODS 214-724-0936

Installation, Repair, Refinish, Wax, Hand Scrape. Residential, Commercial. Sports Floors. 30 Yrs.

FENN CONSTRUCTION Full Service Contractor. www.dallastileman.com Back Splash Specials! 214-343-4645

THE TEXAN FLOORING SERVICES Wood, Laminate. Remodel Showers, Bathrooms. thetexanflooringservices.com 214-680-0901

CARPET · HARDWOODS · CERAMIC Quick, Reliable Installation John: 972.989.3533 john.roemen@redicarpet.com

REDI CARPET

Reinventing the Flooring Experience

Restoration Flooring

BRICK, BLOCK, Stone, Concrete, Stucco. Gonzalez Masonry. 214-395-1319

BRICK, STONEWORK, FLAGSTONE PATIOS Mortar Repair. Straighten Brick Mailboxes & Columns. Call Cirilo 214-298-7174

4 QUALITY FENCING Call Mike 214-507-9322

Specializing in Wood, New or Repair.

AMBASSADOR FENCE INC.

Automatic Gates, Iron & Cedar Fencing, Decks. Since 1996. MC/V 214-621-3217

25+ Years Experience

469.774.3147

Hardwood Installation · Hand Scraping Sand & Finish · Dustless restorationflooring.net

Willeford hardwood floors

Superior Quality: Installation • Refinishing Repair Cleaning & Waxing Old World Hand Scrape 214-824-1166

FOUNDATION REPAIR

• Slabs • Pier & Beam

• Mud Jacking • Drainage

• Free Estimates

• Over 20 Years Exp. 972-288-3797

We Answer Our Phones

GARAGE SERVICES

DFW GARAGE PRO

Garage Organize/Reorganize. Painting, Shelving, Cabinets, Storage, Disposal. 303-883-9321

ROCKET GARAGE DOOR SERVICE -24/7. Repairs/Installs. 214-533-8670. Coupon On Web. www.RocketDoorService.com

UNITED GARAGE DOORS AND GATES Res/Com. Locally Owned.214-826-8096

GLASS, WINDOWS & DOORS

EAST DALLAS WINDOW CLEANING Power Wash. Free Est. Dependable. Derek. 214-360-0120

GREENGO Replacement Windows & Doors. 214-755-6258. 25 Yrs Experience.

LAKE HIGHLANDS GLASS & MIRROR frameless shower enclosures • store fronts replacement windows • mirrors 214-349-8160

ROCK GLASS CO Replace, repair: windows, mirrors, showers, screens. 214-837-7829

HANDYMAN SERVICES

A R&G HANDYMAN Electrical, Plumbing, Painting, Fencing, Roofing, Light Hauling. Ron or Gary 214-861-7569, 469-878-8044

ALL STAR HOME CARE Carpentry, Glass, Tile, Paint, Doors, Sheetrock Repair, and more. 25 yrs. exp. References. Derry 214-505-4830

BO HANDYMAN Specializing In Historic Home Renovations & Pro Remodels. Custom Carpentry, Doors, Kitchens, Baths & more. 214-437-9730

FRAME RIGHT All Honey-Dos/Jobs. Crown mold install $125/rm. Licensed. Matt 469-867-9029

GROOVY HOUSE Is A Different Handyman Experience! Find Out Why At www.groovyhouse.biz 214-733-2100 • 19 Year Lakewood Resident

HANDYMAN SPECIALIST Residential/ Commercial. Large, small jobs, repair list, renovations. Refs. 214-489-0635

HOMETOWN HANDYMAN All phases of construction. No job too small 214-327-4606

HONEST, SKILLED SERVICE With a Smile. General Repairs/ Maintenance. 214-215-2582

WANTED: ODD JOBS & TO DO LISTS Allen’s Handyman & Home Repair 214-288-4232

HANDYMAN SERVICES

Handy Dan

The Handyman “ToDo’s” Done Right Save $25 on Service Call of $125 or $50 on Service Call of $250 handy-dan.com

214.252.1628

Your Home Repair Specialists Drywall Doors Senior Safety Carpentry Small & Odd Jobs And More! 972-308-6035 HandymanMatters.com/dallas Bonded & Insured. Locally owned & operated.

Irrigation

HOUSE PAINTING

A1 TOP COAT Professional. Reliable. References. TopCoatOfTexas.com 214-770-2863

ALL TYPES Painting & Repairs. A+ BBB rating. Any size jobs welcome. Call Kenny 214-321-7000

BENJAMIN’S PAINTING SERVICE Quality Work At Reasonable Prices. 214-725-6768

MANNY’S HOME PAINTING & REMODEL Int./Ext. Sheetrock. Manny 214-334-2160

RAMON’S INT/EXT PAINT Sheetrock, Repairs. 214-679-4513

VIP PAINTING & DRYWALL Int/Ext. Sheetrock Repair, Resurfacing Tubs, Counters, Tile Repairs. 469-774-7111

KITCHEN/BATH/ TILE/GROUT

HOME INSPECTION

KITCHEN/BATH/ TILE/GROUT

FENN CONSTRUCTION Full Service Contractor. www.dallastileman.com Back Splash Specials! 214-343-4645

MELROSE TILE James Sr., Installer, Repairs. 40 Yrs. Exp. MelroseTile.com 214-384-6746

STONE AGE COUNTER TOPS Granite, Marble, Tile, Kitchen/Bath Remodels. 972-276-9943.stoneage.dennis@verizon.net

HOUSE PAINTING

1 AFFORDABLE HOUSE PAINTING and Home Repair. Quality work. Inside and Out. Free Ests. Local Refs. Ron 972-816-5634

#1 GET MORE PAY LES Painting. 85% Referrals. Free Est. 214-348-5070

A+ INT/EXT PAINT & DRYWALL Since 1977. Kirk Evans. 972-672-4681

TOM HOLT TILE 30 Yrs Experience In Tile, Backsplashes & Floors. Refs. Avail. 214-770-3444

• Tubs, Tiles or Sinks

• Cultured Marble

• Kitchen Countertops

214-631-8719

WE REFINISH! www.allsurfacerefinishing.com

LAWNS, GARDENS & TREES

A BETTER TREE COMPANY • JUST TREES Complete tree services. Tree & Landscape Lighting! Mark 214-332-3444

A BETTER TREE MAN Trims, Removals, Insd. 12 Yrs Exp. Roberts Tree Service. 214-808-8925

AYALA’S LANDSCAPING SERVICE

Call the Land Expert Today! Insured. 214-773-4781

CHUPIK TREE SERVICE

Trim, Remove, Stump Grind. Free Est. Insured. 214-823-6463

DALLAS GROUNDSKEEPER Comprehensive services designed to meet your needs. 214-504-6788 dallasgroundskeeper.com

DALLAS K.D.R.SERVICES • 214-349-0914

Lawn Service & Landscape Installation

HOLMAN IRRIGATION

Sprinkler & Valve Repair/ Rebuild Older Systems. Lic. #1742. 214-398-8061

LIGHT IT UP DALLAS

Your lighting specialists. 972-591-8383 Parties, Weddings, Patios, Landscape.

PERRONE’S • 214-502-2296

Relax... Let a Pro take care of your lawn & garden. First 10 callers get our Fall Cleanup Special!

RONS LAWN Organic Solutions. Not Environmental Pollution. Landscape & Maintenance 972-222-LAWN (5296)

TRACY’S LAWN CARE • 972-329-4190

Lawn Mowing & Leaf Cleaning

WHITE ROCK TREE WIZARDS Professionals, Experts, Artists. Trim, Rmv, Cable Repair, Cavity-Fill Stump Grind. Emergency Hazards. Insd. Free Est. 972-803-6313

YOUR TREES could look like a WORK OF ART, I Guarantee It. Call Mark Wittlich

tip: Tim Green, LSI Lawn Sprinklers

“Don’t forget - Trees, turf, and landscapes need water in the fall/winter season. Now is the time to get your irrigation system in good working order and programmed properly.” LSI Lawn Sprinklers “Making Water Work”

PLUMBING

A2Z PLUMBING 214-727-4040

All Plumbing Repairs. Slab Leak Specialists. Licensed & Insured. ML# M36843.

AC PLUMBING Repairs, Fixtures, Senior Discounts. Gary Campbell. 214-321-5943

ANDREWS PLUMBING • 214-354-8521 # M37740 Insured. Any plumbing issues. plumberiffic69@gmail.com

Sewers • Drains • Bonded 24 Hours/7 Days

*Joe Faz 214-794-7566 - Se Habla Español*

ARRIAGA PLUMBING: General Plumbing

Since the 80’s. Insured. Lic# M- 20754 214-321-0589, 214-738-7116, CC’s accepted.

HAYES PLUMBING INC. Repairs. Insured, 214-343-1427 License M13238

M&S PLUMBING Quality Work & Prompt Service. Jerry. 214-235-2172. lic.#M-11523

NTX PLUMBING SPEC. LLLP 214-226-0913

Lic. M-40581 Res/Com. Repairs & Leak Location

SPECK PLUMBING

Over 30 Yrs Exp. Licensed/Insured. 214-732-4769, 214-562-2360

REMODELING

O’BRIEN GROUP INC. Remodeling Dallas For Over 17 Years www.ObrienGroupInc.com 214-341-1448

RENOVATE DALLAS renovatedallas.com 214-403-7247

POOLS

ADAIR POOL & SPA SERVICE

1 month free service for new customers. Call for details. 469-358-0665.

REMODELING

BO HANDYMAN Specializing In Historic Home Renovations & Pro Remodels. Custom Carpentry, Doors, Kitchens, Baths & more. 214-437-9730

FENN CONSTRUCTION Full Service Contractor. www.dallastileman.com Back Splash Specials! 214-343-4645

• 30 Yrs. in Business • Angie’s List

• Major Additions

• Complete Renovations

• Kitchens/Baths

214-341-1155 www.bobmcdonaldco.com

Bob McDonald Company, Inc. BUILDERS/REMODELERS Chandler Design Group

Design / Build / Renovate we'll turn your vision into reality

Heath Chandler 214.938.8242

www.chandlerdesigng roup.com

ROOFING

SERIAL ROBBERS INJURE CLERK

A duo of serial robbers terrorized convenience-store employees in our neighborhood, seriously injuring one in late August.

The Dallas Police Department in September released video that clearly shows the two men robbing a 7-Eleven clerk at gunpoint.

The robbers, who police experts guess are 17-25 years old, are both about 5-foot-8 and 170 pounds.

Police suspect them in connection with at least four robberies and one violent assault in the northeast and East Dallas areas.

At about 5:45 a.m. Aug. 21, the pair robbed the 7-Eleven on Abrams at Northwest Highway using two semi-automatic pistols. Then they personally robbed the clerk, going through his pockets as he lay on the ground. In the following hours, they hit four other stores in similar style, police say.

On Aug. 23, the criminals returned to the scene of one of their Aug. 21 robberies, a gas station on Shiloh, where the clerk immediately recognized them, according to police reports. One of them beat the clerk over the head with a gun, which discharged during the attack. The bullet grazed the clerk’s head. He was taken to Baylor in stable condition according to the most recent report available.

Badge number of Dallas Police Department officer Raymond Petty of the Central Patrol Division, who was arrested on family violence charges in August

-year-old Petty was charged with a class C misdemeanor, which carries a fine of about $391

8 years of service on the police department, Petty was placed on administrative leave pending an Internal Affairs Division investigation

—Christina Hughes Babb

Anyone with information regarding these offenses or the identity of the suspects should contact the Dallas Police Department’s Robbery Unit at 214.671.3584 or Crime Stoppers at 214.373.8477. Crime Stoppers offers up to a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and indictment of the suspects involved.

SOURCE Dallas Police Department

PLAYING WITH MONOPOLY MONEY

How a few passion projects distract from the $3 billion issue

COMMENT.

Keys are magnificent inventions. It’s not the ingenuity of their sharp contours, precisely serrated to lift their lock’s pins. It’s that they are the perfect tools to distract crying babies.

More than once have I dug into my purse, whipped out my key chain and jangled my mass of keys in front of my little ones’ tear-streaked faces, just long enough for them to forget what it was they were crying about in the first place.

of the council to distract it from questioning the much bigger $3 billion budget picture.

I’ve watched some council members spend weeks agonizing over how to spend that money — debating endlessly, running back and forth between council offices to achieve consensus, setting aside $50,000 for this and $275,000 for that, confident that they’ve done something meaningful and statesmanlike by moving around pennies and dimes while generally ignoring the other $2,998,000,000 that make up our city’s budget.

dred thousand dollars, and you’ll have a knock-down, drag-out fight on your hands. Hence, the ingenuity of the jangly keys trick.

This year, though, city management took a slightly different tack. Instead of offering a few million dollars for the council to fight about, the city manager went a slightly more passive-aggressive route. When asked to find additional funds for street repairs, City Manager AC Gonzalez offered to cut neighborhood libraries instead.

For years, City of Dallas management has used this same technique on the Dallas City Council during budget season. When council members ask too many questions or dig too deeply into the numbers, when they challenge spending choices or criticize allocations to particular departments, the jangly keys come out.

The keys usually take the form of a couple of million dollars that the city manager just happens to have lying about, unallocated to any particular department and aching to be spent. This pocket change is dangled in front

I’ve got a theory about this, and I believe it’s the premise underlying city management’s key trick: It’s that council members, being human, find it incredibly difficult to fathom large sums of money. Amounts over a million dollars quickly become play money, meaningless figures that bear no relationship to actual dollar bills. I suspect the cut-off amount for fiscal reality is somewhere in the range of a nice car or small mortgage — amounts that most of us have some real-world experience with. Go much above that and you’re dealing with hypotheticals.

You can see the Monopoly-money effect in some of our city’s biggest capital expenditures. The horse park, the fancy bridges, the convention center hotel, all of these things cost massive sums, tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars. The majority of past councils happily allocated funds to these arguably questionable projects because the vast amounts of money involved were never real in the first place.

But propose how to spend a few hun-

The proposal came across as disingenuous and hostile, and was soundly rejected. But purposeful or not, the maneuver diverted the council’s attention from the larger budget picture. That is a shame, because the singular moment that council members are most critical to the functioning of our city is when they vote on the budget.

Our city’s budget reflects our values. If we’re spending our tax dollars ineffectively or focusing our limited funds on big fancy projects to the detriment of our streets, parks and libraries, then we are not valuing our neighborhoods no matter how much lip-service we’re paying.

The good news is, despite city management’s distractions, Councilmembers Kingston, Griggs, Medrano and Clayton are going through the budget with a fine-tooth comb, proposing smart cuts and demanding explanations for increased expenditures.

It’s probably naïve to hope that their proposals will be embraced and adopted by city management, but at the very least, I hope they are not met with the tinkling sound of jangling keys.

Council members,

being human, find it incredibly difficult to fathom large sums of money.

Angela Hunt is a neighborhood resident and former Dallas City Councilwoman in East Dallas. She writes a monthly opinion column about neighborhood issues. Her opinions are not necessarily those of the Advocate or its management. Send comments and ideas to her at 6301 Gaston, Suite 820, Dallas 75214; FAX to 214.823.8866; or email ahunt@advocatemag.com.

9533 Rocky Branch · $599,995 Suzanne Altobello 214.335.8219

6615 Avalon · $949,900

Nancy Johnson 214.674.3840 · Kate Walters 214.293.0506

9126 Gunnison · $335,000 Keith Callahan 214.675.6777

6214 Goliad · $774,500 Mike Bates 214.418.3443

5809 Oram #1 · $450,000 Nancy Johnson 214.674.3840

6931 Pasadena · $499,000 Henda Salmeron 214.991.2237

7326 La Vista · $889,000 Nadine Kelsall-Meyer 214.235.6661

2408 Loving · $1,200,000 Kim & Taylor Gromatzky 214.802.5025

7023 Lakewood · $1,375,000 Wayne Garcia 469.441.2772

6941 Kenwood · $695,000 The Jackson Team 214.827.2400

SOLD IN-HOUSE

4980 Fuqua · $459,000 Nadine Kelsall-Meyer 214.235.6661

6633 Hialeah · $695,000 The Jackson Team 214.827.2400

9010 San Leandro · $299,900 Susan Nelson-Wheeler & Wes Wheeler 469.878.8522

5207 Ridgedale · $539,000 Kate Walters 214.293.0506

6445 Chesley · $400,000 Kate Walters 214.293.0506

6321 Lange · $450,000 Heather Guild Group 214.563.2385

6612 Lakeshore · $824,900 Nancy Johnson 214.674.3840

618 N. Brookside · $1,075,000 Nancy Johnson 214.674.3840

6526 Lakewood · $910,000 Nancy Johnson 214.674.3840

4936 Victor · $600,000 Melissa O’Brien 214.616.8343

7107 Alexander · $875,000 The Jackson Team 214.827.2400

6748 Lakewood · $2,450,000 Susan Nelson-Wheeler & Wes Wheeler 469.878.8522

8407 Forest Hills · $799,000 Nancy Johnson 214.674.3840

6814 Avalon · $995,000 The Jackson Team 214.827.2400

7506 Benedict · $1,150,000 Nancy Johnson 214.674.3840

11306 Sanabel · $599,900 Meg Skinner 214.924.5393

7309 Clemson · $375,000 Hickman + Weber Group 214.300.8439

6503 Northridge · $799,900 The Jackson Team 214.827.2400

6634 Velasco · $699,000 Nancy Johnson 214.674.3840

4636 Chapel Hill · $7,495,000 Kim & Taylor Gromatzky 214.802.5025