2016 April Lake Highlands

THE DUNHAM TEAM

LAKE HIGHLANDS IS MORE THAN LOCATION: IT’S PEOPLE AND IT’S COMMUNITY.”

We grew up in the real estate business. Our father was a broker in Missouri, so the Ebby reputation is very important to us. Whether buying or selling, we are involved in every aspect of the process. We help clients make a house their home for their family and become part of the Lake Highlands community.

MAX DUNHAM, 214-336-3623

MAXDUNHAM@EBBY.COM

DAN DUNHAM 972-743-5096

DANDUNHAM@EBBY.COM

COURTNEY MOLINA

I’M HONORED TO ADVISE CLIENTS IN THE PROCESS OF SELLING OR BUYING A HOME.”

My professional background in banking, advertising and marketing prepared me as an Ebby Associate. Raising a family in this community and my personal interest in art and design are part of my expertise that makes buying or selling homes a pleasant experience for clients. I pride myself on my honesty, professionalism and positive attitude.

214-478-4660

COURTNEYMOLINA@EBBY.COM

I have lived and volunteered in Lake Highlands for 36 years and 11 of those I have worked with Ebby Halliday. My specialization is helping older adults make late-in-life moves. I understand their needs and work with them and their families to coordinate all aspects of the move, creating a smooth transition to their new home.

DYBVAD PHELPS GROUP

We listen as our clients tell us about their work, their activities, their dreams. Then we guide them to the home that delights them. Our job is to make the process as stress-free as possible. We love to see people add personality to a new home and neighborhood. We are proud to be part of Ebby and this office’s leadership in the community.

KING CLAYTON GROUP

We pride ourselves in providing efficient and friendly customer service. Building trust is the foundation of our client relationships. Listening, communicating, and educating throughout the entire process are key to achieving a smooth transaction. At the end of the day, our reward is knowing we provided the best service for our clients.

DEBRAH KING 214-683-3655

DEBKING@EBBY.COM

KONNIE CLAYTON 214-708-5233

KONNIECLAYTON@EBBY.COM

I make time to give per-

sonal attention to help clients buy or sell their home or investment property. My MBA and years of sales, marketing and contract negotiation all work together to ensure a successful real estate experience. I own a property in Lake Highlands and my daughter goes to school here. I'm not just a REALTOR®, I'm a neighbor.

SELZER GROUP

We bring our backgrounds in banking and law to the complex issues of buying and selling homes. Raising a family in Lake Highlands plus many years in the Dallas area give us the insight and community ties that help clients make their new home in the neighborhood. We work in tandem to make every client transaction seamless and enjoyable.

DOUG SELZER

972-322-8073

DOUGSELZER@EBBY.COM

ELIZABETH SELZER

214-797-0868

ELIZABETHSELZER@EBBY.COM

BOBBY STEPHENS

After 10 years in commercial sales, my heart led me to the residential sector, and I knew there was only one choice: Ebby Halliday. I assist people in achieving their housing dreams, whether they’re first-timers or have bought and sold many homes. The best part? I've made hundreds of friends along the way.

214-395-4579

BOBBY@EBBY.COM

OUR EAST DALLAS ROOTS RUN DEEP

As the sales managers of Ebby Halliday offices serving East Dallas, we’re proud to be associated with this dynamic area, its top-notch schools, strong property values and eclectic, diverse neighborhoods. If you’re thinking about buying or selling an East Dallas home, it would be our honor to help find just the right agent for you.

GINGER GILL

PRESTON CENTER

214-725-9036

GINGERGILL@EBBY.COM

RENE BARRERA

LAKEWOOD/LAKE

HIGHLANDS

214-355-3125

RENEBARRERA@EBBY.COM

KEITH NEWMAN

EBBY’S LITTLE WHITE HOUSE

214-210-1533

KEITHNEWMAN@EBBY.COM

It’s no secret that buying and selling a home can be complicated.

Fortunately, an

Halliday REALTOR® can help remove the fear of taking that next step. In fact, we’ve been helping lead people in East Dallas through the process for more than 70 years.

Experience the difference the right REALTOR® can make by visiting Ebby.com today.

SPECIAL SECTION PAGE 53

IN THIS ISSUE

20

FRESH AIR

PARENTS SAY STUDENTS NEED MORE RECESS, AND THE DISTRICT AGREES.

22

DEAD RINGER

A PLAIN-JANE WOODBRIDGE ABODE STANDS IN FOR A TV MURDER HOUSE.

24

THEN AND NOW

HOMEOWNERS SHED NEW LIGHT ON A DARK AND CRAMPED KITCHEN.

26

PTA PLOTS GARDEN

SKYVIEW SCHOOL NOT SUFFING FROM LACK OF PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT.

28

JUST DO IT

TWO HOME TOURS, A LAKE HIGHLANDS 5K, ONE ‘BIG FRIENDLY GIANT’ AND MORE ARE ON THIS MONTH’S CALENDAR.

HOME SPOTLIGHT

BUILT BY A DUO OF PROGRESSIVE ARCHITECTS IN THE MID 1900S, THIS LAKE HIGHLANDS JEWEL HAS NEW INHABITANTS, A STYLISH AND SWEET FAMILY WHO IS GIVING THE HOME ALL THE LOVE IT DESERVES. (Photo by Jeanine Michna-Bales)

REALTORS TOP 25

ON THE COVER: Home decor by Global Views. (Photo by Danny Fulgencio)

“We speak 34 languages at this school. Where can we find common ground, a universal language? You can kneel on the ground with someone, and you don’t have to speak the same language.”

Sarah Greenman, Skyview PTA president and founder of the school’s new learning garden page 27

Art inside White Rock Dallas Academy. (Photo by Rasy Ran)

WHAT YOU’RE MISSING

Sonic employee shot during robbery attempt

20 years later: Remembering Wildcats Katie Findley and Megan Jones

Long lines of parents at White Rock Elementary enrollment

Body found near White Rock Lake

Students, staff remember LHHS choir director Michael O’Hern

THE DIALOGUE

SNEAK PEEK: INSIDE THE NEW COSTCO

“If they put a gas station in, it is a BIG win. Costco rules. Hopefully they will have a wine section that rivals the Plano and Southlake locations.”

— Jared Heath

SEEK THE PEACE

What a beautiful piece, what beautiful people. America can be a land of hope instead of hardship and everyone just needs a hand in finding their way.”

— Dawn Hosking

HAPPY 25TH BIRTHDAY TO US

AND MANY MORE

Most journalists start our careers hoping to “make a difference” in life.

It sounds kind of dopey when it’s written down, but it’s the truth. This is a job that doesn’t pay as much as many, and it’s a job that doesn’t have clear demarcations of success.

We just write stories, take pictures, sell advertising and design things as well as we can, and we hope you read them in print or online. And here in local journalism, since you’re not paying for our publications, we sell advertising to pay for what we do, and we hope all of that talk about “living local” means you’ll spend money with the neighborhood businesses that support our venture.

Without getting too sappy, all of that is what a few of us were thinking 25 years ago when we spent some cold, dark April nights between midnight and 4 a.m. delivering the first Advocates to homes in our first neighborhood.

We delivered them ourselves because we couldn’t afford to hire anyone, and we delivered them after midnight because we had other full-time jobs and because we weren’t sure how you would feel about waking up and finding a new publication lying in your yard.

Fortunately, most of you liked what you saw in that scruffy, 16-page publication, which was filled with local stories and photos we dug up and wrote ourselves.

This month marks our 25th year and 300th monthly issue, and these days, we’re not personally delivering our magazines anymore, although with that early training, we could do it if we had to. We like to think our publications today look and read a whole lot better than the originals, thanks entirely to a dedicated

group of journalists and designers and salespeople who are far better than we ever were at finding stories you want to read and telling those stories in a way that makes neighbors feel like friends.

We had seven advertisers in that first issue, and we took in just enough money to pay our printing bill. Today, we help several hundred local business people bring their message to you each month, and we know you’re patronizing these businesses because they tell us so.

It’s hard to sit here today and point to any one thing we’ve done during the past 25 years that achieves our original goal of “making a difference.” Hopefully, we’ve given you an opportunity to become involved in things that you otherwise wouldn’t have known about, and hopefully, we’ve introduced you to a bunch of neighbors and businesses you would never have otherwise met.

Those are small things, to be sure, but since most of us aren’t going to be elected president or win the Mega Millions lottery, it’s these small things in life that most impact our families and our lives anyway.

When 25 years of hyper-local journalism is boiled down to something so simple, it’s a wonder we’re still in business.

But we are, and unlike so many others in journalism these days, we’re growing.

And if you don’t mind, we’re going to just keep doing what we’ve been doing and worry about the final tally some day if we ever run out of stories to tell about neighbors we admire and local businesses we respect.

DISTRIBUTION PH/214.560.4203

ADVERTISING PH/214.560.4203

office administrator: JUDY LILES

214.560.4203 / jliles@advocatemag.com

display sales manager: BRIAN BEAVERS

214.560.4201 / bbeavers@advocatemag.com

senior advertising consultant: AMY DURANT

214.560.4205 / adurant@advocatemag.com

senior advertising consultant: KRISTY GACONNIER

214.264.5887 / kgaconnier@advocatemag.com

advertising consultants

SALLY ACKERMAN

214.560.4202 / sackerman@advocatemag.com

NORA JONES

214.292.0962 / njones@advocatemag.com

FRANK McCLENDON

214.560.4215 / fmcclendon@advocatemag.com

GREG KINNEY

214.292.0485 / gkinney@advocatemag.com

MICHELE PAULDA

214.292.2053 / mpaulda@advocatemag.com

LOUISE GRECO-STEIN

214.292.0494 / lgstein@advocatemag.com

classified manager: PRIO BERGER

214.560.4211 / pberger@advocatemag.com

marketing director: MICHELLE MEALS

214.635.2120 / mmeals@advocatemag.com

digital + social media director: EMILY WILLIAMS 469.916.7864 / ewilliams@advocatemag.com

EDITORIAL

publisher: CHRISTINA HUGHES BABB

214.560.4204 / chughes@advocatemag.com

managing editor: EMILY CHARRIER

214.560.4200 / echarrier@advocatemag.com

editor-at-large: KERI MITCHELL

214.292.0487 / kmitchell@advocatemag.com

editors:

RACHEL STONE

214.292.0490 / rstone@advocatemag.com

BRITTANY NUNN

214.635.2122 / bnunn@advocatemag.com

ELIZABETH BARBEE

817.944.3125 / ebarbee@advocatemag.com

senior art director: JYNNETTE NEAL 214.560.4206 / jneal@advocatemag.com

designer: EMILY WILLIAMS 469.916.7864 / ewilliams@advocatemag.com

art director: CASEY BARKER

214.292.0493 / cbarkerl@advocatemag.com

designers: LARRY OLIVER, KRIS SCOTT

contributing editors: SALLY WAMRE

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

photo editor: DANNY FULGENCIO

214.635.2121 / danny@advocatemag.com

contributing photographers: RASY RAN, KATHY TRAN

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

WHAT YOU’RE MISSING

ON lakehighlands.advocatemag.com

TRINITY RIVER WHITEWATER REMOVAL

“Thanks [City] Council! We’re now $4 million in to something that’ll cost about $8 million total, and when it’s done, nothing of value will have been created.”

— mikeyancey

EXXXOTICA SUIT TARGETS COUNCILMEMBERS

“McGough doing the wrong thing and following the mayor as I was afraid he would even before he was elected.”

— TTa

THE HOARDER VAN OF LAKE HIGHLANDS IS GOING VIRAL

“I’ve seen it a time or 10.”

— Bill Boyd

“I see it often. I always pray for peace for the driver. I couldn’t imagine his pain of what ever void he is attempting to fill. I also worry that the top will eventually cave in and be his demise. Sad.”

—

Adela Stransky

See it almost daily. I seem to frame its native domain — live at Beltline and Coit, work at Audelia and Walnut.”

—

Chris Albers

Recess rights

(Photo by Danny Fulgencio)

First it was school lunch nutrition, then screen-time, but the hot topic in education lately seems to be the right to recreation. Parents in the Richardson Independent School District have already taken it to petition, hoping to guarantee a longer recess for their children.

And why shouldn’t they? Numerous studies tout the benefits of recess, from giving restless students a physical break, to its importance in developing social skills. After an uprising from parents, Dallas ISD recently made recess a guarantee for every student — a policy RISD already had in place.

So why are RISD parents petitioning on Change.org? It all comes down to 10 minutes.

A new state law changed the school year from 180 days to 75,600 minutes, giving districts more flexibility in their annual calendars. RISD officials realized by adding 10 minutes to the school day, they could cut the school year to 172 days, giving them more time for staff development. When parents heard the school day was getting longer, several of them wanted a promise that some of those extra minutes go toward recess, so they created the petition.

RISD seems happy to oblige, although it has not decided what exactly the new schedule will entail. “We’re stilling in the planning process, but having these extra 10 minutes will give us some options,” says Dr. Chris Goodson, assistant superintendent for elementary schools.

Currently, fifth- and sixth-graders get 16 minutes of recess, while younger students get 20 minutes. The new schedule will be presented to parents by the end of the school year.

“We’ve gotten an abundance of feedback from parents with 3,000 signatures on the petition,” Goodson added. “We’ve seen a lot of passion from our families who want more recess for their children.”

— Emily Charrier

2015 TOP PRODUCERS

GROUP PRODUCER

TOP INDIVIDUAL PRODUCERS

Kim Nikolis Jorge Goldsmit Alison O’Halloran Mike Bryant Edwina Dye

George Haynes

Jan Stell Kim Sinnott Peter Loudis

Rene Barrera

TOP INDIVIDUAL PRODUCER

Dennis Hammett Ronda & David Hardt The Hardt Group

TOP

Chris Gonzales

Pam Dybvad & Dick Phelps Dybvad Phelps Group

P Elizabeth & Doug Selzer The Selzer Group

TOP GROUP PRODUCERS

6441 E MOCKINGBIRD LANE DALLAS, TEXAS 75214

Scene of the crime

The story of Jean Harris captivated the nation in the 1980s. In the 2005 film “Ms. Harris,” Annette Bening played Harris, the headmistress at an exclusive girls school convicted of a brutal murder. She was convicted of shooting to death her ex-lover, Herman Tarnower, a famous cardiologist and author of the best seller, “The Scarsdale Diet.”

Her story played out in posh northeastern venues, according to New York Magazine writer Anthony Haden-Guest. “… Shaker Heights, Cleveland; Grosse Point, Michigan; Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia; a smart girls’ schools in Virginia; and Westchester County. Was ever a crime of passion more fashionably suburban than this?”

But the story, at least the retelling of it, has a northeast Dallas twist.

A Lake Highlands home, perfectly preserved since its 1981 construction, wound up serving as the ideal set for an upcoming show about the infamous murderess.

Docudramas are big these days, especially those with the word “murder” in the title. “Murder Made Me Famous” is one of the newest offerings — the series, which premiered last August, examines killers who gained notoriety when their crimes whipped up media frenzy.

An upcoming episode will detail Harris’ story, featuring interviews with victims’ family members, jurors, law enforcement officers and journalists involved with the case, according to a

press release about the series.

The production company was scouting the country for a house to portray Harris’ quaint abode.

They found it while scouring Airbnb.com, a site that helps homeowners rent to travelers, when they happened upon Cortney Gibson’s residence located in the Woodbridge neighborhood of Dallas.

“They were looking for a house like mine, built in 1980,” Gibson says. “Because many of the spaces have not been updated — bathrooms, kitchen — it was perfect for the shots they needed.”

The “Murder” crew has visited Woodbridge twice so far — once for planning purposes and another time in January to film. At production time, they had not announced an airdate.

Woodbridge, located just east of Richland College, includes about 230 homes built in the early ‘80s. The houses are architecturally unique, and the neighborhood, while clandestinely tucked inside a perimeter of old trees and winding creeks, has seen the spotlight a time or few.

Recently a sprawling two-story colonial-style Woodbridge home appeared in the independent horror flick, “The Dahl Dynasty.”

Before that, an episode of “Walker: Texas Ranger” was filmed a few streets over, confirm several members of the homeowners’ association. Resident Rebecca Douglas says the previous owners of her Woodbridge home told her that an episode of “Dallas” was shot there, though she is still binging her way through old episodes for evidence.

—Christina Hughes Babb

Photo by Rasy Ryan

KITCHEN REDUX

LAKE

After moving out of a three-story Atlanta, Ga. manse a few years ago, Byron Hill and Randy Fernandes fell in love with a spacious, single-level, ranch-style abode near White Rock Lake. But the kitchen was “...that ‘60s brown,” Hill says, and its island prevented “flow” between it and the adjoining breakfast area. That was a problem for the guys, who like to cook and entertain.

NOW

These Lake Highlands-area homeowners embrace dining-in and throwing parties more than ever following a down-to-the-studs, kitchen-plus overhaul. They sketched-out their redesign desires — to brighten up the dusky cabinets and walls and create more fluidity between the space where Hill likes to cook and the abutting area where friends and family gather. Then they hired local remodeler, Eric Cantu and an interior designer from Lake Highlands, Virginia Krejci. All told, the job took about six months and cost about $50,000. Passing through the construction zone on a daily basis, Hill watched as workers replaced tile with hardwood floor, rusty appliances and hardware with stainless steel and depressing browns with brilliant white, plus some pops of color and intrigue (tangerine chairs and a single wall of b lack and white hourglass-trellis-patterned paper, for example). That Cantu and company were so courteous and trustworthy made the experience bearable, Hill says. They hosted their first post-remodel party last New Year’s Eve. “At least 30 people were in her e,” Hill says, adding that he could cook and socialize with partygoers without them getting in his way — all brought in the New Yea r in comfort and style. —Christina

Hughes Babb

Seeds of change

COULD A GARDEN PROVIDE COMMON GROUND FOR THE DIVERSE STUDENTS AT SKYVIEW ELEMENTARY?

In addition to curious minds, Skyview Elementary will begin cultivating herbs and vegetables this month. The Harmony Garden, located on a 50-by-70-foot plot of land just outside the gym, was the brainchild of PTA president Sarah Greenman. She first conceived of the idea in

2013, when teachers seemed cautiously excited.

“They haven’t had anyone do anything extra for the school ever,” she explains. “There was a lot of ‘I won’t believe it until I see it.’”

Richardson ISD wouldn’t fund the

project, so Greenman began writing grants and visiting with neighbors. She has raised $12,000 so far, a third of which came from the Lake Highlands Exchange Club. Surrounding homeowner associations also pitched in, as did Moss Haven Elementary.

(PHOTO BY DANNY FULGENCIO)

tise call 214.560.4203

THE STORE IN LAKE HIGHLANDS

VERA BRADLEY! Find your colorful new Spring look! Beautiful new designs and great selections. 10233 E. NW Hwy @ Ferndale (near Gecko) 214.553.8850 Mon-Sat 9:30-5:30 TheStoreinLH.com

Greenman even secured a grant from the Whole Kids Foundation.

“This drawing,” she says, referring to a sketch created by Harmony Garden’s landscape architect Curtis Scoggins. “This is the first thing people say ‘yes’ to when I ask for money.”

Scoggins’ illustration, executed by hand, is intricately impressive. There’s a plant bed for each grade level, plus a butterfly habitat, rain collection system and compost area. He’s also designated space for “all weather instruments,” like those at the Perot Museum, so kids can create sounds inspired by the outdoors.

Scoggins’ wife, Karen, is a teacher at Skyview.

“He had connections to the school,” Karen laughs, explaining how her husband learned about the job, which he’s doing pro bono.

Though Skyview must raise an additional $10,000 for the plan to be fully actualized, the groundbreaking event will take place April 16.

“We’re starting with herbs and lettuce, easy growers, so kids get the feel of success,” Greenman says.

Nothing had been planted at the time of our photo shoot, but there was still plenty to see thanks to a group of Skyview art students who, with their teacher’s consent, had be-

gun to paint a mural in the corner of the future garden. It was only February, but the excitement was already palpable. Several people stopped Greenman in the hall to ask for updates.

“The kids are going to be blown away,” Principal Ingrid Dodd said, staring at the site. “They’ll be able to get their hands dirty.”

Greenman has big hopes for the project. She believes it could help unite Skyview’s culturally and socio-economically diverse student body.

“We speak 34 languages [at this school],” she says. “Where can we find common ground, a universal language? You can kneel on the ground with someone and you don’t have to speak the same language… And then there’s the idea of roots, that they can be tenuous. To have something you plant and it will be there tomorrow — that’s a big lesson.” Greenman pauses, smiles and adds: “Of course, the kids just want to have a good time.”

—Elizabeth Barbee

SKYVIEW’S HARMONY GARDEN is still in need of funds and volunteers. To see Scoggins’ drawing for yourself, visit skyviewgarden.blogspot.com.

CITY VIEW ANTIQUE MALL

SAVE THE DATE! Spring Sale Starts April 27. FLEA MARKET SAT, APRIL 30, 9-5, One day only, Tented, Rain or Shine! Sales 20-50% Off. 6830 Walling Ln. (Skillman/Abrams) 214.752.3071 cityviewantiques.com

ADVOCATE GOODS

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

Principal Ingrid Dodd, Curtis Scoggins and Sarah Greenman. (Photo by Rasy Ran)

OUT & ABOUT

8-9

April 8-9

“FLY BABIES”

Wingspan Theatre Company hosts staged readings of Rusty Harding’s new play, “Fly Babies” on April 8 and 9 at 7:30 p.m. The script focuses on the lives of four young Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) during World War II.

The Bath House Cultural Center, 521 E. Lawther, wingspantheatre.com, 214.675.6573, $10

April 9

TOUR EN BLANC: LHAECPTA HOME TOUR

The Lake Highlands Area Early Childhood PTA (LHAECPTA) invites you to step inside five neighborhood homes with white facades this month. Tours begin at 9 a.m. When you’re through checking out the abodes at noon, head to the Kaycee Club for a luncheon and live auction. Various locations, lhaecpta.org, $35

April 23-24

WHITE ROCK HOME TOUR

You have an entire weekend to peruse the modern homes featured on this annual tour, Saturday and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. As always, ticket sales benefit Hexter Elementary. Various locations, whiterockhometour.org, $15 in advance or $20 at the door

April 29-May 22

“THE BFG”

Dallas Children’s Theater brings Roald Dahl’s novel “The BFG” (Big Friendly Giant) to life this month. Though he looks scary, this giant has a heart of gold and hopes to give his kind a better rap. Dallas Children’s Theater, 5938 Skillman, 214.740.0051, dct.org, $22-26

April 30

RUN THE HIGHLANDS

Proceeds from this annual 5k benefit the Lake Highlands Junior Women’s League. Arrive at 8:15 a.m. for Jazzercise warm up and stick around after the race for a carnival. There’ll be bounce houses, balloon animals, an airbrush tattoo artist and more. Lake Highlands High School, 9449 Church, lhjwl.org, $30 for adults who register before April 17

April 2

JAMMING WITH JASON

Jason Michael is famous for singing the “Clifford the Big Red Dog” TV theme song, but he’s also an accomplished rhythm and blues musician. That means adults and children alike will probably enjoy his 11 a.m. musical story time at NorthPark Center.

Bookmarks in NorthPark Center, 8687 N. Central Expressway, 214.671.1381, northparkcenter.com, free

APRIL

Through April 10

DALLAS BLOOMS

You have until April 10 to check out the spring-blossoming bulbs at the Dallas Arboretum. There are more than 500,000, so if you’re into extravagance, this isn’t something to miss. Dallas Arboretum, 8525 Garland Road, dallasarboretum.org, 214.515.6500, $10-$15, plus $15 on-site parking

Through April 15

TAX ASSISTANCE

Taxes are due April 15. Need help? AARP Tax-Aide and the IRS’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) Program will be at the Audelia Library on Tuesdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Don’t forget to bring your W-2, a photo I.D., last year’s tax return and Social Security cards for all dependents. Audelia Library, 10045 Audelia Road, dallaslibrary.org, 214.670.1350, free

Through April 30

SILENT WITNESS

Kathleen Wilke’s photographs of White Rock Lake are on display at the Bath House Cultural Center until April 30. You’ll recognize the scenery, but not the perspective. Bath House Cultural Center, 521 E. Lawther, 214.670.8749, bathhousecultural.com, free

April 15-May 1

“BALLOONACY”

This play might not have words, but it has plenty of action. Follow the adventures of an elderly man and his red balloon at the Dallas Children’s Theater. Audience participation is strongly encouraged.

Dallas Children’s Theater, 5938 Skillman, 214.740.0051, dct.org, $14

Send events to editor@advocatemag.com

Delicious

“THE CLASSIC,” A BROWNIE SUNDAE WITH MINT SPRINKLES. (PHOTO BY KATHY TRAN)

MATCHBOX

When the proprietors of Matchbox say the Washington D.C.based restaurant chain is “family-owned,” they’re mostly telling the truth. Mark Neal and Ty Neal are indeed brothers. But the third co-founder, Drew Kim, is just a friend. He’d probably object to the word “just.”

“[Drew] is our half-brother from another mother,” Mark jokes. The men obviously are close, which may be because they lived together in 2003.

“We rented a small house in Maryland and my wife cooked and cleaned for us while we were getting [the first Matchbox] built,” Ty explains. “She deserves the woman of year award for that.”

There are now eight Matchbox locations. The newest sits in Preston Hollow Village, right across the street from Trader Joe’s. Wood-fired pizza is definitely the signature menu item but the tuna tartare tacos and miniature angus burgers are also popular with diners. Try the lemon custard cake for dessert or pop in during happy hour for a signature cocktail, like the Patio Pounder, a fusion of watermelon vodka and lemonade. You probably won’t get to meet Mark, Ty or Drew, because they returned to Washington D.C. shortly after our interview. But the general manager, Shannon Farr, is holding down the fort with Texas hospitality.

— Elizabeth Barbee

MATCHBOX

7859 Walnut Hill, Suite 140 844.712.2369

matchboxrestaurants.com

AMBIANCE: SOMEHOW BOTH INDUSTRIAL AND COZY

PRICE RANGE: $10-$23 FOR FOOD

HOURS:

MONDAY-THURSDAY, 11 A.M.-10:30 P.M.

FRIDAY, 11 A.M.-11:30 P.M.

SATURDAY, 10 A.M.-11:30 P.M.

SUNDAY, 10 A.M.-10:30 P.M.

Did you know: Mark, Ty and Drew worked with a sommelier to create a signature red wine for Matchbox? You can buy a bottle for $30.

Wood-fired pepperoni pizza. (Photo by Kathy Tran)

dining SPOTLIGHT

MEXICAN GRILL

Enchilada’s

Voted by Advocate Readers as Best Date Night in Lake Highlands

Enjoy our Big E or other award-winning Rita on the patio today.

Join us on twitter today!

@EnchiladasTX

enchiladasrestaurants.com

Like us on Facebook

For Catering Call The Fiesta Line 214.691.1390

BREAKFAST/LUNCH

Another Broken Egg Cafe

It’s our passion to create exceptional dishes for breakfast, brunch and lunch that are “craveably” delicious with an artisanal flair.

Mon-Sun 7:00 -2:00 pm

La Bodega’s Authentic Latin Cuisine

Opening Soon! A great dining experience that combines the Caribbean Soul food of Puerto Rico & Cuba with the bold flavors of Argentina, Peru and Panama. Enjoy perfectly charred Churrasco, Vaca Frita Patacon Slider, Corvina a la Criolla & traditional Mofongo.

1905 Greenville Ave. labodegas.com 972.807.2048

Thai Opal

We strive to be the premier Thai restaurant in Dallas!

We have infused the classical Thai cuisine with a modern ambiance. BYOB welcomed.

• Take out • Lunch Specials

• Now Serving Beer & Wine 6300

SMOKED MEATS

Palapas Seafood Bar

Come see why we were voted one of the best patios in Dallas for 2016. Experience our special flavorings & recipes from Mexico’s seafood capital Sinaloa.

Enjoy our Happy Hour from 4-7pm.

Nature’s Plate

Plant-based meals, snacks, and treats to go!

• Order online for weekly pick-up

• Sign up for a meal plan – lots of options to fit busy schedules

• Stop by our store and choose from what we have – we cook fresh meals every day!

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One90 Smoked Meats

Offering bbq combo plates, sandwiches, tacos, sides, desserts & a wide variety of locally smoked meats, including Brisket, Bison, Turkey, Chicken, Pork, Salmon, Duck, Lamb & Tenderloins.

Hours:

Mon. Closed , Tues.-Sat. 11am-8pm Sun. 11am-5pm

THAI

TASTE OF SPRING

Nothing is more refreshing on a warm April day than a frozen treat. Citrus granita is a semi frozen dessert made with water, sugar and the citrus juice of your choice to create a shaved ice that will cool you off throughout the warm months.

RECIPE: LEMON-LIME GRANITA

Serves 6

Ingredients:

3 cups water

1 cup sugar

6 mint leaves

1/4 cup lemon juice

1/4 cup lime juice

1 teaspoon lemon zest

1 teaspoon lime zest

Directions:

1. In a small saucepan combine water, sugar and mint leaves.

2. Cook the simple syrup until sugar is dissolved and comes to a slight boil.

3. Turn the heat off and allow the simple syrup to cool, then cover and refrigerate until chilled.

4. Once the simple syrup is chilled, remove mint leaves and stir in lemon juice, lime juice and zest, and pour into a 9-by-13 baking dish.

5. Place in the freezer for an hour and using a fork, stir up the mixture to create shaved ice.

6. Continue to freeze mixture and shave the ice every 30 minutes until fully frozen.

7. Once you are ready to serve, shave the ice with a fork into the bowl of your choice and garnish with fresh mint.

8. Enjoy!

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 at inkfoods.com.

THE FAMILY JU-NEL

IF NOT FOR THE THREE KIDS, TWO ADULTS AND ONE DOG ALREADY LIVING HERE, DON DRAPER WOULD FEEL RIGHT AT HOME

STORY BY CHRISTINA HUGHES BABB

PHOTOS BY JEANINE MICHNA-BALES

The White Rock Valley residence showcased all those things that style-savvy mid-century Dallasites loved about Ju-Nel architecture — low-pitched roofing and vaulted ceilings; windows stretched to maximize sunlight and the outdoor view; distressed-wood decks, punctured and edited (same as the soffits overhead) to accommodate trunks and branches, always drawing surrounding nature into the home’s design.

Shrewd shoppers like Sarah and Miles Durham understand the intrinsic value of a Ju-Nel house. Beginning in the late 1950s, the Frank Lloyd Wright-worshipping duo Lyle Rowley and Jack Wilson, who named their company for wives Julie and Nelda, designed and built about 50 of them, mostly in White Rock-area neighborhoods.

The Durhams know you snatch up a Ju-Nel when you find it, and care for it like the precious gem that it is.

A blown-up black-and-white treated photograph hangs in the dining area. It features homeowner Miles Durham’s father, who, like him, was an architect.

The sloped foundation allows for a floorplan that features a lower level beneath the front door, by way of a streamlined stairway. Upstair s, the three Durham children — Elle, Beck (pictured) and Jack — live and play in a sprawling upstairs entertainment area.

The master bedroom upstairs features ample natural light and sleek, yet inviting, furniture.

An architect from a family of architects, Miles wouldn’t think of leaving well enough alone. Though the structure, upon purchase, was charming and well preserved, its new owners would strip, gut and tear it almost right down to the studs. Then they would rebuild — preserving and repurposing its finest parts — and polish it until it seemed like something plucked from the set of Mad Men, season one.

The topography of White Rock Valley, with its steep and abundant hills and flourishing foliage, lends itself to the Ju-Nel design. The builders looked for sloped, irregular, heavily treed lots — this odd foundation allowed for a floorplan featuring a front door opening to the second floor where a streamlined

stairway leads to a lower level.

Miles and Sarah accept, and relish even, that moving, for their family (which includes three children and a shaggy, oversized Labrador mix named Bo), means an indefinite future of sweat investment, dust and displacement.

“We actually lived upstairs while the downstairs was being done, and downstairs while adding the upstairs — no kitchen for a while. That was fun,” Sarah jokes.

It’s all worth it once you see the payoff — a new lawn, pool, outdoorliving area and putting green; a carport and shed; swanky upstairs offices; an entertainment/play room and enhanced preexisting areas.

Altogether, Miles and his team at Durham Builders added about

550 square feet to the existing 2,550-square feet.

Once one project is complete, the Durhams typically begin looking for something new.

They have lived in 12 houses since 8-year-old Elle was born, and they might move again, but not out of White Rock Valley, Sarah says.

“Of all the places we’ve lived, this is our favorite neighborhood. We love the school [White Rock Elementary]. We love our neighbors. Everything.”

Miles, who studied at Colorado State University and for a time played right fielder with the Detroit Tigers, has built and/or renovated more than 40 homes altogether.

Early on he worked alongside his dad and brother, also great archi-

The kitchen features chrome hardware and strokes of lime. A fluffy pup named Bo (see him at the back door?) typically has the r un of the downstairs.

tectural talents, he says. Beck, 4, calls himself a “master builder” (of Legos), and appears to be following Dad and Grandpa’s footsteps.

The Durhams’ foray into remodeling in 2006 was a result of the plummeting U.S. economy.

New builds, those huge speculative jobs that brought in big money, dried up.

Luckily, Sarah says, her husband is gifted at perceiving beautiful possibility in a space whose potential might go unnoticed by others.

“He can go into the worst place, a

hoarder house, a disaster, and see a vision of what it could be,” she says.

From 2008 until Jack was born, Sarah handled all the finishes for Durham Builders. Though she studied nutrition, not interior design, she has learned a great deal during her time working with Miles. Her finely tuned sensibilities are evident in this house, in the pops of orange and lime green amid natural woods and neutral textiles, in the wall art replete with inflated family images, densely packed bookshelves and the porcelain balls burning in the fireplace.

Stylish yet unfussy digs keep Beck and Jack comfortable and happy.

PUTTING A SPECIAL TOUCH ON EDUCATION

DOROTHY AND WALLACE SAVAGE AND DALLAS ACADEMY, THE FIRST SPECIAL EDUCATION SCHOOL IN THE CITY

STORY BY EMILY CHARRIER

PHOTOS BY RASY RAN

A dream Dorothy Savage often spoke of, in which she arduously climbed a mountain, could easily have be used as a metaphor for the pursuit of special education.

“As soon as she’d get to the top, there’d be another mountain to climb,” says her eldest daughter, Virginia Savage McAlester, seated in the bright sunroom of the family’s historic Swiss Avenue home. “She always felt it was God speaking to her, telling her there will always be more obstacles to

overcome in life, but you have to just keep going.”

Dorothy Savage wasn’t a woman who saw problems; she saw questions in need of answers. When the historic homes in her beloved neighborhood were getting torn down, she took a stand to slow the unwanted wave of change by launching Preservation Dallas, which created the Swiss Avenue Historic District.

So when her daughter, who was born deaf, was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, Dorothy Savage was hyper-vigilant about helping her youngest navigate the world with disabilities. Named for her mother, Dorothy “Dotsy” Savage was born in 1946, well before the Education For All Handicapped Children Act of 1975 and a generation before the modern standards of the 2004 Individuals with Disabilities Education

“There will always be more obstacles to overcome in life, but you have to just keep going.”

Above, the modern Dallas Academy that sits on Tiffany Way. Below, the campus as it existed in the 1980s. (Photos courtesy of Da llas Academy)

Act. At the time, Dallas did have a school for the deaf, but it was not the right fit for Dotsy, whose cerebral palsy added an extra level of disability.

Across the nation in that era, little emphasis was put on students like Dotsy, whose mental faculties were sharp, but who struggled with movement and communication. Without a suitable option for their daughter’s education, Dorothy and Wallace Savage decided to create one. McAlester is quick to point out that the school was a joint project of her parents, which it certainly was, but upon its dedication for the 1965-66 school year, even Wallace Savage gave most of the credit to his wife, who was the driving heartbeat behind the effort.

“She just had a way of making things happen,” McAlester says, adding that, for her mother, the school was about much more than educating Dotsy. “She really wanted to help other mothers, other families who had children with disabilities.”

Like Dorothy, Wallace Savage was a man who knew how to get things done.

He was mayor of Dallas from 1948-50, during which he oversaw the opening of the Central Expressway.

Wallace went about securing financing and a location for the new school, while Dorothy searched for faculty equipped to handle this unique set of students. The school opened as Plano Academy for the Achievement of Human Potential in an old storefront on Pearl Street in conjunction with the short-lived University of Plano. It was 1965, the same year The Luke Waites Center for Dyslexia and Learning Disorders opened at Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children. Learning disabilities were just becoming widely understood, but very few teachers had been trained in how to instruct students who have drastically different learning abilities.

The school opened with 40 students grades seven through 12, including Dotsy, who ranged in age and ability. As word spread about the specialized education program that offered all of the perks of regular high school, from sweetheart dances to chess club, families from across the globe sought admission. Early yearbooks at the school, which was renamed Dallas Academy shortly after it opened, included student’s hometowns ranging from New York to Oregon and Canada to Saudi Arabia.

McAlester, who was fresh from college and newly married, remembers having a handful of students live with her during the early years, before the school moved to a larger location with a boarding house. “I would make sure they did their homework, and made

“She really wanted to help other mothers, other families who had children with disabilities.”

Kim Toulouse heads the math department and helps develop curriculum unique to each of her students.

their meals and just kept an eye on them,” she says.

While the school attracted families from across the globe, it had no problem drawing students from Dallas. Although it was always a private school, Dallas Academy began receiving state funds after public schools asked to transfer their disabled students to the specially equipped academy. That funding disappeared in 1975 with the federal Education For All Handicapped Children Act, which required all public schools to offer special education.

“[Public schools] weren’t equipped to handle it, but suddenly they had to do it,” says Jim Richardson, who has been the headmaster of Dallas Academy since 1983, after a few years working in special education with the Dallas Independent School District. All of Dallas Academy’s students who were funded by the state were suddenly moved back to public school, leaving a void in the student body.

It was time for a new era at the school, which began with a new vision.

Since public schools had to become “jack of all trade” facilities for students with a wide range of needs, Dallas Academy decided to focus on high-functioning students with learning disabilities — students who likely would fall through the cracks in conventional curriculum. Instead, they would offer customized curriculum that catered to each student’s specific need, a principle that remains in place today.

Take Kate, a fifth-grader at Dallas Academy and a Lake Highlands resident. Until second grade, she attended public school, with miserable results. Her severe dyslexia made spelling and reading difficult, and kids were often unintentionally cruel.

“Kids that age don’t understand why another kid can’t read the names on her Valentine’s cards to pass them

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SWISS AVENUE HISTORIC DISTRICT

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Jim Richardson has been headmaster of Dallas Academy since 1983 and has

his entire career

education.

out,” said Kate’s mom, Ashli Robertson. “Her teacher’s loved on her, but she was so frustrated … That last year of public school, we didn’t have a great home life.”

Once Kate moved to Dallas Academy, she stopped getting graded on her spelling because doesn’t accurately reflect her intelligence. She began to succeed in school, and thus she began to love it.

“I think she would have slipped through the cracks in public school,” Robertson said. “She’s a different kid now.”

The school’s focus on students like

Kate, who learn in their own way, drew in parents whose kids needed an option that toed the line between special education and conventional schools of the 1970s.

A new location was needed to meet the demand from new students. In 1977 Will Caruth, who leased the land that would house NorthPark Center to Ray Nasher, helped the school secure its current site on Tiffany Way, where the old St. John’s Episcopal Church stood.

Caruth was not the only big name to come out and support the school. More recently, Dallasite John Albers, former CEO of the Dr. Pepper/SevenUp companies, donated $1 million to fund the gym.

Like the Savages before him, Richardson believes in the importance of offering students a full fleet of extracurricular activities. “If you were a cheerleader at Lake Highlands High, you can be a cheerleader here. We want them to have all the same opportunities,” he says.

Those opportunities come at a price. While the school’s success rate cannot be debated — last year 100 percent of students went on to college — it’s annual tuition ranges from $14,000 at the elementary level to $20,000 for high school. “We’ve always operated like a business,” Richardson says.

But the transformation some families experience can’t be understated.

“[Public schools] weren’t equipped to handle it, but suddenly they had to do it...”

Clockwise, from left: The founding faculty members. Students lend a hand during one of Dallas Academy’s many expansion efforts. A family photo of Dorothy and Wallace Savage with their daughter Dotsy. (Photo courtesy of the Savage/McAlester family)

“We see families in crisis,” Richardson says, explaining that kids often get depressed when they can’t succeed in public school despite their best efforts. “We get kids who are on Zoloft and their parents are so upset. The kids get here and with in a month, they are happy.”

Special education is exponentially better understood than it was 50 years ago when Dallas Academy first opened. Cutting edge teaching methods now ensure students can learn in a way that works for them, and how to advocate for their own academic success.

As for Dotsy, she still lives with

HIGHLANDER SCHOOL

9120 Plano Rd. Dallas / 214.348.3220 / www.highlanderschool.com Founded in 1966, Highlander offers an enriched curriculum in a positive, Christian-based environment. By limiting class size, teachers are able to build a strong educational foundation to ensure confidence in academics, athletics, and the creative and performing arts. Highlander offers a “classic” education which cannot be equaled. Monthly tours offered; call for a reservation.

LAKEHILL PREPARATORY SCHOOL

Leading to Success. 2720 Hillside Dr., Dallas 75214 / 214.826.2931 / lakehillprep.org

Kindergarten through Grade 12 - Lakehill Preparatory School takes the word preparatory in its name very seriously. Throughout a student’s academic career, Lakehill builds an educational program that achieves its goal of enabling graduates to attend the finest, most rigorous universities of choice. Lakehill combines arobust, 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.

SPANISH HOUSE

Four East Dallas Locations / 214.826.4410 / DallasSpanishHouse.com Spanish Immersion Program in East Dallas! Nursery, Preschool, Elementary and Adult Programs available. Our new K-5 Dual-Language Elementary School will be opening in August 2016 at 7159 E. Grand Avenue. Please visit our website (DallasSpanishHouse.com) or call 214.826.4410 for a tour.

ST. JOHN’S EPISCOPAL SCHOOL

UT DALLAS CHESS CAMP

800 W. Campbell Rd., Richardson 75080 / (972) 883-4899 / utdallas.edu/chess ) 2016

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 14 on the UT Dallas campus. Morning (9am-noon) or afternoon (1-4pm) sessions are available June 13-17, June 20-24, July 18-22, July 25-29 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 Pan-Am 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.

ZION LUTHERAN SCHOOL

her sister on Swiss Avenue. McAlester says she is still understanding the full impact of her parents’ passion project. On a recent winter day, a former student showed up out of the blue and rang the doorbell. With tears in his eyes, he gushed about how her parents’ efforts ensured him a successful future as a contractor.

“He couldn’t read when he got [to school], he was in the fifth-grade,” she says. “He felt like such an outcast before, he said the academy changed his life.”

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.

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.

“I think she would have slipped through the cracks in public school.”

utdallas.edu/chess james.stallings@utdallas.edu

MAKERS CONNECT

Local Artisans Gallery & Classes

10242 E. Northwest Highway Dallas, TX 75238 972.803.8890

Join us at facebook.com/MakersConnectDallas/ to stay up-to-date, &/or join our mailing list at www.makersconnect.org. See news & our latest artists’ work on Instagram: Chris_Makers_Connect

URBAN THRIFT

Thrift store

9850 Walnut Hill Ln. 214.341.1151 Facebook.com/UrbanThriftStore

New stuff & sales everyday! We accept ALL donations! You’re welcome to come drop them off or schedule a FREE pick up! We give back to our community!

CLEAR VIEW WINDOWS

Windows & Doors

214·274·5864 david@clearwindowsanddoors.com info@clearwindowsanddoors.com

David

Spearman, Owner

The “CLEAR” choice for replacement windows that are custom made to exact measurements for your home. We offer single-hung, double-hung, slider, casement, picture and geometric shaped windows. For a free, no obligation estimate, call or visit our website www.ClearWindowsAndDoors.com

DAN “THE COMPUTER GUY” Computer Repair

972.639.6413 stykidan@sbcglobal.net

ECHO BOUTIQUE

Upscale resale & unique gifts

9020 Garland Road (Between The Arboretum & Casa Linda) Dallas, TX 75218 214.370.4444

Confused? Frustrated? Let a seasoned pro be the interface between you & that pesky Windows computer. Hardware & software installation, troubleshooting, training, $60/hour — one hour minimum.

New Spring Arrivals Daily! Huge Winter Clearance Sale!

Upscale resale-unique gifts-designer consignment-hand picked vintage work by local artists and artisans

ROB WATKINS

Residential Mortgage Lender BancorpSouth Mortgage Cell 214.926.5836

rob.watkins@bxs.com whiterockmortgageguy.com NMLS 1403412

Whether looking to BUY or REFI, this lifelong East Dallas resident will be with you every step of the way. Rates are low now, so don’t delay. Give Rob a call or apply online TODAY!

LAKE HIGHLANDS FLOWERS

Florist 9661 Audelia Road, Suite 118 214.340.9950 shopLHF.com

Make any occasion Beautiful. Two florists at one location. Lake Highlands Flowers and Holt’s Meadow Central Florist 214.363.2732. We offer the finest floral arrangements in the neighborhood.

BUSINESS BUZZ

THE LOWDOWN ON WHAT’S UP WITH NEIGHBORHOOD BUSINESSES

KEEPING IT OLD SCHOOL

Lake Highlands resident Steve Cole just opened a Schlotzsky’s at 6862 Greenville Avenue near Park Lane. The building has a lot of history. It was erected in 1925 as a gas station and later housed a burger joint called the Filling Station where Bonnie and Clyde ate during their bank robbing days. Cole says he went to great lengths to honor the building’s past, restoring the burger joint’s signature neon sign and installing a rolling garage door out front to maintain the “filling station feel.” He even closed his Schlotzsky’s on Greenville and Caruth Haven to make this move.

CHANGES AT WALNUT HILL AND CENTRAL EXPRESSWAY

Cedars Mediterranean Mezza & Grill on Walnut Hill near Central Expressway closed recently. By all accounts the restaurant was thriving, so this wasn’t due to lack of business. Owner Nabil Dimassi told The Dallas Morning News, “We have made an agreement with the landlord to move out by the end of the month so they can move on with the redevelopment.” He hopes to open another Cedars in the same area of town soon.

Cypress Equities purchased the 16-acre Corner Shopping Center that housed the restaurant. The company plans to redevelop the center and call it The

A FAMILY AFFAIR

Brothers Andrew and Marc Pimentel recently opened a business called Snaparcel in the Northlake Professional Building on Ferndale. People who aren’t home during the day can pick up their deliveries at Snaparcel instead of leaving the packages on their doorsteps where they could easily be stolen. Currently the company has roughly a dozen customers, but the Pimentels anticipate that number will grow rapidly. They started the Lake Highlands-based businesses after noticing a surplus of package theft posts on Nextdoor.com.

LUXURY LIVING

A five-story, 275-unit luxury apartment complex is coming to the corner of Northwest Highway and Lawther, near the White Rock DART station. Richmond Ascension is responsible for the undertaking, which is currently underway. This is the Connecticut-based developer’s first project in Dallas. When all is said and done the complex, which is being called The Parc at White Rock , will have cost $51 million.

Hill. Austin-based TreeHouse, a home improvement retailer featuring sustainable construction materials, will serve as anchor tenant.

The Filling Station’s signature neon sign. (Photo by Carol Toler)

Lakewood Office Space

PEOPLE

Michael O’Hern , retired choir director at Lake Highlands High School, suffered a heart attack last month and subsequently passed away. Many of his former students and colleagues shared their sympathies and memories on Facebook. Ross McClendon wrote, “No other educator had more impact on my life than Michael O’Hern.”

Holt Mitchell — youngest-ever neighborhood association president? Maybe. One day he was walking home from Liberty Junior High, where he attended school, when a car pulled up beside him and the passenger pointed a gun at his head. The perpetrators were just trying to scare him, he says, but that moment, along with other incidents over the next few years, motivated him to join the Whispering Hills Neighborhood Association when he was just 17 years old. After joining the board and becoming vice president at 19, he took over when the president fell ill. Now, at 21, he serves as the HOA’s vice president. He studies finance at SMU and lives with his mother, Rebecca Mitchell , a former teacher at Lake Highlands High School.

EDUCATION

To address Richardson ISD’s overcrowding issues, the district recently announced the formation of the Lake Highlands Reflector Committee . According to the announcement, the committee was created “for parents, staff members, community members and students to research, discuss and recommend options to the RISD Board of Trustees for accommodating current and projected future enrollment growth in the Lake Highlands area.” The group, led by RISD deputy superintendent Dr. Jeannie Stone, will make formal recommendations to the district’s board of trustees by April 18.

Jessie Cramer , a teacher at Forest Meadow Junior High , received the Innovations in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) Teaching Award from Texas Instruments. The accolade came with $10,000. Half of that will go directly to Cramer while the other half may be used for STEM-related professional development or instructional technology at Forest Meadow.

Bob Dubey will retire at the end of this school year, after 39 years as teacher, coach and athletic director in the Richardson ISD . “I’m actually going to stick around through next December,” Dubey says. “I’m going to follow through with the bond program – we’ve got four turf fields that we hope will be going in and we have some major scoreboard problems that need upgrades. We have several baseball and softball fields that need upgrades, and so I’ll be very busy between now and December. I’ll hold over so the new AD can transition without having to deal with these things.” Top applicants for the open position will undergo scrutiny by reflector groups and hiring committees.

The NFL’s Antonio Smith, K104 Radio’s Cat Daddy, the actor who plays Flash Gordon, Sam Jones and many other well-known entertainers will read to elementary school children as part of the Reading With The Pros Literacy Tour , put on by Lake Highlands native Wade Smith , a retired professional football player, and his locally rooted foundation. The program “promotes and supports childhood literacy and education through in-person celebrity book readings and classroom visits,” according to Smith. On April 22, Wade and company will visit three Richardson ISD schools — Audelia Creek Elementary, Thurgood Marshall and Wallace Elementary — where they will read aloud to students in grades K-2. For the older students, Smith and his guests will lead an interactive discussion forum that will focus on literacy and education.

BRIAN ELLISON | REALTOR BARBARA ARREDONDO | REALTOR

BENEFITING BLUE RIBBON HEXTER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

MID-CENTURY MODERN AND NEW MODERN HOMES

IS ANYONE LISTENING?

If the public spoke but nobody listened, did it really make a sound?

While this intriguing thought experiment bounces around in your head, let me offer some context: Dallas has a lot of smart people. More than a few of those smart people get involved in city government. Let’s set aside elected officials and city staff and focus instead on the folks who step into the public square to discuss and debate city issues.

Go to a public meeting and listen. Read blog posts, message boards, social media and online news story comments about municipal matters. The level of public discourse is impressive, whether it’s neighbors analyzing the merits of a zoning case, parents discussing DISD choice schools, residents contemplating the future of Fair Park or urbanists tackling the Trinity Toll Road.

Smart public discourse has shaped and molded our city in positive ways and Dallas wouldn’t be the same without it. That’s why I find it so frustrating when the City of Dallas actively seeks public input then proceeds to totally ignore it. I will say with optimism that this pantomime of public participation is the exception, not the rule. It occurs primarily when an outside consultant is involved in crafting

a “Plan” (sometimes a “Report”), usually in relation to a Very Important Issue.

The purpose of this political theater is to coat a consultant’s Plan in a sheen of legitimacy without actually having to alter The Plan in response to public input. The play looks like this: The city (or taxpayer-funded consultant) presents a pre-formed and nearly finalized Plan to the public. The city holds hearings at which members of the public can speak about The Plan. It organizes charrettes so the public can draw pictures about (and sometimes on) The Plan. It conducts online polls so millennials glued to their smartphones can thumb-type about The Plan.

Afterwards, the city thanks the citizens for their time and interest. Then, under cover of darkness, some unlucky city staffer is charged with sneaking down to the banks of the Trinity River and unceremoniously dumping all the public comments into the murky water.

When the Plan is presented to the City Council, it hasn’t changed one iota, at least not in response to public opinion. The consultant tells the council with a straight face that the public had their say. What the consultant doesn’t mention is that nobody listened.

If all of this sounds more than a little un-Democratic, you would be right. But the real problem is that the city is losing out on the tremendous intelligence of its electorate.

This was underscored to me recently when I was asked to serve on an advisory panel about the

Trinity Toll Road. I was reluctant to participate because the meetings were going to be held behind closed doors and we were requested not to discuss the meetings publicly. (This is a more direct way of excluding the public.) I agreed on the condition that the meetings would be video-taped and released within weeks of our deliberations.

Going through this process without public oversight has been difficult for me, not just from a philosophical standpoint, but from a practical one: I make better decisions when the public is involved. I learn from the public discussion and ask better questions.

Over the course of our panel meetings, a popular online commenter known only as “Wylie H.” tweeted about his/her/their objection to the non-public nature of the meetings. Then Wylie H. made an observation about the radii and design speed of the meanders of the toll road.

Radii who? Design speed what? I hadn’t thought to ask those questions. But now I did. That one public comment sent me down an entirely new path of inquiry, which in turn led me to investigate the geometry of roads and research a whole host of other issues that I would not have otherwise. My conclusions were shaped by what I learned.

We’re incredibly fortunate to have smart people who care enough about our city to comment on municipal matters. We’d be wise to listen to them.

ANGELA HUNT is a 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.

25 TOP

Recognizing the real estate professionals who promote our neighborhood with the Advocate’s second annual Top 25 Realtors in Lake Highlands.

Real estate is typically a family’s most valuable asset, and it shapes the face of the entire neighborhood. That’s why we honor the Top 25, along with all Realtors working in Lake Highlands, with this special section, determined by the 2015 North Texas Real Estate Information System (NTREIS) reported volume for residential sales in Area 18 as of Jan. 14, 2016. Find out more about the list at Lakehighlands.advocatemag.com/Top25Realtors.

JENNIFER FRIEDMAN

ACKERMAN

Virginia Cook Realtors

MAX ALPERT

New Western Acquisitions

BETH ARNOLD

Nathan Grace Real Estate

The Pickaperch Team

BEN CABALLERO

Keller Williams

KEVIN CASKEY

Dallas City Center Realtors

Kevin Caskey Real Estate Group

MICHAEL CASSELL

Gilchrist & Company

The Donald Wright Group

GLEN CHRISTY

Nathan Grace Real Estate

Christy+Norcross+Thomas Real Estate Group

MAX DUNHAM

Ebby Halliday Realtors

The Dunham Brothers

ALAN HAMILTON

Dallas City Center Realtors

RONDA HARDT

Ebby Halliday Realtors

The Hardt Group

PEGGY HILL

Nathan Grace Real Estate

The Hill Group

SHELBY JAMES

Allie Beth Allman & Associates

WENDY LUCAS

Nathan Grace Real Estate

The Hill Group

KATHERINE MCCULLOUGH

Allie Beth Allman & Associates

ROBIN NORCROSS

Nathan Grace Real Estate

Christy+Norcross+Thomas Real Estate Group

NATALIE RAMBO

Nathan Grace Real Estate

ALYSSA O’BRIEN RAMSEY

Nathan Grace Real Estate

MARY RINNE

Dave Perry-Miller Real Estate

ROSS SPENCER

Gilchrist & Company

The Donald Wright Group

JAN STELL

Ebby Halliday Realtors

JASON THOMAS

Nathan Grace Real Estate

Christy+Norcross+Thomas Real Estate Group

PHILLIP TILGER

Nathan Grace Real Estate

AMY TIMMERMAN

Nathan Grace Real Estate

The Pickaperch Team

NANCY WHITE

RE/MAX DFW Associates

The Nancy White Team

DONALD WRIGHT

Gilchrist & Company

The Donald Wright Group

An Ebby Halliday Company

Craig Jarrell

IberiaBank Mortgage

Craig Jarrell, Dallas president of IberiaBank Mortgage and a 40-year veteran of the banking industry, is the most quoted mortgage expert in Texas. He appears monthly in print media and on television and has served as president of the Dallas Mortgage Bankers Association. A leading lender to first-time homebuyers and seasoned professionals, Craig’s track record of success allows him a 100 per cent repeat and referral portfolio. Many real estate professionals rely on Craig for their own personal mortgage. Come experience why more people choose Lake Highlands native Craig Jarrell than any other lender in East Dallas.

MORTGAGE AND TITLE PROFESSIONALS

5956 Sherry Lane Suite 530 Dallas, Texas 75225

Call Craig today (972) 348-6179

iberiabankmortgage.com craig.jarrell@iberiabankmortgage.com

NMLS#316969

At the Center

A new community center opened recently in Vickery Meadow, the dense community that borders our neighborhood. The 15,000-squarefoot facility was funded by Northwest Bible Church of Preston Hollow and seeks “to improve the lives of the refugee children and adults who live in [the area],” says Pastor Neil Tomba. Inside, Healing Hands Ministry of Lake Highlands will operate a medical clinic. Visitors may also take English courses, learn new job skills or pick up everyday essentials. Dallas County judge Clay Jenkins, pictured here, showed his support for the center by speaking at its dedication ceremony.

CLASSES/TUTORING/ LESSONS

ART: Draw/Paint. Adults All Levels. Lake Highlands N. Rec. Ctr. Days: Mon & Wed. Students bring supplies. Nights: 1xt month workshop, supplies furnished. Jane Cross. 214-534-6829,

CREATIVE ARTS CENTER More than 500 adult art classes/ workshops from metal to mosaic! www.creativeartscenter.org

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

EMPLOYMENT

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

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

SERVICES FOR YOU

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

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

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

LEGAL SERVICES

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

MAY DEADLINE APRIL 6

TO ADVERTISE CALL 214.560.4203

PROFESSIONAL SERVICES

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

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

PROPERTY TAX PROTEST laurenmedel.com. 972-773-9306 Mobile. SEO Friendly. Maintainable.

NEED A NEW WEBSITE? AdvocateWebDesign.com 214.292.2053

KELLY PRESTON Certified personal

214-801-7503. FBK: Trainer Kelly P.

PET SERVICES

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

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

BUY/SELL/TRADE

FOR SALE Dinette table w/ 6 chairs, an entertainment cabinet & an oriental rug. Cash Only! Contact Alice 469-729-9295

FREE RANGE PORK & LAMB from local resident’s farm. Hormone & antibiotic free.Heritage Red Wattle pigs. Stock up now. laralandfarms.com 214-384-6136

SHARE FRONT ROW

Texas Rangers, Stars & Mavs seats. Tickets are available in sets of 10 games (sets of 2 or 4 tickets per game available). Participants randomly draw numbers prior to season to determine a draft order fair to everyone. Call 214-560-4212 or rwamre@advocatemag.com

ESTATE/GARAGE SALES

CLUTTERBLASTERS.COM ESTATE SALES

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

ORGANIZEANDREJUVENATE.COM Declutter/Files/Feng Shui. 972-816-8004

Community center staff and their families all live in the Vickery Meadow neighborhood. It is part of an effort to “better understand the issues refugees face and to make stronger connections,” a spokesperson for Northwest Community Center says.

(Photos by Danny Fulgencio)

AC & HEAT

CLEANING SERVICES

CLEANING LADY ALSO WINDOW GUY 110% Always! Great Prices & Refs. Experienced, Dependable. Sunny 214-724-2555

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

Family Owned & Operated

Serving the Dallas area for over 30 years

We raise our kids here, too!

972-274-2157

www.CrestAirAndHeat.com

TACLB29169E

APPLIANCE REPAIR

APPLIANCE REPAIR SPECIALIST

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

JESSE’S A/C & APPLIANCE SERVICE

TACLB13304C All Makes/Models. 214-660-8898

ELECTRICAL SERVICES

BRIGHT LIGHT ELECTRIC • 214-553-5333

TECL 31347 Lighting and Electrical Services

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

FLOORING & CARPETING

Restoration Flooring

Hardwood Installation · Hand Scraping Sand & Finish · Dustless

25+ Years Experience

Serving your Neighborhood Since 1993 Repairing: Refrigerators

823

2629

CABINETRY & FURNITURE

SQUARE NAIL WOODWORKING

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

CLEANING SERVICES

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

AFFORDABLE CLEANING Insd./Bonded. Move In/Out. Routine Cleaning. Reliable. Dependable. Residential/ Commercial. References. 28+yrs. Delta Cleaning. 972-943-9280.

AFFORDABLE, PROFESSIONAL CLEANING

$100 off 1st clean for new weekly/bi-weekly clients. Staff trained by Nationally Certified Cleaning Tech. Chemical-free, Green, or Traditional Cleaning. WindsorMaidServices.com 214-381-MAID (6243)

ALTOGETHER CLEAN

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

AMAZON CLEANING

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

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

TWO SISTERS & A MOP Move in/Out. Reliable/Dependable 20 Yrs Exp. 214-283-9732 twosistersamopmaidservice.com

WINDOW MAN WINDOW CLEANING.COM

Residential Specialists. BBB. 214-718-3134

COMPUTERS & ELECTRONICS

BILL’S COMPUTER REPAIR

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

CONCRETE/ MASONRY/PAVING

ALL CONCRETE RESTORATION & Decorative Designs. Staining 214-916-8368

BRICK & STONE REPAIR

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

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

BRICK, STONEWORK, FLAGSTONE PATIOS

Mortar Repair. Straighten Brick Mailboxes & Columns. Call Cirilo 214-298-7174

CONCRETE REPAIRS/REPOURS

Demo existing. Stamping and Staining Driveways/Patio/Walkways

Pattern/Color available

Free Estimates 972-672-5359 (36 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

ANTHONY’S ELECTRIC

Master Electrician. TECL24948 anthonyselectricofdallas.com 50 Yrs. Electrical Exp. Insd. 214-328-1333

TEXAS ELECTRICAL • 214-289-0639 Prompt, Honest, Quality. TECL 24668

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

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

EXTERIOR CLEANING

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

FENCING & DECKS

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

4 QUALITY FENCING Call Mike 214-507-9322

Specializing in Wood, New or Repair.

AMBASSADOR FENCE INC. EST. 96 Automatic Gates, Fences/Decks, ambassadorfence.com 214-621-3217

FENCING & WOODWORK oldgatefence.com charliehookerswoodwork.com 214-766-6422

HANNAWOODWORKS.COM

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

KIRKWOOD FENCE & DECK

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

LONESTARDECKS.COM 214-357-3975

Trex Decking & Fencing, trex.com

469.774.3147

restorationflooring.net

Willeford

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

FOUNDATION REPAIR

• Slabs • Pier & Beam

• Mud Jacking • Drainage

• Free Estimates

• Over 20 Years Exp. 972-288-3797

We Answer Our Phones

GARAGE SERVICES

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

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

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

EST. 1991 #1

COWBOY

All Wood Decks, Arbors & Patio Covers 214.692.1991

FENCE & IRON CO.

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 HARDWOODS 214-724-0936

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

HASTINGS STAINED CONCRETE

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

THE TEXAN FLOORING SERVICES

Wood, Laminate. Remodel Showers, Bathrooms. thetexanflooringservices.com 214-680-0901

GLASS, WINDOWS & DOORS

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

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

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

HANDYMAN SERVICES

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

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

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

HANDYMAN SERVICES

G & P HANDYMAN Plumbing, AC, Electrical, Painting, Roofing, Fix Appliances. 214-576-6824

HANDY DAN The Handyman. ToDo’s Done Right. 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

Drywall Doors Senior Safety Carpentry Small & Odd Jobs And More! 972-308-6035 HandymanMatters.com/dallas

HOME INSPECTION

KITCHEN/BATH/ TILE/GROUT

BLAKE CONSTRUCTION CONCEPTS LLC

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

FENN CONSTRUCTION Full Service Contractor. dallastileman.com 214-343-4645

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

STONE AGE COUNTER TOPS

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

LAWNS, GARDENS & TREES

#1 WHITE ROCK TREE WIZARDS

Professionals, Experts, Artists. Trim, Remove, Cabling, Bracing/Bolting. Cavity-Fill Stump Grind. Emergencies, Hazards. Insd. Free Est. 972-803-6313. arborwizard.com

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

AYALA’S LANDSCAPING SERVICE

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

CHUPIK TREE SERVICE

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

Tip: Signs you might have

1. Stains on ceiling or walls.

2. Seeing water in your attic after

PLEASE

3. Seeing missing, cracked or curling shingles.

4. Mold or ‘bald spots’ on your roof.

HOUSE PAINTING

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

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

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

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

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

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

TOP COAT 30 yrs. exp. Reliable, Quality Repair/Remodel Phil @ 214-770-2863

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

Kirk Scott Scott Exteriors 214.503.7663 scottexteriors.com

KITCHEN/BATH/ TILE/GROUT

TK REMODELING 972-533-2872

Complete Full Service Repairs, Remodeling, Restoration. Name It — We do it. Tommy. Insured. dallas.tkremodelingcontractors.com

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

LAWNS, GARDENS & TREES

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

DALLAS K.D.R.SERVICES • 214-349-0914

Lawn Service & Landscape Installation

HOLMAN IRRIGATION

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

LIGHT IT UP DALLAS

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

LSI LAWN SPRINKLERS “Making Water Work”

Irrigation system Service & Repair. Specializing In Older Copper Systems. LI #13715. 214-283-4673

WE REFINISH!

• Tubs, Tiles or Sinks

• Cultured Marble

• Kitchen Countertops

214-631-8719

www.allsurfacerefinishing.com

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

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

PLUMBING

A2Z PLUMBING 214-727-4040

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

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

ANDREWS PLUMBING • 214-354-8521

# M37740 Insured. Any plumbing issues. plumberiffic69@gmail.com

Sewers • Drains • Bonded 24 Hours/7 Days

*Joe Faz 469-346-1814 - Se Habla Español*

ARRIAGA PLUMBING: General Plumbing

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

HAYES PLUMBING INC. Repairs.

Insured, 214-343-1427 License M13238

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

NTX PLUMBING SPEC. LLLP 214-226-0913

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

SPECK PLUMBING

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

214-328-7371

MetroFlowPlumbing.com

Lic.# M16620

REMODELING

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

FENN CONSTRUCTION Full Service Contractor. dallastileman.com 214-343-4645

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

RENOVATE DALLAS renovatedallas.com 214-403-7247

Bob McDonald Company, Inc. BUILDERS/REMODELERS

30+ Yrs. in Business • Major Additions Complete Renovations • Kitchens/Baths

214-341-1155

bobmcdonaldco.net

ROOFING

REMODELING

BLAKE CONSTRUCTION CONCEPTS, LLC

Complete Remodeling, Kitchens, Baths, Additions. Hardie Siding & Replacement Windows. Build On Your Own Lot. Insured. www.blake-construction.com 214-563-5035

What

on December 16,

TRUE CRIME

Two suspects walked up to the Sonic at Audelia and Royal around 11:15 p.m. on March 5 and proceeded to shoot a female employee who was sweeping outside. According to reports, the shooting was part of an attempted robbery. No word yet on whether the suspects actually stole anything before making their escape. They had not been apprehended and police were still reviewing surveillance video at time of press. Sonic closed early the day after the shooting, so its manager could chat with her team — especially those working the night shift — about safety. Thankfully, the injured employee was released from the hospital shortly after the incident.

Police and federal marshals were attempting to execute a warrant arrest last month at the Sunset Terrace apartments when they heard a single gunshot. Officials immediately began evacuating adjacent apartments and called in the Dallas SWAT team for backup. Two hours later a man was found dead from a bullet wound. Initial reports suggest it was self inflicted. As for the warrant that brought the police to the complex to begin with, it was being issued to Robert James Covington, 32, of Omaha, Neb. Covington was wanted for assault and weapons charges after he allegedly pulled out a gun and began shooting up a gas station, critically wounding one clerk.

CRIME NUMBERS

$13,000

worth of clothing stolen from Men’s Wearhouse, located in the 9100 block of North Central Expressway.

1:30

a.m. Approximate time at which the theft occurred.

100 percent of the stolen merchandise was returned to the store after officers caught the suspects — Travis DeWayne Crowder and Brenson Dudley Smith — fleeing the scene in a red, four-door Dodge pickup.

Source: Dallas Police Department

YOU’RE ALL HERETICS

AND SO AM I, IN A CITY WITH CHURCHES GALORE

WORSHIP

ANGLICAN

ALL SAINTS EAST DALLAS / allsaintseastdallas.org

Sunday worship service at 5:00 pm

Meeting at Central Lutheran Church / 1000 Easton Road

BAPTIST

LAKESIDE BAPTIST / 9150 Garland Rd / 214.324.1425

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

Pastor Jeff Donnell / www.lbcdallas.com

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

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

Speaking / 214.860.1500

WILSHIRE BAPTIST / 4316 Abrams / 214.452.3100

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

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

BIBLE CHURCHES

NORTH HIGHLANDS BIBLE CHURCH / nhbc.net / 9626 Church Rd.

Sun: LifeQuest 9:00 am / Worship 10:30 am / 214.348.9697

Wed: AWANA and Kids Choir 6:00 pm / Student Ministry 7:00 pm

DISCIPLES OF CHRIST

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

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

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

LUTHERAN

CENTRAL LUTHERAN CHURCH, ELCA / 1000 Easton Road

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

Pastor Rich Pounds / CentralLutheran.org / 214.327.2222

FIRST UNITED LUTHERAN CHURCH / 6202 E Mockingbird Ln.

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

METHODIST

GRACE UMC / Diverse, Inclusive, Missional

Sunday School for all ages, 9:30 am / Worship, 10:50 am 4105 Junius St. / 214.824.2533 / graceumcdallas.org

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 & 11:00 am Traditional / 11:00 am Contemporary

PRESBYTERIAN

LAKE HIGHLANDS PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH / 214.348.2133

8525 Audelia Road at NW Hwy. / www.lhpres.org

9:00 am Contemporary, 9:55 am Christian Ed., 11:00 am Traditional

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

214.827.5521 / www.northridgepc.org / Welcomes you to Worship 8:30 & 11:00 am / Church School 9:35 am / Childcare provided.

UNITY

UNITY OF DALLAS / A Positive Path for Spiritual Living

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

Sundays: 9:00 am Early Service, 11:00 am Celebration Service

Churches come in all shapes and sizes now. You get to choose.

And don’t we like that? We are Americans, after all — a country of religious heretics. I don’t mean we are all un-Orthodox believers; although some are. I mean heretics in the original sense of the Greek verb hairein, to choose. Heretics choose their own beliefs and go their own spiritual way, rather than conforming to the beliefs and practices of a tradition.

The choosing now is often over what church to attend, which is recent phenomenon in the history of the world. Before we had 39 flavors of denominational churches and 27 varieties of non-denominational churches, before we had 11 versions of English Bible translations, and before we had decisions to make about choirs or praise bands, sermons or teaching talks, Sunday-go-to-meeting dress or non-business casual, we had parish churches that everyone attended whether you liked it or not.

Not that that way of churchgoing is Paradise Lost, but churches like that were generally smaller and always intergenerational. You didn’t get to choose your family or your church family.

A new dust-up in church circles came recently from an Atlanta-based mega-church pastor who said this:

“When I hear adults say, ‘I don’t like a big church. I like about 200. I wanna be able to know everybody,’ I say you are so stinkin’ selfish. You care nothing about the next generation. All you care about is you and your five friends. You don’t care about your kids, anybody else’s kids. If you don’t go to a church large enough,

George Mason

where you can have enough middleschoolers and high-schoolers so they can have small groups and grow up the local church, you are a selfish adult. Get over it. Find yourself a big ol’ church where your kids can connect with a bunch of people, and grow up and love the local church. Instead, what do you do … you drag your kids to a church they hate, and then they grow up and hate the local church, and then they go off to college, and you pray there’ll be a church in their college town that they connect with, and guess what: All those churches are big, the kind of church you don’t like. Don’t attend a church that teaches your children to hate church.”

So many things to say about this, but before I do, I should give full disclosure that am the pastor of a church that is large by most standards, but not close to mega-church size. Our church is big enough to have diverse programming for all, with staff ministers for each age group. So we probably quality for the “unselfish” choice of church he advocates.

I grew up in a small church I mostly hated as a kid. I knew and was known by all the adults. I ended up loving the church enough to serve it vocationally. Which makes me want to thank my parents for not asking my opinion about where we went to church. They weren’t being selfish; they were being adults. And they didn’t teach me that the world revolved around me and my happiness.

I choose to believe God can shape faith and character into children and youth through small, medium and large-size churches. But maybe that’s just the heretic in me.

is pastor of Wilshire Baptist Church. The Worship section is underwritten by Advocate Publishing and neighborhood businesses and churches listed here. For information about helping support the Worship section, call 214.560.4202

Only in Lake Highlands

After 2.63 inches of rainfall (at press time), the spillway at White Rock Lake became a white water feature. While 2016’s totals are still in the works, it bares noting that 2015 was the wettest year in recorded Dallas history. (Photo by Danny Fulgencio)

RETHINK retirement.

AT PRESBYTERIAN VILLAGE NORTH, we’re creating new ways to help you make each day better than the one that came before it. A new Lifestyle Fitness Center and Spa, Café and wellness programs. New villas for independent living. New residences offering health services, too. Martins Landing and Leonard Rose apartments are set to open this year. Don’t wait to reserve. You wouldn’t want to miss out on a future this bright.

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