2013 December Lakewood

Urgent Care in Casa

Urgent Care in Casa Linda Plaza

9540 Garland Road, Suite C408

Casa Linda Plaza

Monday – Friday 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Saturday – Sunday 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

DoctorsHospitalUrgentCare.com

Linda Plaza

OPENING IN DECEMBER

Minor emergency care for a wide range of conditions – from deep cuts that need more than a band-aid, to serious burns that require immediate attention or a sinus infection that just gets worse – will be available at the new Urgent Care by Doctors Hospital at White Rock Lake opening in December. Our experienced doctors and nurses will offer treatment for non-life threatening medical emergencies as well as on-site laboratory services, X-rays, school physicals and immunizations. No appointments are necessary and patients are seen quickly on a firstcome, first-serve basis – without a long wait.

features

52

Be a voice

Less than half the children in foster care have a court appointed special advocate, which is a statistic Dallas CASA aims to change.

58

Take to the streets

A photo essay captures the intense passion and vivacity of the Hare Krishna community during its daily rituals.

64

Hot tamale

With the holidays comes the madness of tamale season. What’s a good tamale worth to you?

launch

20

Treasure hunt

cover Wish list

37

New York Times bestselling author Kathleen Kent recently published her third book about a quest for buried pirate’s gold.

24

Game on Neighbor Mike Looney’s documentary takes a look at a monumental football game and the culture surrounding it.

Brandon’s run

Back row: Sherri L. Tilley, Holi C. Geeslin, Janet Spillers, Bill Britton, Tracey Parish

Front row: Vickers L. Cunningham, Sr., Mina S. Cunningham, Bill “Bulldog” Cunningham

brilliant minds operate.

Complex conditions of the brain and spine receive the brightest care at Methodist Dallas Medical Center. Sophisticated treatments — including stealth-guided imaging, endovascular surgery, and minimally invasive procedures for neck and back pain, aneurysms, and tumors help patients recover more fully, faster, and with less pain. It’s a shining example of the exceptional care you can expect at Methodist.

MethodistHealthSystem.org/Neuro

Advanced Brain and Spine Care

Methodist Dallas is a certified Advanced Primary Stroke Center by The Joint Commission.

HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS

Forget peace and goodwill to all; let’s start with family

If it wasn’t for family, the holidays probably would be a lot of fun.

You know what I mean: There are a lot of family hot-buttons certain to turn into flashpoints during the holidays.

There’s the “whose turn is it to visit whom” discussion that often requires intense mathematical equations and adroit calendar work through which to maneuver. This one can consume months of precious time prior to the holidays, ensuring that on the actual get-together date, the temperature is going to be hot no matter where you’re meeting.

Then there’s the “what do we do when we get there” conundrum, which involves various combinations of family members tackling varied aspects of the holiday experience and determining how much “me” time should be balanced against how much “family” time, with “family” time only counting if every single family member is locked arm-in-arm together in the same room, even knowing that much togetherness leads to all kinds of other issues as the day wears on.

And there’s the ever-present present quandary. Many holidays devolve into mutually assured destruction scenarios where we’re now obligated to exchange gifts with certain people simply because they’re going to exchange them with us, and a failure on the part of any one party could have disastrous consequences for the relationship between both parties.

“How much is enough” also can be a deadly game when it comes to family presents, particularly when you’re going to be part of a mass present-unveiling, giving you nowhere to hide if you’re the only one to cheap out because that’s what

sis did to you last year.

Some of the present-giving decisions are obvious, some change from year to year (or maybe from email to email), but all are perilous — a present deemed “inappropriate” by others in the clan can stir ill will and quickly ruin a Rockwell-esque holiday scene in seconds, followed by years of acrimony and accusations.

Holidays always seem to boil down to a simple “suicide pact” mentality held by one key family member: If everyone in the family doesn’t show up to be included in the festivities, then it’s incumbent upon everyone else not to have a good time, no matter what.

And then there’s the corollary to that one: If everyone in the family does show up, how much of a good time will that really be once the first hour of the reunion has passed and people have moved beyond their best behavior and reverted to childhood personalities?

After all, if you get enough related people together in one room, particularly an undersized room with really nice furniture that won’t look good with soda or wine stains, there are bound to be conflicts, and if you can’t roll with whatever happens, there’s no chance you’re going to have a good time.

But in the end, this is all just typical family stuff, nothing to be ashamed of or worried about. In fact, it can be downright entertaining if you keep the right frame of mind.

Look at the alternative: You’re in a room by yourself, drinking spiked eggnog and watching one of those fake fireplaces on your computer.

True, there’s no one in the room, other than you, enthusiastically questioning your life choices out loud. But when you get down to it, that’s really what families and holidays are all about — we need people who know us well to keep us honest and humble and entertained, and that’s why we keep getting together year after year after year.

If we’re not all together, we’re all apart, and that’s no way to spend the holidays.

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advertising consultants

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EDITORIAL PH/ 214.292.2053

publisher: CHRISTINA HUGHES BABB

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senior editor: EMILY TOMAN

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editors:

WHITNEY THOMPSON

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RACHEL STONE

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BRITTANY NUNN

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senior art director: JYNNETTE NEAL

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designer: KATHRYN ROCHA

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designers: LARRY OLIVER, LISA DUDLEY

contributing editors: KERI MITCHELL, JEFF SIEGEL, SALLY WAMRE

contributors: GAYLA BROOKS, SEAN CHAFFIN, GEORGE MASON, BLAIR MONIE, ELLEN RAFF, PAM HARRIS

photo editor: DANNY FULGENCIO

214.635.2121 / danny@advocatemag.com

photographers: MARK DAVIS, ELLIOTT MUÑOZ, KIM

LEESON, DAVID LEESON

copy editor: LARRA KEEL

interns: PERI BOWDEN, BRANDY BARHAM, JAMES COREAS, JUN MA, JENNIFER SHERTZER

Advocate Media 6301 Gaston Avenue, Suite 820, Dallas, TX 75214

Advocate, © 2013, is published monthly by East Dallas Lakewood People Inc.

Contents of this magazine may not be reproduced. Advertisers and advertising agencies assume liability for the content of all advertisements printed, and therefore assume responsibility for any and all claims against the Advocate. The publisher reserves the right to accept or reject any editorial or advertising material. Opinions set forth in the Advocate are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the publisher’s viewpoint. More than 200,000 people read Advocate publications each month. Advertising rates and guidelines are available upon request. Advocate publications are available free of charge throughout our neighborhoods, one copy per reader.

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MAKING MOUTHS HAPPY SINCE 1947.

DIGITAL DIGEST

OUR MOST-READ STORY

ON LAKEWOOD.ADVOCATEMAG.COM

Is a ‘White Rock ISD’ in our future?

For two and a half years, parents have been asking Dallas ISD trustee Mike Morath if Woodrow Wilson High School and its feeder schools could “divorce” DISD. It’s possible, he says, to have an amicable separation in which the schools are still joined to DISD but operate mostly independently.

Another scenario, which former state representative Allen Vaught is pushing, calls for a full detachment from the district.

When editor Keri Mitchell broke the story online via the Advocate Digital Digest, it generated quite a buzz among readers.

READER COMMENTS

“What would this do to my property taxes? That’s my first question.” —seat21d

“The students in Dallas would be better served by breaking up the district into a dozen of small districts. That way real people can have a hope of truly effecting their district’s policies and best serve their kids in their neighborhoods.”

—dallasmay

“If a ‘White Rock ISD’ (though I’d rather call it ‘Lakewood’ or ‘East Dallas’) is accomplished, I would go by the current Woodrow feeder pattern, which draws from diverse smaller neighborhoods. That is the real strength of the school, beyond all the impressive academic achievements.” —Loyal WWWildcat

“A charter school district reporting to DISD will not correct DISD’s inefficiencies. While this would insert a layer of hopefully talented management, ultimately the top management would still be inept. Complete divorce from DISD should be the objective. The schools would improve, the kids would benefit, and property values would sky rocket.”

—Carol Bell-Walton

“WHEN FLOSSING JUST DOESN’T CUT IT.”

We’re open late because your health can’t wait at your new neighborhood Methodist Family Health Center –Timbercreek Crossing. Methodist Health System has been a trusted Dallas caregiver since 1927, and we are excited to announce that a Methodist Family Health Center is finally in your community. As your new neighbor for life, we’re nearby for all of your health and wellness needs.

Schedule an appointment today at 214-361-2224 or MethodistHealthSystem.org/Timbercreek Appointments are encouraged. Most patients can be seen the same day. Most insurance plans are accepted.

Methodist Family Health Center – Timbercreek Crossing 6243 Retail Rd., Suite 500 • Dallas, TX 75231

We’re making more time for your family’s health.

Perry

A WARM THANK YOU

Lakewood Early Childhood PTA would like to thank these wonderful companies and individuals for making the 37 th Annual Lakewood Home Festival a huge success!

Almcoe Refrigeration

Baby Bliss / Mini Me

BeardSKI

Bella Vista Company

Bulleit Whiskey

Chicago Title Insurance Company

Ciroc

Coldwell Banker Lakewood

Cornerstone Mortgage

Cupcake Vineyards

D Home Magazine

Dave Perry-Miller & Associates

David Bush Realtors

Don Julio

Ebby Lakewood

Forest Lane Pediatrics

Incarnation Academy

Jacksonsells.com

Juliette Fowler Communities

Kovar Homes, LLC

Lakehouse Bar & Grill

Lakewood Brewing Company

Lakewood Veterinary Center

Maestri, LLC Architecture-Design

Mast Sturgeon Group

Minnette Murray Properties

Nancy Johnson Real Estate Group

Nothing Bundt Cakes

One Fine Day

Potbelly

Republic Title

StudiOrange

Susan Melnick

Team Whiteside

The Dallas Morning News

The Wine Therapist

Times Ten Cellars

Walnut Hill Obstetrics & Gynecology

White Rock Lake Weekly

Whole Foods

And the gracious homeowners, home captains, market vendors, cafe vendors, auction donors, orists, volunteer coordinators, and the hundreds of volunteers who make this event possible.

Q&A: Kathleen Kent

Kathleen Kent, the author of New York Times best-seller “The Heretic’s Daughter,” moved to East Dallas in 2000 after 20 years of living in New York, where she worked in finance. She recently finished her third book, “The Outcasts,” which is set in Texas in the 1870s.

How did you start writing?

I lived in New York for 20 years, working in finance — had nothing to do with writing. I went there after college to work. I was a history major at the University of Texas in Austin. I wanted to be a writer, but I had ‘that talk’ with my dad. He said, ‘That’s good, but how are you going to make a living? You know, you could always write on the side.’ So after college I went to New York and worked for 10 years with commodity exchange and 10 years as a contractor for the department of defense. So for those 20 years, I was working in a commercial field and just writing on the side. And then I was approaching 50, and I thought, ‘You know, if I don’t take the opportunity to try it now, it’s going to pass me by, it’ll never happen, and I’ll really regret it.’ So we moved to Dallas in 2000, and that’s when I started writing the first book [‘The Heretic’s Daughter’], and it took off.

Kathleen Kent: David Leeson

I wantedtowrite‘TheHeretic’s Daughter’ for a long time because they were family stories that I had grown up with. I decided if I ever had the opportunity to really write, that would be my first project. So when we moved here, I just quit my job and started working on it. It took me about five years to do it because I was learning a craft. Plus, I had to do a lot of research, and my son was in school, so there were a lot of interruptions.

So your first two books are placed in 17th-century New England. Why did you deviate from that setting with the third book?

After spending seven or eight years researching and writing about that, I really wanted to write about something different. When it came time to write the third book, I thought, ‘OK, I grew up in Texas. I’m a Texan. I grew up with Texas myths and legends. I live here. I was influenced by Western-themed authors like J. Frank Dobie and Louis L’Amour and,later,CormacMcCarthy.Those were the writers that I think really influenced me.’ So I had this sort of ‘eureka’ moment that that was what I wanted to do. It just made sense for me, and I’ve been really thrilled with how it’s been received.

How’s that?

Upuntilnow,mostofmyreadership has been women, but what’s great is with this book most of the reviews have been from male reviewers. It’s really satisfying, because I wasn’t thinking I was writing for a female or a male audience. It just so happened that I had some really strong female characters inthefirsttwobooks,anditwould make sense that women would read it and related to that. But it is satisfying knowing that I have a growing male readership, and that they get involved in the plot.

How did you come up with the idea for the book?

Itwasactuallythroughmybrother, who’sanamateurhistorianandCivil War buff. I was talking with him about wanting to do something with Texas his-

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tory. What’s interesting to me is the time after the Civil War when everything is swept away and people have to re-create themselves, basically from scratch. I thought that would be a really interestingtime.Thosefewyearsfollowing the Civil War haven’t been written about much. Mostly when people write with Western themes, they write about the 1880s because that’s when you get JohnWesleyHardinandDeadwood, thebetter-knownvillainsandheroes, so I wanted to pick a time that hadn’t been written about much. My brother told me there’s a legend of pirate’s gold in Middle Bayou, which is southeast of Houston. He said according to legend Jean Lafitte the pirate, who was chased from Galveston, had chests of gold that he buried and intended to come back and get. Well, he disappeared; nobody reallyknowswhathappenedtohim, and supposedly that gold is still there. People have been looking for that gold for 150 years. They’ve dug up property from New Orleans to south of Galveston trying to find it. So I thought, that’s a really good premise for a story — greed being a great motivator. So I went with my brother through Middle Bayou, and it’s very kind of brushy, dense undergrowth. It’s swampy, and I was wearing snake boots, and I was thinking to myself, ‘Why would anyone want to come here, except for gold?’ So it kind of gave me the basis of the story, and then it grew from there.

What was one of the craziest things you did in the name of research?

One of the historians took my brother and I into Middle Bayou once because he asked me if I wanted to see an alligator up close, because we’d seen poisonous snakes and wild boar in there. I said sure, so he packed some raw hamburger meat, and I’ve got a picture of him just a few feet away from about a 12-foot-long gator that crawled out of the bayou, and he’s feeding it raw hamburger meat. So that’s probably the craziest thing that I did, got up-close and personal to the wild side of the Middle Bayou.

Tiny Angel

Angel, an 8-year-old whippet, is a recent Lakewood transplant, but even though she’s a “California girl” she loves her new Texas home in Lakewood, says her person Shea Mayberry. She loves sitting in the window and watching the squirrels in the pecan tree, and she lives for her walks by the lake.

More than a game

Withthehundredsoffootballgames played every year, it’s hard to imagine that any one game could be so monumental that it still would be a topic of conversation more than 40 years later, but that’s exactly what has happened with the faceoff between the Texas Longhorns and Arkansas Razorbacks

in Fayetteville, Ark., on Dec. 6, 1969.

Some call it “the game of the century,” and neighbor Mike Looney makes it easy to understand why in his documentary, “The Big Shootout: The Life and Times of 1969,” which will be made available to the public at the end of November.

The film won first place for best sports documentary at the Hot Springs Film Festival in Arkansas, and of the 800 films submitted it was the only film the judges awarded a five-star rating. It sold out the Texas Theater in Oak Cliff, as well as the Clinton Library in Little Rock, and it drew the largest crowd at the Dallas Film Festival. At both the Dallas and Hot Springs film festivals, the film was so popular they had to offer second showings.

The Texas-Arkansas championship game was played during the 100th year of college football. Because of that, the game became thefirstcollegefootballchampionship game arranged for television. There was much anticipation leading up to the game, and then, five days before the game, it was announcedthatPresidentRichardNixon would attend to crown the national champion. The winner would go on to play at the Cotton Bowl, and the loser would go on to play at the Sugar Bowl.

The outcome has long left its mark on both sides of the field (spoiler alert), par-

Mike Looney: David Leeson

ticularly for the losing team, the Arkansas Razorbacks. While showing “The Big Shootout,” it became especially apparent to Looney, co-producer and co-director of the film, that the game is something Arkansas fans still hold near and dear to their hearts more than four decades later.

“It’s sacred territory for Arkansas people,” Looneysays.“Thewholecountrywas watching their team, and the conception wasthatTexaswasGoliathandArkansas was David, but the truth is, Texas was scaredtodeaththatday.Arkansaswas tough opposition.”

But football’s just half the story. The film delves into the cultural and political aspects surrounding the game, and in 1969 there were a lot of them.

For starters, it was the last year the two teams had all white players, and it was the first game Arkansas didn’t play the song “Dixie” to honor the wishes of a group of black students. They never played “Dixie” again. It was also the same year as the draft lottery for the Vietnam War. With Nixon and half the federal government in the house, students who opposed the war figured it was prime time for a peace demonstration, so during the game they arranged hundreds of white crosses in the shape of a peace sign on a hill.

Looney and his team began filming the documentary three years ago, which he believes might have been divine intervention, because they interviewed three of the key people before they died: Texas coach Darrell Royal died in 2012 at 88; Beano Cook, the sportscaster who arranged the game lineup so the game would be television-ready, died in 2012 at age 81; and Texas quarterback James Street died suddenly of a heart attack earlier this year. “James Street came to the second showing of the film festival in Hot Springs, and it was the only time he got to see it, because he died shortly after that, Looney says. “It was very emotional for him, seeing the film.” Looney’s team also interviewed Arkansas coach Frank Broyles, who infamously almost never talks about the game, before Alzheimer’s began to fog his mind.

—Brittany Nunn

TO LEARN MORE or to purchase the film, visit bigshootout.com.

GECKO HARDWARE

Rock your cares away with this new spin on the classic porch rocker; in eco-friendly eucalyptus and weather-resistant wicker. On sale for $199.99 From functional to funky — we make green living fun! 10233 E. NW Hwy @ Ferndale (near Albertsons) 214.343.1971 GeckoHardware.com

BABYBLISS

Just in time for the holidays, new wooden toys perfect for the little ones in your life! $28-150 6721 Snider Plaza 469.232.9420 shopbabybliss.com

YOGA MART

Many gift ideas for the yogi or yogini on your list, several items are manufactured in Dallas. Support local small businesses. Yoga Mart 6039 Oram (at Skillman) 214.534.4469 yogamartusa.com

SOZA DESIGNS

Beautifully designed art prints by Sozadesigns. East Dallas Original T-shirts, cards, gifts and more. Log on to: sozadesigns.com/store or etsy.com/shop/sozadesigns. Or stop by our studios. Call 214.287.6499 for appointment.

THE STORE IN LAKE HIGHLANDS

Aromatic Frasier Fir captures traditional holiday scents and fill our fondest memories. Candles, lotions, soaps, potpourri, cleaning products and more. 10233 E NW Hwy @ Ferndale (near Albertsons) 214.553.8850

Mon-Sat 9:30-5:30 TheStoreinLH.com

T.HEE GREETINGS

English made candles, foam soaps and milled bar soaps. Beautifully wrapped and ready for gifting. Available at both T. Hee Greetings locations. Lakewood and Lake Highlands. 214.747.5800 t-heegifts.com

WALTON’S GARDEN CENTER

Shop Walton’s Garden Center for your live and fresh Christmas trees and garland. Great decorations and gifts for the indoors and out! 8652 Garland Rd. 214.321.2387

VAPOR MART

Give The Gift Of Life. Starting at $ 49.95 We offer Electronic Cigarettes for the Beginner to the Expert Over 300 Flavors of E-liquid including Custom Blends Gift Wrapping Available. 214.321.1944 9533 Losa Dr #2 Across from Highland Park Cafeteria and Behind Chili’s.

ADVOCATE ORNAMENT

The Advocate Foundation’s limited-edition, numbered, and hand-painted ornament; perfect gift for the new home owner or Dallas transplant. Sales benefit neighborhood organizations. 214.292.0486 email foundation@advocatemag.com

DUTCH ART GALLERY

Mention this Advocate Ad and receive 15% OFF Custom Framing (Valid Dec.1, 2013-Jan. 15, 2014. One per customer purchase.) 10233 E. NW Hwy. #420 @ Ferndale 214.348.7350 dutchartgallery.net

ECLECTIC GALLERIES

Unique gifts and decor from 200 artisan studios. Glass, jewelry, pottery, turned wood and more! All handmade in the U.S.A. Like us on Facebook. 6725 Snider Plaza 469.759.6501 eclecticgalleries.com

CURIOSITIES

Antique Christmas decor dating back to the 19th century - including feather trees and hand blown ornaments. That and thousands of other one-of-akind antique gift Ideas - Curiosities has it all. 2025 Abrams Road 214.828.1886 getcuriosities.com

ED

2/3 PAGE 6 ITEMS (1 HOUSE AD)

Out with the old, in with the new

After a debacle over copyright issues with the University of Arizona, Woodrow Wilson High School is retiring the old Woodrow Wildcat logo.

So Woodrow needs a new, dynamic and fierce image to brand the Wildcat community, teams and organizations, says the Woodrow PTA and SBDM board.

The SBDM and PTA board members are hosting a design competition, which will go through Jan. 15, and they’re asking everyone in the community to participate — students, parents, alumni, and community members including professionals. There are no limits on the number of entries, they say.

30 WORD ON BODY TEXT IS ABSOLUTE LIMIT ON TEXT. WE WILL NOT COUNT ADDRESS, ETC.

Woodrow Wilson used the old logo for decades, until recently. Last year, Principal Kyle Richardson received a cease and desist letter from an attorney acting on behalf of the University of Arizona. The letter noted that the Woodrow Wilson logo is almost identical to the University of Arizona’s logo, to which the university has copyrights. Though the letter threatened legal action, there was never any litigation, says Dallas ISD spokesman Jon Dahlander.

Instead, Woodrow has agreed to “phase out” the logo, although in actu-

ality, the logo hasn’t been used much in the last few years; mostly, there are some old spirit shirts and paraphernalia that boast the mark.

However, in the front hallway of Woodrow Wilson High School is a 4-by-4 tile mosaic of the Woodrow Wildcat logo, which was created when the school was built in 1991. It was feared that the school would be forced to rip up the tile mosaic as well, but it looks as though it will be allowed to keep the floors intact.

As for the new logo, there’s a $200 cash award to the winner, as well as gift card drawings for all student entries. Plus, the winner receives the “priceless honor” of creating the design to be used by Woodrow Wilson for decades to come, Woodrow says.

The deadline is Jan. 15, the winner will be chosen Feb. 1, and the winning design will be unveiled at Woodrow’s 85th anniversary event.

For more information or to submit a design, email Susan Schuerger at schuerger7@me.com, or call her at 214.226.7866. Submissions can be in pdf, hard copy or other formats.

Remember, think fierce. Brittany Nunn

Danny Fulgencio

center OLD TOWN

What gives?

Small ways that you can make a big di erence for nonprofits

Run your heart out...

in the MetroPCS Dallas Marathon on Dec. 8 to benefit the Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children, which strives to improve the lives of children through innovative research and training programs. Runners can choose between the full marathon, the half marathon, a relay or the 5K. Prices and information is available on dallasmarathon.com.

Go Christmas shopping...

at the Bishop Lynch Brigade’s fifth annual Christmas Bazaar and benefit the Bishop Lynch drill team. The event is at the school at 9750 Ferguson There are tons of goods for sale, plus other perks such as door prizes and food from the Candy Cane Café. The event is Dec. 14, from 9 a.m.-4 p.m.

Be sworn in...

... as a Court Appointed Special Advocate and represent a child a in court during one of the bleakest times in his or her life. Dallas CASA hosts informational sessions in January, so sign up now. Go to dallascasa. org, and click the “Become a Volunteer Advocate” page to see the dates and times, or call 214.827.8961 for more information.

Receive a free exam...

by donating a toy to Ahead of the Curve Chiropractic during its toy drive Nov. 22 to Dec. 20. Give a toy donation worth at least $20-$40 and you’ll receive a free exam. Toys are going to forerunner mentorship families, which you can learn more about at forerunnermentoring.com. Ahead of the curve is at 6060 N. Central. Call 214.420.2050 for more.

KNOW OF WAYS

that neighbors can spend time, attend an event, or purchase or donate something to benefit a neighborhood nonprofit? Email your suggestion to launch@advocatemag.com.

the new 2014 GX

Out & About

December 2013

Dec. 6

Light Up Lakewood

The Lakewood Business Association presents the 11th annual Light Up Lakewood. The event will be held from 6-9 p.m. The tree lighting is at 7 p.m. There also will be activities such as a petting zoo, face painting, an obstacle course and performances by the Woodrow Wilson Variations choir and the Woodrow Wilson band.

Lakewood Shopping Center parking lot, Gaston and Abrams, free

or submit your own

LAKEWOOD.ADVOCATEMAG.COM/EVENTS

THROUGH DEC. 20

Toy drive

Ahead of the Curve Chiropractic is hosting a toy drive for the holidays. Give a toy donation worth at least $20-$40 and receive a free exam. Ahead of the Curve Chiropractic, 6060 N. Central Expressway, aheadofthecurvechiro.com, 214.420.2050, free

DEC. 4-7

Book sale

Skillman Southwestern Library

Friends is selling more than 4,000 gently used, donated books, CDs, movies, magazines, cards and more. On Dec. 4, the sale is from noon-7:45 p.m. On Dec. 5, 6, and 7, the sale is from 10 a.m.-5:45 p.m. Most items are 50 cents to $2. Everything is halfpriced on Saturday.

Skillman Southwestern Library Auditorium, 5707 Skillman, 214.670.6078 or e-mail SSLFriends@aol.com, no entry fee

DEC. 5

Music and dance

The Woodrow Wilson “Variations” Holiday Show starts at 7 p.m. Then the Dallas Black Dance Theater II and the Allegro Performing Ensemble of Dallas Black Dance Academy will perform a mixture of ballet, modern, jazz and ethnic works at 8 p.m. St. Matthew’s Episcopal Cathedral Great Hall, 5100 Ross Avenue, cathedralartsdallas.org, 214.887.6552, free

DEC. 13

Holiday concert

Don’t miss the eighth annual Local Honey Holiday Mix Concert at Lakewood Theater. Virtuoso and lead vocalist Kelly Brown brings her creative ringmaster talents to cross-pollinate a mix of Dallas’ finest musicians. The all-local band performs original holiday arrangements in a set that includes everything from big-band swing and bluegrass to alt-pop and rocked-up classical pieces.

Lakewood Theater, 1825 Abrams, 214.821.7469, tickets available at lakewoodtheater.com, $20

Dec. 14

Santa photos

Lakewood Northridge Estates

Community Association has spotted Santa Claus. Bring your camera and your kiddos (or any friends or family members who act like kids) from 1 to 3 p.m. for cookies, cocoa, candy and free photos with Santa.

Northridge Estates, 7248 Alexander, 214.827.2900, free

DEC. 13

Belmont Garage turns 50

Ray Lewis of Belmont Garage celebrates 50 years in business in Lakewood, and he hasn’t retired yet. Join the (large) Lewis family during the celebration, which starts at 11 a.m. and goes until the food runs out. They will grill as well as serve cake and cold drinks.

Belmont Garage, 6359 Belmont, belmontgarage.net, 214.823.3836, free

DEC. 14

Christmas bazaar

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas. This year, Bishop Lynch Brigade drill team is ready to help you with your shopping list during the team’s fifth annual Christmas Bazaar from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. in the school’s atrium, hallway and cafeteria. There is everything from jewelry, makeup, scarves, home goods, baked goods, bags, children’s items, baskets, candles, quilts, crosses, greeting cards and much more.

Bishop Lynch High School, 9750 Ferguson, email bishoplynchbrigade@yahoo.com for more info, free

DEC 14

A Merry Little Christmas Show

Dallas crooner Ricki Derek and his full big-band orchestra, complete with strings, returns to the Lakewood Theater for the fifth year with A Merry Little Christmas Show. The show combines the old Christmas television specials from the ’60s and ’70s with the energy and excitement of a 21st century live show. There’s a family-friendly show at 4 p.m. and a martini show at 8:30 p.m. Lakewood Theater, 1825 Abrams, rickiderek.com/christmas, 214.821.7469, matinee prices $10 for kids and $20 for adults, evening prices $22.50-$32.50

DEC. 15

Cathedral music

St. Matthew’s Cathedral Arts hosts its Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols in the Cathedral starting at 5 p.m. The cathedral choir and selected readers unfold the Christmas narrative about the birth of Jesus Christ, with familiar choral settings and scriptural accounts according to a much-loved pattern dating from 1918. A reception with mince pies and wassail follows in the Justus Sundermann Gallery. St. Matthew’s Episcopal Cathedral, 5100 Ross Avenue, cathedralartsdallas.org, 214.887.6552, free

DEC. 17—19

Christmas at Fair Park

“Irving Berlin’s White Christmas” is the story of two showbiz buddies putting on a show in a picturesque Vermont inn and finding their perfect mates in the bargain. Full of dancing, romance, laughter and some of the greatest songs ever written, “Irving Berlin’s White Christmas” promises to be a merry and bright experience for the entire family.

Fair Park in the Music Hall, dallassummermusicals.org, 214.421.5678, $15-85

DEC. 27—JAN. 5

Children’s circus

Dallas Children’s Theater, in conjunction with Lone Star Circus, for the first time ever presents a Season Special circus extravaganza. An international galaxy of acrobats, aerialists, hand balancers, jugglers, clowns and dogs performs together to create a sensational and joyous circus spectacular.

Dallas Children’s Theater, 5938 Skillman, dct.org, 214.740.0051, $20-$46

Delicious

Latin Deli

Originally from Mexico City, Fernando Barrera traveled to many countries as a young man — England, France, and all over the United States. Everywhere he went he saw delis, but there was one deli he always was on the look-out for and never found: a Latin deli. If he ever opened his own restaurant, he decided, it’d be a Latin deli. “I wanted to do it, but I wanted to do it on a nice scale,” he says. “I mean, not fancy tables and fancy chairs, but I knew that I can provide good, quality food.” Over the years, Barrera worked in the kitchens of several restaurants until he eventually began working in restaurant management. “In those places, I learned a little bit of everything,” he says. At the same time, he also studied graphic design at El Centro. Finally, two years ago, he opened Latin Deli in the shopping center in the southeast corner of Abrams and Northwest Highway, and all his talents came together. The light, fun atmosphere greets guests at the door, quickly followed by the smell of fresh greens and baked goods. Because of Barrera’s knack for aesthetics, he puts extra focus on the presentation of each meal. “But the main concern is the taste,” he says. “We make everything right here when it’s ordered. Nothing is premade in the back, and we buy as much as we can from local markets.” The menu features a range of Latin-inspired dishes, such as the Cubano sandwhich, the classic mexican torta, the pineapple pork sandwich, and the ever-popular chicken sandwich. “It’s like a fusion of culture,” he says. “I used the chicken from Mexico, I used the pork from Peru, and I used a special sauce from Venezuela. All of the menu is a fusion.”

LATIN DELI

5844 Abrams

214.363.5551

latindelidallas.com

AMBIANCE: DELI, BAKERY

PRICE RANGE: $2.99-$7.99

HOURS: MON-FRI: 9 A.M.—9 P.M.

SAT: 8 A.M.—9 P.M.

SUN: 11 A.M.—6 P.M.

—Brittany Nunn

ROTATED 11-7

Sakhuu changed 11-7-13_LISA

1 Izmir Market & Deli

You haven’t lived until you’ve tried the hummus and pita bread at Izmir. Plus, there’s plenty of other great menu items to choose from from gyros to hot or cold sandwiches.

3607 Greenville

214.824.8484 cafeizmir.com

2 Havana Cafe

Across the lake in Casa Linda Plaza, this little best-kept-secret serves up authentic Cuban food that even Cubans approve of. Plus is has that simple, hole-in-the-wall feel everybody loves.

1152 Buckner

214.680.9545 havanacafedallas.com

3 Gandolfo’s New York Deli

Catch it if you can. Gandolfo’s is a food truck that sometimes makes guest appearances in our neighborhood, namely at the Truck Park on Lower Greenville. They offer New York style hot dogs and sausages worth hashtagging #delicious. 512.466.1749

facebook.com/Gandolfosdallas

twitter.com/Gandolfosdallas

TEX-MEX

Mockingbird Station

Cafe Herrera

• Sizzling Fajitas

• Craft Tequila Cocktails

• Daily Lunch & Happy Hour Specials

• Dinner Served Nightly

• Weekend Brunch I Specialty Cocktails & Bottomless Mimosas

• Flat Screens & Indoor/Outdoor Bar and Patio

• Holiday Catering

5321 Mockingbird Ln #110, Dallas 214-823-4040 www.cafeherrera.com SINCE 1971

Liberty Burger copy added 11-11-13_LISA THAI

Sakhuu Thai Cuisine

• BYOB

• Vegan / Gluten Free

• Everything made from scratch

• Sakhuu family has been serving Dallas since 2002

• Call for takeout

• SW corner of Bryan and Fitzhugh near Jimmy’s

4801 Bryan St. #100, Dallas 75204 www.sakhuu.com

214.828.9300

Sakhuu Express (carry out or delivery)

5200 Lemmon #100 214.520.6868 sakhuuexpress.com

BURGERS

Liberty Burger

Lakewood - Now Open

• Craft Beers

• House made Infusions

• Vegetarian/Gluten Free Options

• Beef, Bison, Tuna, Turkey, Lamb, Chicken and Vegetable Burgers

• Fresh Baked Pies Daily

• Milkshakes

• Takeout

Andrea’s

• Tuesdays: Buy one entree, get second one free

• Open only for dinner 5pm

• Closed Mondays

• Catering available.

7260 Gaston Ave. (near Garland Rd) 214.823.3100 andreasitalian.com

Highland Park Cafeteria

Delicious and good for you. Enjoy the homemade flavor. Enjoy the healthy feeling. Enjoy the Price. Enjoy the live piano music. Bring your kids, bring your whole family. Meeting rooms and catering available. Open from 11-8 everyday. A Dallas original since 1925.

Casa Linda Plaza 1200 N. Buckner Blvd. 214.324.5000

214.560.4203 to advertise in this section. Put

1904 Abrams Parkway, Dallas TX

Located between Ali Baba and Dixie House

214-887-9999 givemelibertyburger.com

Shine with these sparkling wines

J Brut Rosé ($38)

Those of us who appreciate sparkling wine have never had it so good. Prices, for the most part, are wonderfully low, and quality has never been better. There are many reasons for both, but one is that more of us appreciate sparkling than ever before. It’s one of the big changes in the wine business, that bubbly is not just for holidays and special occasions.

Still, this time of year is sparkling’s busiest season. You can splurge with Champagne, from the Champagne region of France, but there is also well-priced wine from California, Spain (called cava), Italy, and even other parts of France.

Consider these wines for the holiday:

• Sarao Cava Brut ($11): This Spanish bubbly demonstrates how much well made cava is available. Look for a little apple fruit, though this is a softer wine, without the citrusy tang of some other cavas. But it’s well made and worth at least what it costs.

• Borgo Sanleo Prosecco ($13): Not as sweet as some Proseccos, the sparkling wine of Italy, but fruity (practically tropical) and very refreshing. Not as bubbly as its Spanish, French and California counterparts, but it’s not supposed to be.

• J Brut Rosé ($38): Top-flight California sparkling with wine cranberry and raspberry fruit that is still young and will get better the longer it ages. It’s hard to go wrong with any of J’s wine, even at this price.

Finally, a personal note: This is the final wine column I’ll be writing for the Advocate. It has been a joy and a pleasure to do it, and to see how much you appreciated it. But I have other writing that needs to be done, including a couple of books; you can keep up with my wine writing at winecurmudgeon.com.

—Jeff Siegel

WANT TO READ JEFF SIEGEL’S NEW BOOK, “The Wine Curmudgeon’s Guide to Cheap Wine”? Visit lakewood.advocatemag.com/ giveaway and enter the code “WINEBOOKED” to win a copy.

with your wine Gougere

(Adapted from Patricia Wells, “Bistro Cooking”)

Gougere are French-style cheesepuffs, and it seems as if they were invented for sparkling wine. Wonderful as a first course or as something to pass around for holiday guests.

GROCERY LIST

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 stick butter

1 cup water

1/2 cup flour

2 eggs

1/2 cup grated Swiss-style cheese

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Combine salt, butter and water in saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring to mix.

2. Remove the pan from the heat and mix in the flour, stirring vigorously. It will make a smooth, soft dough. Put the pan back on the heat, stirring the dough all the time. The goal is to dry it a little; when it starts to stick to the pan, it’s dry enough.

3. Transfer the warm dough to a food processor with a metal blade. Add the eggs and half the cheese, and mix until everything is incorporated. The dough should still be warm.

4. Place the dough in 2-inch rounds on a non-stick baking sheet (or use parchment paper) using a spoon, pastry bag or even a melon baller. Sprinkle the tops with the remaining cheese. Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown, 15 to 25 minutes. About 45 minutes, Serves four

Ask the wine guy

What does “brut” mean for sparkling wines?

Brut means the wine is dry, although dry in sparkling isn’t quite as dry as it is in wine without bubbles. Also, Italian brut sparklers are less dry than French, American or Spanish bubblies. —Jeff

Siegel

ASK THE WINE GUY taste@advocatemag.com

BRIGHT {GIFT} IDEAS

| STORY BY BRITTANY NUNN | PHOTOS BY DANNY FULGENCIO & KIM LEESON |

During the holiday season, frenzied buying at crowded shopping centers is part of the package. Some tough souls proudly call Black Friday a family tradition. But, come on — everyone needs a break from the mall madness to uncover that truly one-of-akind gift. Turns out, you can find it from hardworking artists right here in East Dallas.

Both Hands STUDIOS

Many people travel the world looking for something — food, art, love, God, themselves. When East Dallas neighbor Lynn Armstrong travels, either with her husband or by herself, there’s one thing she’s always on the lookout for: textures.

Textures have been a defining part of Armstrong’s pottery ever since her wrists gave out and she couldn’t paint the surfaces of her ceramic pieces anymore. But the change has been a positive one in her artistic journey, she says.

“Styles change, things change; I’m sure it’ll change again before it’s all said and

done,” she says.

To create texture, she uses patterns such as lace or knit and presses them into a piece of clay to make a mold. Then, she presses the mold into a new piece of clay to make the surface of the clay look like pieces of lace or knit.

“So it’s almost like I’m printmaking with clay,” she says. “When I get the clay rolled out into big, blank slabs, I start to get excited about what impressions to put into it.”

Some of her favorite products are vases she calls “dress-up vases.” She uses lace to create texture, and then fashions the textured clay into a dress-shaped vase. Recently she began making small heartshaped vases, which she sells along with a

GIFT IDEA

Pottery, airplant holders, “dress-up” vases

PRICE RANGE

$12-$100+

WHERE TO FIND IT etsy.com/shop/ bothhandsstudio

tillandsia or “air plant” from her husband’s greenhouse. Her husband, Chuck, has been gardening for decades, so combining their talents was a natural fit. Armstrong always has been an artist. She was in the first graduating class at Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. She began working with ceramics at the University of Texas at Austin, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts with a concentration in ceramics.

“It’s been ceramics for me for a long, long time,” she says. “I like the way it transforms into something functional and permanent. That it changes from wet clay into something you can drink your co ee out of; it’s magical to me. Opening the kiln is like Christmas for me, every time.”

Lynn Wilkes Armstrong

JulieAnn Bever

Pint-Sized PRINTS

East Dallas neighbor JulieAnn Bever wanted to preserve her three children’s prints to remember the size of their sweet little hands, so she picked up an impression kit from the nearest crafting store and gave it a valiant try.

“It was such a mess,” she says. “It was hard, and it was frustrating, and the result doesn’t look good either.”

She tried again with the same result and thought, “There has to be an easier way.”

She consulted her artist sister and found out there was: Ditch the kits and go for the real stu — white modeling clay.

While experimenting with that, she started to wonder if other parents had run into the same issues, a thought that eventually led Bever to create her business, Pint-Sized Prints.

She began asking her friends if they were interested in preserving their kids’ prints. The response was so enthusiastic that Bever determined that her business idea probably had a market in Dallas.

“So I did it with my friends first, practiced a lot and then decided to start doing it as a business.”

Through trial and error, she found out the clay cracks if it dries too quickly, so her dad built her several airtight bins to keep the pieces in while they dry, so they will harden without cracking.

“It really turned into a family a air,” she says, adding that her mom helped her decorate the studio and sometimes assists with the glaze or other tasks. Plus, Bever’s grandfather originally built the studio. He used it for woodworking before he died.

“It’s kind of neat that I get to work in the same space that he worked in,” she says.

The concept behind Pint-Sized Prints: Parents bring their kids by her studio, press a handprint and/or footprint (Bever says she has just about perfected the art of wheedling wiggly babies into handing up their prints), and — voila! — the parents’ job is done; Bever does the dirty work.

“And then they just get a nice, pretty

impression in a box. So they get the end result, and they don’t have to deal with all the mess and the frustration.”

Her two biggest seasons are Christmas and Mother’s Day, but if people don’t want to deal with the Christmas rush, they can buy a gift certificate and book the studio visit for later. And it doesn’t have to stop at

handprints. Bever also makes impressions for dog paws, thumbprints for the whole family and keys for people’s first homes.

“Now, I’m always on the lookout for what I can make an impression of,” she says. “And it’s all because I wanted to preserve my kids’ prints, because I just love the way little hands and feet look.”

Sonja Quintero’s art form is a familiar one: photography. But her style is her own.

“If you look around at Flickr and Etsy, the trend for several years now has been kind of vintage-looking photography, which I do admire, but it’s not really my thing,” she says. “It doesn’t feel quite genuine to myself.”

Most of her work is whimsical with a touch of angst and ranges from urban decay to knick-knacks to haunting graveyard images. Certain pieces seem to catch consumers’ eyes more than others, without much rhyme or reason.

“One of my most popular pieces is this picture of a little Kewpie doll I found at a flea market. This lady had a huge table full of all these Kewpie dolls, and he looks pissed. He looks majorly pissed. I took a picture of it, and it ended up being one of my most popular pictures. When I look back at my Etsy, it just always seems to be weird, quirky stu like that.”

Quintero has an interior design background. She received her degree from the University of North Texas and worked in the field until she quit last year to pursue photography full time. It was through interior design that Quintero found photography eight years ago.

“As designers, we had to go out and take pictures of the projects as they were

going along, so one day I came back, and I was showing my boss some of the photos I had taken, and she said, ‘You know, these are really good. Maybe we should send you out to take pictures all the time.’ It was weird, because around that same time I had a friend who started doing some photography as a hobby, and she told me, ‘I think you’d really love this, and we could go out and shoot together.’ So between my boss saying that and my friend, it made me think, ‘Maybe there’s something to this.’ ” Quintero bought a film camera and started “the old-school way,” with the darkroom and the whole bit. She stocked up on a few how-to books and eventually took continuing-education classes.

“It was something I was passionate about from the very beginning, but always as a hobby. It was never something where I thought, ‘This is what I want to do with my life.’ I just didn’t see that I could do it financially anyway. I was doing pretty well as a designer, and even though it was stressful, I was making good money. Who’s going to give that up?’ ”

But then in 2010, cashing in wasn’t sounding so bad.

“I started thinking, ‘This is the only thing I really love doing anymore.’ ”

She started easing out of interior design, until finally calling it quits last year.

“My photography is just now getting to the point where it’s really picking up — almost to the point where it’s too much — but I love it.”

Sonja Quintero

PHOTOGRAPHY

Jonathon Kimbrell

Napkin Art STUDIOS

Jonathon Kimbrell created Napkin Art Studios the day after he graduated from McMurry University in Abilene with a fine arts degree.

“I was determined to have some sort of career in art, whether I worked with somebody or by myself.”

Today, Kimbrell works both by himself and with others.

“I’m a graphic designer, printmaker, painter, photographer, blogger …” Kimbrell lists. “I do pretty much everything but sculpture.”

His “bread and butter” is freelance graphic design work and gallery paintings, while his products on Etsy — screen-print posters and greeting cards, all designed in his snappy, pop-art style — are really more of a hobby than a money-maker. But around the holidays, when people are surfing the web for unique gifts, requests start rolling in.

Recently, Kimbrell has begun working closely with people in the music industry, making sets of record covers to replace covers that been lost or have su ered too many years of wear and tear. Kimbrell also makes concert posters for bands such as Polyphonic Spree that he sells on Etsy.

“Just an excuse to have my hand in anything that has to do with music,” Kimbrell says.

Kimbrell developed his Andy Warholesque style after a friend introduced him to the work of none other than Andy Warhol himself in high school.

“I do a lot of stu that’s kind of a tonguein-cheek nod to Warhol,” Kimbrell says.

He creates the style through screenprinting, which is complicated, labor-intensive, and often not worth the e ort to many artists because it can be created digitally. (Although a digital print can’t really compare to an original, he says.)

“With the Internet, it has kind of become quantity over quality, so I have to fight that a little bit. With this, it’s all made by hand, so there’s a unique quality to it. You’re essentially getting an original at that point.”

Manly MARKS

BrandonGriswoldisamanlyman whose side gig unfortunately lends itself to femininity. A graphic designer by day and a letterpress printmaker by night, Griswold was determined to save himself from making hundreds of wedding invitations and baby announcements on his 1891 printing press.

“It’s a pretty labor-intensive, heavy duty, greasy, dirty craft, which is usually used for very feminine pieces,” Griswold says, “which are often beautiful works. You can make tremendous pieces with that; I just didn’t want to get into it.”

To combat the trend, he launched Manly Marks, a product line that’s all about men and what it means to be manly. The primary product is a hand-bound book that features an image on one page and a “manly mark” on the next, such as “possess courage,” “grow a beard,” “care for a woman” or “work with your hands.”

It’s a perfect adornment for a manly co ee table. The words and images are stamped from hand-carved blocks and pressed into the pages with the old-school letterpress. Other products in the Manly Marks line include coasters and an “Ocial Man Card.”

“You’re getting a unique product with what I make,” Griswold explains.

Aside from hand-chiseling custom

stamps, Griswold also collects antique lead type sets. Griswold caught the “letterpress bug” while interning at Hatch Show Print in Nashville, Tenn., which houses more than 134 years’ worth of equipment, tools and accessories. It’s basically the Mecca of letterpress.

“It’s a living archive,” Griswold says. “So I got my start there. Through that, I learned a lot more about letterpress than I did in college. When I got back, I just couldn’t let go of it.”

His first project was Honeycomb Print Shop, which consisted mostly of posters and other crafty items — some of which he still sells — before he successfully campaigned on the online funding platform kickstarter.com for Manly Marks.

Brandon Griswold

Miles to go

A freak accident left him burned, broken and dependent, but this White Rockarea runner intends to finish what he started training for two years ago — the Dallas Marathon

Story by Christina Hughes Babb

On a cool November morning, Brandon Cumby rounds the last turn of the Dallas Running Club Half Marathon at White Rock Lake. Feeling better and stronger than he’s ever felt in a race, he smiles at the breaking sun and crosses the finish line in 1 hour, 51 minutes and 14 seconds.

His time places him at a nondescript 416 among male finishers. But considering where the 33-year-old runner was little more than a year ago — facedown in mud, spewing blood from multiple orifices, nose and ribs broken, flesh smoldering, no discernable pulse — the finish ranks him decidedly outside the realm of ordinary.

THE ACCIDENT

In summer 2012 Cumby began training for the Dallas Marathon, but his plans screeched to a halt in August. Cumby cannot cohesively recall anything between July 28 and Aug. 24, he says. But family members and friends help him piece together the events that nearly snuffed out his future.

On Aug. 13, a Monday, the air conditioner in Cumby’s car died. After leaving the North Dallas office where he worked as an accountant, Cumby stopped at his friend Scott Boyle’s house. He figured he could park in Boyle’s driveway, hopeful-

ly fix the blower and avoid a sweltering drive home.

While Cumby toiled under the hood, Boyle and mutual friend Michael Baker played with their new toy — a high-tech remote-control helicopter.

By the time Cumby joined them, the sun was sinking, and visibility was low.

“They were ready to take it in — they didn’t want to crash it. It was expensive. They’d pooled their money to buy it. But I asked them to do a couple more runs. I egged them on, telling them to fly higher, do crazier stunts.”

Promptly, the copter crashed into a

An almost-recovered Brandon Cumby ponders his upcoming 26.2-mile race: Danny Fulgencio

nearby tree, embedding itself in the uppermost branches.

Boyle went for a ladder.

Cumby, confident in the strength gained from his marathon training, and feeling responsible, was determined to climb and retrieve the object himself.

In fractured flashbacks, Cumby recalls ants biting his hands as he climbed the tree, looking way down at his friends and feeling the first pang of anxiety, seeing the power lines in the distance (avoid, he noted to himself).

He couldn’t get to the helicopter, he assessed. But he could climb close enough to loosen it from the branches, if only he had something long with which to prod it.

A neighbor who had joined the guys below handed him an aluminum poolskimmer pole. Perfect.

He was clutching the pole with his right hand when his foot slipped. Falling in the direction of the wires, he lost control of his arm, which launched the pole over his head and into a power line.

A deafening “hmmmmmm!” shot through the air.

The hum was so powerful it made your teeth chatter, the witnesses say.

Then there were flames — orange and blue, that looked like they were shooting from Cumby’s belt buckle and from behind his knees, Baker recounted.

Then he fell, maybe 20 feet, “like a rag doll doing a gainer,” one witness later told him.

Motionless, Cumby lay prostrate. Boyle rolled him over; Mud clogged Cumby’s mouth, blood gushed from his nose and face, he was black and blue, smoke was rising from his groin and he smelled like burning flesh.

Boyle, a onetime lifeguard, searched for a heartbeat, a pulse. Nothing. He began chest compressions and kept working until paramedics arrived.

EMTs intubated, defibrillated, pounded Cumby’s chest until, finally, mercifully, his heart sprung to life.

But Cumby still was in grave danger. He was bleeding internally.

His friends say that even in his bed at Parkland Hospital, blood was seeping from his nose and mouth, from everywhere, it seemed.

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The doctors could operate, they told Cumby’s loved ones, but his chances were not good. As his family waited with the hospital chaplain, a team of surgeons administered 22 units of blood and, against the odds, repaired Cumby’s lacerated liver and abdominal wall well enough to keep him alive. Later, burn and trauma surgeon Dr. Francis Ali-Osman later told Cumby that 100 out of 100 other people in his situation would have died before surgery.

ALIVE, BUT NOT WELL

The days and weeks following the first operation were the most mentally and physically agonizing of Cumby’s life, he says.

He was released from the hospital temporarily at the end of August. In his condition, he could not live alone, so he moved in with his grandparents. Clothing felt like sandpaper on his sensitive skin. Movement was nauseating. Stillness was unbearable.

“The pain and swelling from my burn excisions was unbelievable — I couldn’t tolerate walking or sitting down without one of those donut-shaped pillows.”

He couldn’t sleep, experienced hot and cold flashes, and lacked an appetite. A walk to and from the bathroom exhausted him.

“Before I had the accident I was fit. I rode a Harley, played the guitar, ran, cycled, worked on building lean muscle … I had lived on my own since I was 22, had relationships, had a house, was financially independent. Now I couldn’t live by myself or cook my own meals, drive or wash my clothes. I took medication out of a daily pill sorter so I wouldn’t get mixed up.”

And there was this hole in his gut, he says, whose source was anxiety over the idea that he might never run another mile.

But there is no space left in your head for marathon dreams when, say, the open wound located near your genitals inflames and oozes blood.

During a trip to the Parkland emergency room, Dr. Ali-Osman told him the wound wasn’t closing — it is called dehiscence. Cumby would just have to give it time.

“The anxiety of having an open bleeding wound in a sensitive area is worse

than the wound itself,” Cumby says.

Before his groin-area wound healed, he was readmitted to the hospital because, once it became clear he would live, surgeons needed to mend several sinus and facial bones broken during the fall (fractured rib and cervical bones also were dealt with separately).

This time, doctors cut a line from one ear, over his shaved head, to the other. They folded down the skin, repaired the bones — adding synthetic bone filler and wire mesh where needed, Cumby explains — and sewed him back together.

Seemingly endless sleepless nights and sickening withdrawal from opioid medicines — tremors, insomnia, nausea and increased sensitivity to pain — followed.

For weeks, his face remained swollen beyond recognition. He weighed 143 pounds, down 30 from his training days.

Several mornings on end, he had his stomach pumped — exploratory measures to determine the effectiveness of his digestive system. Unbearable abdominal pain sent him to the emergency room on multiple occasions. Digestive

distress and stomach pain are results of postsurgical ileus and abdominal adhesions, respectively, Cumby explains.

Through it all, doctors prodded Cumby for information.

“They seemed to wonder how I had survived,” he says. “Their best guess is that my fitness, the running, saved me.”

Two weeks after his release from the hospital following cranial surgery, Cumby snuck out of his grandparents’ house. He needed to run.

“I made it about a half mile before I had to lie down in the grass. I was wearing a heart-rate monitor, and it was going crazy. I walked home.”

A couple of days later he tried it again, with similar results. His mom, though she didn’t understand why he needed this so much, began walking with him, and they eventually began adding small jogging intervals.

RUNNING THERAPY

Even as he was recovering from electrocution and life-altering trauma, Cumby felt this undeniable urge to run. Why? “I don’t expect anyone who is not a runner to understand this,” he says.

“When I first got out (of the hospital), I was entirely focused on the physical components. I wanted things to quickly return to normal. I needed to go back to work, get in shape, get my own place, make things look and feel normal. Turns out, there’s no quick way.”

Going out too fast can be detrimental in a long-distance race. Same goes for recovery, Cumby says.

He realized he had to go back and build a stronger foundation before he could rebuild his life, he says.

“So I asked myself, ‘What brings you joy?’ That is a good place to start.”

And his answer was: running.

“Running empowers me, centers me, focuses me,” he says.

The exercise strengthens his atrophied muscles and weary heart, but he says it is about much more.

“People think running is physical. It’s not. Most of it is between the ears.”

When he first started running years ago, he learned that.

“At that time, I was overweight, ending a marriage, unhappy, so I started running. Back then, I did my best thinking while I was running,” he says. “It is no different now. It is my Zen.”

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THE MARATHON

Rebecca Baker is Cumby’s running partner. In 2012 the duo decided to train for the Dallas Marathon.

After Cumby’s summer 2012 electrocution, which was witnessed by Rebecca’s husband Michael, the Bakers only wanted their friend to survive.

“Everything was so touch and go for the first few days that we were more worried whether he would live, Rebecca recalls. “It took a couple of days for them to figure out that he didn’t have any significant spinal injuries, which meant that he would walk again. At one point, he was so disoriented that he thought he had overslept and missed the marathon start. He kept telling his mom he needed his water bottle. Clearly, running was never far from his mind.”

Rebecca says she wasn’t all that surprised when he resumed training. “I was worried that he would try to do too much too soon, but he has done pretty well this season.”

The running community rallied around Cumby after the accident. The Dallas Running Club and White Rock Running Co-op held a fundraiser to help with medical expenses.

In January 2013, the Bakers and Cumby’s lifelong best friend Aaron Stevens (a Lake Highlands resident whose birthday, Cumby points out, fell on the same day of the accident), joined Cumby for a 5k race.

“It took 33 minutes to finish, and I thought I would die,” Cumby says. “But that got me over a mental hurdle.”

He didn’t like being slow, though.

“I am my own worst critic. I look at the other guys in my age group and their race times and feel inferior,” Cumby notes.

However, both he and Rebecca acknowledge that the way he is running now, all things considered, is nothing shor t of a miracle.

In March, Cumby ran the Rock n’ Roll half marathon in a little over two hours.

Then he registered for the Dallas Running Club’s training program for the December 2013 Dallas marathon.

AsthemilesincreasedandDallas marathon hopefuls ratcheted up the calorie, carb and protein intake, Cumby ran into trouble.

In August he landed in the ER with severe pain and vomiting blood.

His doctor wanted to operate to remove scar tissue growing around Cumby’s intestine.

Cumby begged for an alternative.

“The doctor looked at me like, ‘Let me get this straight. You are refusing surgery because you do not want to interrupt your marathon training?’ and I say, ‘Yes’.”

The doctor made a deal. They would try one more thing, and if his symptoms improved, he could resume training. Cumby said he would try anything.

The treatment was dietary — Cumby would go on a strict low-carb, low-protein, high-fat diet.

To avoid mid-workout distress, he also started fasting for several hours before any long-distance run. The diet essentially goes against everything marathon coaches preach, Cumby says.

But it has worked.

Before racing the DRC Half Marathon in November, Cumby completed a 21-mile training run with the running club’s 4:10-marathon pace group.

When he runs the 26.2-mile Dallas Marathon course on Dec. 8, he won’t be wearing a watch, he says.

“I don’t want to put any undue pressure on myself by worrying about how fast or slow I am running,” he says. “I am just going to concentrate on finishing the race.”

As he expected, while he focused on running over the last few months, Cumby’s life shaped up. He recently got his own place near the lake — the epicenter of Dallas fitness, he calls White Rock — and a new job at a small firm.

He’s learned some lessons: No treeclimbing with aluminum poles. His friends and family are too good to be true. Follow joy. Forget the odds. Do not make specific plans, because you risk short-changing yourself.

After the marathon, he might try ultrarunning or a triathlon, he says.

“I want to see how far I can go.

THANK YOU LAKEWOOD!

Dr. Patricia A. Simon has been named by her peers to the Super Dentists® list for an eleventh year in a row.

It’s hard to believe that we’ve been here in Lakewood for een years this month! So much has changed in orthodontics, and in our neighborhood in that time. But one thing remains constant – my appreciation to the Lakewood community for its ongoing support and for allowing me to grow with it! I’ve had the opportunity to be a part of so many people’s lives by creating smiles, and I am very grateful for that. Fi een years ago I embarked on my dreams. ank you Lakewood for making them come true. I look forward to serving you and being a part of the neighborhood for the decades to come!

Bi-annual award since 2003

Annually 2003-2013

Patricia A. Simon, DDS 1809 Skillman St., Dallas 75206 214.826.9000 · lakewoodortho.net

LakewoodOrtho @DoctorSimonSays

Filling the gaps

Dallas CASA provides crucial help to child abuse victims, but there aren’t enough volunteers to go around — yet

Story by Brittany Nunn

One evening, local volunteer Ron Craig visited the foster home of five children whose futures were being settled in court.

Craig represented two of the children as a Court Appointed Special Advocate through East Dallas nonprofit Dallas CASA, building relationships, gathering information and helping the judge determine whether the kids can go home to their parents.

The three other children in the foster home did not have a CASA representative.

As Craig and his two children were leaving for dinner, one of the others stopped him and asked, “Mr. Ron, why doesn’t anyone care about me?”

“I had to explain that I was the CASA for the other two children but had not been assigned to him,” Craig says. “He listened and asked, ‘How do I get a CASA?’ He couldn’t understand why no one seemed to care about him, and I couldn’t either. How could I explain that he didn’t have a CASA because there aren’t enough

volunteers to help? It’s not just about going out to do special things; it’s about knowing someone cares about you and will actually come see you during the loneliest time in your life.”

Dallas CASA director Beverly Levy tells Craig’s story often because, to her, the story is a perfect illustration for an underlying problem: There simply aren’t enough CASA volunteers to represent every child in foster care.

Almost 2,000 children in Dallas have been removed from their homes and placed in foster care, according to CASA statistics. Of those, a little less than half have CASA representatives.

Levy and her team hope to change that.

‘A POWERFUL VOICE AND A HAND TO HOLD’

On any given day, the Henry Wade Juvenile Justice Center in Dallas teems with lawyers, witnesses, families, Child Protective Service workers and other people waiting to see the judges. Among them are

dozens of CASA volunteers, chatting with the other members of their case, comparing notes and swapping information. Who are these people, and why are they here, adding more opinions to an already complicated court system?

When a child welfare case goes to court, several people become involved. CPS workers investigate the families and try to ensure the children’s safety, but each worker has dozens of cases at a time.

In the mid-1970s, a Superior Court Judge in Seattle, Wash., became increasingly concerned that he didn’t have enough information from lawyers and the overwhelmed child welfare system to make life-altering decisions for abused and neglected children. So, he appointed community volunteers as friends of the court to advocate on behalf of the children. Dallas CASA was one of three pilot programs established in 1979, and in 1980, the first batch of volunteers graduated and was sworn in.

Beverly Levy, the director of Dallas CASA, hopes to recruit enough volunteers so that every child in the foster care system can have a Court Appointed Special Advocate: David Leeson

Partnering with CPS, CASA volunteers get to know the children they represent on a personal level, gathering as much information as possible from all parties involved in a case, including the families. They write reports for the judges, and make suggestions for whether a child should go home or into foster care. Then, they advocate in court on the child’s behalf. CASA volunteers focus on the child’s safety to help ensure he or she is on a path to the best life possible.

They are “a powerful voice and a hand to hold,” Levy says.

“Another reason that CASA is so important is that this child who didn’t do anything wrong doesn’t know he didn’t do anything wrong, and he sees all these di erent strangers in his life, and there’s no one consistent,” Levy says. “He needs someone to say, ‘You’re going to be OK. I’m going to stay with you until you find a safe home, and I’m going to make sure the judge has all the information he needs to make the best decisions about you.’ And that’s the role of the CASA volunteer.”

TO BE A CASA, OR NOT TO BE A CASA

Dallas CASA is full of everyday people who’ve heard the harrowing tales of child abuse in the news or from a friend and wondered, “What can I do to help?”

“And then they find us,” Levy says. “When you see what the issues are and you know there’s a way to help, it’s really magical.”

Some people shy away from becoming a CASA volunteer because they don’t know enough — or anything — about the court system. That’s OK, Levy says.

“You have to be able to write a report, you have to be able to communicate, you have to be consistent and objective, and most of all you have to have a caring heart.”

CASA sta members, experienced in social work, screen the volunteers, put them through 30 hours of training, and then supervise them after they’re sworn in.

Bonnie Cuellar, a Lakewood neighbor who saw her first CASA case conclude in November, says she was nervous when she started.

“They call you, and you think, ‘Am I really ready?’ and then you dive in, and you’re fine,” Cuellar says. “In my class, it was across the board — you have attorneys,

stay-at-home moms, educators, business people.”

Cuellar says the training classes, available in the mornings and the evenings, are thorough and help volunteers break down information about the court and welfare systems. The classes teach volunteers which questions to ask and where to get certain documents or services, and they also help the volunteers understand their own cultural biases so they can be more effective advocates.

“And once you apply it, it all makes sense,” Cuellar says. “Then you see the impact of [the program], and those pieces just fall into place.”

Cuellar became a CASA volunteer in 2011 and took the case of a newborn boy who had to be placed in foster care.

“You try to keep them in the family, as long as it’s a safe environment,” she says. “We didn’t have that in this case. Luckily, he ended up in a very loving, caring foster home.”

Once it became clear the child would not get to go home to his parents, Cuellar and CPS began searching for a forever home for the baby. This year, two years after the case began, he was adopted, and Cuellar has been beside him the whole way.

“It’s critical to facilitate and to make those recommendations to move the process along,” Cuellar says.

A national study found that children who have CASA volunteers spend 7 and a half fewer months in foster care than children who don’t, according to CASA statistics. Also, more than 90 percent of children with CASA volunteers never again enter the child welfare system.

CASA volunteers can choose their cases, and many first-time advocates take easier cases, working with supervisors.

East Dallas neighbor Sandra Teter has been an advocate since 1997. She has taken 19 cases and helped more than 34 kids, including siblings.

“When I read a case, I’m always scared the first time I read it, and I’m always angry the first time I read it,” Teter says, “but the process is laid out so well, you just take it one step at a time.”

She also has learned along the way. During Teter’s second case, she had a light-

bulb moment that shifted how she viewed her role as a CASA.

During her second case, the courts considered taking the child away from its mother, but Teter testified at trial supporting the mother, who had sought an intense, in-house program for abuse victims that helped turn her life around, Teter says.

When Teter saw the positive changes the mother was making, she advocated that the mother and child be reunited. Because of Teter’s recommendation, the mother retained her parental rights.

“When I first started I thought it was more just following the court system and going to hearings, making sure I showed up and knew the answers,” Teter says, “but what I’ve learned is that I can really make a di erence to the children and to the families.”

The involvement can make working as an advocate a much bigger time commitment than other volunteer opportunities, which is another factor that keeps people from becoming CASAs. However, Teter, who works for herself as an employment recruiter, says she’s always felt the time requirement manageable.

“You know the court dates two months in advance,” Teter says. “So you can make time for your court hearing. The biggest time commitment is just being there to be a really hands-on CASA.”

To Cuellar, the long-term commitment is a big draw. She has volunteered with local organizations, all of which were rewarding, she says, but she wanted something more.

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Sandra Teter has been a CASA volunteer since 1997, and she’s helped more than 34 kids in that time: Kim Leeson

“I’ve been there when my [CASA] kid crawled, when he walked, when he ate,” Cuellar says. “It’s unlike any volunteer work I’ve ever done.”

Cuellar is one of Dallas CASA’s coveted Spanish-speaking advocates, something it desperately needs. If a judge requests it, and there isn’t one available, Dallas CASA must turn down the case.

Levy says that some people hesitate to get involved with CASA because they’re afraid they’ll become too emotionally attached to the child in their case.

Cuellar did become emotionally attached to her little boy, but she believes it made her a better advocate.

“It’s bittersweet because you don’t want any child to go through that, but you see that you’re an important piece of this process,” she says. “If you do it right, you do bond. It does tug at you, and it should. And then you want to be a part of whatever makes this better.”

ROOM TO GROW

In November,DallasCASAannounced its $37 million campaign to recruit more Court Appointed Special Advocates during its annual Champion of Children Award Dinner.

The goal of the campaign, “Abused Children Can’t Wait,” is to ensure that eventually every child in foster care has a CASA representative, which means Dallas CASA has to double the number of volunteers within the next few years.

“The reason CASA is important is because Texas has been remarkably low in per-capita spending on CPS,” says Dallas County Judge William Mazur Jr., who sees hundreds of child abuse cases go through his courts every year.

“There’s way too much turnover [at CPS], and there’s too few workers. We’re without a doubt not paying them enough, and once we take possession of a child and become their parent, we’ve got to treat them better than we do, and that takes help.”

An abuse case takes 12 to 18 months from beginning to end, and sometimes a child will have two or three different caseworkers, Mazur says. It’s easy for information to get lost in the shuffle. Other times the child is transferred

from home to home.

“If there’s a CASA, they don’t change,” Mazur says. “They stay throughout, and they can be the consistent source of the information that needs to be passed along. Plus, this child has been taken away from everything familiar, and everything in the room is changing. Wouldn’t it be nice to have something consistent?”

Ultimately it falls to the judge to determine the future of the child in question.

“There are some cases that you can tell are going to be very high maintenance, and I just cringe when I can’t appoint a CASA,” Mazur says. “If you had the responsibly that I’ve got, of trying to take those children through this system, you can’t say that you wouldn’t want more help.”

With more volunteers, Dallas CASA will need more office space. The organization already has maxed out its building at 2815 Gaston with the current staff and volunteers. So it has begun construction on a new building at Swiss and Texas in East Dallas that will be three times the size. It should be complete in spring of 2014.

Dallas CASA has raised $30 million through individual and corporate donors, and the campaign needs $7 million more to reach its goal.

“These kids have been waiting too long, and they just can’t wait anymore,” Levy say.

Bonnie Cuellar wrapped up her first case in November: Kim Leeson

Photo by Jeremy Daniel

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Worshippers perform ceremonial bathing of the Krishna deities in yogurt. Hindus and members of its Hare Krishna denomination believe the religious statues represent God.

Temple president Nityananda Dasa Adhikaari offers Arati, a ritual of worship.

TO LEARN MORE about Sri Sri Radha Kalachandji Mandir Hare Krishna temple visit radhakalachandji.com or for a guided tour call 214.669.3369.

Food and faith

East Dallas’ Kalachandji’s — known for its vegetarian lunch and dinner buffets — also exemplifies our neighborhood’s religious diversity

The Christian holiday Christmas garners great attention this time of year, but East Dallas is home to people practicing various religions. The popular vegetarian restaurant Kalachandji’s, for example, is part of a Hare Krishna community full of devoted followers whose vivacious festivals, such as spring’s Benediction Moon Festival, include singing, dancing, chanting and feasting in the streets of East Dallas. The food at Kalachandji’s restaurant, which is enjoyed by patrons of all doctrines, satisfies body and soul, followers say, and is an integral part of religious ceremony. Photographer Hilary Schleier earlier this year captured images of the Hare Krishna rituals inside and around the restaurant and temple.

A woman prays in the temple at Kalachandji’s.

The congregation worships on East Grand during the Benediction Moon Festival, a parade and vegeterian feast held each spring.

A temple member plays music during a Wednesday-evening class.

Temple members observe the ceremonial bathing of the Krishna deities in yogurt.

Nityananda Chandra Granger meditates in the gardens at Kalachandji’s.

Satya Devi Dasi performs Arati ritual.

Raivin Alexandria watches temple members prepare flowers for the Benediction Moon Festival.

Music is an important part of the festivities.

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Chetan Patel, Rupa Tansey, Hari Chanm, and Kapil Patel sing and chant in the temple room during the Benediction Moon Festival.

A worshipper prostrates on the temple floor.

TAMALE QUEST

East Dallasites historically have gone to great lengths to secure this husked holiday treat

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

“Excuse me. Your car is being towed.”

“That’s OK,” you say, a blissful smile on your face. For you know, at the end of this four-hour-long line, what awaits you. An audience with the Pope? Front-row seats for the World Series?

Tamales.

Such is the madness that descends upon East Dallas every holiday season.

Jesse Moreno Sr., “Doctor of Tamalogy” at La Popular Tamale House, laughs and shakes his head as he recounts this decidedly non-serene Christmas Eve scene. He recalls that the line snaked out the door of his restaurant and around the corner. Folks were parking illegally, willing to risk an impounding fee rather than give up a precious spot in line.

In business since 1984, Moreno has seen it all and heard every excuse from desperate customers. Years ago, he began taking pre-orders — a tamale guarantee — but soon found it necessary to ask for photo ID at pickup. Some sneaky, determined folks would eyeball the pre-order list upsidedown and point to a random name. “Oh, that’s me,” they would insist. Moreno and his clan — it’s a family business — quickly saw through it and reluctantly began to insist on identification.

The small parking lot at La Popular transforms into TamaleLand every holiday sea-

son, particularly Christmas Eve. Many families traditionally tailgate in the lot, enjoying their tamales moments after purchasing them. But the lot also becomes something of a battlefield. Opportunistic tamale peddlers, most of them home cooks, lurk in the shadows, offering a cheaper dozen to customers entering, and not-so-cheap bundles of tamales to dejected customers leaving empty-handed. Jesse Moreno Jr., now president of the company since his father handed over the reins a few years ago, just shrugs. He says they’re usually so busy inside, they don’t see the wheeling and dealing right outside their doors.

So what is it about tamales? Dating back to the Aztecs and Mayans, it’s a humble little package: seasoned meat, packed in cornmeal dough (masa), wrapped in a corn husk and steamed. But it’s so much more than a tasty little comfort food in the Latino culture. Honoring tradition, many families in East Dallas engage in the tamalada, a gathering of family to prepare and serve tamales. Virginia Ramirez, Parent Liaison at J.L. Long Middle School, gets together with her family every Christmas Eve to spread masa on corn husks, cover just so (“It’s not as easy as it looks”) with meat filling and fold. She admits she rarely, if ever, buys tamales: “I am very picky. Most people don’t want to take their time making them.” And

Tamales at La Popular: Elliott Munoz

she likens tamales to Thanksgiving turkey, explaining that many Latinos eat tamales only at Christmastime, savoring it as a holiday treat.

But for Ramirez and her family, it’s as much about the people as the food. “We have a good time hanging out and talking. We look forward to it every year.” She views the tamalada as a “dying art,” at least in the American culture, because of the faster pace and busier lives here, as well as less emphasis on family time.

Jesse Moreno Sr. describes the tamalemaking process as “tedious but rewarding.” Few in East Dallas know the first thing about the process, so purchasing them is what “John,” a Lakewood-area resident, had in mind some years ago. He says he set off on Christmas Eve to buy a batch for his family’s meal that evening. The neighborhood tortilla and tamale house, now closed but a mainstay in its day, was bursting with despairing customers. Sorry, sold out, they were told — but try their other location in Pleasant Grove. A cross-town caravan ensued — a quest for tamale nirvana no matter the cost or trouble. They all pulled into the parking lot about the same time, looked at each other and laughed at their tamale-induced folly. Ah, tamales at last. And no fisticuffs, fortunately. Peace on earth, including the tamale house.

RESERVE YOUR TAMALES: La

214.824.7617

Patti Vinson is a guest writer who has lived in East Dallas for 14 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 (12) and Will (9). The family often can be found hanging out at White Rock Lake Dog Park with Dexter, a probable JackWeenie.

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HIGHLANDER SCHOOL

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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.

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ST. JOHN’S EPISCOPAL SCHOOL

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ZION LUTHERAN SCHOOL

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BUSINESS BUZZ

The lowdown on what’s up with neighborhood businesses

Send

For the love of food

Liberty Burger in Lakewood Shopping Center is open for business. Managing partner Mariel Street says she and her team tried to keep everything as local and handmade as possible, including the tables, chairs, booths, and light fixtures. “We really tried to take this local thing to the max,” she says.

Genaro Silva just opened his namesake restaurant, Genaro’s, at Abrams and Mockingbird, and he says he plans to have “a lot of fun” with the mostly Latin-based menu. For now, the restaurant is open for dinner only. Doors open at 5 p.m. and close sometime between 11 p.m. and midnight. He’s hoping it’ll be the kind of place where people will want to stay and drink a while.

Dude, Sweet Chocolate, which originated in the Bishop Arts District of Oak Cliff, just built a third location, and it’s in our neighborhood. The new location is on Greenville near Trader Joe’s, and it opened in early November. The store specializes in dark chocolate.

And finally, a new pizza joint will open in Lakewood in the Skillman-Live Oak Shopping Center in November or December. Actually, it’s an old pizza joint; it’s just new to Lakewood. It’s called My Family’s Pizza, and it was established in 1956. Now, three business partners have joined forces to bring this family-oriented business to Lakewood. They’ve set up shop on Skillman next to The Pour House because two of the business partners — Matthew Rangel and Troy Swinsen — are the co-owners of The Pour House. The other partner is a Dallas businessman from Lake Highlands, Whitney Ravkind. Rangel and Swinsen also serve pizza My Family’s Pizza at The Pour House.

Closed for business

Custom Cleaners has closed due to “the inability of the business owner to meet his financial obligations,” according to a sign on the door. This includes the MockingbirdAbrams location in East Dallas and the Greenville-Forest location in Lake Highlands. Some customers’ clothes have been locked inside the building, and there’s no indication as to when they might get them back.

Starting a new chapter

Catholic Charities of Dallas’ World of Goods, located at 10675 E. Northwest High-

way, Suite 1650, has closed its thrift store and plans to give all donations to its clients, communications officer Rosalynn Vasquez notes. Effective immediately, the resale store will convert to a donation center that will serve the clients of Catholic Charities of Dallas. They will provide 100 percent of all donated goods directly to their clients. They will be moving but hope to remain in the same shopping strip, in a space that is diagonal from their current space. If you’d like to donate, the charity will send someone to your home to pick up large furniture donations. To schedule, call Felecia Hunter-Burnett at 214.342.8231. Pickups are TuesdayFriday mornings.

With the help of parents and other community volunteers, the East Dallas Developmental Center managed to make the move from its old location in the Skillman-Live Oak Shopping Center to a brand-new location right across Oram. And they did it all in a single weekend. The East Dallas Developmental Center, better known as the EDDC, has been a fixture in East Dallas for more than 30 years and in that time has educated hundreds of children, from 6 weeks to 5 years old. At this point, we’re not sure what Stonelake intends to do with their old location.

East Dallas children’s clothing store Little Bean, located at 5308 Junius, is closing its doors but not its business. On Nov. 10, Little Bean went online-only. So you’ll still be able to shop for your little ones — you’ll just have to do it digitally. This is not the first time Little Bean has closed its physical location since it opened next to Garden Cafe in 2009. In 2011, it did the same thing.

—Brittany Nunn

Dude, Sweet Chocolate

Karen

Brandy

Gwen & Curtis Moore

Helen & Charles Nixon

Diane & Michael Swartzendruber

Caroline Turner & Dr. Kathy Varadi

Bobbie Lynn Weir

ANGLICAN

ALL SAINTS DALLAS / 2733 Oak Lawn / 972.755.3505

Radical Inclusivity, Profound Transformation. Come and See!

9:00 & 11:00 am Sunday Services. www.allsaintschurchdallas.org

BAPTIST

LAKESIDE BAPTIST / 9150 Garland Rd / 214.324.1425

Worship — 8:30 am Classic & 11:00 am Contemporary

Pastor Jeff Donnell / www.lbcdallas.com

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

All services & Bible Study 9:15 & 10:45. Trad. & Blended (Sanctuary), Contemporary (Great Hall), Amigos de Dios (Gym) / 214.860.1500

PRESTONWOOD BAPTIST CHURCH / “A Church to Call Home”

Sundays: Bible Fellowship (all ages) 9:15 am /Service Time 11:00 am

12123 Hillcrest Road / 972.820.5000 / prestonwood.org

RIDGECREST BAPTIST / 5470 Ellsworth / 214.826.2744

Sun. Life Groups 9:30 am, Worship 10:45 am / Wed. Nights 6:00 pm

Pastor Greg Byrd / www.rcbcdallas.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

DISCIPLES OF CHRIST

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

Sunday School 9:30 am / THE TABLE Worship Gathering 9:30 am

Worship 8:30 & 10:50 am / Rev. Deborah Morgan / www.edcc.org

HIGHLANDS CHRISTIAN CHURCH (Lake Highlands) 9949 McCree Rd. 214-348-2805 / www.highlandschristianchurch.com

Sundays: School 9:45 am / Worship 11:00 am / Rev. Paul Carpenter

ECKANKAR

HU CHANT CLASS / A Love Song to God / expand awareness, experience divine love, bring peace and calm / December 12, 7:15 pm Lakewood Library / 972.820.0530 / meetup.com/Eckankar-Dallas

EPISCOPAL

ST. MATTHEW’S CATHEDRAL / 5100 Ross Ave.

Sunday Traditional: 8:00 & 10:30 am / Adult Education 9:30 am

Servicio en español 12:30 pm / 214.823.8134 / episcopalcathedral.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

MUNGER PLACE CHURCH / Expect Great Things.

Worship Sundays, 9:30 and 11:00 am / 5200 Bryan Street

214.823.9929 / www.mungerplacechurch.org

RIDGEWOOD PARK UMC / 6445 E. Lovers Lane / 214.369.9259

Sunday Worship: 9:30 am Traditional and 11:35 am Comtemporary

Sunday School: 10:30 am / Rev. Ann Willet / ridgewoodparkchurch.org

WHITE ROCK UNITED METHODIST / www.wrumc.org

1450 Oldgate Lane / 214.324.3661

Sunday Worship 10:50 am / Rev. George Fisk

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 9:30 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

Sunday services: 9:00 am & 11:00 am

COMMUNICATION VS. COMMUNION

The Word was delivered in the flesh, not via Gmail

Apple can do only so much.

It was my birthday. I was sitting at my desk at home, staring at my iMac. My mother called on the home phone plugged into the wall because that’s what older people do — call on landlines.

While we were talking, an iMessage popped up on my desktop from my daughter in San Antonio. It contained an embedded video from my two little granddaughters. Before I could open it, my wife’s iPhone rang. Our daughter and the girls were calling on FaceTime, so Kim brought the smartphone into my study and pointed it at the computer. I clicked on the video and watched the girls singing Happy Birthday to me and blowing out candles that their mother had put on a tray of brownies.

Meanwhile my mother in Tennessee listened on the landline and the girls in San Antonio watched themselves on my iMac while they were eating the brownies they had since rescued from the melting candle wax.

Two states, three cities, four generations and five technologies: all happening in “virtual” real time, if that’s not an oxymoron. When my mother was a child, her grandparents would have had to be in the room to wish her happy birthday in real time; otherwise it would have been a Hallmark card with a stamp from the post office. When I was that age, my grandparents might have called on a wired telephone. When my daughter was that age, it would still have been a landline.

Within the last thirty years, wow — we have had a communications revolution.

Or have we? We may have had only a communication device revolution. We have more ways to communicate today than at any time in the history of the world. And granted, we send more communiqués than every before. In addition to the abovementioned, we could include fax, Facebook, Twitter, Viber and all sorts of means

of messaging.

But are we better communicators?

At the heart of faith traditions that derive from the God of Abraham is the claim that God has revealed God’s self to the world. God has broken through the sound barrier between heaven and earth and communicated with us.

At first it would have been a word that might have sounded like a gentle wind whispering sweet somethings of promised love in the ear of an unsuspecting lonely

Intimacy can be intimated by mail, or by the book, or online. Being there brings the message home.

Bedouin. It could at times have sounded to a prophet like the roar of an angry sea at the idolatry and injustice between and within coastal kingdoms. In time those hardly audible words were written down, and the writing itself was occasion for tidings of judgment or joy.

Christians claim that the climax of God’s communication strategy with the world came when the Word came to live among us. God didn’t create advanced technologies to send new signals; the Word came in the flesh to bring the word afresh.

And that’s because true spiritual experience is always more about communion than communication. Intimacy can be intimated by mail, or by the book, or online. Being there brings the message home.

Bodily presence is the mystery that seals our hearts in love and binds us as one. Which is why Christians talk about the real presence of Christ in communion. We’re partaking together of the divine life.

There’s virtually no substitute for that. Really.

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.

People

Last month we reported online that the founder of the Lab at Lake Highlands-become-Lab at Lakewood, Melissa Wright, would manage the world-class, state-of-the-art, national-attentiongarnering Rory Meyers Children’s Adventure Garden at the Arboretum. She managed it for about a month, and now, she notes, she is done with the Arboretum and is planning a “last-ditch” effort to revive The Lab. Shortly after announcing the closing of The Lab, Wright shared with great enthusiasm her new role as Children’s Garden manager. In October, via her blog, she reported that she plans to reopen The Lab. She apparently has parted ways with the Arboretum. “I have heard this type of thing is usually called, a ‘last-ditch’ effort,” she writes. “But after watching the debacle that is the Arboretum attempting to further the informal science education model, I figure it’s what I must do.” Nothing official from the Arboretum, but it is safe to assume they might have a position open.

Our neighborhood streets and trails served as training ground for the new Guinness World Record for marathon-running holder. We have written about White Rock-area resident Angela Tortorice’s feats of charity and stamina. The Marathon Maniac told the Advocate a couple of years ago about her three marathons in three days, 10 double marathons and running a marathon in all 50 states. Twice. “I don’t necessarily think I’m good at running,” she said at the time. “I’m good at endurance.” This needs no proof. However there is proof in the form of a certificate from Guinness World Records. She has been declared “officially amazing” for running the most marathons in a calendar year by a woman 129 of them — between September 2012 and August 2013.

Community

The community headed to Lakewood Country Club in October to support Healing Hands Ministries‘ fourth annual golf tournament, and they got a bonus. Honorary Chairman Matt Mosley brought along his new radio co-host, veteran sports columnist and ESPN television panelist Tim Cowlishaw. Mosley, who lives in Lake Highlands with his young family, says he’s excited about welcoming Cowlishaw to “The Afternoon Show,” which airs from 3 to 6 p.m. weekdays on ESPN 103.3. Winners of the tournament were Julian Vigil, Dane Lacey, Paige Nash and Michael Rideau. The team comprising Roy LaDriere, Devin Frye, Jack Smith and Ted Daniel came in second. Third went to Stephen Brookshire, Stephen Frazze, Scott Sargent and Judson Stafford Jeff McBrayer won a prize for being closest to the pin, and Zach Goldberg had the longest drive. Healing Hands Ministries is a non-profit clinic providing medical and dental care to children and families in Lakewood, Lake Highlands and surrounding areas.

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.

All are welcome. Please join us.

WEDNESDAYS IN DECEMBER

Soup Supper 6:00 pm

Advent Vespers 7:00 pm

Fellowship Hall

GLAD TIDINGS, a special Christmas music presentation by Brookhaven College Choral Society and Central Lutheran Senior Choir. Sunday, December 8 – 5:00 pm in the sanctuary.

Benefitting Klais Pipe Organ Project CHILDREN’S CHRISTMAS PROGRAM

Sunday, December 22 – 1:00 pm in the sanctuary following the Christmas Pot Luck at 11:30am in the Fellowship Hall.

TRADITIONAL CHRISTMAS EVE CANDLELIGHT SERVICE

Tuesday, December 24, 7:00 PM

1000 Easton Road, Dallas, TX 75218 214-327-2222

Beautiful, Functional, Affordable

Helping hands

The Woodrow Wilson JV Cheerleaders gave 150 hours of volunteer service in the community in October. They volunteered for the LECPTA, The Stonewall Carnival, The Arboretum Children’s Garden and Lakewood Carnival. Left to right: Alessa Johnson, Jessica Gray, Brooke Molina, Catherine Wilson, Julianna Sweeney, Lawson Freeman.

Cut the check

During the homecoming game, the Lakewood Early Childhood PTA presented a check for $15,000 to Woodrow’s PTA president Randy Patterson. This year’s LECPTA president Kim Sinnott and last year’s president Nikki Jordan, along with their three kiddos, presented the check.

CLASSES/TUTORING/ LESSONS

ALL AGES: LEARN PIANO WITH WADE COTTINGHAM LakewoodPianoLab.com Since 1998. 214-564-6456

ART: Draw or Paint. All Levels. Lake Highlands N. Rec. Ctr. Jane Cross, 214-534-6829. Linda, 214-808-4919.

ARTISTIC GATHERINGS

Casa Linda Plaza. Art Classes & Drop In Pottery Painting For All Ages. 214-821-8383. Tues-Sat 10am-6pm

DRUM & PIANO LESSONS Your location. UNT Grad. BucherMusicSchool.com or call 214-484-5360, 469-831-7012

GUITAR OR PIANO Fun/Easy. Your Home. 11 Yrs Exp. Reasonable rates. UNT Grad. Larry 469-358-8784

JEWELRY Making Parties at Art Gallery. BYOB & creativity. All else included! jewelrymakingparty.com or 1-855-254-6625

CHILDCARE

LOVING, CHRIST-CENTERED CARE SINCE 1982 Lake Highlands Christian Child Enrichment Center Ages 2 mo.-12 yrs. 9919 McCree. 214-348-1123.

JANUARY DEADLINE DEC. 4 CALL 214.560.4203

CHILDCARE

SERVICES FOR YOU

LOWER THAT CABLE BILL Get satellite TV today. Free system, install/HD/DVR upgrade. Programming starting at $19.99. 800-725-1865

PROFESSIONAL SERVICES

A WILL? THERE IS A WAY Estate/Probate Matters-Free Consultation. 214-802-6768 MaryGlennAttorney.com

EMPLOYMENT

CREATE INCOME From The Internet. One On One Coaching & Group Support. www.MonthlyResidual.net

PET SITTERS, DOG WALKERS Email Recruiting@pcpsi.com

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 Computer. Hardware & Software Installation, Troubleshooting, Training. $50/hr. 1 hr min. Dan 214-660-3733 or stykidan@sbcglobal.net

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

HOLLOWAY BENEFIT CONCEPTS Benefit strategy for area businesses. www.hollowaybenefitconcepts.com 214-329-0097

REED & RIORDAN PLLC Dallas Family Law Attorneys 10000 N Central Expy Dallas, Tx 214-570-9555 reedriordan.com

Dress up

Woodrow Wilson High School students cheesed for a picture during the 2013 homecoming in October.

Hot pink

In October, Beth Dunn Bradley (pictured on the left) filled her yard with a flock of bright pink flamingos. Each year, Beth’s flamingo migration coincides with the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, the world’s largest and most successful education and fundraising event for breast cancer. Each flamingo bears the name of a survivor or a friend who has lost their fight.

Local BULLETIN BOARD

TRAVEL

CRUISEONE DALLAS Doug Thompson bigDcruises.com

Plan your cruise vacation today! 214-254-4980

MIND, BODY & SPIRIT 30% off all services 214-321-3363 7324

Arboretum)

PET SERVICES

POOP SCOOP PROFESSIONALS Trust The Experts. 214-826-5009

Dallas’ First Doggie Daycare

Featuring “Open Play” Boarding

• 14,000+ sq. ft. Play Area Inside

• 5,000+ sq. ft. Play Area Outside

• 15 Lux Suites w/ Webcams

• Grooming All Breeds

• Training & Obedience Classes

6444 E. Mockingbird at Abrams www.deesdoggieden.com • 214-823-1441

In-Home Professional Care

Customized to maintain your pet’s routine In-Home Pet Visits & Daily Walks

“Best of Dallas” D Magazine

Serving the Dallas area since 1994 Bonded & Insured www.societypetsitter.com 214-821-3900

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

ESTATE SALES & LIQUIDATION SERVICES

Moving, Retirement, Downsizing. One Piece or a Houseful. David Turner. 214-908-7688. dave2estates@aol.com

4245 N Central Expressway (Fitzhugh and 75) 214.526.6160 - greatskinbylynne.com

ADVOCATE PUBLISHING does not pre-screen, recommend or investigate the advertisements and/or Advertisers published in our magazines. As a result, Advocate Publishing is not responsible for your dealings with any Advertiser. Please ask each Advertiser that you contact to show you the necessary licenses and/or permits required to perform the work you are requesting. Advocate Publishing takes comments and/or complaints about Advertisers seriously, and we do not publish advertisements that we know are inaccurate, misleading and/or do not live up to the standards set by our publications. If you have a legitimate complaint or positive comment about an Advertiser, please contact us at 214-560-4203. Advocate Publishing recommends that you ask for and check references from each Advertiser that you contact, and we recommend that you obtain a written statement of work to be completed, and the price to be charged, prior to approving any work or providing an Advertiser with any deposit for work to be completed.

972-216-1961

APPLIANCE

APPLIANCE REPAIR SPECIALIST Low Rates, Excellent Service, Senior Discount. MC-Visa. 214-321-4228

JESSE’S A/C & APPLIANCE SERVICE

TACLB13304C All Makes/Models. 214-660-8898

AROTX

972-523-3996

WWW.AROTX.COM

We at AROTX repair all major appliances. Visit our website or call us. WE DO SAME DAY SERVICE

CARPENTRY & REMODELING BRIAN GREAM

RENOVATIONS LLC

• 1 & 2 Story Additions

• Complete Renovations

• Kitchens/Baths

• Licensed/Insured 214.542.6214

CLEANING SERVICES

PayPal ®

WWW.BGRONTHEWEB.COM

BRIANGREAM@YAHOO.COM

New Construction • Renovations Roofing • Additions

David Hughes • 214-202-2333

COMPUTERS & ELECTRONICS

BILL’S COMPUTER REPAIR

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

COMPUTER PROBLEMS SOLVED Great Rates! Keith 214-295-6367

Serving your Neighborhood Since 1993

2629

CABINETRY & FURNITURE

THE CABINET CONCIERGE

The Art of Storage. Call 214-821-5900 Email jin@thecabinetconcierge.com

CARPENTRY & REMODELING

ATLANTIS DESIGN-BUILD, LLC

Complete Remodeling. 40 Yrs Exp. Additions. 1 & 2 Story. Kitchens, Baths. Small Jobs To Entire House. Renovation & Design. Full Time Supervision. Licensed/Insured. Free Estimates. 281-761-4648

BLAKE CONSTRUCTION CONCEPTS, LLC

Complete Remodeling, Kitchens, Baths, Additions. Hardie Siding & Replacement Windows. Radiant Barrier, Insulation. Bonded & Insured. www.blake-construction.com 214-563-5035

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

D SQUARED Design, Build, Remodel, Additions 214-213-2716

FRANZEN CONSTRUCTION Custom Carpentry. New/Remodel/Restoration. Kitchen/Bath. Doors/Windows. Shutters, Arbors & more. 214-810-1526 www.FranzenQuality.com

HANDY DAN “The Handyman” To Do’s Done Right! www.handy-dan.com 214-252-1628

RENOVATE DALLAS

renovatedallas.net

214-403-7247

SQUARE NAIL WOODWORKING

Cabinet Refacing, Built-ins, Entertainment/ Computer Centers. Jim. 214-324-7398 www.squarenailwoodworking.com

TK REMODELING Complete Full Service Repairs, Remodeling, Restoration. Name It- We do it. Tommy. 972-533-2872. insured. http://dallas.tkremodelingcontractors.com

COMMERCIAL & RESIDENTIAL RENOVATION & REPAIR

214.341.1448

WWW.OBRIENGROUPINC COM

• Bathrooms

• Kitchens

• Renovations

redoguys.com 214 / 803. 4774

Unique Home Construction

- Design, Build, Remodel

- Kitchens & Baths

- New Construction or Additions

Many references available

- Licensed, Insured, Member of BBB www.uniquehomebuild.com 214.533.0716

CLEANING SERVICES

AMAZON CLEANING

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

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

MAID 4 YOU Bonded/Insured. Park Cities/M Streets Refs. Call Us First. Joyce.214-232-9629

MAID PRISTINE House Cleaning For Perfectionists. Reliable. Leticia. maidpristine.com 972-971-1571

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

THE MAIDS Angie’s List Award! Eco-Friendly Products. www.maids.com 972-278-6000

WANTED: HOUSES TO CLEAN

20 yrs. exp., Reliable, Great Prices, Excellent Refs., Free Estimates. No Crews. Sunny 214-724-2555

WINDOW MAN WINDOW CLEANING.COM

Residential Specialists. BBB. 214-718-3134

YOU HAVE IT MAID SERVICES 972-859-0287 bonded/insured. Youhaveitmaidservices.com

CONCRETE/ MASONRY/PAVING

BRICK & STONE REPAIR

Don 214-704-1722

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

BRICK, STONEWORK, FLAGSTONE PATIOS Mortar Repair. Call George 214-498-2128

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

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

ELECTRICAL SERVICES

4 U ELECTRICAL SERVICE, LLC We will be there 4 U. 972-877-4183

ANTHONY’S ELECTRIC Master Electrician. TECL24948 anthonyselectricofdallas.com

Family Owned/Operated. Insd. 214-328-1333

EXPERIENCED LICENSED ELECTRICIAN Insd. Steve. TECL#27297 214-718-9648

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

MORIN ELECTRIC New/Remodel.Com/Res. Panel Changes/Full Services. All Phases. All Service Work. 469-230-7438. TECL2293

TEXAS ELECTRICAL • 214-289-0639

Honest, Quality. TECL 24668 CCs accepted.

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

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

Business Resources

TO ADVERTISE 214.560.4203

ELECTRICAL SERVICES

FLOORING & CARPETING

HANDYMAN SERVICES

HOUSE PAINTING

LIC#17141

PC ELECTRIC 214.533.5949 call.text.email

thepcelectric.com

EXTERIOR CLEANING

BLOUNTS HAULING/TRASH SERVICE

blountsjunkremovaldfw.com 214-275-5727

FENCING & DECKS

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

4 QUALITY FENCING Call Mike 214-507-9322

Specializing in Wood, New or Repair.

A FATHER, SON & GRANDSON TEAM

Fences, Gates, Decks. Haven 214-327-0560

AMBASSADOR FENCE INC.

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

HANNAWOODWORKS.COM Decks,Doors, Carpentry, Remodeling 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

FIREPLACE SERVICE

CHIMNEY SWEEP Dampers/Brick & Stone Repair. DFW Metro. Don 214-704-1722

FLOORING & CARPETING

ALL WALKS OF FLOORS 214-616-7641

Carpet, Wood, Tile Sales/Service Free Estimates

BEAR FOOT HARDWOODS 214-734-8851

Complete Hardwood Flooring Services

DALLAS CARPET OUTLET Carpet/Wood/Tile. dallascarpetoutlet.com 214-342-1100

DALLAS HARDWOODS 214-724-0936

Installation, Repair, Refinish, Wax, Hand Scrape. Residential, Commercial. Sports Floors. 25 Yrs.

HASTINGS STAINED CONCRETE New/ Remodel. Stain/Wax Int/Ext. Nick. 214-341-5993. www.hastingsfloors.com

N-HANCE WOOD RENEWAL. No Dust. No Mess. No Odor. nhance.com. 214-321-3012.

WILLEFORD HARDWOOD FLOORS

214-824-1166

• WillefordHardwoodFloors.com

Restoration Flooring

Your Home Repair Specialists

25+ Years Experience

469.774.3147

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

FOUNDATION REPAIR

• Slabs • Pier & Beam

• Mud Jacking • Drainage

• Free Estimates

• Over 20 Years Exp. 972-288-3797

We Answer Our Phones

GARAGE DOORS

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

A FATHER, SON & GRANDSON TEAM Expert Window Cleaning. Haven 214-327-0560

CLEARWINDOWSANDDOORS.COM

Replacement Windows & Doors Free Estimate 214-274-5864

LAKE HIGHLANDS GLASS & MIRROR custom mirrors • shower enclosures store fronts • casements 214-349-8160

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

HANDYMAN SERVICES

#1 AT BIG JOBS. NO JOB TOO SMALL. 40+ years exp. Ron Payne 214-755-9147

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

HANDY DAN “The Handyman” To Do’s Done Right. www.handy-dan.com 214-252-1628

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

Drywall Doors Senior Safety Carpentry

Small & Odd Jobs And More! 972-308-6035

HandymanMatters.com/dallas

HOME INSPECTION

KITCHEN/BATH/ TILE/GROUT

ALL SURFACE REFINISHING 214-631-8719. Tub/Tile/Refinishing. allsurfacerefinishing.com

BATHTUB, COUNTERTOP & TILE Resurfacing: Walls, Tub Surrounds, Showers. Glaze or Faux Stone finishes. Affordable Alternative to Replacement! 972-323-8375. PermaGlazeNorthDallas.com

BLAKE CONSTRUCTION CONCEPTS LLC

HOUSE PAINTING

1 AFFORDABLE HOUSE PAINTING and Home Repair. Quality work. Inside and Out. Free Ests. Local Refs. Ron 972-816-5634 or 972-475-3928

#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

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

ABRAHAM PAINT SERVICE A Women Owned Business 25 Yrs. Int/Ext. Wall Reprs. Discounts

On Whole Interiors and Exteriors 214-682-1541

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

BLAKE CONSTRUCTION CONCEPTS, LLC

Complete Painting Interior/Exterior, Stain Etc. Custom Finishes, Custom Texture, Custom Trim www.blake-construction.com

Fully Bonded & Insured. 214-563-5035

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

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

ROMEO’S PAINTING INT/EXT. Drywall, Damage Repair. Prep House To Sell. 214-789-0803

TONY’S PAINTING SERVICE Quality Work Since 1984. INT/EXT 214-755-2700

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

WHITE ROCK PAINTING

References. Mark Reindel 214-321-5280

BRIAN GREAM

PAINTING & RENOVATIONS

Complete Kitchen And Bath Remodels Tile, Granite, Marble, Travertine, Slate Bonded And Insured. 214-563-5035 www.blake-construction.com

FENN CONSTRUCTION Any Tile Anywhere. www.dallastileman.com Back Splash Specials! 214-343-4645

HANDY DAN “The Handyman” Remodels Done Right. handy-dan.com 214-252-1628

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

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

LAWNS, GARDENS & TREES

25% OFF TREE WORK Christmas Lights. Trim. Roberts Tree Svc. Insd. 10 yrs exp. 214-808-8925

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

A&B LANDSCAPING Full Landscape & Lawn Care Services. Degreed Horticulturist. 214-534-3816

AYALA’S LANDSCAPING Firewood for Sale! Call the Land Expert Today! Insured. 214-773-4781

BLOUNTS TREE SERVICE Winter Special 20% Off Tree Work. 45 yrs exp. Insured. 214-275-5727

CHUPIK TREE SERVICE

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

COLE’S LAWN CARE • 214-327-3923 Quality Service with a Personal Touch. COVINGTON’S NURSERY & LANDSCAPE CO. 5518 Pres. George Bush Hwy. Rowlett 972-475-5888 covingtonnursery.com

DALLAS K.D.R.SERVICES • 214-349-0914

Lawn Service & Landscape Installation

LAWNS, GARDENS & TREES

FOREVERLAWNTEXAS.COM George Berre. Quality Synthetic Grass, Free Est. 214-263-0828

GREENSKEEPER Fall Clean Up & Color. Sodding, Fertilization. Lawn Maintenance & Landscape. Res/Com. 214-546-8846

HOLMAN IRRIGATION

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

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

SERIOUSLY METICULOUS Verdant Grounds. 214-763-0492

TAYLOR MADE IRRIGATION Repairs, service, drains. 30+ years exp. Ll 6295 M-469-853-2326. John

THE POND MAN Water Gardens

Designed & Installed. Drained & Cleaned. Weekly Service. Jim Tillman 214-769-0324

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

LAWNS,

ROOFING & GUTTERS

A&B GUTTER 972-530-5699

Clean Out, Repair/Replace. Leaf Guard. Free Estimates. Lifetime Warranty

NATIONWIDE ROOFING

Fencing, Gutters BBB member. 214-882-8719

Allstate Homecraft Roofing

MOVING

ALL-TEX MOVERS Free Estimates. 11Yr. BBB Member. www.all-texmovers.com 214-869-6566

PEST CONTROL

A BETTER EARTH PEST CONTROL

Keeping the environment, kids, pets in mind. Organic products avail. 972-564-2495

McDANIEL PEST CONTROL

Prices Start at $85 +Tax for General Treatment

Average Home, Interior, Exterior & Attached Garage

Quotes for Other Services 214-328-2847

Lakewood Resident

PLUMBING

A2Z PLUMBING 214-727-4040

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

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:

Faucet, Sewer, Sink Repairs. Water Leaks. Water Heaters, Gas Testing. Remodels, Shower Pans, Stoppages. Insured. Lic 20754. Since the 80’s 214-321-0589, 214-738-7116,CC’s Accptd

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

JUSTIN’S PLUMBING SERVICE

For All Your Plumbing Needs. ml#M24406 972-523-1336. www.justinsplumbing.com

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

REPAIRS, Fixtures, General Plumbing, Senior Discounts. Campbell Plumbing. 214-321-5943

SPECK PLUMBING

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

POOLS

ADAIR POOL & SPA SERVICE

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

DFWPOOLCHEMICAL.COM Never Pay Retail Again. Chemicals, Parts, Motors, Etc.

LEAFCHASERS POOLS

Parts and Service. Chemicals and Repairs. Jonathan. 214-729-3311

LOCK’S POOL SERVICE - 469-235-2072

40 years experience. Pool Electrical TICL #550

MICHAEL’S POOL SERVICE

Maintenance & Repair 214-727-7650

• Roofing & Remodel • Additions • Licensed/Insured Over 1,000 Satisfied Customers in the Lakewood, Lake Highlands, Preston Hollow, Park Cities Areas – M ETAL S PECIALIST –

• Free Estimates

214-824-0767

THE VISITORS WERE LOOKING TO SCAM.

The Victim: D.M. Smith

The Crime: Burglary

Date: Friday, Oct. 25

Time: 4:30 p.m.

Location: 9500 block of Hermosa

D.M. Smith was a bit overwhelmed by the men trying to sell fruit to her. Three men had knocked on her door and were showing off various types of fruit and cutting pieces to sample. At one point, one man seemed to distract her while another seemed to disappear for a few minutes. He later said he had gone inside with Smith’s daughter to talk more to her about the fruit they were selling.

However, Smith says her daughter had not been inside and became nervous about the three fruit salesmen.

Later, after the men left, Smith decided the men had been trying to distract her to try and steal items from her home. In fact, she initially believed they had taken her iPad, but found it later. However, she still believes they were trying to take advantage of her.

“It is definitely a scam going around,” she says.

Dallas Police Sgt. Keitric Jones of the Northeast Patrol Division says it is important to be vigilant against these types of theft techniques and to never let anyone you don’t know in your house. If residents notice someone suspicious at their doors or in the neighborhood, it is important for them to get a description of the suspects and any vehicles and call the police. Contact with police may make the suspicious people move on from that neighborhood, preventing crime.

Sean Chaffin is a freelance writer and author of “Raising the Stakes”, obtainable at raisingthestakesbook.com. If you have been a recent crime victim, email crime@advocatemag.com.

2210 8:25 p.m. 0

The block of Glencoe where a young, white male attempted to rob a woman at her home. The time when the woman went to her front door and found a man standing in her doorway, dressed in black clothes and a ski mask, pointing a gun at her.

The value he stole when she refused to give him her purse or property.

SOURCE: Dallas Police Department

SO LONG, FAREWELL

Siegel’s ‘last word’ to Advocate readers

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

Dallas city manager Mary Suhm, who gave new meaning to Teflon and drove me crazy in the process, has retired.

Long-time neighborhood gadfly Avi Adelman has moved. Angela Hunt, perhaps the sanest voice on the city council in the past 20 years, is back practicing law.

You think they’re trying to tell me something?

Yes, a joke, but also a little more than that. This is my final column for the Advocate, 22 years after we started this thing in Wamre’s garage — and when he was the only one who thought it would work. That’s another joke, and one I’ve told often and probably too much, but

with that, and not just because I helped deliver the magazine (then a newspaper broadsheet) when we started. Dallas is the kind of city that uses the emperor doesn’t wear any clothes approach to government, and where most of the people and institutions that are supposed to point out that the emperor isn’t wearing any clothes do just the opposite. How are they going to get cut in on the next real estate deal otherwise?

worth repeating one final time. We’re still here, and the competition when we started, all the magazines and newspapers that were supposed to be smarter and better, aren’t.

I like to think I’ve had something to do

Hence my always useful fashion advice for the Downtown elite — or, as a reader once described me, “the guy with the baseball bat at the back of the magazine.” Good journalism is about perspective, about offering a point of view that the bosses don’t want to know about. Because, of course, they’re the bosses, and they’re always right. Agree with me or not (and plenty of you didn’t), I offered that perspective — that Dallas is more than construction cranes and big buildings and pompous speeches by old men in suits. It’s about its neighborhoods and the people who live in them and their quality of life — that they pay taxes and are entitled to cops and firefighters and libraries and parks, just like the pompous old men in suits.

And the funny thing is that we’ve made tremendous progress in that direction over the past 22 years, despite the many and infuriating setbacks. This is a much different city than it was in 1991, one that its residents have made

better despite the setbacks. City Hall has been trying to revive Downtown for two decades, throwing tax subsidies at anyone who asked, and Downtown is pretty much the same as ever. Lakewood and East Dallas, on the other hand, have thrived despite a City Hall that ignored us when it wasn’t trying to turn us into a four-lane highway to the suburbs. What happened here, and what is happening today in Oak Cliff, is generational change, brought on by new and younger residents who want a better quality of life and who aren’t impressed by construction cranes.

Why am I leaving? The reasons are many: Other writing that needs to be done, including a couple of books, as well as the sense that I’ve accomplished much of what I wanted to when I started the column (the first one was about abuses in the city’s animal control department) in April 1991. I’ve been writing professionally since I was a junior in high school, and few things have given me as much pleasure as writing for the Advocate.

Most of the people in this business never know if anyone reads their stuff, and too many stop writing for their audience and write for themselves. That has never happened here, because I heard about what I wrote, whether in emails or letters or even in the grocery store — and that’s one of the best things that can happen to a writer.

It’s no wonder that the Advocate is one of the two things I’m most proud of in my career, and I’d do it all again. How many of us can say that?

Lakewood

and East Dallas have thrived despite a City Hall that ignored us when it wasn’t trying to turn us into a four-lane highway to the suburbs.

Jeff Siegel, a neighborhood resident, writes a monthly opinion column about neighborhood issues. His opinions are not necessarily those of the Advocate or its management. Send comments and ideas to him at 6301 Gaston, Suite 820, Dallas 75214; fax to 214.823.8866; or email editor@advocatemag.com.