2014 June Lakewood

Technologically Advanced Heart and Vascular Surgery

At Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas, we offer innovative and advanced care for your heart. As a Cycle IV Chest Pain Center, our patients receive high-level comprehensive cardiovascular care. We introduced Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement surgery, and we now offer minimally invasive blood vessel and valve procedures. So if you ever have a heart issue and need us, we won’t miss a beat. Ask your doctor to have your heart procedure done at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas.

features

60

Does it mesh?

Is medical mesh the solution to a problem, or the creator of an even bigger one? launch

22

All that jazz

Neighbor Matt Tolentino details his journey with jazz.

28

Kick o

Bubble Soccer USA made its debut right here in our ‘hood.

32

Fast talk

Pro motorcycle racer Ben Spies reminisces about his racing career.

34

Going viral

48

cover Fortress of solitude

Neighbors reveal their places of solace in East Dallas, where they retreat for peace of mind.

Rock Lake: Photo by Danny Fulgencio

When eighth-grader Lauren Bush created a YouTube video in film class, she had no idea how many people it would eventually reach.

White

Photo

DESERVES A WORLD CLASS TEAM A WORLD CLASS NEIGHBORHOOD

John P. Whiteside c 214.725.5018 jwhiteside@briggsfreeman.com

Kelley Theriot McMahon c 214.563.5986 ktmcmahon@briggsfreeman.com

Anne Lasko c 214.597.8842 alasko@briggsfreeman.com

Lauren Valek Farris c 469.867.1734 lfarris@briggsfreeman.com

Robert Fackler c 214.507.4087 rfackler@briggsfreeman.com

Angela Thornhill c 214.769.7840 athornhill@briggsfreeman.com

Kevin Sayre c 214.384.2657 ksayre@briggsfreeman.com

Lou Alpert c 214.738.0062 lalpert@briggsfreeman.com

6867 Avalon Avenue | $SOLD

6906 Lakewood Boulevard | $1,218,000

4522 Santa Barbara Drive | $924,429

arket indicators… whether seen in global monetary policy or the number of construction vehicles lined up around the neighborhood, help us understand the current, and future, landscape for home buyers and sellers. Today, almost all indicators are pointing toward continued growth in residential sales and building, with one significant negative—an ongoing lack of inventory.

Atlas of Activity

The world market continues to gain strength, confirming that 2014 will likely be a positive one in global real estate markets. Around the world aggressive monetary policy is easing, and pentup demand is also helping to reinvigorate global property markets.

National Outlook

Through the end of the year, expect about a 4 percent increase in existing-home sales, to 5.2 million, up from nearly 5 million in 2013. Prices will likely rise by about 3 percent to 5 percent—a steady pace that falls in line with historical trends. Nationally, the supply of homes for sale stands at five months’ worth, which slightly favors sellers. Newhome sales are likely to climb by about 16 percent following a whopping 36 percent increase in 2013.

In the Neighborhood

As of the first week of May, more than 222 properties have sold this year in East Dallas neighborhoods. At the same time, only 132 homes were listed for sale. These numbers mean that Lakewood is experiencing a strong market that favors sellers, who’ve seen home values rise 51 percent in January 2014 over the same time in 2013 according to MLS.

AROUND THE LAKE

MFrom FUN RUNS and outdoor music to CAMPS and COLORFUL REGATTAS, JUNE is blooming with opportunities to enjoy LIFE by the LAKE.

COOL THURSDAYS CONCERT SERIES

Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden dallasarboretum.org

7:30 pm – 9:30 pm

MUSIC

May 29

Le Freak

June 5

The Limelight Band

BEGINNER SAILING CLASS

June 12

The Landsharks

June 19

A Hard Night’s Day

White Rock Boat Club |whiterockboatclub.org

May 31

JUNIOR ROWING CAMPS

White Rock Rowing | whiterockrowing.org

June 2 - July 25

JUNIOR SAILING CLASSES

Corinthian Sailing Club | cscsailing.org

June 9 -August 4

RUNNING

KICKOFF RUN & EPIC 80’S PARTY

I feel very fortunate that we are able to assist people in finding and purchasing a home that is both a great place to live and a wise investment. If I can be of assistance, please feel free to contact me.

Robbie Briggs President and CEO

Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s International Realty rb@briggsfreeman.com

4.4K FUN RUN

White Rock Lake - Winfrey Point dallasmarathon.com/kickoff/

June 4 at 7:00 pm

BLOOMIN’ 4-MILE

White Rock Lake - Winfrey Point dallasrunningclub.com

June 7 at 8:00 am

INDEPENDENCE DAY

5K AND 10K

White Rock Lake - Winfrey Point dallasrunningclub.com

July 5 at 8:00 am

June 26

Fast Lane

July 3

Dallas Wind Symphony

ON THE WATER

YOUTH REGATTA

Corinthian Sailing Club | cscsailing.org

June 20 - 21

MIDDLE & HIGH SCHOOL ROWING CAMPS

Dallas United Crew | dallasunitedcrew.org

June 9 - August 1

EXTRA FUN SUMMER

CHILDREN’S SUMMER CAMPS

Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden dallasarboretum.org

June 3 - August 15

For kids 18 months to 8th grade

GARDENLICIOUS KIDS COOK-OFF FEATURING CELEBRITY CHEFS

Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden dallasarboretum.org

June 29 from 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm

Free to kid chefs and their parents

Rory Meyers Children’s Adventure Garden

CONCERT PADDLE TRIPS to Dallas Arboretum to watch the Cool Thursdays Concerts White Rock Paddle Company whiterockpaddle.com

Thursday nights 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm (through July 3rd)

Showing RESULTS to the WORLD

6806 Vada Drive | $449,000 Tom Hughes c 214.649.3323 | thughes@briggsfreeman.com

Lauren Valek Farris c 469.867.1734 | lfarris@briggsfreeman.com

8145 San Benito Way | $1,049,000 Michael Campbell c 214.676.0399 | mcampbell@briggsfreeman.com

6159 Lakeshore Dr | SOLD | Listed for $999,000 John Maluso c 214.762.0863 | jmaluso@briggsfreeman.com

6446 Sudbury Ln | SOLD Amy Burgher c 214.384.6953 | aburgher@briggsfreeman.com

6720 Braeburn Dr | SOLD | Listed for $399,000 Melissa White Smulyan c 214.384.9040 | msmulyan@briggsfreeman.com

6803 Ravendale Ln | SOLD | Listed for $335,000

Lauren Valek Farris c 469.867.1734 | lfarris@briggsfreeman.com

7107 La Vista | PENDING | Representing Buyer 6407 Glenrose | SOLD | Listed for $529,000

Farris

listed below

5931 Winton St | SOLD Kelley Theriot McMahon c 214.563.5986 | ktmcmahon@briggsfreeman.com

6269 Prospect Ave | PENDING Anne Lasko c 214.597.8842 | alasko@briggsfreeman.com

6337 Anita St | PENDING Anne Lasko c 214.597.8842 | alasko@briggsfreeman.com

6203 Anita St | PENDING Anne Lasko c 214.597.8842 | alasko@briggsfreeman.com

6934 Tokalon Dr | $1,200,000 Scott Carlson c 214.793.9322 | scarlson@briggsfreeman.com

8205 Forest Hills Blvd | $1,599,000 Scott Carlson c 214.793.9322 | scarlson@briggsfreeman.com

5927 Monticello Ave | Under Contract Susan Matusewicz c 214.392.8813 | smatusewicz@briggsfreeman.com

3914 Frontier Ln | $659,000 Scott Carlson c 214.793.9322 | scarlson@briggsfreeman.com

6521 Bob O Link Dr | $919,000 Scott Carlson c 214.793.9322 | scarlson@briggsfreeman.com

Free Stroke Screening CLOSE

TO HOME

Anyone can have a stroke — whether you’re young or old, man or woman. When the first stroke symptoms appear it’s important to seek prompt emergency medical care. Fortunately, award-winning stroke services are nearby at Doctors Hospital at White Rock Lake.

Learn about your personal risk factors for stroke at a free screening on Saturday, June 14 from 8:00 to 10:00 a.m. Call 800-887-2525 today to make your reservation.

SOUND OF SILENCE

The quest for a little peace and quiet

Light filled the dark night deep in the northern Minnesota countryside, the moon brightening the landscape and the stars as twinkly as they could be.

Lying on my back, a feeble breeze grazing my forehead just enough to keep the bugs and sweat at bay, my mind wandered here and there and nowhere at all. It was a night in the early stages of summer back at a time when I had more energy than direction, and I was consumed with worry about where I was going and how I would get there.

So there I was, lying on my back outside in a quiet place I found to help sort through the random thoughts that skittered across my mind.

I dreaded summer back then because school work was far easier than farm work. My greatest dream was to turn 16 and emancipate myself from my parents’ pseudo-indentured servitude to earn minimum wage sacking groceries and lining shelves. That would be the life, or so I fantasized.

On this summer night after a stifling, dirty day baling hay, I had just enough energy to lie outside and wonder how I would engineer my great escape. Would I be beckoned by an Ivy League school unable to continue without my noble presence? Would my baseball skills catch the eye of a professional scout and whisk me to faraway Paducah or Toledo or Cape Cod to launch a minor league career? Or would I simply tire of farm work one day and leave on a dusty gravel road in my trusty red Javelin with floorboards somehow rusted clear through, providing natural ventilation for my feet?

There has always been something energizing about mindless thought in those qui-

et places that helps generate brainpower inaccessible in helter-skelter, everyday situations. Places like those highlighted in this month’s cover story help stoke our ability to seem greater than we are, even if only to ourselves and only for a little while, making the empty solitude of a perfect quiet place something to cherish and protect.

There are plenty of places near all of us that are quiet, and yet not all of them are truly quiet places, with the defining differ-

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BRITTANY NUNN

ence mostly a matter of opinion. A place can be quiet and yet unfulfilling for me, uncomfortable or unwelcoming through no fault of its own, while offering you a perfect space for quiet reflection. In a city with growing density and dwindling green space, that is an especially good thing, because if all of us found only the same few quiet places acceptable for reflection, those places soon would be overrun and not special for anyone anymore.

I’m fortunate that my quiet place is portable, existing primarily in some part of my brain that seems resistant to erasure or reformatting, offering a throwback to the days when dreams were my pilot instead of my taskmaster, when moonlight alone was enough to light the way through the dark, and when I had plenty of time to simply wonder away the night.

Rick Wamre is president of Advocate Media. Let him know how we are doing by writing to 6301 Gaston, Suite 820, Dallas 75214; or email rwamre@advocatemag.com.

214.635.2122 / bnunn@advocatemag.com

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contributing editors: KERI MITCHELL, SALLY WAMRE

contributors: GAYLA BROOKS, SEAN CHAFFIN, ANGELA HUNT

GEORGE MASON, BLAIR MONIE, ELLEN RAFF, PAM HARRIS, KRISTEN MASSAD, WHITNEY THOMPSON

photo editor: DANNY FULGENCIO

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photographers: MARK DAVIS, ELLIOTT MUÑOZ, KIM LEESON, DAVID LEESON, JENNIFER SHERTZER

copy editor: LARRA KEEL

intern: JAMES COREAS

There has always been something energizing about mindless thought in those quiet places that helps generate brainpower inaccessible in helter-skelter, everyday situations.

Senior Living Near White Rock Lake

It’s the little things in life.

Minimally Invasive da Vinci® Robotic Surgery

If you’ve been living with fibroids, heavy periods, pelvic pain, endometriosis, or pelvic prolapse, take comfort in knowing that a virtually scarless surgery is here. Methodist Dallas Medical Center is among the few hospitals in North Texas to use the robotic da Vinci® Surgical System to perform gynecological surgery – including hysterectomy

via a single, tiny incision in the navel. This minimally invasive treatment results in less blood loss, fewer complications, shorter hospital stays, and a quicker recovery. Thanks to Methodist Dallas and da Vinci®, life-changing surgery doesn’t have to be a big deal.

Find A Physician 214-947-0000

MethodistHealthSystem.org/daVinci

WHAT YOU’RE MISSING

School

Radiation oncologist Dr. Asal Rahimi was the first physician in Texas to use advanced video monitoring (Vision RT™) to safely treat left-sided breast cancer patients by protecting the heart from excess radiation. Dr. Rahimi and her colleagues also are pioneering the use of CyberKnife for breast cancer. This state-of-the-art robotic radiosurgical tool pinpoints and treats cancerous lesions with extreme precision. This is UT Southwestern—where scientific research, advanced technology, and leading-edge treatments come together to bring new hope to cancer patients.

To learn more, call 214-645-8300 or visit UTSWmedicine.org

Find us on Facebook

This is where we treat breast cancer differently.

DIGITAL DIGEST

Dallas doesn’t need a bicycle helmet law

“What you’re suggesting is a bicycle helmet is a match for a car or truck and that simply isn’t the case. A bicycle helmet is made for a simple fall without the involvement of a vehicle. Such an involvement pushes a helmet well beyond its capacity. Push for better behavior, better laws and better enforcement of traffic law. A helmet is a red herring in bicycle safety. —thespokesman

Are neighborhood families making the switch to Mata Montessori?

“My son is scheduled to start kindergarten at Lakewood next September, and we are seriously considering Mata. He has been in Montessori preschool for the last three years, and we have been very pleased with the results.” —James_the_P3

“DISD really needs to expand their Montessori programs to more elementary schools. The results at Dealey and the demand to get in there are proof positive that the Montessori method is a great way to achieve results in the early years of DISD students.” —mdmost

Zoes Kitchen opens in Lakewood Shopping Center

“Not a huge Zoes fan, but the visual improvement to the area is amazing.” — Mark Reeves

“I’m not a big fan of chains, but it’s definitely a step up from the windowless-and-probably-a-strip-club-but-likely-just-another-crappyAmerican-Chinese restaurant that it previously was.” — Monica Pinon

“I’m so excited! I love this place!” — Lorin McGuire

White Rock Lake restaurant proposal is dead

“Saying ‘The present time is not the right time’ is double-speak for ‘We need to buy off more votes.’ And to the developers, I really doubt if I will ever ‘see you at the lake.’ —Bob Taylor

“I’d imagine this is not the end …” Chuck Kobdish

“Saved the developers from themselves. Dumb idea, start to finish.” — Mark Agee

Q&A: Matt Tolentino

If you sit down for a chat with Lakewood jazz musician and bandleader Matt Tolentino, you’re going to get two things: a rundown of his latest musical venture and a history lesson. We’re not sure which one is more fascinating.

You’re involved in big band jazz, right?

It is technically a big band, but it’s not big band music, although I certainly don’t mind people referring to it as that. Big band music is great, but we don’t tend to do one particular style. The group plays popular American music from 1895 to 1935. I like to say that we’re a catchall that plays anything that was popular. A lot of jazz from the ’20s and ’30s, but we also get into ragtime, marches, waltzes, tangos, you know, anything. Whereas true big band jazz tends to occupy the ’30s and ’40s.

As I’m sure you can tell, I have only a basic understanding of jazz.

That’s understandable. What we’re doing hasn’t been popular for 75 years, so a lot has happened since then.

Jazz reflects its era. In the ’20s, there was almost a childlike, naive aspect Americans had toward the world. It was just a big party. It’s basically an era that, its decadence and its frivolity really wasn’t equaled until the ’80s. Not to say that the ’20s didn’t come out of a war, but I think World War I and World War II were drastically different. With World War II, people came back from it older and wiser after the horrors of war,

almost like, “I’m ready to come home and start a family.” World War I, nothing like that had ever been seen. So the ’20s, that era following it, people were almost like, “God, that was horrible. Let’s just party.”

That’s what I like about the era of jazz I play, because unlike a lot of later eras, it’s not pretentious. It doesn’t take itself any more seriously than it is. In the ’20s, they were still figuring jazz out, so they were still having fun with it. It was more like, “Can you make music on that thing? All right, let’s make music.”

You’re obviously very interested in history. Is this stu you’ve just picked up on over time because you’re interested in jazz, or did you study jazz history?

It’s largely stuff I’ve picked up on my own. Part of it is just listening to it and enjoying it, but the historical and cultural

Photo by Kim Leeson

context of things, it helps you understand where things come from and how they came about.

I wanted to be a music major, and I also wanted to be a history major. Those are the two things that I really love. I ended up doing neither.

Really? Why?

I realized: I hate this. This isn’t for me, because I couldn’t stand taking music and learning it academically. It’s all put in a box. It took a few semesters of me banging my head against the wall. Finally, in 2008, I just decided I was going to try and jump feet-first into being a full-time musician.

And that’s how you got into what you’re doing now?

I started small playing gigs and restaurants. Slowly built things up, until now music is full-time for me. I am able to make a living, and I wouldn’t have time to go back to school even if I wanted to.

I wanted to put together a large-scale band — to have saxophones and trumpets, brass, violins, the cello, a flute player, the banjo. I wanted all those things in there. In 2008, when the economy was terrible, I was tying to put together this 18-piece band. A lot of the people who came to that first rehearsal, who saw the vision and wanted to go with it, are still in the band today.

Our first gig was at the Pocket Sandwich Theatre, and we made $40 each and we were just over the moon. Thrilled. So there was a lot of momentum there that helped lift our spirits and build our confidence. The beauty of the orchestra is that we look out for each other. It’s a real community thing.

Now we’ve grown. We still play at Pocket Sandwich Theatre, but we sell it out and we make more than $40 each. We’ve done things like the Swiss Avenue Home Tour, private events, public events, house parties. We made a CD, and we’re working on our second. Things are really getting around. It’s been really fun.

—Brittany Nunn

go

LEARN MORE about Matt Tolentino and his band,

to matttolentino.com.

Enroll Computer course

in a Aided Design

My Five Moms

The childhood of Susie Black Holamon, which she writes about extensively in her book, “My Five Moms,” could be described as a Lakewood “Mommie Dearest.”

Susie was born in Lakewood as the privileged daughter of Texas oilman Spencer Black, but she was barely 6 when Spencer died in a plane crash. Susie’s stepmother, Beth Black, received custody of Spencer’s five young children, including Susie.

Beth didn’t fare well with single-mom status. Beth was Spencer’s fifth wife after a whirlwind romance, and she was a recovering alcoholic. In her book “My Five Moms,” Susie details how Beth barely made it a year after Spencer’s death before she plunged headlong into alcoholism. And with the extreme alcoholism came extreme abuse, she says.

The dinner hour became a daily nightmare, Susie remembers. Every day when the five Black children arrived home from school, Beth would wake up from her drunken stupor and stumble down the stairs, and dinnertime would begin — complete with slapping, hair pulling, choking and beatings. Then she’d stumble back up the stairs and pass out for the night. Sometimes she’d wake the kids up in the middle of the night and scream at them to put away the clothes she’d just pulled out of the closet or drawers, or arrange the boxes and cans of food she’d strewn across the kitchen floor.

“We didn’t think we’d make it out alive,” Susie says. “We honestly thought Beth was going to kill us.”

Beth somehow managed to hide her behavior from the neighbors for several years, but she eventually cracked during an outing in downtown Dallas and was taken to a mental facility in Terrell, Texas. That kick-started a couple of different stints of the Black children being shuffled between foster homes and living with Beth or other relatives.

When Susie graduated from high school at 17, she moved to Lubbock to attend Texas Tech University and never looked back. She went from being a quiet, self-conscious teenager to a vivacious young adult.

After college, she moved to New York to

work as a flight attendant for Southwest Airlines, and a couple of years later married her husband of 38 years, Kelly Holamon. They had two boys, Bryan and Sean, and Susie became an artist and art teacher.

For years, she had the urge to write her story, but she was nervous. Even her husband didn’t know the extent of the abuse; did she really want to put everything out there for the whole world to read?

When she retired from teaching, she decided it was now or never. She started at the beginning and, for six months straight, wrote her way through her childhood.

“I didn’t want Beth to get the last word,” Susie explains. “After the plane crash, the news stories painted her as this heroic person who survived in order to take care of us. This is the rest of the story.”

Her book, “My Five Moms,” was the result. The book was edited only lightly before being published by Tate Publishing and Enterprises, LLC earlier this year, so it reads more like a long journal entry. Susie wanted her voice to ring through the pages, she says.

She says she doesn’t have aspirations of becoming a bestselling author, but she does hope her book will do some good in her community. The proceeds for the book will benefit the Ebby House, which is a part of the Juliette Fowler Communities, to help young women transition out of the foster care system.

“My Five Moms” is available on amazon. com, barnesandnoble.com and tatepublishing.com. —Brittany Nunn

CAD course provides students with a broad introduction into 2-dimensional computer aided design.

Creative flare

How handwriting became an international business

Neighbor Abigail Luby loves fonts and beautiful paper — a signature trait that has clients from around the world banging down her digital doorstep.

Three years ago, Luby quit her day job in advertising to launch Chips and Salsa Design Studio, a stationary and calligraphy business, from her home in East Dallas.

Thebusinesscameaboutalmostby accident. Luby has always had beautiful handwriting, she says. She wanted to addressherownweddinginvitations,so she began taking calligraphy classes and quickly fell in love with it.

After that, friends began asking her to design their wedding invitations, birth announcements and other special-occasion literature. Soon, friends of friends were requesting her services, and the business grew organically from there.

“It’s all been word of mouth referrals,”

Luby says. “In three years I’ve never had to advertise.”

Thesedays,shedesignstheliterature for about 10-15 weddings a month — from save-the-dates to name placement cards — on top of things like baby announcements, party invitations and thank you cards.

Overtheyearsherclientbasehas stretched across the globe, and in July she’s launching a newly renovated website, which will make customizable orders even easier.

“That way we can reach more people,” Luby explains. “Grow in terms of the client base. That’s the next step. I’m going to see how the launch goes, and then we’ll see where it goes from there.”

Even though she “never in a million years”thoughtshe’dbedoingwhat she’s doing now, she says she’d do it all over again.

“It’s that human connection and getting to hear the stories of people during the happiest moments in their lives — a wedding, having a baby, or throwing a party for the people they love,” Luby says. “I feel like I get to play a small part in that.”

—Brittany Nunn

chipsandsalsadesigns.com

Patient Quote of the Month:

“I always have the best experience! The entire staff is so positive and kind. I couldn’t ask for a better dentist’s office!” —

Abigail Luby: Photo by Kim Leeson

Shelly Wade

Photo by Kim Leeson

Roll with it

You might have seen a YouTube video of this wacky sport trend, or heard someone mention the name. Most likely, however, you’ve never heard of this hilarious form of entertainment, which has been growing in popularity across the globe.

If you haven’t heard of it before, you need to hear about it now, because it has finally reached East Dallas, and it already has neighbors rolling on the floor laughing — literally.

Lakewood neighbor Steve Mosley started Bubble Soccer USA in January. His son has been having tons of success with bubble soccer across the pond in England, so Mosley decided to bring it to the states and rent bubbles and supplies out of his house on Gaston.

As suggested by the name, bubble soccer involves bubbles and soccer, but not the soap-and-water kind of bubbles. In bubble soccer, each player dons a full-body, blow-up bubble made of plastic, similar to a giant, seethrough beach ball. Only the players’ legs stick out of the bubble.

Imagine human-sized lollipops kicking a ball around a soccer field.

There are almost no rules in bubble soccer, so smacking into each other is encouraged. Actually, sending your opponents bouncing down the field is kind of the whole point.

“It’s just a laugh,” Mosley says. “And it’s actually a really great workout, because you’re just running around having fun.”

For $20 a person, groups can rent out bubbles and other playing equipment from Mosley and his team. Bubble soccer is for ages 9 and up.

—Brittany Nunn

Photo by Kim Leeson

Lights, camera, playtime

Chances are you’ve never heard the term “plastography,” even though you might have inadvertently run across it a time or two.

You’re not alone. Even Jill Brooks, Lakewood’s resident “plastographer” if such a term exists — didn’t know it was an actual thing until recently.

When a photographer sets up scenes with children’s toys and then proceeds to take pictures of said scenes, that’s plastography. Sound weird? Well, it kind of is. But it’s also kind of fun, and that’s the point.

Brooks fell into plastography almost by accident. During a road trip to the Grand Canyon, she bought a toy cow as a mascot and took pictures of him posed in various scenes along the way.

She was so tickled by the outcome that she decided to keep the little guy, Kaibab, as a sidekick for future adventures.

Then, last summer, while on a mountain-biking trip, Brooks stopped at an art gallery that was featuring the work of several artists, one of whom was Mary Kenez.

Kenez is one of the photographers who coined the term “plastography.” She was at the gallery, so Brooks met her and bought her book, “House of Plastography.”

Brooks realized she and Kaibab needed to expand their horizons. They needed to think bigger. They also needed more toys.

“That was the evolution,” she says. “So I had the cow, and then I got a dino-

saur when I went to Seattle to visit my parents.”

Then, while helping her mother-in-law move, Brooks opened a chest and found tons of tiny treasures.

“There were all these toys in there,” Brooks says with a laugh. “And I said, ‘Um … Berta, can I have these toys?’ She goes, ‘Only if I can see them on Facebook.’ I said, ‘Done.’ ”

And thus began Brooks’ plastography adventure.

These days, almost all of Brooks’ Facebook posts are of “critters,” and surprisingly enough, none of her friends seem the least bit fazed.

If you want to follow her plastic menagerie, find Brooks’ Instagram handle, “plastogirl.”

—Brittany Nunn

Need for speed

Meet the world-renowned pro motorcycle racer who lives in our neighborhood

When Lakewood neighbor Ben Spies visits his house in Italy, he can barely walk down the street without people stopping him to request a photo or autograph.

As a former pro motorcycle racer who made a smashing impression on the MotoGP, Spies is a high-profile celebrity in countries such as Italy and Spain, where the general public keeps tabs on motorcycle racing.

In East Dallas, which Spies considers his home base, not so much.

“A lot of it is just the sport in general. It’s just not big in America,” Spies explains. “In Europe it’s like acting or sports. It’s like seeing Dirk [Nowitzki] cruising around; that’s how big it is.”

On the one hand, it’s disappointing that Spies has represented the United States on a world stage without significant American backing. On the other hand, Spies enjoys the relative anonymity his East Dallas home provides.

“I wasn’t really into the whole fame part,” Spies says. “I like the fans, but I wouldn’t do the whole split personalities thing. So it was actually nice for me because when I came back home, only like five people a week recognize me.”

Spies was barely out of diapers when he started riding dirt bikes, and if you’d asked him then what he wanted to be when he

Courtesy photo by Chris Ronan

grew up, he’d tell you he wanted to race motorcycles.

“We have no racing background in our family at all,” Spies says. “I just knew that’s what I wanted to do.”

He started racing when he was 8 and soon realized he had a knack for it.

In 2006 Spies won the AMA Superbike Championship, and he defended the title in 2007 and 2008, making him the fourth person in history to land the AMA Superbike Championship for three consecutive years.

In 2009, he raced in the Superbike World Championship series and won the championship his rookie year.

The natural next step was the MotoGP, which is a part of the Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix, in which Spies placed an impressive sixth place in the 2010 MotoGP season and was named “Rookie of the Year.”

He suffered several crashes in 2011, but he also rocketed to second place by the season’s finish, barely missing victory by just 0.015 seconds.

By 2012 the multiple crashes were starting to take a toll on his racing scores. Then a major crash in Malaysia cut his season short, and he finished 10th in the final championship standings.

In 2013 Spies announced his retirement due to injury. Although he didn’t land a MotoGP title, his stellar racing career placed him as the fastest American and within the top five fastest motorcycle racers in the world.

“I can live with those credentials,” Spies says.

Spies doesn’t race motorcycles anymore, but he does race bicycles.

Although he started cycling because it was fun, Spies doesn’t take anything lightly, especially where competition is concerned. He created an amateur bicycle racing team in Texas, called Elbows, which is a nickname Spies earned during his motorcycle racing career because of his riding style.

“In the second year, it was already the second top amateur team in the U.S.,” he says. “We’ve had four guys go from our team to pro teams — a couple in Europe and a couple here. It’s really cool what’s been happening there.”

He’s also part-owner in two Dallas restaurants, Kenichi and Stackhouse Burgers on Gaston. —Brittany Nunn

Ready for impact

Last fall Lauren Bush, an eighth-grader at St. John’s Episcopal School, created a YouTube video called “Word Play” during a film class. The goal was to create something inspirational, so she chose to focus on anti-bullying.

“Bullying is such a prominent issue at our school,” Bush says. “I didn’t want to just say, ‘Hey, bullying is bad,’ and depress people. I wanted to show people what they could do to fix it.”

She rounded up some seventh-graders — the eighth-graders were busy with their own projects — and got to work.

The first attempt didn’t turn out the way she hoped, so she decided to tweak the plan and take out the talking, instead making the film a music video. Once she nailed down the concept, it took only a

Photo by Kim Leeson

day to put the video together.

The video follows a young girl being labeled by her classmates as she goes through the paces of the day. She somberly walks down the school hallways with the words “loser” and “stupid” tagged to her back. Then, halfway through the video, another girl, tagged “empathetic,” approaches her and covers her first labels with new ones — “sophisticated” and “beautiful.”

After Bush made the film, one of her teachers learned the USA Network recently had launched a video contest, the Unite Against Bullying Commercial Challenge, as part of its award-winning public service campaign, Characters Unite. She urged Bush to submit her video for the commercial challenge, a nationwide contest for middle and high school students to submit their ideas for a television ad to help stop bullying.

Bush submitted the video at the last minute, even though it exceeded the time restrictions. Then one night she received a call from NBC.

“That was how she found out she’d won,” her dad, East Dallas neighbor David Bush, recalls.

At first she didn’t realize how big a deal it was, until the USA Network flew her and her mom to New York, where they used the ideas from her video as the basis for a public service announcement, in which Lauren and her brother Brandon made cameo appearances.

Later, the Bush family flew to New York again to appear on “The Today Show.” When she flew out of Dallas, Lauren Bush’s YouTube video had only a few hundred views, David Bush says, but by the time she returned it had been watched more than 30,000 times.

The whole ordeal has definitely blown her parents away.

“I know she’s my daughter, but even if she wasn’t, I’d still say she’s incredible,” says her mom, Shannon Bush.

—Brittany Nunn

See

Reaching for the goal

Sometimes Lakewood neighbor Steve Christensen is struck by an idea that he just can’t let go of until it comes to fruition.

“I think I got that from my mom,” he muses.

Years ago, Christensen’s mom got it in her head to climb Mt. Everest. Christensen couldn’t let her go alone, so he accompanied her 22,000 feet to a Mt. Everest base in order to raise money for the Special Olympics.

Christensen is the senior vice president at Christensen Wealth Management Group of Wells Fargo Advisors. He and his wife, Lauren, and their two young children live on Swiss. In 2003 Christensen founded Dallas SCORES, an after-school program centered on soccer, literacy and community service.

Photo by Kim Leeson

Christensen grew up playing soccer. He moved to Germany as a child, and although he didn’t speak the language, he did know how to play soccer.

“So that was my acceptance into the community,” he says.

Christensen went on to play soccer in college and then pro for a few years. When he moved to East Dallas with his family, he had a dream to use soccer as a hook to help kids.

“I just know what comes from being a part of a team. Things you don’t always get in a classroom — commitment, the purpose of being a part of a team, being a part of something bigger than yourself, confidence. And that’s not even including the health aspect of the activity.”

One day he heard about the national program SCORES and found out there wasn’t a Dallas branch. So he decided to start one himself. Aside from contributing $64,000 through his family’s philanthropic organization, The Christensen Family Foundation, he also raised funds in the community.

The program started with 100 students in 2003, and it has grown to helping more than 400 students in 10 schools in Dallas ISD.

The schools practice throughout the week and also work on creative writing. Then every Friday — game day — they play other schools. The program is sponsored by Adidas, so each player receives a jersey, shin guards and other quality equipment.

Now Christensen and the others involved in SCORES have begun to see the fruits of their labor.

“We’ve been around long enough to have some of our kids come back and tell us what SCORES meant to them,” Christensen says. “It just validates all the hard work that we’ve put into this.”

Recently, he and Lauren also became involved in a local program called Helping Our Heroes, which every year sponsors a soldier who is coming back from war and helps him or her acclimate back into civilian society. —Brittany Nunn

LEARN MORE AT americascores.org/affiliates/dallas

Retainers are designed to “retain” or hold teeth in the position that they were placed by your orthodontist. Of course, our teeth are set in bone, a living, biologic foundation, and not in concrete, so some settling is expected. However, to keep teeth straight, retainers need to be worn regularly—even if it’s been years since braces were removed. Once the teeth begin to become crooked, the harder it is to correct them with a retainer.

If you’ve experienced movement since you nished orthodontic treatment, call us today for a complimentary visit. We’ll let you know what cosmetic options exist to tweak things back in place.

Patricia A. Simon, DDS 1809 Skillman St., Dallas 75206

214.826.9000 · lakewoodortho.net

Dr. Simon Says ... Nearly 25% of orthodontic patients have to have treatment again because they DIDN’T wear their retainers.

Light ‘em up

The row of candles and small wooden boxes that line the fireplace mantel of neighbor David Davis’ Lakewood home is hard to miss. As is the delicate yet distinct aroma wafting through the hallways of the historic home.

Davis founded Belladonna, a luxury fragrance company, in his home, which is also where he creates and tests the candles, diffuser oils and bath salts.

He got the idea from a friend who makes soap. Although he didn’t want to copy his friend by also making soap, the process of mixing fragrances intrigued him.

Davis’ mother, Donna, who is the brand’s namesake, suffers from Alzheimer’s, so Davis especially liked the fact that it allowed him to work from home.

“My mom is the inspiration,” he says.

Photo by Danny Fulgencio

“Alzheimer’s runs in the family, so I knew it was coming, and I knew I would need to make some changes. I needed something that would keep my interest and challenge me, but that I could do here.”

He started dabbling in it about four years ago, but it was more difficult than he first anticipated to perfect the fragrance mixtures.

“Imagine trying to create a gourmet meal with no recipe,” he says. “That’s very much what it was like.”

But, as they say, practice makes perfect, and Davis eventually mastered the technique and created a line of fragrances for every season and preference — floral, woody, fruity, confection and citrus.

About two years ago, he began selling his products. He primarily sells them online and at Talulah Belle on Abrams in Lakewood.

Davis’ background is in graphic design, which he put to good use designing an elegant logo and unique packaging. Boring ol’ wrapping paper or gift bags wasn’t good enough for him. Instead, each piece comes in a handcrafted wooden keepsake box, which Davis designed and builds himself.

LEARN MORE at www.belladonnaluxury.com.

—Brittany Nunn

Practice makes perfect, and Davis eventually mastered the technique and created a line of fragrances for every season and preference.

What gives?

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

Read a book ...

to benefit foster children. Susie Black Holamon is donating the proceeds of her book, “My Five Moms,” to Ebby House, which is a part of the Juliette Fowler Communities, to help young women transition out of the foster care system. “My Five Moms” is available on amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com andmyfivemoms/tateauthor.com.

Let the kids cook ...

during “The Eyes of Peace: Horticulture and Copeland Cooking Classes,” a three-day summer camp to benefit Promise of Peace Community Garden. The first camp will be June 18-20 from 9 a.m.-noon. The second will be June 25-27 from 9 a.m.-noon. The camp will be held at The Imagine Garden, at 1435 San Saba. The cost is $75 per child. Learn more at promiseofpeace.us.

Go shopping ...

at Second Chance Treasures, to benefit homeless pets. The store is owned and operated by East Lake Pet Orphanage, a no-kill, non-profit organization that houses dozens of dogs and cats. If shopping isn’t your thing, you can also donate or volunteer at the shelter. Visit secondchancetreasures.org 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.

ARE

Advocate is looking for neighbors whose alter egos take over on nights and weekends for more artistic pursuits. From comedy routines to poetry slams to live music, tell us where you channel your heart and soul beyond the 9-to-5. Please send your name, zip code and brief explanation to editor@advocatemag.com.

The Meridian at Kessler Park elevates independent senior living to

JUNE 1

‘Songs of Travel’

Join American bass Jared Schwartz and pianist Mary Dibbern for “songs of travel” at 4 p.m. St. Matthew’s Cathedral, the Great Hall, 5100 Ross Ave, 214.823.8134, cathedralartsdallas.org, free (donations accepted)

THROUGH JUNE 1

’Charlotte’s Web’

Discover the true meaning of friendship and life’s everyday miracles during the retelling of this classic story by the professionals at Dallas Children’s Theater. Get caught in Charlotte’s efforts to save Wilbur, the “radiant” and “humble” pig, and make friends once again with all his lovable barnyard neighbors. Enjoyed by ages 5 and up.

Dallas Children’s Theater, 5938 Skillman, dct.org, 214.740.0051, $13-$26

Out & About

June 2014

Send

June 5

CONFAB: A Dallas Parks Foundation Conversation

LAKEWOOD.ADVOCATEMAG.COM/EVENTS

JUNE 7

Book signing

Susie Black Holamon, the author of “My Five Moms,” hosts a book signing at 3 p.m. Holamon is donating 100 percent of the proceeds from the book to the Ebby House to benefit foster children.

Barnes and Noble Lincoln Park, 7700 W. Northwest Highway, 214.739.1124, free

JUNE 7–AUGUST 2

Mayor’s Summer Reading Club

In an effort to encourage the whole family to read, Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings hosts the Mayor’s Summer Reading Club, an eight-week program powered by community participation and featuring weekly incentive prizes. All 29 Dallas Public Library locations as well as the Dallas Public Library’s Bookmobile will participate, dallaslibrary.org, 214.670.1671

Through June Concerts at the Arboretum

Every Thursday night, the Dallas Arboretum hosts a different band on the Martin Rutchik Concert Stage and Lawn. Bring your family and friends and your favorite food and drinks, and enjoy a concert overlooking a beautiful view of White Rock Lake. All summer concerts are from 7:30 p.m.-9:30 p.m. Gates open at 6 p.m. Dallas Arboretum, contact reservations@dallasarboretum.org or 214.515.6615, $15-$17 adult members, $25-$27 adult nonmembers, $10 children ages 3-12, package deals available

JUNE 8

Hugelkultur Horticulture

Attend Hugelkultur Horticulture at White Rock Local Garden from 9 a.m.–noon, when Heather Rinaldi from Texas Worm Ranch teaches how to use twigs, branches, logs and leaves to make a hugelkultur bed. White Rock Local Garden, 10222 Galway, $30 per person

JUNE 11-14

‘Tartuffe’

Shakespeare in the Park hosts its second non-Shakespeare play. “Tartuffe” is a comedy by Molière that was first performed in 1664.

Samuell Grand Amphitheatre, 1500 Tension, shakespearedallas.com, 214.559.2778, $7-$10

JUNE 13-JULY 13

‘Stuart Little’

It’s big excitement for a little mouse when Stuart leaves his human family in New York and travels across the country in search of the bird that helped save his life. Enjoyed by ages 5 and up.

Dallas Children’s Theater, 5938 Skillman, dct.org, 214.740.0051, $17-$26

JUNE 18 – JULY 19

‘Much Ado About Nothing’

Grab a blanket and join Shakespeare in the Park for its rendition of one of Shakespeare’s most beloved comedies, “Much Ado About Nothing.”

Samuell Grand Amphitheatre, 1500 Tension, shakespearedallas.com, 214.559.2778, $7-$10

JUNE 21-22

Dallas Indie Fest

Artists of all disciplines show off their work at White Rock Lake: painting, photography, ceramics, jewelry, metalwork, digital, sculpture, fashion, wood and more.

Bath House Cultural Center, 521 E. Lawther, contact Adam Zoblotsky at 214.908.6990 or director@ dallasindiefestival.com, $10

right to be t.

People who make tness part of life make Baylor Tom Landry Fitness Center their go-to tness resource. The convenient location near downtown Dallas makes it easy to work out on the way to or from the of ce or at lunch. The facility offers an array of amenities, from two pools to classes, advanced exercise equipment and an outdoor walking trail. And the professional trainers are at the top of their game. So if you’re ready to nd your tness, it’s here.

For more information or a FREE one-week pass, call 214.820.7872 or visit www.LandryFitness.com

Patio dining

Asthe sun sets over the treetops, guests trickle onto the rooftop patio of Nora’s Restaurant & Bar on Lower Greenville. They scatter across the landing, either heading to a table near the edge, a lounge chair under the wooden overhang, or a booth seat around the fire pit. Wherever they sit, they’re going to get an eyeful of beautiful Dallas scenery. Nora’s opened the rooftop patio in November, so it’s still relatively obscure. Once owner Matt Pikar was certain Greenville was on the upswing, he decided to expand his business by adding a Sunday lunch menu, a private dining room and a rooftop patio. The patio was designed for lounging, so he doesn’t mind if you sit and stay a while. “I want people to come here, have a bottle of wine, enjoy themselves and relax,” Pikar says. There’s a full bar upstairs, as well as a limited menu of appetizers and other snack options. Nora’s serves gourmet Afghan food full of flavor and spice and everything nice. Aside from the usual o ering of hummus and salad, it also has more exotic options. The kofta chalao is similar to meatballs over rice, the dolma consists of rice and spices wrapped in a grape leaf, and the sambosa is a pastry filled with ground beef and veggies.

—Brittany Nunn

NORA

1928 Greenville 214.828.0095 noradallas.com

AMBIANCE:

DRESSY CASUAL, ROOFTOP PATIO & BAR, RELAXING

PRICE RANGE: $5-$12

HOURS:

SUN-THURS: 5:30-1O P.M.

FRI-SAT: 5:30-11 P.M.

SUN LUNCH: 11 A.M.-3 P.M.

MON: CLOSED

Nora’s chicken kabob is served with grilled veggies and saffron rice: Photo by Mark Davis

| MORE ROOFTOP CHEER |

1 HG Sply Co.

Also on Lower Greenville, HG Sply Co. recently opened its own rooftop patio and bar. The spacious porch is divided into several sections, but guests can view the Dallas skyline from almost anywhere on the landing. Grab a drink at the full bar and enjoy the scenery.

2008 Greenville

469.334.0896

hgsplyco.com

2 Sundown at Granada

Neighborhood beer garden Sundown at Granada manages to find the balance between lively and intimate. The venue is charming, and if you stay long enough, Sundown hosts live music almost every night after 11 p.m.

3520 Greenville

214.823.8305

sundownatgranada.com

3 Stackhouse Burger

If you’re looking for a low-key place to hang out with friends and kick back a beer, the patio at Stackhouse has that necessary hole-in-the-wall vibe. Parking can be a bit of a headache, but the burgers make it worth it.

2917 Gaston

214.828.1330

stackhouseburgers.com

POPOVER ANY TIME

With only four ingredients, popovers have an airy, puffy and custard-like interior that complements any breakfast, lunch or dinner. Popovers can be sprinkled with cinnamon sugar for a touch of sweet or flavored with black pepper and Gruyere for a savory addition. Being so versatile, they will replace a standard muffin, biscuit, bread or doughnut. A popover pan is necessary to create a sky-high puff and a crisp shell that will come out perfect every time.

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

Popovers:

Photo by Kristen Massad

Sweet or savory popover

GROCERY LIST

2 eggs

2 egg yolks

1 teaspoon salt

1 ¼ cup milk

1 ½ cup all-purpose flour

DIRECTIONS

Mix the eggs, egg yolks, salt and one quarter cup of the milk. Whisk the flour into the egg mixture, making sure to whisk out all the lumps. Whisk in the remaining milk.

Pour batter into popover pan, filling halfway. Sprinkle with topping of your choice. Place pans in cold oven and turn oven on to 425 degrees F. Bake popovers for about 30 minutes or until puffed and well browned.

Unmold popovers and serve immediately.

FLAVOR OPTIONS:

CINNAMON SUGAR:

Mix 2 tablespoons cinnamon and 4 tablespoons sugar, and sprinkle some on top of popovers before baking.

Once popovers are baked and removed from the oven, brush with butter and sprinkle with more cinnamon sugar.

BLACK PEPPER AND GRUYERE:

Shred ¼ cup Gruyere cheese and mix with ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper. Sprinkle on top of the popovers before baking.

LEMON-ROSEMARY:

Zest 1 lemon, and chop 1 tablespoon of fresh rosemary.

Sprinkle on top of the popovers before baking.

Makes 12 popovers

ITALIAN ITALIAN

Andrea’s Italian Restaurant

• Pastas $11.95 thru the end of June, excluding Tuesdays

• Tuesdays - BOGO

• Wed - bring in your own wine, no corking fee

• Open Sunday at noon

• Closed Mondays

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

Alfonso’s Italian Restaurant

• Celebrating 32 years of service!

• Rustic Italian Cuisine

• Full Bar

• Monday & Tuesday – 50% Off Glasses of House Wine & $3 Off Pizza 12” or larger

718 N. Buckner #222 214.327.7777 AlfonsosItalianRestaurant.com

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SEEKING SOLACE IN AN URBAN ENVIRONMENT

BY BRITTANY NUNN

PHOTOS BY DANNY FULGENCIO

In the midst of the digital age, when texting during dinner and checking emails before bed is all too common, having a quiet place to kick back, ditch the latest hightech gadgets and reset our biological clocks is practically a necessity.

Luckily, our neighborhood has no shortage of rest and relaxation options.

To some, a place of solace means exploring a forest trail, boating on the lake or stopping to literally smell the flowers.

To others, it’s practicing yoga while overlooking the cityscape, enjoying a relaxing massage, tucking away in a bookstore with a good read or sipping a craft brew with close friends.

Here are some neighborhood haunts your fellow neighbors retreat to when they need some solitary — or not-sosolitary — confinement.

THE FISH HATCHERY TRAILS AT WHITE ROCK LAKE

Two years ago, when Kimberley Scattergood accidentally discovered the foot trails that wind around the fish hatchery at White Rock Lake, she was immediately impressed by the beauty, and best of all the serenity, of the preserve.“It’s quite magical,” she says.

Since then, she and her dogs have explored every trail. Although none of the trails is well manicured, that’s part of the appeal, and some are even rougher than others.

“With those, sometimes you’re having to crawl under brush or climb over fallen limbs,” Scattergood says. “It’s like having this Tom Sawyer effect in the middle of Dallas.”

Depending on the time of year, Scat-

tergood and her golden retriever companions visit anywhere from twice a week to every day.

“Particularly during the fall,” she says. “I look up into the treetops and see the beautiful turning leaves with the rays of sunshine streaming through. So peaceful — it refills me.”

Scattergood was raised in Green Bay, Wis., and she rarely feels at home in Dallas.

“But during that time of year, when I go to the fish hatchery, I feel a little bit like I’m back in the Midwest,” she says.

Find it: To access the trails near the fish hatchery, get on Winsted Drive from Garland Road. Turn in to the parking lot on the right. Take the White Rock Creek Trail, which passes close to the fish hatchery water reserves. When you see foot trails leading off the beaten path, explore.

Victor Grizzaffi says he enjoys cycling around the lake because it’s a great place to “be one with yourself and Mother Nature.” Sometimes he stops to feed the ducks.

John Confer says he and his wife use White Rock Lake as a starting point to stroll through the surrounding neighborhoods and window-shop the unique houses. “Usually we just park at White Rock, pick a direction and start walking,” he says.

WHITE ROCK LAKE AT SUNRISE

White Rock Lake is still waking up when neighbor James Barta slips his paddleboard into the water.

He climbs onto the board and pushes away from the shore with his foot. Once he’s on the water, he stands up, balancing on the surfboard-like equipment, and strokes a long-handled paddle through the water to spur him forward.

He leisurely paddles over to the dam, and then, once the sun comes out and starts to warm things up, he digs hard back at the other side.

“I love going out there,” Barta says. “It’s nice and peaceful. It’s a great way to start the day, clear my mind and think about the day.”

Barta has been paddleboarding on White Rock Lake for four years. When his friend introduced him to the sport, he thought it looked weird. He was surprised by how much he enjoyed it and quickly became addicted. Barta used to rent a board from White Rock Paddle Co. on Lawther, and then he bought his own board three years ago.

He tries to go at least two or three times a week after dropping o his children at daycare. For him, it’s recreational, therapeutic, spiritual and a great workout.

“You see the people out there running or cycling, and it’s the same thing for me, except I’m going across the lake instead of around it,” he says.

THANK YOU TO OUR 2014 LUNCHEON SPONSORS

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Wilson Architect

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Trinity Industries, Inc.

USI Southwest

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Carrington, Coleman, Sloman & Blumenthal, L.L.P.

Kathy Caywood

Doctors Hospital at White Rock Lake

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Church – Outreach

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Godwin Lewis PC

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NDA Consultants, LLC/ Hampden Park Capital, LLC

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Maria Ganson says she retreats to the old oak tree in Tietze Park, where her children can climb its crooked limbs and she can relax and enjoy the shade. Tietze Park is located at 2700 Skillman.

THE DALLAS ARBORETUM

There’s something almost magical about basking in the quiet of the early morning at the Dallas Arboretum.

Neighbor David Davis says that’s when he prefers to visit.

“The main reason I like the early morning is the luxury of solitude, of having the gardens almost always all to myself,” he says.

Even inclement weather doesn’t discourage Davis. In fact, he welcomes it because it chases o even more visitors.

He rides his bike from his house in East Dallas to the garden to enjoy his favorite views, find a place to read or simply be still. His favorite spot is the Poetry Garden because “few people ever seem to find it.”

The Poetry Garden is a walled garden to the west of A Woman’s Garden — the long garden with all the fountains.

As a former landscaper and consummate gardener, Davis says he especially likes seeing the gardeners out working in the early hours.

“There is always something going on — things being planted, pruned, mowed, removed,” he muses. “It’s a reminder that any garden large or small, like a life, is a continual work in progress.”

Find it: The Poetry Garden is no. 52 on the Dallas Arboretum’s map. It’s tricky to find, so make it easy on yourself and ask for a map at the entrance, 8525 Garland Rd.

Julie Burch Webber says she enjoys canoeing in White Rock Creek where it runs under Northwest Highway. “Felt like I was not in the middle of Dallas,” she says. “Beautiful! And a great spot for checking out a variety of bird species.”

Garden Cafe is something of a Garden of Eden right here in East Dallas. Guests can enjoy breakfast or lunch on a patio surrounded by greenery.

Neighbor Brit Sparks says hiding out at The Lakewood Landing for a cold brew is his go-to place for taking the edge off.

Brittany Code settles with her family at an outside table at The Lot, soaking in the electric vibe of the bustling restaurant, relieved to finally enjoy some adult time with her husband.

Her children — a 1-and-a-half-year-old and a 4-year-old — run o to the kiddie area to play in the sand while the Codes pick out a craft brew.

As an elementary school counselor, Code helps other people cope with stress.

“It can be very emotionally draining,” she says. “I talk to kids who have been abused, or whose parents are going through a divorce, or who’ve lost family. It’s very stressful, and it’s hard to take time for myself.”

As much as she loves being at home with her favorite people, her idea of taking the edge o is getting out of the house and enjoying a night on the town with her family and friends.

“It’s a treat to go out, but I also want to spend time with my family since I don’t get to see them that much,” Code says.

Their favorite place to go as a family is The Lot because it’s an adult restaurant with all the adult comforts, but it also has a fenced-in playground where the kiddos can play, so Code doesn’t have to worry about them making a break for the parking lot.

“That way, I’m with my kids, but I’m also able to sit down and have a conversation with my husband,” Code says.

Find it: The Lot is at 7530 E. Grand.

Erin Garrett says Café Izmir, the tranquil Mediterranean restaurant at 3711 Greenville Ave, is her “go-to spot” for food, wine, and atmosphere.

James Davenport says the old-fashioned, home-style restaurant Circle Grill at 3701 Buckner is “like stepping back in time.”

Julie Billingsley Geron says the picnic table at Peavy/Mockingbird and Buckner offers “a great view of Downtown.” She also suggests visiting the streets north of Flag Pole Hill. “There are peacocks that wander the neighborhood,” she says. Flag Pole Hill Park is directly north of White Rock Lake at 8100 Doran.

Jonathan Hebda, O.D. Therapeutic Optometrist

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Sally Walsh says St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church, at 6306 Kenwood, has “such a peaceful solace in its hours of silence.”

NORBUCK PARK

Neighbor Charlotte Koford says she’s something of a “park groupie” because she enjoys visiting parks so much.

She lives right across the street from the backside of Norbuck Park, which is one of her favorite parks to explore.

“We [Koford and her husband] watch the sunset and watch the fireflies cover the fields at night,” she says. “We watch the little bats come out and catch the mosquitoes, and the red-winged black birds that nest, and the red-tailed hawk.”

Although the side of the park facing Northwest Highway is rather bland — a baseball field and a field of maintained grass, the trick to enjoying Norbuck Park is knowing how to find its good side.

A street called Van Dyke, which stretches between Peavy and Easton, hugs the backside of Norbuck Park. From there, walkers can access the foot trails that zigzag through the grass and into the woods.

“I love to go over there and take walks,” Koford says. “In the fall, it looks like New England, and I’ve been to New England.

“I’ve been to all seven continents, and one reason I keep coming back here is because I think what we have on Van Dyke is one of the most exquisite views. I mean, here we are in the middle of the city, and it’s like being in the country.”

Find it: Norbuck Park is southeast of Northwest Highway and North Buckner. Access Van Dyke Road from either Peavy or Easton.

Maria Carmen Ybarra Montes says reading at Lakewood Library is her method of distraction. “It’s a nice quiet place to sit and read or dream your problems away,” she says. “I’ve done it many times.” Find your bookworm haven at 6126 Worth.

PROMISE OF PEACE COMMUNITY GARDEN

Elizabeth Dry, the founder of Promise of Peace Community Garden, says at least 30 people walk or bike through the Imagine Garden every day.

The Imagine Garden is in Little Forest Hills behind White Rock United Methodist Church, and it features a variety of flowers and other vegetation as well as a reflective butterfly garden.

Neighbor Talya Tate Boerner, who sometimes freelances for the Advocate, says her plot at the Promise of Peace garden is her favorite spot.

“Sometimes I sit on the picnic tables and write,” she says.

Find it: The Promise of Peace Community Garden is at 1450 Oldgate, behind White Rock UMC.

Photo by Hilary Schleier

LUCKY DOG BOOKS

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“A bell jingled overhead. The mild, spicy smell of old books hit him, and the smell was somehow like coming home,” wrote Stephen King in “The Waste Lands.”

If your most reliable mode of decompression involves curling up with a book — a real, paper-and-ink page-turner — you’ll get lost, in the most pleasant manner, inside Lucky Dog Books.

The building is small and welcoming. Inside, though, room after room, at least 10 of them, offers books organized by topic then author. Comfy chairs in crannies beckon visitors to loiter and peruse the pages they’ve heretofore plucked from the endless shelves. Once you’ve wrested yourself from the cozy couch in, for example, the poetry reading room, check the wall calendar for book signings, discussion groups, workshops and writing classes, and purchase your picks with cash, plastic or store credit, which you can obtain by donating your old books, records and media.

MEDICAL MESH: A tangled web

Lakewood neighbor creates a nonprofit to warn women about medical mesh

Story by Brittany Nunn | Photo by Hal Samples

Lakewood neighbor Aaron Horton just wants her mom back.

It’s the little things — like going out for sushi, window-shopping, getting facials or manicures, and chatting about art — that Horton misses the most.

“I miss my mom,” Horton says. “I miss being able to pick up the phone and say, ‘Hey, I just saw this purse and it made me think about you,’ or ‘I just saw this movie; let me tell you about it.’ ”

Although Horton’s mom is still alive, in many ways Horton has been forced to prematurely grieve the loss of the mother she once had.

Horton’s mom, who asked that we not reveal her identity, is in a constant

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state of excruciating pain — at times worse than anything she experienced during childbirth — due to an injury caused by a medical device called transvaginal mesh.

“I miss my mom. I miss being able to pick up the phone and say, ‘Hey, I just saw this purse and it made me think about you,’ or ‘I just saw this movie; let me tell you about it.’ ” June 5, 2014

The pain wasn’t always so extreme.

Originally, Horton’s mother suffered from urinary incontinence (the loss of bladder control) and pelvic organ prolapse (a condition in which the bladder and the bowels slip out through the vaginal canal). To fix the problem, doctors used trans-vaginal mesh, which essentially is a small hammock made of plastic mesh, to hold her organs in place.

She was told the operation would be minimally invasive, but she knew something was wrong as soon as she woke up from the surgery. Her surgeon told her she simply needed time to heal.

The pain was localized at first, occurring only in her pelvic region, but it was unrelenting. For months, doctors dismissed the pain. Eventually it began

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to spread to every part of her body — sometimes it was sharp, sometimes it was dull, sometimes it was throbbing, and sometimes it was all three. She talked with more doctors, but no one could give her any answers. She tried physical therapy and nerve blocks, but nothing helped.

“My mom was really sick, and she

wasn’t getting better,” Horton says.

“Once I realized how sick she was, I got online to see if there were other people, and I realized there’s this whole community of women who have been injured by this medical device.”

Horton wrote what she calls “a hearticle” about her experience of watching her mom suffer and not being able to

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help, and it was published on journalist Jane Akre’s website, Mesh Medical Device News Desk, in July 2013. Horton received an outpouring of support in the comments section.

“They had all gone through the same thing and had the same questions,” she explains. “I thought I was going to get some help, and then it just kind of con-

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firmed that there was no help available.”

It spurred Horton to dig deeper, to find some answers for her mom, as well as for the many other suffering women.

She discovered that doctors have used medical mesh in more than 1.5 million women to fix organ prolapse, urinary incontinence or hernia, and they continue to implant it in some 70,000 to 90,000 women every year. Most of the women are post-menopausal baby boomers who have had children.

Although many women are happy with the implant, thousands report suffering due to injury caused by the device.

Horton formed a nonprofit called The Mesh Warrior Foundation For the Injured, which she operates from her Lakewood home. She works full-time doing research, talking with doctors and surgeons, raising awareness about the mesh-related injuries, and advocating for the injured.

What Horton found during her research shocked her.

There are six manufacturers of the product, and the largest one is Johnson & Johnson, through the medical unit of

manufacturers began creating other mesh products, which Horton says were never tested on live humans, only cadavers and dogs.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approves the products through the 510(k) process, which “clears the device for commercial distribution” without having to go through the entire process, according to the FDA website.

Instead, manufacturers simply have to prove the new product is “at least as safe and effective” as a predicate device of substantial equivalence (SE) that has already been approved by the FDA.

its company, Ethicon.

Medical mesh is made of propylene plastic, and it was originally used for hernia repair. Then, in early 2000,

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“I thought I was going to get some help, and then it just kind of confirmed that there was no help available.”

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ple and cheap, and the general public became the test subjects, Horton says.

The FDA in 2008 issued a Public Health Notification regarding “serious complications associated with transvaginal placement of surgical mesh in repair of pelvic organ prolapse and stress urinary incontinence.

The notice states, “The most frequent complications included erosion through vaginal epithelium, infection, pain, urinary problems, and recurrence of prolapse and/or incontinence.”

“My question was: How did this happen to 1.5 million women?” Horton asks. “All the safeguards we have in our society, and we’re supposed to have the best health care in the world and the best access to it.”

Dr. Michael Hibner, the director of the division of surgery and pelvic pain at St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix, has been removing the mesh from women’s bodies for several years.

“I think it’s a very small percentage [of women] that have a serious reaction,” he says. “There are people who are happy with the mesh. The problem is that those who are unhappy with it are really, really unhappy with it.”

doctors implanting the mesh haven’t been appropriately prepared or trained.

Dr. Greg Vigna, who spent 18 years in the medial industry but now practices l aw in catastrophic injury in California, is familiar with the trail of broken lives mesh-related injuries leaves behind.

As a doctor, Vigna worked with patients who suffered from pudendal neuralgia, which is chronic pain due to the pudendal nerve, which is located in the pelvis, being entrapped or compressed. Until a few years ago, this was very uncommon.

“This mesh device caused a problem that used to be very rare,” he says. “It’s not rare anymore because mesh has been used so many times.”

“My question was: How did this happen to 1.5 million women? All the safeguards we have in our society, and we’re supposed to have the best health care in the world and the best access to it.”

Most women do not have the time, resources or the physical wellness needed to go head-tohead with pharmaceutical companies, so they become “medically destitute,” Vigna says. They lose their jobs because they can’t work, they lose their husbands because they can’t have sex, and they lose their families because they’re in so much pain they can’t function normally.

Most of the women Hibner sees have pain due to three things: pain from the mesh rubbing against or tugging at the nerves, nerve damage during implant or explant of the mesh and/or a foreignbody reaction to the mesh itself.

Hibner believes manufacturers are largely to blame for the mesh-related injuries.

Hibner says that if the procedure is done right, women shouldn’t have pain or discomfort. The problem, Hibner says, is that manufacturers are selling the device to doctors as a one-size-fitsall device, and it’s being touted as a simple, non-invasive procedure, so the

“There’s failure in the medical community, there’s failure in the financial community, and there’s failure in the legal community,” Vigna insists.

At the time of publication there had been 56,999 mesh-related lawsuits filed, according to Vigna, but very few settlements have come down.

At the same time doctors like Hibner are taking the mesh out, hundreds more continue to put it in. Other doctors try to remove mesh, but very few know how to do it correctly, Vigna says.

“For years women were only getting part of the mesh taken out, and that wasn’t helping,” Vigna says. “In fact, that was just making things more complicated for future doctors.”

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

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Most of the women Hibner sees have already had the device extracted but are still experiencing pain, usually because parts of the mesh are still inside the body, pulling at sensitive nerves. He says he believes removing the entire device, all at once, is best.

“I’ve seen women who have clearly gotten better after removing the mesh. But then, there are other ones who didn’t. So I think it depends on the pa-

tient. Some have had more injury to the nerves, and others have had less injury to the nerves, so it’s hard to tell.”

Horton and her family are crossing their fingers, hoping Horton’s mother is one of the lucky ones.

Horton’s mother had surgery to have her mesh removed in May, and her family is still waiting to find out if the surgery was successful in lessening or erasing her pain.

“But the truth is, each injury is different,” Horton says. “They don’t know what happens during the explant because it just depends on the woman’s body and the kind of injury.”

In the meantime, Horton continues to research and fill her blog with personal stories and interviews with doctors in hopes of reaching as many women as possible.

“There’s still so many more who don’t know,” Horton says. “That’s what keeps me awake at night.”

TO LEARN MORE about Aaron Horton and The Mesh Warrior, visit themeshwarrior.com

“There’s failure in the medical community, there’s failure in the financial community, and there’s failure in the legal community,”

Check out all of the summer camp schedules at Hillside Village!

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CLAIRE’S CHRISTIAN DAY SCHOOL

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

DALLAS ACADEMY

950 Tiffany Way, Dallas 75218 / 214.324.1481 / dallas-academy.com Founded in 1965, Dallas Academy’s mission is to restore the promise of full academic enrichment to students with learning differences in grades 1-12. A meaningful connection with each student is established to overcome barriers to success. Dallas Academy offers students an effective program and strategies to meet the special educational needs of bright students with learning differences, while including the activities of a larger, more traditional school. Classes are small, with a student-teacher ratio of 6 to 1 where students are encouraged, praised, and guided toward achieving their goals. Diagnostic testing is available to students throughout the community.

THE KESSLER SCHOOL

Pre K – 6th Grade / 1215 Turner Ave, Dallas TX 75208 / 214-942-2220 / www. thekesserschool.com

The Kessler School offers an innovative academic environment that gives students a solid foundation, confidence, and a love of learning. Located just minutes from downtown Dallas; The Kessler School’s mission is to “educate the whole child,” and provides an individualized approach to teaching – meeting the student where their needs are. Students are educated socially through community time, physically through daily PE, academically through a wellrounded curriculum, and spiritually through a fostering of awareness and individual growth.

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.

OUR REDEEMER LUTHERAN SCHOOL OF DALLAS

7611 Park Ln, Dallas, TX 75225 / 214368-1371, ext 238 or carolb@orlcs.com www.orlcs.com At Our Redeemer Lutheran School, your child will receive more than academic excellence and a creative, individualized approach. For over 50 years, our caring, dedicated faculty has introduced positive Christian values—giving students a solid foundation to grow in love and commitment to God, family, community and individual excellence! Our affordable tuition is possible through the loving support of our sponsor congregation, Our Redeemer Lutheran Church. Call for a private tour and see why students and their families love our school! Limited spaces available for Fall. See ad for more details.

SPANISH HOUSE

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

Spanish House is a Spanish immersion school with two Lakewood locations for children ages 3 months - Kindergarten. We offer half-day and full-day programs, with extended care available from 7:30am - 6:00pm. We also offer after-school and Saturday classes for PK and elementary-aged students, both onand off-site. Additionally, we have an adult Spanish program for beginning, intermediate and advanced students.

ST. CHRISTOPHER’S MONTESSORI SCHOOL

7900 Lovers Ln. / 214.363.9391 stchristophersmontessori.com St. Christopher’s Montessori School has been serving families in the DFW area for over a quarter of a century. We are affiliated with the American Montessori Society and our teachers are certified Montessori instructors. Additionally our staff has obtained other complimentary educational degrees and certifications, including having a registered nurse on staff. Our bright and attractive environment, and highly qualified staff, ensures your child will grow and develop in an educationally sound, AMS certified loving program. Now Enrolling.

ST. JOHN’S EPISCOPAL SCHOOL

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

UT DALLAS CHESS CAMP

800 W. Campbell Rd., Richardson 75080 / (972) 883-4899 / utdallas.edu/chess ) 2014

Summer Chess Camp Campers learn while they PLAY. Chess develops reading, math, critical and analytical skills, and builds character and self-esteem. Just don’t tell the kids…they think chess is fun! Join beginner, intermediate or advanced chess classes for ages 7 to 13 on the UT Dallas campus. Morning (9am-noon) or afternoon (1-4pm) sessions are available June 9-13, June 16-20, July 14-18, July 21-25 and extended playing classes. Camp includes t-shirt, chess board and pieces, trophy, certificate, score book, group photo, snacks and drinks. Instructors are from among UT Dallas Chess Team PanAm Intercollegiate Champions for 2010-2012!

WHITE ROCK NORTH SCHOOL

9727 White Rock Trail Dallas / 214.348.7410 / WhiteRockNorthSchool.com

6 Weeks through 6th Grade. Our accelerated curriculum provides opportunity for intellectual and physical development in a loving and nurturing environment. Character-building and civic responsibility are stressed. Facilities include indoor swimming pool, skating rink, updated playground, and state-of-the-art technology lab. Kids Club on the Corner provides meaningful after-school experiences. Summer Camp offers field trips, swimming, and a balance of indoor and outdoor activities designed around fun-filled themes. Accredited by SACS. Call for a tour of the campus.

WOODROW WILSON HIGH SCHOOL

100 S. Glasgow Dallas 75214 / 972-502-4400 / woodrowwildcats.org

Washington Post’s 2014 list of Most Challenging High Schools in America. A proven college preparation program and a true high school experience. Woodrow graduates attend, year after year, our state’s and country’s finest colleges, often with meaningful scholarships. With academic programs equaling the best private and magnet schools, Woodrow’s diverse student body also enjoys a traditional high school offering arts, music, dance, theater, math and science clubs, debate and writing competitions and a broad, inclusive and successful sports program, with cheerleaders and drill team. “It’s all at Woodrow and it works.”

ZION LUTHERAN SCHOOL

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

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STAY COOL Memories

“Summer has set in with its usual severity,” once moaned English poet and albatross-obsessed Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Though a very large pond and a couple of centuries separate us from Coleridge, it appears he hit upon a rather fine slogan for Dallas in the summer. Suffer through just a couple of days here in June, July or (horrors!) August, and you understand. What to do, short of cloistering yourself away in

Live in this neighborhood for just a short while and you’re bound to discover the cool, splashy oasis that is our neighborhood pool. Ensconced at Tietze Park, it has played host to generations of neighbors seeking relief from 100-plus-degree days.

Before 1924, though, Tietze Park was pastureland, private acreage belonging to M. Boyd Keith and Charles C. Huff. They received more than $16,000 for the land, according to records provided by Willis Winters, director of the Dallas Park and Recreation Department, and John Slate, city archivist. The land was christened “Keith Park.” Meanwhile, the park department had plans to develop “Tietze Park,” named after W.R. Tietze, floricul-

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turist and superintendent of parks from 1896 to 1933. They entered into an agreement with Dallas Water Utilities to develop the park at DWU property on Mockingbird, between Matilda and Greenville (across from present-day Kroger). DWU backed out of the agreement in the eleventh hour, and the board decided that Keith Park would now be Tietze Park.

A “junior pool” — little more than a wading pool — was built at the park in 1930. East Dallasites also cooled off at the Fair Park pool and White Rock Beach. But “sanitary standards were substandard, even for the 1930s.” Larger “community pools” began popping up around the growing city, and Tietze’s junior pool was replaced in 1946 with the pool we swim in today.

Rose-Mary Rumbley, popular speaker and author of several books on Dallas, including “A Stroll in the Park: 100 Years of the Dallas Park & Recreation Board,” remembers the very early days of the pool. She lived on Vanderbilt, not far from the park, which, back in the day, was known as Llano Park, despite its official name. “We all walked to the pool from our houses. There was no air conditioning, so the pool was it! The only cool spot in the neighborhood.” She laughingly adds, “There were swimming instructors, and we all took lessons from them because they were such cute boys.”

Rumbley also remembers a familiar — and handsome — face working there. “Mr. William J. Morris, physics teacher at North Dallas High, sold tickets at the pool — it was a summer job for the poor teacher. Teachers had to work during the summer so they could eat! He was so good looking, we girls went to the pool to see him.”

But Rumbley sadly recalls the summer the pool closed because of the polio epidemic: “Polio came and we couldn’t go swimming.” Dallas historian Sally Rodriguez confirms that all pools in the city were closed in 1952, mostly out of an abundance of caution.

Joe Jackson, lifelong East Dallas resident and longtime real estate broker, has memories of Tietze Pool as well. And like Rumbley, he knew the park as Llano Park. “I had never heard anyone call it ‘Tietze’ until one day a sign appeared on the corner of Skillman and Llano, and it said ‘Tietze Park.’ “

Jackson says he spent many an hour at the pool, a mere three blocks away from his home on Palo Pinto. He has particularly happy memories of visiting the pool during the 1950s, walking or riding his bike there along with his neighborhood friends and paying the 10-cent admission.

Though it is long gone now, the concession stand at the pool sold quite a variety of items. “I remember in the hot summer,” Jackson says, “always buying a snow cone on my way back home after swimming. I noticed that in addition to soft drinks, candy, hot dogs, etc., they also sold packages of cigarettes. I saw the ‘older’ teens buying them and smoking in the pavilion behind the stand.”

Jackson enjoyed the pool, learning to dive from the high board as well as playing “dibble dabble” with his friends and doing “cannonballs” and “sliders” off the board. The last two, he says, “created a massive splash and, done properly, would be directed to the teenage girls sunning around the pool.”

A sign of the times — Jackson says he “vividly” remembers seeing at the pool one of the neighbor boys who had just returned from basic training. “He had a tattoo of a black panther or a wild cat at the top of his arm.” Body ink being a novelty at the time, Jackson says he couldn’t help but stare at it and soon realized that “the cute teenage girls were all intrigued by the tattoo and flirting with him.”

Times and trends have changed, but the “usual severity” of Dallas summers has remained a constant, no matter the generation. So, instead of bemoaning the heat, jump into Tietze Pool. It’s cool.

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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T.HEE GREETINGS

This extra large tote carries it all. Available in pink, lime, and turquoise. You’ll find a great selection of pool, beach, and summer totes at T. Hee! T. Hee Greetings locations, Lakewood and Lake Highlands. 214.747.5800 t-heegifts.com

ADVOCATE ORNAMENT

More business bits

1 Zoës Kitchen opened May 15 in the old Snow Pea Restaurant location off Abrams. The space has been completely reworked to accommodate Zoës with lots of big windows and bright colors.

2 In April, the walls went up at Arboretum Village shopping center at Gaston-Garland-Grand. 3 Excellence 24-Hour Emergency Room announced it is coming soon to the Skillman-Live Oak shopping center at the corner of Skillman and Oram. It is slated to open in October.

4 The space in the corner of Lakeview Shopping Center facing Gaston is being remodeled to house City Vet, a Dallas-based pet care provider.

5 Construction at Ginger Man Pub in Lakewood Shopping Center looks like it’s approaching its end. The owners hoped to open toward the end of May.

BUSINESS BUZZ

The lowdown on what’s up with neighborhood businesses

Send business news tips to livelocal@advocatemag.com

Hood hangout

Chef John Tesar spent many years in Lakewood-East Dallas, and one of his favorite hangouts was Central 214 in Hotel Palomar before it became more of a “hotel restaurant,” he says. “A lot of people from Highland Park and Lakewood would frequent [Central 214],” Tesar explains. “I really felt like this was one of the younger, cooler places.” His dream is to revive that neighborhood-hangout vibe with his new steakhouse, Knife, which opened in the old Central 214 location in Hotel Palomar in May. “When I got the opportunity to do this, I wanted to recreate what I had seen in the beginning,” he says, “to make it a local spot, rather than a hotel restaurant, which is kind of what it had turned into over the years.” Tesar is nationally acclaimed for his other Dallas restaurant, Spoon Bar & Kitchen, where he became known for his modern American cuisine with a classic European twist. In 2014, he was nominated for “Best Chef Southwestern” with the James Beard Foundation, and he also competed on Bravo’s “Top Chef.”

Mecca closes

The Mecca Restaurant closed its Skillman-Live Oak location on April 27. According to general manager Ramiro Aguilar, it won’t be gone forever. Owner Michael Sealy is shopping for a new location, although at this point no one knows where. Throughout the transition, Mecca will continue to cater breakfast, lunch and dinner options, including its famous cin-

namon rolls and bread pudding. It was Mecca’s decision to leave. Mecca began serving “home cooking” in 1938, and it had a 40-year run on Harry Hines, but since moving to the Skillman-Live Oak shopping center two years ago, the restaurant hasn’t been lucrative enough to handle the rent. “Business here has been really slow,” Ramiro explains. “The rent here is ridiculously high. Our sales being low, it’s just not happening.”

Fast-casual pizza

Project Pie, a new “fast casual custom pizza restaurant,” is coming soon to Lower Greenville. Project Pie is the brainchild of James Markham, who opened Mod Pizza in Seattle and Pieology in California. His website claims he “pioneered the category” of fast casual custom pizza. Next door, Steel City Pops, a gourmet popsicle joint, opened on Lower Greenville in May. Steel City Pops offers cool treats that are colorful, delicious and even healthy with flavors such as cucumber lime, blueberry basil, blood orange and raspberry lemon.

6 In June 2013, Half Price Books announced it has have big plans for the six acres next door to its flagship location on Northwest Highway. Now Half Price Books announced in a press release that outdoor retailer REI is the first retailer to sign on at its new shopping center development, which will be located on Northwest Highway right across the street from the bookstore. REI plans to move its LBJ location to the brand new 34,000 square-foot space in spring 2015.

7 As one of the longest running establishments on Lower Greenville, Simply Fondue is finally receiving a much-needed home makeover, putting a fresh face on the front of the building and reworking the bar area.

Knife

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 9:30 am

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

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 Contemporary

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

Summer Worship: May 25 - Aug. 31 / 10:00am / 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

UNITY ON GREENVILLE / Your soul is welcome here!

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

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

MERCIFUL JUSTICE

Bernie is out of jail.

The title character in Richard Linklater’s small but popular movie “Bernie” has been released from prison on $10,000 bond. He will live now in Linklater’s garage apartment in Austin, far away in distance and culture from East Texas, where his conviction for the murder of the cranky and stingy Carthage socialite, Marjorie Nugent, took place in 1997.

The movie, starring Jack Black, Shirley McLaine and Matthew McConaughey, pictured Bernie Tiede as a sympathetic figure. He was a mortician by profession and a friend to many in that small town. When Nugent was widowed, he began a weird and complicated relationship with her that included her signing over her estate to him but also subjecting him to levels of emotional abuse that were factors in his shooting her four times in the back and stuffing her body in a freezer.

Recent revelations about that abuse, and new revelations of abuse he suffered in childhood, have contributed to the judge’s decision to mitigate punishment and set him free under conditions of supervision.

So did justice or mercy prevail in the end?

Seems the attitudes of people in Carthage have turned against Bernie over time, although in the immediate aftermath of the murder and trial, they were generally supportive of the man who had become a generous benefactor with his victim’s money.

Justice and mercy live in creative tension. Justice without mercy is coldhearted; mercy without justice is softheaded.

The Bible weighs in for both justice and mercy. And the application of them among the communities of Israel and the church over time proves the need for compassionate judgment. For example, the Old Testa-

mercy

ment rule of “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” was an improvement over the culture of disproportionate revenge that created generational cycles of violence. But proportionality was often still out of whack, since capital punishment was not limited to the crime of murder but could include things like the stoning of a chronically disobedient son. Gratefully, the community rarely carried out such permissible punishment, as the cause of mercy trumped the claim of justice.

Jesus taught caution about meting out judgment, lest we ourselves be judged by the same standards. He urged that mercy prevail in order that restoration rather than retribution might rule our relationships.

The law makes distinctions for those who take another life. Homicide can be first, second or third degree murder; it can be manslaughter; or it can be justifiable homicide (which is not a crime), all depending upon the circumstances. We make judgments that include motivation and situation.

This could lead to lost accountability for bad behavior. It could undermine responsibility. It could endanger the community by exposing it to future risk. All those “coulds” could be true.

But mercy also could give hope. It could create conditions for productive lives. It could produce forgiveness that relieves the burden of guilt and teaches responsibility.

Reasons are not excuses. There is no excuse for murder. There may be, however, mitigating reasons that make it understandable, albeit still inexcusable.

We all know people who need our best judgment and great mercy. Come to think of it, we ourselves are such people. Thank God none of us truly get what we deserve from God. And there begins the lesson …

People need both our best judgment and great

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.

On April 26, there was a summit meeting for the White Rock Lake area that was sponsored by the White Rock Partnership (WRP). WRP, a group of long-time community volunteers in East Dallas brought together by Lakewood resident and long-time civic volunteer David Pittman, is dedicated to enhancing quality of life in the White Rock area, whether through beautification efforts or the improvement of community relations and public service. For the Summit, all neighborhood association presidents and crime watch chairs from the neighborhoods that are a part of the White Rock Lake area were invited to participate. The meeting included presentations by current Dallas City Council Member Sheffie Kadane, former City Council member Gary Griffith, North East Division Police Chief Andy Acord, Park Board District 9 representative Gerry Worrall, and was moderated by Gloria Tarpley, current District 9 representative and Chair of the City Planning Commission. It continued with brief comments from each of the attendees in which they discussed their particular neighborhood group’s recent successes and current challenges.

People

George Boyd possessed the precision and curiosity of a fine hunter, but not the killer instinct. When he captured his prey, it was with his zoom lens. His trophies were his photographs, of which he claimed thousands. Boyd, 86, died peacefully in his home in April after lying down for a nap and not waking, according to an incident report. Though Boyd was stealthy and unassuming, those who frequent White Rock Lake will feel his absence; in years past he has been a fixture there, always willing to educate the curious on the lake’s myriad species.

Longtime Dallas Arboretum employee and active member of Lake Highlands Presbyterian Church Chris Emrich died April 22 after living 16 years with breast cancer. Despite her illness, Emrich reportedly remained a productive member of both the arboretum and the church. She is survived by her husband, Roger Emrich.

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.

Book it

Junior and senior visual arts students at Booker T. Washington, four of whom live in East Dallas, wrote and illustrated the first-ever full-length high school compilation comic book. Their teacher is Mike Wolfman. The students are Nick Graves, Avery Storms, Francesca Bartos, Kameron Simms-Washington, Jose Ramirez, Alix Kast, Jose Garcia, Joy Schmitz, Bailey Hilliard, Valerie Coahuilas, Jordan Davis, Veronica Jones, Emily Edwards and Geovanni Casillas.

Local BULLETIN BOARD

EVENTS

STAMP COLLECTORS!

We want more members!!!

Give us a call, come to our meetings the 2nd and 4th Wed every month and share the old and create some new memories of stamp collecting. 972-390-2648

CLASSES/TUTORING/ LESSONS

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

ART: Draw/Paint. Adults All Levels. Lake Highlands N. Rec. Ctr. Yearly fee. 18-59 yrs-$15, 60+$10 Mon-1-3: Wed 10:15-1:15, Jane Cross, 214-534-6829.

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.

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

CLASSES/TUTORING/ LESSONS

LEARN NEW TESTAMENT GREEK Beginners intermediates; Rice, TCU, DTS ex; John Cunyus 214-662-5494 www.JohnCunyus.com

MUSIC INSTRUCTION Especially For Young People Aged 5-12. Guitar, Piano, Percussion. ChildPlayMusicSchool.com. 214-733-1866

TUTORING: Writing coach. Manuscript Editor. 20+ years exp. 469-263-7004

CHILDCARE

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

Helping hands

EMPLOYMENT

AIRLINE CAREERS Begin Here. Get Trained As FAA Certified Aviation Technician. Financial Aid For Qualified Students. Job Placement Assistance. AIM 866-453-6204

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. $60/hr. 1 hr min. Dan 214-660-3733 or stykidan@sbcglobal.net

DISH TV RETAILER Starting at $19.99/month (for 12 months) & High Speed Internet starting at $14.95/month (where available) Save. Ask about Same Day Installation 1-800-615-4064

GRAPHIC DESIGN BY SOZA DESIGN Logos, Brochures, Posters & More. wsoza@yahoo.com 214-287-6499

JULY DEADLINE JUNE 4 214.560.4203 TO ADVERTISE

Students from Woodrow Wilson High School volunteered during the Swiss Avenue Historic District Mother’s Day Home Tour. Top row: John Garcia, Sarahi Carlos, Diego Ilufrio Bottom row: Claire Claybrook, Charley O’Loughlin, Leslie Scherger.

214.560.4203

PROFESSIONAL SERVICES

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

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

OSTEOPATHY—CRANIAL OSTEOPATH For structural or internal problems, head & body, newborn, young child, all ages. Liz Chapek, D.O. 214-341-8742. www.chapek.doctorsoffice.net

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

TRAVEL

Jazz it up

Lipscomb students Tiambe Armstrong , Delaney OffuttStern and Annabelle Roberts enjoyed the Woodrow Jazz Band at the Swiss Avenue

Historic District Mother’s Day Home Tour on May 10.

Local BULLETIN BOARD

CRUISEONE DALLAS Doug Thompson bigDcruises.com Plan your cruise vacation today! 214-254-4980

JOURNEY WITH JANE for a unique travel experience. Travel dreams become reality. 469-662-5212. journeywithjane.com

PET SERVICES

DEE’S DOGGIE DEN Daycare, Boarding, Grooming, Training. 6444 E. Mockingbird Ln. 214-823-1441 DeesDoggieDen.com

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

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

GROUND FLOOR BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY Unique Opportunity for Residual Income. A Legacy Company Which Affords You and Your Family Guaranteed Income. 401-741-7596 healthandwealthct@gmail.com

LOST PET? >> List your lost pet ad for free online at classifieds.advocatemag.com

BUY/SELL/TRADE

TEXAS RANGERS AND DALLAS STARS

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

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

ESTATE/GARAGE SALES

CLUTTERBLASTERS.COM-ESTATE SALES

Moving/DownSizing Sales, Storage Units.

Organize/De-Clutter Donna 972-679-3100

ESTATE LIQUIDATORS DALLAS Prof service since 1981 Call Ruth. 972-818-3000. 214-566-3861

estateliquidatorsdallas@yahoo.com

ESTATE SALES & LIQUIDATION SERVICES

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

REAL ESTATE

MUNGER

All Makes/Models. 214-660-8898

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 & CARPET

CONNER FAMILY BUILDERS Since 1901. Home remodeling & painting. Superior quality, free estimates. Satisfaction guaranteed. A+ BBB Terry 469-338-1202 connerfamilybuilders.com

CUSTOM CARPENTRY by Ron. 214-674-1604

Trim Specialist- Mouldings, Cabinets, Hardware. Misc. Projects & Repairs. No Job Too Small.

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

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

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

RENOVATE DALLAS

renovatedallas.org 214-403-7247

RONALD L. SIEBLER

Remodeling & Historic Preservation www.Siebler.com 214-546-7579

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

BRIAN GREAM RENOVATIONS LLC

Serving your Neighborhood Since 1993

Repairing: Refrigerators •Washer/Dryers

• Ice Makers •Stoves • Cooktops • Ovens 214✯823✯2629

BLINDS, SHADES & DRAPERIES

SMARTLOOKS WINDOW & WALL DECOR

Window Treatments & Repair. 972-699-1151

CABINETRY & FURNITURE

SQUARE NAIL WOODWORKING

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

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

BATHROOM AND KITCHEN SPECIALISTS

JCI Remodeling: From Simple Updates to Full Remodeling Services. Competitive Pricing!

JCIRemodeling.com 972-948-5361

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

• 1 & 2 Story Additions

• Complete Renovations

• Kitchens/Baths

• Licensed/Insured 214.542.6214

CLEANING SERVICES

CALL GRIME STOPPERS - 214-724-2555

Wanted: Houses To Clean & Windows to Wash 20 yrs exp. Reliable, Efficient, Excellent Refs.

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

INGRID CLEANING SERVICES Reliable, Dependable. Habla Español 214-395-1190

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

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

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

PayPal ®

WWW.BGRONTHEWEB.COM

BRIANGREAM@YAHOO.COM

TK Remodeling

Your neighborhood remodeler

•Repair •Remodeling •Restoration

•Complete full service

Name

COMPUTERS & ELECTRONICS

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

BILL’S COMPUTER REPAIR

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

http://dallas.tkremodelingcontractors.com Tommy 972-533-2872

INSURED

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

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 REPAIRS/REPOURS

Demo existing. Stamping and Staining Driveways/Patio/Walkways

Pattern/Color available

Free Estimates

972-672-5359 (32 yrs.)

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

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

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

TO ADVERTISE CALL 214.560.4203

Business Resources

TO ADVERTISE 214.560.4203

CONCRETE/ MASONRY/PAVING

FIREPLACE SERVICES

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

HANDYMAN SERVICES

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

HOUSE PAINTING

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

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

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

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

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

TEXAS ELECTRICAL • 214-289-0639

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

EXTERIOR CLEANING

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

FENCING & DECKS

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

4 QUALITY FENCING Call Mike 214-507-9322

Specializing in Wood, New or Repair.

AMBASSADOR FENCE INC.

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

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

FLOORING & CARPETING

ALL WALKS OF FLOORS 214-616-7641

Carpet, Wood, Tile Sales/Service Free Estimates

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

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

Your Home Repair Specialists

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

BRIAN GREAM

PAINTING & RENOVATIONS LLC • Interior/Exterior • Drywall • Rotten Wood • Gutters

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

DOVETAIL CUSTOM SHUTTERS

Louis Wiggins 214-342-0889 dovetailshutters.com

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

Drywall Doors

Senior Safety

Carpentry

Small & Odd Jobs

And More! 972-308-6035

HandymanMatters.com/dallas Bonded

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

D.R. TILE SERVICE

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

Free Estimates•Wood•Marble•Tile•Travertine Kitchens & Baths•Countertops. 214-536-0045

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

STONE AGE COUNTER TOPS

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

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

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.

LAWNS, GARDENS & TREES

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

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

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

ALL YARD SERVICES Fertilization, Trim, Edge, Color. Com./ Res. 30 Yrs. Exp. Call Brooks. 972-279-3564, 214-923-5439

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

CHUPIK TREE SERVICE

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

COLE’S LAWN CARE • 214-327-3923 Quality Service with a Personal Touch.

DALLAS K.D.R.SERVICES • 214-349-0914 Lawn Service & Landscape Installation

GREENSKEEPER Winter 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

IRRIGATION SYSTEM REPAIR Call Carl. 972-948-4335.Texas Irrigation Lic # 8708

ORTIZ LAWNCARE Complete Yard Care. Service by Felipe. Free Est. 214-215-3599

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

SERIOUSLY METICULOUS Verdant Grounds. 214-763-0492

SPRINKLER REPAIR SPECIALIST $25Off. 972-226-1925 www.rainmakertx.com LI#7732

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

U R LAWN CARE Maintenance. Landscaping. Your Personal Yard Service by Uwe Reisch uwereisch@yahoo.com 214-886-9202

WATER-WISE URBAN LANDSCAPES www.TexasXeriscapes.com 469-586-9054

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

LAWNS, GARDENS & TREES

A Better Tree Company

JUST TREES

Your Trees Could Look Like a Work of Art, I Guarantee It.

PEST

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

NTX PLUMBING SPEC. LLLP 214-226-0913

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

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.

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 & GUTTERS

A&B GUTTER 972-530-5699

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

ACE ROOFING

Call Tom. 972-268-4047

MEDRANO ROOFING Resd/Comm. Quality Service & Craftsmanship. Free Est. 469-867-2129

NATIONWIDE ROOFING

Fencing, Gutters BBB member. 214-882-8719

ROOFING & GUTTERS

Allstate Homecraft Roofing

• Roofing & Remodel • Additions • Licensed/Insured Over

BERT

ED & LH

GLASS COVERED THE SEAT AND FLOOR.

Chris Kellner, 29, is a bicyclist with a goal — to ride 500 miles before he turns 30. He heads out to White Rock Lake Park two or three times a week to bike the scenic area and add to that growing mileage. Unfortunately, his recent biking excursion may not have ended with a flat tire — but certainly wrecked his morning.

The Victim: Chris Kellner

The Crime: Burglary of a motor vehicle

Date: Monday, April 28

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“Maybe somebody drove into the parking lot and scared them off before they could take it,” he says.

This was the second time someone has broken into Keller’s car in the area in the past six months, and he says he may have to start riding closer to home after the ordeal. The damage to the lock and window was $50 less than his $500 deductible, so he will be out a few hundred bucks.

ADVERTISE IN THIS SECTION For more information call 214.560.4203 or email jliles@advocatemag.com

OPTOMETRIST

DR. CLINT MEYER www.dallaseyeworks.com

Time: Between 9:55 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.

Location: 4600 block of Lawther

Rotated for 6-14>>

After about a 35-40 minute ride, Kellner came back to find his driver’s side window smashed and the lock damaged. The good news? Nothing was taken despite his wallet being left in the center console.

Dallas Police Sgt. Keitric Jones of the Northeast Patrol Division says thieves target anything of value in vehicles, and owners should do anything possible to secure their vehicles.

“Park your vehicle in a high-traffic area so that if a thief attempts to take your property, someone may see the offense and report the theft,” he says. “Take, lock, and hide. If you do not need your property, then leave it at home. Thieves are aware of where items are commonly kept in vehicles; they know where to look at and take property.”

Sean Cha n 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.

CRIME NUMBERS |

Did you know that studies indicate you blink 50% less often when staring at a computer. Staring at a computer for hours, or walking and biking around the lake with lots of allergens in the air can lead to Dry Eye! It can be very uncomfortable and the tearing is distracting and annoying. Let Dr. Meyer help you develop a plan to treat your dry eye, so you can enjoy your normal work, sport, and leisurly activities. Call Dallas Eyeworks today to schedule an appointment. Dallas Eyeworks 9225 Garland Rd., Ste. 2120, Dallas, TX 75218 214.660.9830

COSMETIC AND GENERAL DENTISTRY

DENA T. ROBINSON, DDS www.drdenarobinson.com

This year, we are celebrating our 10-year anniversary serving the East Dallas/ White Rock Lake Community. Thank you for your loyalty and support along the way. Join us on Facebook as we celebrate!

Value of the aluminum riggers stolen on May 8 from the Dallas United Crew’s property on West Lawther

$10,000 05.05

Date when a burglar stole thousands of dollars’ worth of jewelry, leaving the boxes strewn across the homeowner’s bed in the 9500 block of Tarleton

5700

Block of Mockingbird where someone broke into a US Cleaners and stole $200

SOURCE: Dallas Police Department crime statistics for July 10-Aug. 10

2011 lakewood.advocatemag.com

FAGD - Fellow of the Academy of General Dentistry 8940 Garland Rd., Ste. 200, Dallas, TX 75218 214.321.6441

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For more information call 214.560.4203 or email jliles@advocatemag.com

OFF THE RECORD

The city’s 90-day document retention policy threatens transparency

If you’re troubled by what you know about Dallas City Hall, just imagine all the things you don’t.

The Texas Public Information Act arms the public with a powerful right to access government information. It requires cities, counties, and the State of Texas to produce documents requested by citizens, bringing transparency to the innerworkings of our government. But having access to records is meaningless if those

second term on the Dallas City Council. I purposely did not make my request as a councilmember, but rather as a citizen using the procedure outlined in the Texas Public Information Act. As a councilmember, the city had no legal obligation to provide me with the requested documents, nor do so within any specific timeframe. But under the TPIA, the city was legally required to produce the requested documents within 10 days.

a particular issue, or catalog the many promises a developer made to secure a zoning change, they’d be out of luck under the current policy. Northrup proposed a charter provision requiring that such recordings be kept indefinitely.

records have been destroyed. In 2009, the City of Dallas reduced its email retention policy to a scant 90 days, ensuring that information that could illuminate problems within our municipal government never see the light of day.

Before the city enacted this policy, I made an open records request for documents relating to the Trinity toll road project. It was early 2007, and I was in the midst of the toll road referendum and my

As a result of my request, I received a treasure trove of documents from the City of Dallas: emails from one of the project’s designers to the mayor, privately criticizing the size and speed of the toll road; internal city spreadsheets revealing the lack of funding for the toll road and its dramatically increasing cost; letters drafted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to me, with revisions made by the City Manager’s office. The revelations were highly damaging to toll road supporters and bolstered the opposition. Had the 90-day policy been in place then, most of these documents would have been destroyed before we knew they even existed.

That’s why I was pleased to see East Dallas’ Mike Northrup — Councilman Philip Kingston’s appointee to the city’s Charter Review Commission — champion a longer records retention policy. The Charter Review Commission is responsible for recommending changes to the city’s constitution. At a recent commission meeting, Northrup was shocked to learn that Dallas destroys electronic recordings of city board and commission meetings after 90 days. He pointed out that such recordings are typically the only way to discern the reasoning behind a board’s decision, and if someone wanted to understand the debate surrounding

I wholeheartedly agree. But I would argue that a larger problem is the city’s destruction of documents that chronicle what is transpiring behind the scenes, when staff and city management converse via email. That is where the real information lies (no pun intended).

Five years ago, the City Manager, City Attorney and City Secretary together decided to change Dallas’ document retention policy and decreed that emails were to be destroyed after 90 days. Since it could take a year or more to discover malfeasance, or even simple ineptitude, the new policy ensured that records detailing the back and forth among staff, management, elected officials and outside parties would be gone long before anyone realized a problem existed.

Emails have played a crucial role in uncovering problems at Dallas City Hall. Whether it’s the secret deals the city manager cut with gas drilling companies, contradictions in the city’s claims about the Trinity toll road, staff’s collusion with homebuilders in drafting a Draconian conservation district policy, or the city’s effort to pave Winfrey Point, emails have given Dallas residents great insight into how decisions are made at City Hall and by whom.

As the Charter Review Commission, and ultimately, the City Council reconsider the city’s document retention policy, they must focus on preserving city emails far longer than 90 days. Otherwise, how will we ever know what’s really going on?

A larger problem is the city’s destruction of documents that chronicle what is transpiring behind the scenes, when sta and city management converse via email. That is where the real information lies (no pun intended).

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