Tooting our curmudgeon horn

The Dallas Observer named Advocate contributing editor Jeff Siegel the city’s best columnist this year, and Siegel — who was too modest to ask anyone else at Advocate to write about it — gave his humble thanks on lakewood.advocatemag.com.

The Observer does a Best of Dallas every year, and picks a best columnist as part of the process. This year, for some reason completely unknown to me, they picked me.

Which is not to say I’m not flattered, because I am. The citation said so many nice things that I had to double check to make sure it was about me, since my writing here and in the magazine usually elicits the other sort of response. Don’t believe me? Then just ask Wamre. Rick asked me to write the column when we started this adventure, and has put up with me ever since. Frankly, given Dallas, that hasn’t always been easy for him.

If I may quote: “Beneath all that writing and attitude beats the heart of an old-fashioned newspaper reporter.” Believe it or not, that’s all I ever wanted to be, from the minute I was old enough to be aware that one could write and get paid for it. So thank you, Observer I appreciate this more than you know.

—Jeff Siegel

Read Siegel’s latest cantankerous column, in which he pledges he won’t be as cantankerous, on page 70.

White Rock Boathouse — the big and little of it

While many neighborhood residents are buzzing these days about plans to build a new boathouse near the lake’s north shore, White Rock Boathouse, Inc., in place on the other side of the lake for nine years now, is steadily growing.

The non-profit organization has made rowing accessible for students and adults, and it has changed much of the face of White Rock Lake. Executive director and head rowing coach Mark Wilson and member Thomas Carr gave us a tour of the facilities and filled us in on the following facts about their organization:

The White Rock Boathouse, Inc. facilities include the original White Rock Boathouse at Tee Pee Hill and a large boathouse nearby.

The original small art-deco style boathouse was built on the shore/water in 1930.

In 2004 the White Rock Boathouse group self funded the effort to refurbish the original boathouse, which was suffering from neglect, deterioration and gang-related graffiti. Today it is back in use. Rowers nicknamed it The Boomerang.

In 2007, White Rock Boathouse raised $2.5 million to turn the dilapidated, abandoned, vandalized Water Works building, next to the lake’s Filter Building, into the big boathouse. Rowers nicknamed it Big Boathouse.

The White Rock Boathouse, Inc., in collaboration with the Park Department and Dallas Water Utilities, also renovated the Filter Building at White Rock Lake for use as an entertainment venue that garners funds for boathouse facilities’ maintenance and rowing programs.

The renovation projects received design recognition from American Institute of Architects, Preservation Dallas and the Texas Historic Commission.

The modern era of rowing on White Rock began with the Dallas Rowing Club formation in 1980. It disbanded in 1982.

Said Dallas Rowing Club rebooted at Bachman in 1983 and occasionally held events at White Rock.