2014 June Lake Highlands

Swim, baby

Teaching a tot to swim can save his or her life. The owner of Dolphin Swim School understands. 14

A chef of massive portions From fine dining to serving 1,000 factory staffers a day — this Lake Highlands resident runs the café at Fossil, Inc.

16

Yes, we can A culinarily inclined neighborhood family ventures into commercial canning.

No

Homeless and hot Summer is especially challenging for someone living on the streets. A group of neighborhood students is working to help.

59

Law and Lake Highlands Growing pot at home and stealing potted plants are among this month’s crimes.

Jeff Bekavac: Photo by Danny Fulgencio

Robotic Surgery IN EAST

DALLAS OFFERS MORE OPTIONS

If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with a condition that may require surgery, you owe it to yourself to learn about all your options, including some of the most non-invasive surgical treatments available using robotic surgery. Potential benefits of robotic-assisted surgeries may include significantly less pain, decreased blood loss, less scarring, fewer complications, shorter hospital stay and recovery time, faster return to normal daily activities, and better clinical outcomes.

To learn more about some of the least invasive surgical treatments available using robotic surgery in the East Dallas area, call 866-764-3627 or visit DoctorsHospitalDallas.com/RoboticSurgery.

All surgery presents risk, including da Vinci® Surgery and other minimally invasive procedures. Serious complications may occur in any surgery, up to and including death. Examples of serious and life-threatening complications, which may require hospitalization, include injury to tissues or organs; bleeding; infection, and internal scarring that can cause long-lasting dysfunction or pain. Temporary pain or nerve injury has been linked to the inverted position often used during abdominal and pelvic surgery. Patients should understand that risks of surgery include potential for human error and potential for equipment failure. Risk specific to minimally invasive surgery may include: a longer operative time; the need to convert the procedure to an open approach; or the need for additional or larger incision sites. Converting the procedure to open could mean a longer operative time, long time under anesthesia, and could lead to increased complications. Patients who bleed easily, have abnormal blood clotting, are pregnant or morbidly obese are typically not candidates for minimally invasive surgery, including da Vinci Surgery with Single-Site Instruments. Research suggests that there may be an increased risk of incision-site hernia with single-incision surgery. Potential risks include conversion to other surgical techniques and multiple incisions. Patients should talk to their doctors to decide if da Vinci is right for them. Visit www.davincisurgery.com/safety for more detailed safety information. The implementation

Radiation oncologist Dr. Robert Timmerman and colleagues changed the standard of care for lung cancer when they demonstrated that patients with inoperable disease could still be effectively treated with a newer, more potent form of radiation. Stereotactic ablative radiotherapy is a technology that was pioneered at UT Southwestern and is now being adopted worldwide. It’s another example of the specialized care available at 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 lung cancer patients are beating the odds

WHEN GOD SPEAKS

What do we hear?

Does God talk directly to you?

I don’t think he talks to me, as in, “Rick, that was a pretty stupid thing you just did. Drop and give me 20.”

No, I’ve always figured God has enough going on in the world that he’s not hyper-focused on every little thing I do or say. That’s not to say he shouldn’t be super-focused on me, given my propensity to mangle things. I just don’t think he is, because there are enough other people and issues out there that seem more deserving of his time.

Worrying about climate change, for one. The 300 kidnapped girls in Nigeria, for another. The various Kardashians’ lives, for sure. Maybe the fate of the Trinity Tollroad, although perhaps even God can’t make that thing just go away.

I bring this up after listening to a Sunday School lesson a while back. At the time, this idea didn’t register, but the more I thought about it (meaning the teacher did a great job), the more I wondered what I actually had learned.

The lesson in question involved the teacher sitting next to a woman during a lengthy musical performance. The woman had soaked herself in a perfume the teacher didn’t enjoy, resulting in what the teacher described as akin to an existential problem: If the perfume was as overwhelming to everyone else as it was to the teacher, shouldn’t someone step up and say something?

On the face of it, it makes sense: Why should the many suffer because of the ignorance of the few (or, in this case, the one overly perfumed woman)? And so the teacher told the class she said a prayer asking what to do, and then she decided to man up, telling the woman at intermission (as the teacher left to find a scentless seat) that maybe the woman

should be more considerate of others next time and not slather on so much perfume.

That isn’t the comment that later troubled me. The next statement is what drew my attention, after I had mulled the scenario:

The teacher said she was doing God’s work in letting the perfumed woman know her thoughts, believing that by speaking up, she was giving the woman an opportunity to learn from her mistake. The teacher said she was glad God empowered her to make a difference in the lives of others.

So would God really take the time to intervene in a situation like this one? Would he use divine inspiration to induce one person to tell

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

CATHERINE PATE

214.292.0494 / cpate@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

EMILY WILLIAMS

469.916.7864 / ewilliams@advocatemag.com

MICHELE PAULDA

214.292.2053 / mpaulda@advocatemag.com

classified manager: PRIO BERGER

214.560.4211 / pberger@advocatemag.com

director of digital marketing: MICHELLE MEALS

214.635.2120 / mmeals@advocatemag.com

EDITORIAL PH/ 214.292.2053

publisher: CHRISTINA HUGHES BABB

214.560.4204 / chughes@advocatemag.com

senior editor: EMILY TOMAN

214.560.4200 / etoman@advocatemag.com

editors:

RACHEL STONE

another that her choice in perfume should be reconsidered? And just how could the teacher be so sure she was acting as God’s instrument?

That’s one of the great wonders of life for those who believe in a higher authority, and surveys show that more than 90 percent of us still do. Those who believe in a God tend to believe their actions are governed by the beliefs their God has set forth. And as we know from history, people who believe they are doing God’s work — correctly or otherwise — aren’t easily dissuaded or defeated, because they believe God is on their side. After all, he told them so.

All of this brings me back to that original question: Do you believe God talks directly to you?

And if you do, how do you satisfy yourself that you’re hearing him correctly?

I like to believe I know the answer, but most of the time, I’m not so sure.

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

214.292.0490 / rstone@advocatemag.com

BRITTANY NUNN

214.635.2122 / bnunn@advocatemag.com

senior art director: JYNNETTE NEAL

214.560.4206 / jneal@advocatemag.com

designer: KATHRYN ROCHA

214.292.0493 / krocha@advocatemag.com

designers: LARRY OLIVER, LISA DUDLEY

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

214.635.2121 / danny@advocatemag.com

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

copy editor: LARRA KEEL

interns: SAMMI BRAUN, VALIRIE MORGAN

As we know from history, people who believe they are doing God’s work — correctly or otherwise — aren’t easily dissuaded or defeated, because they believe God is on their side. After all, he told them so.

From Left to Right: David M Bookout, MD • Jane Nokleberg, MD • James K Richards, MD • Julie M Hagood, MD Jeffrey M Thurston, MD • Lauren A Murray, MD • Hampton B Richards, MD • John D Bertrand, MD

Swimbabies

The phone rang. Dad stepped away to answer it, leaving his two young children in the freshly drawn bath. Then, tragedy struck: One of his children drowned.

It was an accident. Regardless, Child Protective Services took the surviving child into custody, and Mom and Dad had to prove to the state that they were capable parents before the child could return home.

Linda DeSanders says the death of her cousin’s child in the tub that day shook her entire family. Since then, the owner of Dol-

fin Swim School in the Lake Highlands area has worked to prevent such accidents.

“I just want kids to be able to enjoy the water for the rest of their lives,” she says.

According to a study released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in May 2012, drowning results in more deaths among 1- to 4-year-olds than any other cause except birth defects.

DeSanders directs the Texas Drowning Prevention Alliance and teaches lifelong aquatic skills, beginning with some of the most vulnerable swimmers: babies.

“It’s fascinating to watch my babies become incredible swimmers when they are

just 13 months old,” she says. “We call them our waterbabies.”

Last summer, about five million people viewed the controversial YouTube video, “Baby Swims Across Pool,” in which a 16-month-old is seen swimming underwater and holding her breath in a three-footdeep pool. DeSanders says that teaching babies to swim prevents drowning.

Because babies are born in amniotic fluid, they kick and hold their breath naturally, but around 6 to 8 months of age, they lose those aquatic instincts. As a teacher, DeSanders takes that instinct and turns it into a trained behavior.

Babies as young as 3 months old learn to swim at the Lake Highlands-area Dolfin Swim School: Photo by Danny Fulgencio

DeSanders, an avid swimmer herself, became a lifeguard and swim instructor at age 18. When she had her first child in 1980, she wanted to teach him to swim as early as possible. But at the time, Red Cross would not offer swimming lessons to children younger than 6.

“I didn’t want to wait until he was 6 years old,” DeSanders says. “So, I used my experience to teach my own kids. By the time each of them were 2, they were capable swimmers. They jumped off high boards and dove to the bottom of the pool for toys.”

At Dolfin Swim School, babies can begin classes at 3 months old. First, they learn to float on their backs, a skill that they can use the rest of their lives.

Every April, parents can practice drowning-prevention techniques. DeSanders asks parents what they would do if their child fell in a pool, and almost unanimously they say that they’d jump in. But she says that that’s not necessarily the best response.

“Most children are near the side of the pool when they fall in. It’s not like they fall into the middle of the pool. Instead of jumping in, parents should calmly reach in, pull them out, and start talking to them to distract their mind that something bad happened. It really works.”

In 2011, the Consumer Product Safety Commission released a report that Texas leads the nation in child drowning deaths. In response, DeSanders contacted every local water safety advocate she could find. The next year, 22 people came from all over the state, and within a year the Texas Drowning Prevention Alliance (TXDPA) was born. The group has members in Houston, Fort Worth, Dallas, El Paso and Lubbock.

An integral partnership between TXDPA and the Texas Pediatric Society has resulted in the distribution of 16,000 drowning brochures, available in English and Spanish, to pediatric patients and their parents at annual checkups. Still, Texas continued to rank first in child drowning in 2012 and 2013.

“I want the word to get out to more people,” DeSanders says. “I know we have so much to do.”

—Whitney Thompson

TO LEARN MORE, visit dolfinswimschool.com and txdpa.com. The school is located at 9820 N. Central Expressway.

Café is the new cafeteria

Andrew Higgs has worked in the kitchens at the Nasher Café by Wolfgang Puck and R+D Kitchen. So when he was approached in 2011 about becoming executive chef for the employee eatery inside Fossil Inc. in Richardson, he was a little hesitant.

“I thought it may be meatloaf and mashed potatoes,” he says. Turns out, he was way wrong: His operation, which serves around 1,000 people a day, is a far cry from stereotypical cafeteria fare. In fact, he says, “ ’teria’ is a dirty word. We call them cafés.” On any given day, Fossil employees and their guests may be able to nosh

Andrew Higgs serves up lunches that will make you wish you worked at Fossil, Inc.: Photo by Kim Leeson

on some yakitori, pick up a few Korean tacos or enjoy the pho bar.

Higgs says the median age of his customers is about 30, which he considers a real plus. “They’re young,” he says. “They’re very receptive to cool food.” So Higgs is able to try more exotic ideas and explore food trends. Some stations mimic local restaurants: The Scratch Shack, for instance, was inspired by Oak Cliff restaurant Chicken Scratch. He also has featured a Velvet Taco-ish station.

The Lake Highlands resident didn’t always plan on a culinary career. He spent six years in Minneapolis studying music and working as a bartender. “One night [while he was bartending] someone didn’t show up in the kitchen,” he says. Since Higgs enjoyed cooking, he volunteered to fill in. “I jumped on the line, and within months I was the sous chef,” he says. “I never looked back.”

He says the biggest draw for his current job was “the quality-of-life factor no nights, no weekends.” That’s a real bonus for Higgs, since he and his wife have a 3-year-old son and an infant daughter. “I love the culture of being in the kitchen,” he says. But restaurant life can be difficult. “People want to have families. They want to eat in those restaurants.” He says that chefs from prestigious restaurants such as Smoke and Wolfgang Puck have recently joined his company, Eurest, to take over other corporate kitchens.

The hours may be more traditional, but corporate dining definitely has its challenges. “In a restaurant,” Higgs says, “there are two or three seasonal menus. But we have seven stations, and they change every day.”

Still, working as a 9-to-5 chef at Fossil gives Higgs the best of both worlds. He can go out and enjoy his favorite restaurants, such as Teppo on Lower Greenville or Parigi on Oak Lawn.

“It’s kind of a challenge to eat out with kids,” he says. “But we’ll see a lot more places like Chicken Scratch and The Lot, family-friendly with great food.”

—Larra Keel

A family who cans together

…

Lake Highlands resident Natalie Cole and her mother, Janet Covington, love feeding other people almost as much as they love being in the kitchen together. So their joint business venture, Mr. Wittle’s Fine Foods, is perfect for them.

The Mr. Wittle’s line features pie fillings, jams, jellies, slaws, pickled and roasted vegetables, and more, all prepared in small batches by the mother-daughter team using techniques passed down for generations. “I grew up canning, taught by my mother and grandmother,” Covington says. But the recipes are all theirs. “We wanted to take classic recipes and put a modern twist on them,” Cole says. Take their coleslaw, for example: “My grandmother always canned coleslaw,” Cole says, but their Asian version is a different thing entirely, spiced with cilantro, sesame seeds and Thai pepper.

Before launching Mr. Wittle’s, Covington was a legal assistant and Cole a counselor in the mental health field. “We were good at what we did,” Covington says. “But we’ve always wanted to do something with food. This is what we love to do.” So the pair started developing new recipes and perfecting old ones. Cole says she doesn’t really have a favorite product. “We have a personal connec-

Cole and Covington spent nine months on recipe testing (aided by “Mr. Wittle” himself, Cole’s son, a soon-to-be second-grader at Moss Haven Elementary who tastes all their concoctions).

Then they launched their business last September. The two rent a commercial kitchen, where they spend a good deal of their workday.

“Either that or we’re in front of a computer,” Covington says with a laugh, referring to the upkeep of the company’s website, blog, Etsy store, and Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest accounts.

“We love knowing that our food can reach people,” Cole says.

To that end, their products are available on artizone.com, a local service that delivers artisan-made foods, as well as manykitchens.com, a small-batch gourmet site based in Brooklyn. Scardello, the artisan cheese shop on Oak Lawn, recently started carrying their raspberry-jalapeño jelly. And of course they have a website, mrwittlesfinefoods. com, where they not only sell their products but also post recipes they’ve developed using them, such as roasted poblano corn cakes with cilantro cream sauce, apple crisp, roasted tomato crostini and even a couple of cocktails. “Everybody’s busy,” Cole says. “People need shortcuts to great homemade food that’s delicious.”

—Larra Keel

Natalie Cole and Janet Covington: Photo by Danny Fulgencio tion to each of them,” she says. “But for Mom, the pie fillings are her babies. She is the master of those.”

Killer personality

Sweet-faced Dexter likes to keep an eye out for bad guys in his Woodbridge neighborhood, or maybe he just enjoys the car rides. The 2-year-old beagle lives up to his breed’s regal reputation, owner Mark Williamson says. “He’s athletic, a runner, snoopy, curious, mischievous, a loyal friend, social, playful, tenacious and yet the sweetest dog around. He loves to take rides in the car, but especially on VIP patrol [Volunteers in Patrol] as our resident K-9 unit.”

What gives?

Small ways that you can make a big difference for nonprofits

Lend your expertise …

Help with the fundraising for or planning of the new Vickery Meadow farmers market. A planning committee is evaluating possible sites and is seeking input and assistance from members of the surrounding community. Email rebecca@vickerymeadow.org.

Clean out your closet …

Contribute your gently used goods to the White Rock Center of Hope thrift store at 10021A Garland Road near Peavy. Or donate time and physical or organizational skills. Or do some shopping — the proceeds benefit families in need throughout the White Rock and Lake Highlands areas. Learn more at whiterockcenterofhope.org.

Befriend a refugee …

Help a refugee adjust to Dallas life. A part of the International Rescue Committee’s American Friend Program, you can help refugees navigate grocery stores, public transportation and libraries, and help them improve their English. The program requires a two-hour a week, six-month commitment. For more information, see rescue.org/us-program/us-dallas-tx.

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.

Editorial correction: In the June 2014 story, “Liberated refugee pays it forward,” Samira Izadi’s name was misspelled.

Out & About

July 2014

July 4 Exchange Club parade

City Councilman Jerry Allen serves as grand marshal of the annual Fourth of July extravaganza presented by the Lake Highlands Exchange Club. The parade launches at 9 a.m. at the east end of Church Road, progresses past Lake Highlands High School and ends near the Lake Highlands North Recreation Center, where a carnival — complete with petting zoo, face painting, live music and sundry forms of summertime fun — ensues.

Lake Highlands North Recreation Center, 9940 White Rock Trail, lhexchangeclub.org, free

THROUGH JULY 13

‘Stuart Little’

Dallas Children’s Theater performs ‘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

BEGINS JULY 3

‘Herbbits, Wizards & Borks! Oh My!’

JULY 3

Dallas Wind Symphony

The Dallas Arboretum hosts a patriotic concert from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. Wear your best patriotic attire for the costume contest. Gates open at 6 p.m. All tickets must be purchased online in advance.

Dallas Arboretum, 8525 Garland, 214.515.6500, $10-$25

The Pocket Sandwich Theater presents a Lord of the Rings satire featuring a brave, albeit inept, band of wizards, elves and something called Herbbits as they attempt to destroy the “Sable Impetus” before an evil dark lord uses it for his nefarious plan. Shows are Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 7 p.m. An optional pre-show dinner is served 90 minutes before the production.

Pocket Sandwich Theater, 5400 E. Mockingbird, 214.821.1860, pocketsandwich.com, $10-$29

July

11

Sara Hickman

Texas singer-songwriter Sara Hickman, whose songs have been covered by the likes of Robert Earl Keen and Willie Nelson, performs at 8 p.m. The critically acclaimed musician will be joined by a special opening act: her daughters, Io Hickman and Lili Hickman-Waldon.

Uncle Calvin’s Coffeehouse, 9555 N. Central, 214.363.0044, $18 advance/$22 door

Photo by Katie Bernet

JULY 4

Richardson fireworks

Choosing a fireworks show? One nearby option is the Family 4th Celebration at Richardson’s Breckinridge Park. Enjoy live music from Infinite Journey at 6:15 p.m. and The Richardson Community Band at 8:45 p.m. Fireworks start at 9:45 p.m. Breckinridge Park, 3555 Brand, free

JULY 9 AND 23

White Rock Local Market

From 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., join local farmers, artisans and more for a neighborhood farmers market and purchase a variety of items — from fresh bread from the Village Baking Company to locally made organic bug traps.

Green Spot Market & Fuels, 702 N. Buckner, free

JULY 13

Too Hot to Handle

Join the Too Hot to Handle 5k & 15k at Norbuck Park for fun in the summer sun. The race began in 1995 and continues to be a crowd pleaser. So which will it be — the long flat 15k or the short and sweet 5k? Packet pickup at 6:30 a.m., race start at 7:30 a.m. and awards at 9 a.m. Packet pickup also available at Run On! Dallas at 5400 E. Mockingbird through July 12. Norbuck Park at White Rock Lake, $30-$75

JULY 1-SEPT. 27

Life at the lake art

The White Rock Lake Museum in the Bath House Cultural Center presents Refreshing Journey, an exhibition of drawings inspired by White Rock Lake from Dallas artist Jenny Hong DeLaughter. The exhibition depicts scenes from life at the lake — images of family gatherings, landscapes, wildlife and other special moments.

Bath House Cultural Center, 521 E. Lawther, dallasculture. org/bathhouseculturecenter, 214.670.8749, free

Dani is very professional, fun and easy to work with. She understands real estate and always gives great advice. Selling a house and buying a house can be stressful at times and Dani has a unique ability to be the calming force in the transactions overcoming obstacles like no other. I've seen Dani in action many times and I've never witnessed a more skilled negotiator. She's the best out there! I have and will continue to recommend Dani to anyone I know who is considering buying or selling a home in Dallas.

Delicious

Lunch

ROLLNGO

6110 Greenville, Suite 100

866.765.5123

Driving

freshrollngo.com

AMBIANCE: TRENDY

PRICE RANGE: $5-$10

HOURS:

10 A.M.-11 P.M. MONDAY-FRIDAY

11 A.M.-11 P.M. SATURDAY-SUNDAY

DID YOU KNOW?

—Whitney Thompson

along Upper Greenville after dark, it’s hard to miss the newly opened Rollngo. The fastcasual, Asian-fusion hole in the wall is decked out with so much neon that you’re bound to spot it. Owner Michael Dang wanted to create a more modern, grab-and-go concept similar to his other restaurant in Lake Highlands, Bistro B. “It’s just like a night club!” Dang says. Even the ceiling twinkles with LED lights reminiscent of those found inside a limousine. However, the customers don’t come to dance; they come to eat well-executed staples of Asian cuisine, from what is likely one of the thickest menus in the neighborhood. There are the usual suspects — Bahn Mi sandwiches served on airy baguettes and steaming bowls of pho noodle soup — but there are other standout menu items based on generations-old family recipes from Vietnam. The shaken beef platter is juicy and tender, with so much tomato, rice and vegetables that having leftovers is inevitable. And don’t miss the restaurant’s namesake — the rice paper rolls. With sticky rice paper, crispy grilled pork and a tangy dipping sauce, the rolls are the crown jewel for Dang. “You won’t find the recipe for these on the internet. It’s a secret.” Dang does reveal that the cooks wait to cut the daikons, cucumber and carrots to ensure that each ingredient stays fresh. By day, customers keep cool on Rollngo’s shaded patio while sipping on a sweet drink from the smoothie bar.

PER CUSTOMER REQUEST, OWNER MICHAEL DANG SAYS THAT HE PLANS ON ADDING MORE GRILLED AND VEGETARIAN DISHES TO THE ROLLNGO MENU THIS SUMMER.

Grilled shrimp vermicelli with pork egg rolls: Photo by Mark Davis

| MORE LUNCH SPOTS | 1 Taco Ocho

Just north of Lake Highlands, this modern, high quality taqueria featuring made-from-scratch tacos, tortas and tostadas — delivers a quick, inexpensive and satisfying lunch. Vegetarians enjoy ample options such as the Rico Ocho with black beans, plantains, potatoes, red onions, jicama, green and red cabbage, and cilantro. Carnivores, good luck deciding between jalapeño pork or beef braised with arbol chilies and beer.

930 East Campbell (Richardson)

972.238.8080

tacoocho.com

2 Henk’s European Deli

Grab a sandwich at lunchtime, and not just your average sub. Think bierwurst salami on rye or wiener schnitzel with a side of warm potato salad. Don’t leave without trying the Swiss Madrisa cake.

5811 Blackwell

214.987.9090

henksblackforest.com

3 Start

Not your average food-on-the-go, this breakfast, lunch or dinner dine-in/drivethru offers clean, from-scratch food in environmentally friendly packaging. Unique options include veggie pancake sandwiches (whole-wheat pancakes, veggie sausage and maple butter) or a savory chicken stuffed sweet potato for lunch.

4814 Greenville Ave.

214.265.1411

startrestaurant.net

• BRUNCH

EASY AS PIE

Triple-berry hand pies

A perfect little pie is a great alternative to a traditional slice and completes any outdoor barbecue or picnic. Tripleberry hand pies are made with flaky cream cheese pastry dough and filled with thick fruit compote in every bite. There is so much to love about these fruit-filled pockets. Hand pies are portable, need no utensils and give you the perfect excuse to head to the market for an assortment of fresh, seasonal fruits. Happy summer baking!

Triple-berry filling

GROCERY LIST

1/2 cup fresh strawberries, diced

1/2 cup fresh blueberries

1/2 cup fresh raspberries

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3 tablespoons cornstarch

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Bring all ingredients to a boil in a saucepan. Allow the fruit to boil for 3-4 minutes or until thickened. Remove from pan and allow to cool completely before using.

2. Fill hand pies and bake according to cream cheese pie crust recipe.

Cream cheese pie dough

GROCERY LIST

6 tablespoons butter

4 tablespoons cream cheese

2 tablespoons sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tablespoons ice water

Egg wash: 1 egg, whisked together with 2 tablespoons water

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Beat cream cheese, butter, sugar and salt with mixer until smooth. Slowly add the flour and beat on low until combined. Add ice water and beat until mixture forms a ball and pulls away from the side of the bowl.

2. Wrap dough and chill for 1 hour (prepare filling now, see recipe on previous page).

3. Preheat oven to 375 F. Roll dough out to 1/8-inch thick on a slightly floured surface. Cut into 16 rounds or square pieces, 3 inches each.

4. Place 8 of the rounds on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Place 1-2 tablespoons of filling in the middle of each pie crust. Brush egg wash onto the edges of the dough.

5. Place another pie crust on top of filling and seal dough so the filling cannot get out. Create slits on the top of the hand pies. Brush egg wash onto the entire tops of the hand pies and bake at 375 F for 20-25 minutes or until lightly golden.

6. Allow the hand pies to cool before serving.

SATURDAYS THROUGH JULY

Cool things down this summer with the Safari Nights concert series at the Dallas Zoo. Free with regular admission. Featuring A Hard Night’s Day, The O’s and more!

For more information, visit DallasZoo.com or text “SAFARI” to 47464.

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.

Roger Kaplan chills and grills at White Rock: Photo by Danny Fulgencio

Dig in ...

to the psyches of local culinary virtuosos

The chefs we interviewed all have at least two refrigerators. The most honest of them will tell you there is a food fridge and a beer fridge. We picked the brains of food geniuses who live and work in our neighborhood to learn what else — if anything — they have in common.

Bekavac

When Jeff Bekavac steps onto the front porch of his Lake Highlands home — clean shaven, smiling sweetly and looking years younger than his 35, with 5-monthold baby Bowen on his hip and a rotund, drooling bulldog named Basil at his feet it is hard to imagine him ever becoming one of those egocentric prime-time chefs, much less taking a swing at one. For

a decade or so (aside from a brief stint as a Central Market chef) he’s worked alongside Nick Badovinus — the chef whose company, Flavor Hook, includes Off-Site Kitchen, Tried and True, Town Hearth and Neighborhood Services (with three locations), where Bekavac reigns as executive chef. His name did pop up amid some minor chef-on-chef controversy after D Magazine led a feature story with an anecdote about a reported late-night row involving polarizing chef John Tesar, Badovinus and Bekavac. But that only served to add a hint of spice to his otherwise clean repute. His smoked sausage in 2012 and 2013 received rave reviews from judges presiding over Meat Fight, a National MS Society fundraiser that has raised $70,000 in its two years. Basically, despite his down-to-earth front, he’s a big deal.

Jeff

“Everyone has an opinion on food, though. It can be like politics.”

Jeff and Bowen Bekavac in their food fridge: Photo by Danny Fulgencio

What’s in your fridge at home?

Leftovers from the Memorial Day party. Brian Luscher’s hot dogs. He is a neighbor. [Luscher owns The Grape and Luscher’s Post Oak Red Hots hot dog line and was featured in a past Advocate article]. For the party I did dips, dogs and drinks. There’s a smoked salmon platter from TJ’s Seafood. I’ve been friends with owner John Alexis since I was in high school. He brought me the salmon. He’s a great guy. I always have yogurt. My wife makes these super-tasty little key lime pies. Those are in there. Tequila pops in the freezer I have a lot of beer in the beer fridge.

What kind of beer is in the beer fridge?

I am a big Lakewood Brewery fan. Not just saying that because it’s local. Lakewood Lager and Till & Toil is a staple. Lots of Lone Star. Classic. There are a lot of Capri Suns. My wife is going to kill me for showing y’all this. [Offers tour of beer fridge].

What does your wife do for a living?

She is an emergency room nurse at Parkland. That is why we have Carmen [the sitter] to watch Bowen. Sometimes when I am complaining — like, ‘oh my gosh, this dummy burned a burger’ — she’ll say, ‘I helped a guy whose arm was cut off.’ It puts a lot of things in perspective.

Where do you grocery shop?

Still loyal to Central Market, where I worked for about a year and a half. I go to Whole Foods on Preston Royal; it’s so close for me, but other than that I will hit the Tom Thumb.

Must-have items in home kitchen?

Peanut butter. Not like fancy peanut butter. Jif extra crunchy. Always. Oatmeal because I eat it every morning. No particular brand. Horizon milk. Nutella. Blue Bell Vanilla. I have a sweet tooth.

Essential kitchen gadget?

My KitchenAid mixer because you use it for so many things, whether making pasta, using it as a meat grinder or baking with it. That and my zester. I use it a lot for cheese, chocolate, cinnamon, nutmeg ...

What is your guilty-pleasure food?

Spaghetti and meatballs. Pasta. I could eat it every meal of the week. No glutenfree, carb-free for me. It was a staple that

my mom made. That and peanut butterjelly sandwiches.

If you could cook for any person –dead or alive – who would it be and what would you make them?

Oh, man. That is a tough question. You know what? I know it sounds, eh, but I would cook for my grandparents, because I think that they would be really happy with what I have done. I would make them a big steak, mashed potatoes and probably a big chocolate cake — simple, classic.

Favorite restaurants?

I love Brian Luscher’s The Grape; Cane Rosso, a go-to for pizza; Goodfriend, 20 Feet and Good2Go Taco. When my wife is not working, she loves to cook dinner, so we do eat at home a lot. Sundays we will have brunch — I love Crossroads Diner. I am a big fan of sandwiches. I’ll go anywhere that has a good sandwich.

The perfect sandwich?

Probably nice toasted sourdough from the Village Baking Company — they do our bread, and I love that sourdough. Mustard. Spicy. Crispy smoked bacon, fresh tomato, lettuce, avocado, and depending on my mood, a fried egg.

When did the fried egg start getting put on everything?

I don’t know. But I love it. It gives food such a richness and when you get that yolk it’s like instant mayonnaise, another topping, so versatile. My wife absolutely hates the egg.

TV shows?

I don’t watch a lot of cooking shows. I do watch Parks and Rec. When we did Meat Fight, Ron Swanson was a judge. I love him. I watch ‘Game of Thrones,’ but I am behind so don’t tell me. I like Boardwalk Empire and Mad Men — mostly shows that run Sunday nights because that is when I am home — and I like HGTV.

What are your thoughts on the cooking shows?

Well, I guess I like Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares, because it is a simple formula that he uses every time. All the shows are the same. It is funny to watch the people and the drama. I enjoyed the crazy lady from Phoenix last year who went viral; that was a riot. There are people out there that are just nuts. But generally I don’t watch a lot of food TV.

I try to decompress. Now the DVR is full of the entire Bravo network lineup, for my wife. Real Housewives kind of thing.

Well, she works in the Parkland ER. She needs to decompress too, right? Absolutely. She definitely needs to decompress.

Favorite sports teams?

Anybody will tell you, I am a huge college football fan. A&M. College football is my favorite thing in the entire world but all the Dallas teams. I grew up in Coppell in the mid-’90s, so Cowboys — I went to school with coaches’ kids. Stars, Mavs, Rangers, I love them.

Ideal vacation?

We went to St. John’s last summer with my wife’s family. We want to go back. Going to a beach. On our honeymoon we went to Zihuatanejo

The beach in Shawshank?

Yes. It is an old fishing village. Looks beautiful, just like in the movie.

Anywhere you would travel just for the cuisine?

Spain and Italy are the top two I would like to visit.

For the spaghetti and meatballs?

Ha ha. Exactly. No, but I love to just study the flavor profiles in the different regions.

Worst food trends right now?

Food is so interesting now because people are so infatuated with food, but everyone is a critic. It’s not a trend in cuisine, but the food world — the people cooking the food, the others, the bartender, servers — are subject to everyone on the internet with an opinion.

The Yelpers? They can hurt.

What bothers me, the hardest thing, is when they don’t say anything to you when you have a chance to fix it, and they go write something. If you are not happy with something, you don’t have to be a jerk. Allow us to fix the problem. I think sometimes the people posting don’t realize they are writing about humans. Everyone has an opinion on food, though. It can be like politics. Politics, religion, food. —Christina Hughes Babb

You probably wouldn’t know it if you ran into him at our local Asian grocery store, but Roger Kaplan is a kitchen legend. In the ’80s and ’90s he was a quintessential celebrity chef, sporting wild, curly hair and appearing in classic cooking programs such as “Great Chefs, Great Cities” and numerous news shows, magazine features and cookbooks. He attended the Culinary Institute of America; landed

the pastry chef post at The Ritz in D.C.; launched the iconic Old Ebbitt Grill near the White House as executive sous chef and later executive chef; and opened Atlanta’s City Grill, which, as owner and chef, he molded into a five-star, Beardaward-winning establishment. Later he worked as a corporate chef to some 50 restaurants, training, consulting and creating menus for companies across the country. He joined Boston Market in the business’s infancy (“they were making real food, good food, and were like little gourmet grocery stores at the time,” he says), learning all about the manufacturing of food, before taking a position with Ruth’s Chris steakhouse in Dallas, where he turned his attention to frontof-the-house operations, rounding out his knowledge of the industry. Today Kaplan works mostly behind the scenes, owning shares in multiple restaurants, and creating menus and advising restaurateurs through his company, Restaurant Innovations. Much of his gastronomic alchemy occurs inside his Lake Highlands home’s kitchen.

What’s in your refrigerator right now?

Some products for restaurants I work with but that I cannot mention [there are confidentiality agreements with some of the restaurants he consults]. Ten to 12 hot sauces. Some things from my garden — herbs — cider, beer, homemade pastrami, prosciutto, cheeses, avocado.

What type of beer?

Negro Modelo, Fireman 4, Lawnmower.

What are the essentials that you must always have on hand?

Extra virgin olive oil, garlic, shallots, fresh herbs, vinegars, citrus — lemon, limes, grapefruit — for flavor, a whole library of spices and grains, lentils, flax, hemp. I am into making vegetable protein shakes right now, for our health. My wife, Carolyn, and I have started working out at Peak Zone Fitness. I’ve lost about 15 pounds. She had cancer [years ago] — lost a lot of weight, put on a lot of weight. She is in the best shape ever now. We love it. We force each other to work out and eat right. I am also making protein bars.

Roger Kaplan in front of his home bar, which he built himself: Photo by Danny Fulgencio

Roger Kaplan

“All good food is science and art and a certain amount of technology.”

Where do you buy your groceries?

I am all over the Asian markets. I like H Mart in Richardson. I love La Michoacana meat market — there’s one right up the street on Walnut Hill. Sometimes Central Market or Whole Foods, depending on what I’m doing. I also like the Herb Mart in Medallion Center — for hemp seeds and hearts, chocolate hibiscus. It is great.

OK, you’re into health food now, but what’s your go-to comfort food?

Well, any old chef will tell you all good food is comfort food. You can see it in trends around Dallas that we keep veering back to comfort food — you’ve got the Blind Butcher, sausages, steak, potatoes, mac and cheese is back. All humans are driven by salt, sugar and lipids. That is why we want potato chips. That is why we want ice cream for dessert — sweet and fat. For me, what are the ultimate comfort foods? Soup dumplings, onigiri, which is a Japanese food — triangle-

shaped rice with fish or plumbs in them they are the most comforting thing. In fact, when we came back on the plane, we brought them with us so we could avoid the airplane food. We also like mashed potatoes, pizza

Favorite pizza place around here?

We probably eat at Grimaldi’s more often than anywhere else. They seem to be more consistent with the type of pizza I grew up on, up north.

What’s your most essential gadget in your home kitchen?

Right now, other than a stove, it is my Anova re-thermalizer. This is a sous vide pressure cooker. [Sous vide works by regulating the temperature of water so that the food cooks very slowly. The water is held at the same precise temperature until the food is cooked through, and allows the inside and outside to cook together].

MAKE A STATEMENT

Get noticed at First Baptist Academy

FBA provides a Christian environment, where children from diverse backgrounds thrive spiritually, academically and socially. We’re a Biblically-integrated, college preparatory school offering classes for Pre-K through 12th grade.

Our students study in the midst of the downtown Dallas Arts District. Our classrooms include the Perot, Dallas Museum of Art, Meyerson and Winspear, all within walking distance.

We’re small, but mighty. A small school means your family is part of a larger family. One where everyone cares about one another. It also means seeing your child get in the game.

FBA offers high academic standards. But we’re also fierce competitors. As a member of TAPPS, the Saints made the playoffs in nearly every sport last season, landing a state championship in football.

Give FBA a look. Then make a statement you’ll never regret. For information about enrolling for the 2014-15 school year, contact the Admissions Director at 214-969-7861 or visit us at fbacademy.com.

Meet Ryann Class of 2014

• All State pitcher, led team to state softball final

• National Honor Society

• Cheer captain

• Incoming freshman, University of Oklahoma

Favorite neighborhood restaurant?

We love Latin Deli. The Lomo Saltado sandwich, Cuban sandwich, red chicken salad. It is a staple for my wife, Carolyn, and me. Our place. We’ll go there all the time.

Cooking shows. Do you watch them? I used to when they were about food. The shows now are not teaching. They are about celebrities now. If I had to watch, it would be ‘Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives’ because I like hearing the guys in the diner talk about their food, their waffles and ice cream, comfort food. And don’t get me started on Paula Deen, who’s diabetic and telling people to eat blubber

The ones where they are screaming? That’s not a good method of teaching? No. Those upset me the most. Just perpetuating a stereotype. Yeah, it’s a hot environment and busy and frustrating, and tempers can flare, but usually when someone is reacting like that it is be-

cause they are blaming themselves for something, seeing themselves in the guy they’re yelling at. The walk-in [the big refrigerator in a restaurant] is a great place for a reprimand for someone who needs his butt kicked, but in public, that’s where you compliment.

What country would you travel to just for the food?

Peru. Lima is a hotspot. I want to get there and try the markets, restaurants, see what’s happening at the farm.

Family/friends are coming for dinner without much notice — what do you make them?

It’s mostly going to be what I have in my refrigerator. But I do have a lot of food here in the two refrigerators — I’ve got a fridge out back filled with ingredients for work recipes. But maybe I make smoked-brisket burritos; there’s always something fun you can throw together. If I know they like something specifically, I’ll make that, even if I have to run up to the store.

Do you entertain at home a lot?

No, but we did have my daughter’s wedding here.

What did you serve there?

It was very eclectic — we had vegetarian food, Mediterranean, shrimp, short ribs the band played in the corner. The wedding cake was a cupcake wedding tier cake that I did not make. It was very good.

Where was the cake from?

Crème De La Cookie. It’s in Preston-Royal and Snider Plaza.

Ever had to cook for someone important who made you nervous?

I have cooked for two presidents and was part of a team that cooked for Queen Elizabeth. I’ve cooked for Bill Cosby, Ted Turner, Jane Fonda almost all of Congress when I was in D.C., but really, they are not the ones who are important, really, to me. The people who I most want to impress is, say, the couple who appre-

ciates food, who worked hard, saved up, because they want to go have this one really special meal. They are all important, but that is the most important. I look at it, every single time someone walks into a restaurant, that I don’t know what’s going on in their life, and meals are a covenant. As restaurateurs we should be giving the best quality food and the best service. Making sure this person has the most awesome time. When people go into the restaurant they should only have to make two decisions. What am I drinking? What am I eating? Anytime you involve them in any other part of the process — do you need me to move this plate? Or they have to get the waiter’s attention for another drink — that’s a failure to me.

What presidents, and what did you serve the presidents and the queen?

There was Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan — I served Reagan a bomb. Haha. An ice cream bomb. That is when I was the pastry chef at Ritz. Also, I had to taste it before he could eat it. The Secret Service said, “Did you make this?” And I said, “Yes.” And they said, “We need you to taste it.” Jimmy Carter, that was for a dinner to raise money for Habitat for Humanity when I was in Atlanta — I cooked alongside Alice Waters and Stephan Pyles. And Queen Elizabeth, I was part of a big team of chefs with Dean Fearing. I really don’t remember the exact meal. I do remember Bill Cosby dragging a bartender into the kitchen to show her how to make a proper cappuccino.

Chef or mentor whom you would want to cook for you (alive or not)?

Probably Ferran Adrià. He is a Spanish chef and the father of molecular gastronomy and innovative cooking.

Cooking disasters you care to confess?

Oh, there are a lot. I mean, most great things happen because no one would think of it, and a lot of times getting to the point of the brilliant idea, you wind up with a lot of bad tastes. There was a rosemary chicken — it would have been fine but it was

cooked in air in altitude and that made the rosemary stronger, and when it came out, it was medicinal. All good food is science and art and a certain amount of technology. Stand at the center and some crazy great stuff comes of that. Perfecting a sauce can take six months, and it’s as simple as adding a small percent each day until you find it can’t get any better. It is a misnomer that baking is precise and cooking is not precise; everything is a ratio.

What is the perfect ratio of a sandwich?

In a good sandwich, everything is properly rationed by weight. Ratio of the burger to the bun to the crunchy goodies like the lettuce and fresh things, to the sauce, to the cheese. That proper ratio, when it’s met, is really good. When it’s not, it’s an OK burger or sandwich. It has to do with everything — the texture of the bun, all the way in. Precision. Ideally you don’t use volume measurements at all; everything, almost everything, would be by weight.

—Christina Hughes Babb

ED & LH

Chef Ivan Pugh, who owns Alligator Café in Casa Linda Plaza, always has loved cooking. “I’ve been cooking since I was a little kid,” he says. His passion led him to cook for several big-name Dallas Cowboys, including Emmitt Smith and Troy Aikman. He has always enjoyed soul food, he says. These days, he cooks a lot of Italian food at home with his wife, Caterina Costante. He also likes to experiment with flavors and spices.

Which reality TV cooking show do you hate the most?

‘Hell’s Kitchen’ — I hate it. He’s just an abusive jerk.

Are there any that you like?

I like ‘Top Chef.’ That’s probably the one I watch the most. ‘Anne Burrell: Secrets of a

Restaurant Chef.’ I get forced to watch some of the cooking shows, just for being married.

What’s the worst food trend in Dallas right now?

The worst food trend — not just in Dallas but in the nation — is the on-the-go food. Every once in a while, sit down and enjoy your food.

What’s the most essential tool in your kitchen?

My Scanpan. I cook probably 80 percent of my food on it.

What’s the best piece of wisdom or advice you’ve received about food/ cooking?

‘Cook what you love to eat.’ If I didn’t enjoy the cuisines that I make, there wouldn’t be a passion there.

What is the least-used thing in your home kitchen?

The hamburger patty maker. I think I used it the first day I got it and then realized it was taking way too long. It’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever seen in my life.

health & wellness

REPORT

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

OPTOMETRIST

DR. CLINT MEYER www.dallaseyeworks.com

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

Ivan Pugh

“I’ve been cooking since I was a little kid.”

Ivan Pugh at his home kitchen: Photo by Kim Leeson

What is your ideal comfort food?

It changes, but I would say chicken pot pie. But from scratch. I make a damn good chicken pot pie. That’s something I make when I have friends coming over.

Your wife’s family is coming in for the weekend — what do you cook?

Pasta, salad, good bread. Typically her mom will bring a bunch of Italian baked goods. She’s an amazing baker. I probably cook Italian more than anything while I’m at home. We’ve actually talked about opening an Italian restaurant.

If you could have a meal prepared by anyone, whom would you have cook for you?

Paul Prudhomme. I’d let him choose what he wanted to make. He’s really the one who boosted Cajun cooking in this country. He was basically the originator of blackening, which you see everywhere now.

What would you have for your last meal on earth?

A really, really good macaroni and cheese. Ribs, mac and cheese, and mashed potatoes and gravy. No vegetables because it’d be my last meal, so I wouldn’t need them.

What dish have you created that you’re really proud of? My crawfish enchilada.

What’s the worst thing you’ve ever cooked?

Well, there are two answers to that question: There’s failed recipes, and every chef has a hundred of those. And then there’s the ‘you screwed up and you’re embarrassed about it.’ That’s usually early in your career. One time, I cooked swordfish for like 250 people, and swordfish can become very dry. I believe I grilled it, and I had done several pans of it. After serving about half of it, I tasted one of the pieces, and it was so dry. The bad thing was that it was for Jerry Jones and a bunch of his friends, and nobody ever told me it was bad. I don’t think I’ve cooked swordfish since then. I’ve never been able to get over that. But those are the experiences you learn from.

What is the strangest thing that has ever given you inspiration as a cook?

Probably eating rattlesnake when I was a kid. Having eaten all the weird things in life — that one thing in particular — I realized everything can be eaten.

—Brittany Nunn

THE STORE IN LAKE HIGHLANDS

One gift...every occasion. Nora Fleming platters and minis bring joy to every event. Pick your tray, platter or bowl and adorn with celebratory minis! Many wonderful choices!!!

10233 E NW Hwy @ Ferndale (near Albertsons) 214.553.8850 Mon-Sat 9:30-5:30 TheStoreinLH.com

Tom Fleming

In a parallel world somewhere, Tom Fleming is the host of a wildly popular reality TV show. Viewers love him — he’s loud, large, animated and charismatic, he employs the F word more frequently than a teenager says “like,” and he has the culinary chops to back it all up. Problem is, Fleming hates those shows. In fact, he says, when “Top Chef” producers called him, he turned them down. After Fleming, a Chicago-area native, briefly considered the Catholic priesthood (yes, really), he did copious time in Chicago,

San Antonio and Dallas kitchens — from McDonald’s to Cajun dives and a brother’s breakfast diner to James Beard Awardwinning establishments and everything in between — before opening Crossroads Diner four years ago. These days, he and his wife, Karen, spend Tuesday through Sunday mornings and afternoons at the large, art deco-esque eatery at Walnut Hill and Central. Look for the Sticky Bun girl.

At home, what are your refrigerator staples?

Milk, Dijon mustard, pesto, roasted peppers, olives, capers, garlic, onions. We eat pretty simply. When I was growing up, the youngest of seven, that’s how my mother taught me. You have a lean protein, vegetable, some kind of carbohydrate — sweet potatoes, couscous.

GECKO HARDWARE

Mid-century sizzle with this colorful Weber charcoal grill including gas starter and built-in prep table. FREE assembly with ad. Like us on Facebook for specials and classes. 10233 E. NW Hwy @ Ferndale (near Albertsons) 214.343.1971 GeckoHardware.com

PAINTING WITH A TWIST

Express your inner artist! Instructors lead attendees in creating paintings with a featured piece of art. Bring your imagination and beverage. Perfect for private parties and complimentary valet parking. 5202 W. Lovers Lane 214.350.9911 paintingwithatwist.com/dallas

Tom Fleming and daughter Alexandra, 9, in their home garden: Photo by Kim Leeson

“I think [Top Chef] is the most completely asinine waste of time.”

You do the cooking at home? Nightly. My wife, Karen, does not cook, by choice. She is a phenomenal cook and has an incredible palate. But all those years I was cooking at night, she was home cooking for our daughters. The first night we were here I came home and said, ‘What’s for dinner?’ and she says, ‘I am never cooking again!’ She grocery shops, though.

Where?

Central Market and Kroger for the staples.

Do your girls cook?

My youngest daughter is a fabulous baker. She won ribbons for her brownie recipe two times at the State Fair. The oldest is good, too, but she prefers to create menus — ‘Hey Dad, you should make this, this and this …’

Unexpected dinner guests — what do you make?

The same way a chef comes up with specials once around the walk-in. You come up with a chef’s special by going into the walk-in refrigerator, scanning it for ingredients and creating

something from what you see. You can do the same thing at home. Some of my best ideas have come from once-around-the-walk-in.

Essential home-kitchen gadget?

My Henckels Chef’s Knife, offset serrated knife, the wok and my cast-iron pan.

Why did you turn down a “Top Chef” audition?

I think it is the most completely asinine waste of time. I do not fault anyone who has done it. In fact, having friends — no names named because they have confidentiality agreements — who have done it and shared their experiences is partly how I know it to be such a ludicrous experiment.

Do you watch the shows?

Never. My daughter will. She’ll say, ‘Dad, wanna watch Cutthroat Kitchen with me?’ No. No. People will ask me why I don’t watch them, and I ask them, ‘What’s your profession?’ and maybe they say lawyer and I say, ‘Well, do you watch lawyer shows?’ and they’ll say no, those are bullshit, and I say, ‘Exactly.’

What do you watch?

The lawyer shows! I like sitcoms. I like The ‘Mentalist’, ‘NCIS’, ‘Longmire’ on A&E.

Your favorite comfort food?

Pork schnitzel. Pork tenderloin, breaded and sautéed, with rice pilaf and steamed, crushed peas, was the favorite dish my mother made.

Ever had to cook for a big celebrity or someone who made you nervous?

Yes. When I was working under Chef Jean Joho, in Chicago at Everest and later Brasserie Jo, he led the team cooking for Julia Child’s 80th birthday. We did foie gras for 500 people. Every great chef in the world was there, either cooking or eating. Tons of pressure, and it was executed flawlessly. Years later, she came to Brasserie Jo to eat, she wound up on an elevator with me, she was very complimentary about the foie gras. She said, ‘I love foie gras and I don’t get the whole “it’s cruel” thing.’ I’m like, ‘I agree, ma’am.’ I’ve cooked for other people, but it doesn’t get much better than Julia Child.

If you could have anyone — living or not — cook for you, who would it be? Um, wow. I’d like my mom to cook for me one more time.

Favorite local restaurants?

I like The Grape a lot. Neighborhood Services. There’s a little place in Richardson, Frankie’s Mexican Cuisine. Sevy’s. I don’t have a lot because I don’t go out a lot. Most chefs can’t sit in a restaurant without focusing on everything going on in the dining room. It’s hard to turn it off. When I go, it’s a place where I know the people running it have the same values we do. Then there are the local vendors we use for product — Dallas Mozzarella Company, Empire Bakery and Homestead Heritage, where we get these incredible gluten-free grits.

Strangest source of career inspiration?

The original Taco Cabana in San Antonio. It was in a neighborhood that was a confluence of every bit of culture in San Antonio — you have high school and college students, seminarians, politicians, hookers, bikers from the Crystal Pistol — and at midnight on a Friday, everybody from those categories would be at those picnic tables eating tacos. It was a family business

the mom and pop and abuela and cousins lined up, beans simmering, making authentic Tex-Mex food, homemade tortillas with these rustic flavors. You will find a lot of those influences in my food.

Sports teams — Chicago or Dallas?

Chicago teams. I am afflicted with a disease known as Cub fan. Lifelong.

Hobbies?

Fly fishing. It is very relaxing. And woodworking. I love to build — dressers, desks. I have a shop at the house.

The creation you are most proud of?

The Sticky Bun. It took about four months to get it down. Even then, the first few months we were open there were days when we had to throw them out. People came in for the buns because of the sign our pinup girl, Rebecca Buns, on the side of the diner — and I had to tell them we had no buns because the batch sucked. Many buns were tossed in the early days.

—Christina Hughes Babb

Questions and answers have been edited for brevity

Little Stewpot Stewards Elle Madres and Alexis McNamera set up a benefit for Dallas’ homeless outside T. Hee Greetings & Gifts.

Mutual benefit

Neighborhood children take time this summer to serve, and they learn things they don’t teach in school

Story by Christina Hughes Babb

Photos by James Coreas

On a late-May Monday morning in downtown Dallas, it is sunny and pushing 80 degrees. Afternoon temps might hit 90. And real Texas summer hasn’t even started. Over the next few months, Dallas weather will rise from uncomfortable to potentially dangerous, especially for anyone without access to housing, say experts who work closely with Dallas’ homeless. In addition to the heat, those who are homeless are exposed to sunburns, dehydration and mosquitos, which can spread diseases such as West Nile Virus.

Inside the Stewpot resource center, a building on Young Street where the thermostat is set at 75, people who have nowhere else to go make themselves relatively comfortable in plastic chairs or on the white tiled floor or at a table near an older-model television. They are sleeping, reading, chatting or waiting for a caseworker to call on them.

The nonprofit, which is associated with First Presbyterian Church, has been innovating ways to help Dallas’ homeless since before 1975.

Last summer, Stewpot development associate Amy Desler — a Lakewood resident and mother of two — teamed up with Lake Highlands mom April Gorman to launch Little Stewpot Stewards. Their mission? To ease the seasonal struggles of Stewpot regulars.

The Stewards, some 60 kids from around Dallas, raise money and assemble “summer survival kits” comprising water, sunblock, sanitizer and bug spray, which they deliver to the Stewpot each Tuesday morning during summer break.

In summer 2013, Little Stewpot Stewards earned more than $3,500 by selling lemonade, and they distributed more than 600 kits to Stewpot clients.

“It is a two-hour commitment each week distributing the packs, assembling packs

for the next week, and then a lesson,” Desler says. “It has gotten so big. It started as a passion for April [Gorman], and I think she was completely amazed by how many wanted to participate. Our challenge has been to create those opportunities that are both meaningful for them and useful for the [clients at the Stewpot].”

Danny Mitchell is tall and sinewy and looks healthy and clean. His appearance offers few and subtle clues that he is homeless he carries a bag and wears multiple layers of clothing including a T-shirt, long-sleeved

top, lightweight jacket and a cap, despite the day’s heat. He is well spoken and matter-offact when describing his failed marriage and cocaine addiction.

“I had a wife and an apartment in Pleasant Grove, but our relationship ended, we divorced, and I turned to drugs. Crack.”

He attends Narcotics Anonymous meetings now and has been clean for a few months, but he has a hard time staying off alcohol, he says. If he really wants to get better, he has to quit all of it, he acknowledges. He says that though his situation is tough,

FOSSIL RIM WILDLIFE CENTER

Tours

2299 County Road 2008 Glen Rose, Texas 76043 254.897.2960

fossilrim.org

Book a guided family tour to get the full experience on one of Fossil Rim’s open-air vehicles. Sit back, relax and enjoy the scenery of over 1000 animals on our 1800-acre preserve.

CREATIVE CONSTRUCTION & REMODELING

Home Improvement

Barry O’Brien 972-342-7232

ccrbarry.com

Creative Construction has specialized in bathroom and kitchen remodels, as well as room additions in the Dallas area for over 20 years. Customer references available. Call us for your quote today!

MAKERS CONNECT

Local Handcrafted Items 10242 E. Northwest Hwy. Dallas 75238 (Next to Quesa-D-Yas and South from Gecko Hardware) www.facebook.com/MakersConnectDallas 972.803.8890 makersconnect.org

classes at MakersConnect.org.

programs at the Stewpot offer hope.

“I have slept in the [homeless] camps, and I have been mugged and beaten while I was asleep. It is dangerous. But here, I have been able to see a Metro Care doctor, received medication for depression and bipolar disorder. I am applying for housing. And I have realized that there is a god and that I can turn to him. He keeps giving me blessings. I keep messing up. But I keep going back for forgiveness.”

Asking for help is not easy for 50-year-old Mitchell. His 26-year-old daughter and his

Pest Control

Dallas, Texas 214-340-6969

info@safehavenpest.com

www.safehavenpest.com

When just one roach, or rat, is one too many! We use careful methods, respectful service, and state-of-the-art applications with your family’s health, wellness & safety in mind.

LAKE HIGHLANDS FLOWERS

Florist

9661 Audelia Road, Suite 118 214-340-9950 shopLHF.com We

Home decor

email: foundation@advocatemag.com or call 214.292.0486

Own

so stop by today.

Funky, unique gifts including jewelry, ceramics, plants and more. Discover unique gifts while supporting local enterprise. Pinterest-Inspired Craft Workshops. Find out more about our artists and sign up for

mother both live in the Dallas area, but he does not ask them to support him.

“There is bad shame and guilt,” he explains.

He doesn’t feel it as much at the Stewpot, where there is a welcoming vibe, he says.

“They respect us. They are not judging. Many of them are here volunteering. I think that is an indicator of God’s love.”

Mitchell recognizes that summer in Texas presents particular challenges for him and others without homes.

“The heat, the mosquitos. You get thirsty,” he says.

The thoughtfulness of the Stewpot and the Little Stewpot Stewards, which will deliver summer care packages to Mitchell and others who need them, does not surprise him, but it fills him with gratitude, he says.

“They always know what you need, and they do not make you feel bad about it. I feel grateful for that. It makes me want to get better so I can come here and volunteer. I don’t want to keep missing out. I want a relationship with my family. I have grandkids. I want to volunteer here and help the way they helped me.”

Last Memorial Day weekend, Gorman (and her children John and Rory Kate) and Desler (and her two oldest children, Ariel and Cassidy) along with a dozen or so other families, launched the summer 2014 LSS program.

Throughout the summer, White Rock area residents will see the young philanthropists, more than 60 of them, around the neighborhood — each Steward family has committed

Small gestures make a big impact

Even before a member donated the Stewpot building in the ’70s, the First Presbyterian Church was serving large amounts of food to Dallas’ homeless. For the next 20 years the Stewpot served meals — up to 1,500 a day. When The Bridge, Dallas County’s homeless assistance center, opened five years ago, meal services transferred there, but the Stewpot still provides the food.

Today the foundation also has extended its aid and, in myriad ways, assists some 14,000 people a year.

to hosting one summertime lemonade stand.

The group will also be represented at both the Lake Highlands and Lakewood July 4 parades. Their respective goals are to raise funds for the care packages and to let the neighborhood know about the program, which Gorman says teaches “empathy and compassion at such young, impressionable ages.”

Jackson Reagan, 9, and his brother Blake, 6, were two of the original Stewards. Jackson says the Stewpot is “an interesting place” that he finds a little sad, but he says he feels better knowing he is doing something to help.

“It is always good to think of others’ needs, especially if they are homeless.”

He says he believes gestures such as the summer packages and handmade gifts the Stewards sent last Christmastime, for example, are appreciated. “They also need someone to pray for them,” he adds. “We each got assigned a person to pray for.”

Just like the hardworking staff at the Stewpot, the Stewards’ families “are trying hard to understand the plight of the clients,” Gorman explains, “and our children are making a difference in the lives of our homeless neighbors and friends,” she says.

Amy Desler is confident the clients at the Stewpot will appreciate the children’s contribution.

The Stewpot, she says, “is a nice place. Nice in the sense that people feel welcome here. They express gratitude to us. There are a lot of please and thank yous and bless yous. That is what the Little Stewpot Stewards are going to hear.”

Downstairs near the Stewpot entrance, clients can access basic services — hygiene supplies, medical and dental care, employment and pre-employment assistance (that might mean acquiring identification or a mailing address, essential to obtaining work).

There are 6,000 homeless people in Dallas, says Stewpot director Bruce Buchanan. Ten percent of those are chronic; the other 90 percent are episodic.

“And there are 6,000 scenarios of how they got there, with some common denominators,” he says.

“The majority of the people who are here are from Dallas, have spent their lives here. There are issues related to choice — drugs, alcohol and untreated illnesses. There also can be domestic violence, aging out of foster care, mental illness or changes in the economy that cause a trickle-down effect.”

The second floor of the Stewpot features more-advanced programs — Street Zine (a system through which clients can sell and make a small profit selling newspapers), a children-and-youth program, and the Open Art Program, the Stewpot’s most beloved program, representative Amy Desler says, pointing to walls lined with colorful artwork created by the Stewpot clients.

The Stewpot is on the cusp of building a colossal new downtown center complete with an art studio, community garden, recording studio, amphitheater and athletic center.

But it is back at that fundamental level — basic safety and comfort, especially during the summer heat — that the Little Stewpot Stewards come in.

Little Stewpot Stewards operate neighborhood lemonade stands to support people who are homeless.

BUSINESS BUZZ

The lowdown on what’s up with neighborhood businesses

Send business news tips to livelocal@advocatemag.com

New at NorthPark

Chipotle recently opened in NorthPark Center. This is the third Chipotle location near Lake Highlands. The others are located at Central and Forest, and Greenville and Southwestern. The fast-food chain makes its hefty burritos with naturally raised meat and no trans-fats in their cooking oil, and with healthier offerings such as brown rice instead of white. NorthPark Center media rep Victoria Snee says Chipotle will be located in space #2396, which previously housed Tin Star Taco Bar.

Preparing for Christmas

No, don’t worry. Not yet. However, Lake Highlands Women’s League chairs Lisa Johnson and Michelle Dishman are ahead of the game, announcing in June the homeowners and homes for the 2014 Holiday in the Highlands home tour. Those houses include: Kandy and James Smith, 9425 Estate, 75238; Stephanie and Ben Jeffery, 9332 Forestridge, 75238; Diane and Chuck Cheatham, One Vanguard Way, 75243; and Tiffani and Steven Mackenzie, 9276 Cliffmere Drive, 75238. Diane Cheatham is the local builder responsible for Lake Highlands’ contemporary and self-sustainable subdivision Urban Reserve; this is the second home she has purchased and occupied in that neighborhood. A somewhat new feature this year is the Twilight Tour, which was born last year out of necessity after the daytime home tour was canceled due to icy weather (they dubbed the nighttime alternative Twilight Tour last year). The home tour is LHWL’s biggest fundraiser. The league in recent years donates an average $150,000 per year to its college scholarship program for Lake Highlands High School students. Anyone wishing to make a donation or sponsor the event should contact Johnson or Dishman via lhwl.org and keep up with the league’s progress on the Lake Highlands Women’s League Facebook page.

Results of the last Women’s League Home Tour

Continuing the topic of the LHWL, a significant portion of the funds raised in 2013 were delivered near the end of the 2013-2014 aca-

demic year to 33 graduating Lake Highlands High School seniors. In describing some of the recipients of the awards, worth about $90,000, Advocate contributor Carol Toler reported, “Many had earned distinction in the classroom despite being the first in their family to graduate high school and begin college. Most work 12 or more hours per week at jobs or internships and/ or contribute significant time to community service. Several arrived in Lake Highlands speaking little or no English — some from war-torn or poverty-ridden countries. A few brought their babies.” LHWL president Susan Solomon says this is what her organization works for year round. “When you hear the stories of these students and all the things they have overcome, it makes the months of preparation worth it. We are so grateful to everyone who contributed time and money for these students. We feel so fortunate to be a part of their success story.”

More scholarships

The Women’s League is not alone in distributing funds to promising Lake Highlands High School seniors. The Lake Highlands Exchange Club also awards scholarships to the tune of about $140,000 a year. Over the years, the ECLH has given about $1.7 million, says Richardson ISD trustee and exchange club member Adam Meierhofer. Learn more about the Exchange Club at lhexchangeclub.org

Lake Highlands Chamber of Commerce

The LH Chamber, founded last year by Lake Highlands businessman Ted Hill, meets the third Thursday of every month at 7 a.m. at Crossroads Diner at 8121 Walnut Hill near Central Expressway The nonprofit recently launched its “Lake Highlands is open for

every week on

business” campaign to encourage the support and growth of local businesses, Hill says. “We are here for our local businesses to help create a stronger business market. Shop local. Live local. Grow local. Together, let’s create business and bring jobs to Lake Highlands.” To learn more, to RSVP for a breakfast or to join, visit lhchamber.com or call 214.282.3000

Lake Highlands Mathnasium: Stats don’t tell the whole story

The Mathnasium owner weighs in on national issue. Findings from a new study, conducted by University of Texas Austin professor Keith Robinson and another professor at Duke University, suggest that parent involvement in a student’s education does not necessarily correlate to improvement in the student’s academic performance. Amy Caron Halstead, the owner of Mathnasium, a tutoring center in Lake Highlands, weighed in on the research findings, telling Fox 4 News that when parents step in for homework help, at least “that child knows their parent cares.” Mathnasium, a learning center serving preschool through high school students, is located at 8510 Abrams near Royal. Learn more at mathnasium.com/ lakehighlands or call 214.341.4646

—Christina Hughes Babb

Hayley Boles, Hiba Shareef and Ari Solorio received scholarships from the Lake Highlands Women’s League, and scholarship chair Beth Hanks, in polka dots, joins them: Photo by Carol Toler

1 The City View Antique Mall hosts an Independence Day tent sale, July 2-6, and serves up hot dogs and lemonade July 4 from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. at 6830 Walling. Call 214.752.3071 for details. 2 Thai Opal has replaced Ginger Thai at 6300 Skillman near Abrams. New owners remodeled the cozy dining room and spruced up the menu.

Women in Business outstanding

Steps to Success: How local women turned passions into profit

Finding your “True North” doesn’t always come easy. But the thriving businesses of the successful local women profiled in this section indicate that they’ve done just that. And now, they’re sharing the risks that they took to turn their passions into profit.

Johnette Taylor, owner of Roundtree Landscaping, says following her love for the outdoors led her to grow her own company. “I knew I wanted to do something that was more outdoors-oriented. I thought being a forest ranger would be great but my Mom thought I was too social and it wouldn’t be a good fit,” she says.

“A friend told me about landscape architecture and I was immediately hooked.”

But Taylor says that Roundtree Landscaping’s success hasn’t been all about her.

“All businesses need a good team of staff and finding the right people can be a challenge at first. We are particular about who we hire, making sure they fit our company culture and will take excellent care of our clients. And we work as a team so that the client gets the expertise of our whole staff on a project, not just one person.”

Taylor says that mentors have helped her get where she is today.

“Having someone to bounce an idea off of really helps you stay on track.”

Realtor Jan Stell moved to the L-Street neighbor-

Pictured: Back row from left to right: Mary Pat Coco, Konnie Clayton, Cary Norton, Elizabeth Selzer, Jennifer Neal, April Deats, Carol Werther

Front Row from left to right: Shayla Grimsley, Jan Stell, Jeraldine Wooldridge, Ronda Hardt

hood in Lake Highlands to teach at Skyview Elementary in 1978. After a few years of teaching, Stell discovered that her true passion was real estate.

“Ever since then the enthusiasm has never waned, and now I’ve been in the business 30 years,” she says.

Dee’s Doggie Den owner Dee Moore worked long hours in hotel and restaurant management before she discovered her True North.

“While I was at work my dogs were home alone for long periods of time. It occurred to me that they needed a sitter or a day care. After some research, it turned out that Dallas had no such thing as daycare for dogs in 1990, so I had to create it on my own with the City of Dallas!”

Moore eventually put her business degree and restaurant management experience to use by founding Bake and Play Cafe, co-owned with Kelly Kemp last summer. The space has offerings such as summer camps, parent-night out, and even a giant indoor playground.

Keith Redelsperger, office manager for the Ebby Halliday White Rock/Lake Highlands office, says that he switched to real estate in 2005 after a career in the financial industry.

“I wanted to continue to help people,” he says. “In my opinion, the best way to help people financially is by coming alongside them when they make the largest purchase that they will ever make: a home.”

Redelsperger says that he truly enjoys working alongside successful women in business.

“I couldn’t ask to work for a better company that is run by the most successful woman in real estate, Ebby Halliday. We also have the best leadership team, Betty Misko and Mary Frances Burleson. Ebby Halliday is the number one independent residential real estate company in Texas.”

As office manager Redelsperger says that he most enjoys working alongside female agents who are goaloriented and also like to give back to the community.

“Ebby is built on three philosophies: service to the community, service to the client, service to the industry. I believe those ideas lend success to any kind of business.”

Realtor Jan Stell says one of her favorite aspects of her job is using her own personal experiences to help a client decide if it’s better to remodel their home or sell.

Dr. Roberts offers a fully-equipped IN-OFFICE LASER SUITE, with all lasers on site, where she performs laser surgery daily. In addition to laser surgery for adults and children, she also specializes in COSMETIC DERMATOLOGY, including skin rejuvenation, Botox, and “fillers”.

We are excited to offer the new SKINPEN MICRONEEDLING TECHNIQUE, as seen on Good Morning America and The View, which stimulates your skin’s natural ability to produce collagen and elastic tissue for healthier, younger looking skin. SkinPen features the most advanced microneedle technology on the market today and is safe for all skin types.

PIXEL FRACTIONAL RESURFACING provides firming of the skin and improves skin texture and tone, sun damage, wrinkles and acne scars with minimal downtime.

Our High Speed LIGHTSHEER DUET LASER HAIR REMOVAL SYSTEM has advanced technology with a high speed handpiece which eliminates the need for topical anesthetics and provides improved comfort, treatment speed and effectiveness.

• Pixel Fractional Resurfacing

• SkinPen

• Harmony Skin Tightening

• Traditional Laser Resurfacing for wrinkles, expression lines, sun damage, scars

• High Speed LightSheer Duet Laser Hair Removal

• VersaPulse & Dye Laser Surgery for port wine stains, hemangiomas, spider veins

• Ruby Laser Surgery for freckles, “liver spots”, tattoos

• Botox Injections

• Mega Peel Microdermabrasion, Chemical Peels

• Juvéderm, Voluma

“I have built two houses and remodeled four others, so I have a pretty hands-on experience with that. I also know what buyers expect and what they are willing to pay for those amenities,” she says.

Helping people realize their dreams, and sometimes even more, has been rewarding for Roundtree Landscaping owner Johnette Taylor.

“Many times clients can’t even imagine what their yard can look like. It changes people by giving them an extension of their home. I feel like I get to share that love of the outdoors I have with others that way coupled with my knowledge, experience and creativity,” she says.

Dr. Diane Colter, pediatric dentist at All About Kids Dentistry, says that focusing on her specialty to impact patients’ lives for the long run is most meaningful to her.

“Parents know that we’re going to focus on what’s important to look at with their child, as opposed to the overall population, pediatric and adult,” she says.

“It doesn’t matter if they’re a new patient coming

into the office, or if they’ve been with us more than five years. We block out that time and make sure that we address their issues.”

Dr. Colter sees education as part of the added value that she can provide her patients.

“Because we are strictly a specialty, we can educate parents and the child, depending on their age, on what’s best for them. We can set guidelines for healthy snacks and help reinforce the choices that will result in less dental work in a patient’s lifetime.”

Dee’s Doggie Den and Bake & Play Café owner Dee Moore says that customers have become close friends, and there have even been a few love connections among her customers.

“Since I have been open so long, I now have the pleasure of getting to know the children of long-time Dee’s Doggie Den customers; it has truly created a neighborhood, family atmosphere that I treasure!” Dr. Dena Robinson, owner of Robinson Dentistry, says her work frequently offers her a chance to make a vital difference in somebody’s life.

I have lived in Lake Highlands and bought my first home in the “L” streets in 1978. We raised our son, Sam, K-12 in Lake Highlands where he was a wrestler, Wrangler, in marching band and was an Eagle Scout. Lake Highlands is a great place to be!!

I helped find the land and build the YMCA on Greenville Avenue. I have been blessed to volunteer building homes for Habitat in other countries, which I have loved. I have also built two homes in Lake Highlands and remodeled 4 others. So, I can help clients with a cost vs. value in their purchase or sale. I know from hands on experience.

Moore, owner of Dee’s Doggie Den and Bake and Play Café with her

“One of my most rewarding times with a patient was when I found oral cancer in one of my patients in its very early stages. He received treatment, and is doing very well today because of that early detection,” Robinson says.

“I love to rebuild smiles too: changing out a discolored old crown, and straightening teeth with Invisalign can each make a big impact on a person’s self esteem,” she says.

Kevin Caskey, Dallas City Center, thinks the women in his office have an edge in the market.

“Many women have the patience that it takes to assist clients with the ups and downs of real estate transactions. You really have to have a sympathetic ear to help them through the process.”

Caskey says that the quality of women he works with inspires him everyday. “I’m proud to say that we attract customer loyalty because of the relationships that our knowledgeable female agents build with clients,” he says. “It is rewarding to know that these women help people realize their dreams.”

Begin

Top

PreK

We

PreK

We

technology

education GUIDE

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!

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.

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.

69%

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.

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

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.

of our 200,000+ readers with average income of $146,750 want more info about private schools.

People

Lake Highlands High School grads are gaining fame. Scoot McNairy, LHHS class of ’96, has a role in AMC’s “Halt and Catch Fire,” which premiered in June. McNairy also has a part in “Gone Girl,” an adaptation of the popular novel, which premieres in October and stars Ben Affleck. Lake Highlands graduate Annie Clark, a musician who performs under the name St. Vincent, recently appeared on “Saturday Night Live” and on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony alongside the remaining members of Nirvana.

Community

Residents of the Lake Highlands street Broken Bow are rallying drivers to slow down by placing “Drive Like Your Kids Live Here” signs in their yards. A Broken Bow resident told the Advocate that 23 out of 25 houses on her block have the sign on display. The signs are $9.99 and can be ordered on drivelikeyourkidslivehere.com.

Education

A recent reception at Lake Highlands High School honored four longtime members of the faculty and staff who are retiring. Michelle Eldridge and Linda Shultz have worked as special education teachers 10 and 16 years, respectively. Pam Mitchell has led the counseling team for 16 years and worked closely with the Exchange Club, Women’s League and other organizations that offer awards and college scholarships to graduating seniors. Bob Williams, English teacher and tennis coach of 22 years, will teach ninth grade at Trinity Christian Academy next year.

News

The body of 21-year-old Jeremy Daugherty, who jumped into White Rock Lake from the Mockingbird bridge, was retrieved on May 21, a day after witnesses saw him plunge into what police say is about eight feet of water.

In May, searchers discovered the body of 63-year-old Greg Holliday in a creek near Preston Trails golf club. Days later, Holliday’s death was ruled a suicide according to the medical examiner’s office. The former assistant police chief once was commander of the northeast police station in our neighborhood. He won recognition in 1990 for testifying against a corrupt police chief, and he narrowly lost to Bill Blaydes in the 2003 Dallas City Council District 10 (Lake Highlands) election.

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.

TRUE PATRIOTISM

To love one’s country means to love others

With the Fourth of July upon us, let’s ponder patriotism.

I will wave an American flag on Independence Day. Waving the flag is a simple gesture of love for country.

It should be enough to trust that if you fly your flag from your front porch or wave it at a neighborhood parade, you are bound with others as a true American partisan. Nowadays, though, flag-wavers are challenged left and right by the left and the right.

Critics on the left say that flag-waving betrays a spirit of nativism that elevates national pride to a vice. They point to the sins of our nation’s treatment of Native Americans, our history of racism, and our exploitation of other peoples for the sake of our empire as evidence of patriotic excess. Their cosmopolitanism wishes to love every human being with equal love to what we show toward Americans. Borders are unnatural boundaries imposed by powerful politicians and protected by powerful armies. Waving a national flag is therefore inherently inhumane. It asserts a claim of superiority that is blind to moral failings.

The witty British journalist G. K. Chesterton called these cosmopolitans to task in his own day. They love humankind in general, he said, but have a hard time loving any humans in particular. They love the whole world with a cold idealism, but that makes them equally cool toward those closest to them. In contrast, those who love those nearest to them most will have greater sympathy for those farthest from them. A wife believes most in marriage when she loves her husband with whom she lives. If she loves marriage more than her imperfect husband, she undermines the institution of marriage as well as her own.

A patriot loves his country because it is his, but he understands that those who live in other countries feel the same about theirs, and this gains his respect. He understands that he

might have to fight and die for his flag against those who do the same under theirs, but because he is self-aware of the perils of war he refuses to turn his enemy into an animal to justify his fight.

Critics from the right too often equate patriotism with nationalism and militarism. If you love your country you must think it exceptional. The term exceptionalism was first

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

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 / www.nhbc.net / 9626 Church Rd.

Sunday: LifeQuest (all ages) 9:00 am / Worship 10:30 am

Student Ministry: Wednesday & Sunday 7:00 pm / 214.348.9697

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

LUTHERAN

CENTRAL LUTHERAN CHURCH, ELCA / 1000 Easton Road

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

used by Alexis de Tocqueville to describe a country built on principles rather than historical circumstance. America is unusual in being built upon ideals like freedom and opportunity for all. America cares less about where you come from and more about what you amount to. When, however, these exceptional qualities provide a mask for imposing our will on others because we are better than others, we undermine the principles we claim to live by.

The same is true for those who equate patriotism with military service or unqualified military support. If you didn’t serve, you will never understand. If you don’t see military action as the solution to every international problem, don’t bother unfurling your flag.

Patriotism is not a competition. Patriots love their country by loving their countrymen; and they love the rest of the world by loving their country first. What makes America exceptional just may be our capacity to see our flag-waving neighbors as fellow patriots, even if they don’t vote the way we do.

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

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

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

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

WHITE ROCK UNITED METHODIST / www.wrumc.org

1450 Oldgate Lane / 214.324.3661

Sunday Worship 10:50 am / Rev. George Fisk

NON-DENOMINATIONAL

LAKE HIGHLANDS CHURCH / 9919 McCree / 214.348.0460

Sundays: Classes 9:30, Coffee 10:25, Assembly 10:45

Home groups meet on weeknights. / lakehighlandschurch.org

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

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

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

A patriot loves his country because it is his, but he understands that those who live in other countries feel the same about theirs, and this gains his respect.

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.

Donating for Dubya

The George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum has been open for a year now, and the former president has said the visitor experience would not be the same without his team of 300 dedicated volunteers. At least 22 of those volunteers, pictured here, are from Lake Highlands. “I remember how emotional I got the first time I went through the exhibit, recalling where I was on 9/11,” one volunteer Alice Swank says. “I was a school teacher at school that morning, and I was in tears remembering. We always have tissues ready for our visitors.” Volunteer hopefuls register at georgewbushlibrary.smu.edu

EVENTS

STAMP COLLECTING!!

Remember the fun of stamp collecting? Dallas Philatelic Society meets the 2nd and 4th Weds at 7:30 pm at Edgemere Retirement Center. 8523 Thackery St Call Joe Baker 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

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

Learn to draw this summer with Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain ®

www.PerceptionDrawing.com

Brenda Catlett Certified Instructor (972)989-0546

CHILDCARE

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

CHILDCARE

EMPLOYMENT

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

June 4 was National Running Day. Jose Vega and Susan Joiner , members of the Dallas Running Club and the White Rock Running Co-op, joined festivities at the White Rock DART station in Lake Highlands, which included a five-mile run followed by beer, courtesy Lakewood Brewing, and tacos, donated by Fuzzy’s Tacos.

National Running Day

White Rock Running Co-op member Jenny McClean pushed her sons through 4.4 miles at the White Rock Marathon kick-off race, which was held at Winfrey Point on National Running Day.

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

FARMERS INSURANCE CALL JOSH JORDAN 214-364-8280. Auto, Home, Life Renters.

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

PROFESSIONAL PERSONAL TRAINING To Suit Your Specific Training Needs.Terry 214-206-7823. teryrjacobs@outlook.com

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

TRAVEL

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

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

TACL-B01349OE

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

972-523-3996

CARPENTRY & REMODELING

KITCHEN AND BATHROOM SPECIALISTS

JCI Remodeling: From Simple Updates to Full Remodeling Services. Competitive Pricing! JCIRemodeling.com 972-948-5361

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

• 1 & 2 Story Additions

• Complete Renovations

• Kitchens/Baths

• Licensed/Insured 214.542.6214

CLEANING SERVICES

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

WANTED: HOUSES TO CLEAN 20 yrs. exp., Reliable, Great Prices, Excellent Refs., Free Ests. No Crews. Non-Corporate. Sunny 214-724-2555

WINDOW MAN WINDOW CLEANING.COM

Residential Specialists. BBB. 214-718-3134

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

PayPal ®

WWW.BGRONTHEWEB.COM

BRIANGREAM@YAHOO.COM

TK Remodeling

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

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

CUSTOM CARPENTRY BY RON 214-674-1604

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

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

Your neighborhood remodeler

•Repair •Remodeling •Restoration

•Complete full service

Name it— We do it

Licensed & Insured

Don't lift a finger... We'll give you a hand! 214-324-1794

INSURED

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

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

CARPORTS

NEW TO TEXAS

Imported from Japan

Carports, Patio & Pool Covers

JET OF TEXAS 214-288-6242

JetofTexas.com

NO UV, NO HAIL, NO RAIN

CLEANING SERVICES

AMAZON CLEANING

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

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

CitywidePersonalMaid.com

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

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

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

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

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

214.692.1991 COWBOY 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 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

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

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

BRIAN GREAM

PAINTING & RENOVATIONS LLC

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

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

HOME INSPECTION

INTERIOR DESIGN

CUSTOM DRAPERIES, WINDOWS. Upholstery, Shutters, Blinds, Wallpaper. All Interior Design. Serving Lakewood For Over 15 Yrs. Lara. 214-718-7281.

KITCHEN/BATH/ TILE/GROUT

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

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

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

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

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

•

•

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

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

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

PEST CONTROL

A BETTER EARTH PEST CONTROL

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

McDANIEL PEST CONTROL

Prices Start at $85 +Tax for General Treatment

Average Home, Interior, Exterior & Attached Garage Quotes for Other Services

214-328-2847

Lakewood Resident

PLUMBING

A2Z PLUMBING 214-727-4040

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

ANDREWS PLUMBING • 214-354-8521

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

Sewers • Drains • Bonded 24 Hours/7 Days

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

ARRIAGA PLUMBING:

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

HAYES PLUMBING INC. Repairs.

Insured, 214-343-1427 License M13238

JUSTIN’S PLUMBING SERVICE

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

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

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

ROOFING & GUTTERS

A&B GUTTER 972-530-5699

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

ACE ROOFING

Roof Repair Specialist. Call Tom. 972-268-4047

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

THE PLANTS VANISHED.

Gayla Collinsworth likes gardening and working with her hands. She recently planted some petunias and Indian paintbrushes in large ceramic pots in the front and rear of her home. The additions cer-

The Victim: Gayla Collinsworth

The Crime: Theft

Date: Sunday, May 18

Time: At night

Location: 10200 block of Van Dyke

tainly added to the aesthetics of her yard. Everything was in place that Wednesday.

The next day, Collinsworth noticed that a plant thief had pilfered her newly planted petunias.

“It was strange, and it was on two different nights,” she says of the crime.

Collinsworth remembered the crime because she had gone out to play some golf that day and went back to water her plants that evening. That first night, two petunias and an Indian paintbrush disappeared from her porch. A plant in the yard also was unearthed, but left upturned. She quickly went back to the store, however, and planted more.

The crime continued on Tuesday morn-

411

Number of marijuana plants found growing inside three rooms at 34-year-old Matthew Polan’s home

ing, when Collinsworth noticed that a large ceramic planting pot had been stolen from her backyard — even with the gate locked and a large security light in the back. Someone also strangely took a white pot, but left a green pot behind.

“I have no idea,” she says of why someone would do this. “It’s very strange.”

Collinsworth believes it will cost about $200 to replace everything and is hoping the plant bandit leaves her home alone. The idea of someone being in her backyard at night, she says, also is disconcerting.

Dallas Police Sgt. Keitric Jones of the Northeast Patrol Division says the theft of plants and flower pots doesn’t happen often.

“Normally someone takes property that they can sell quickly. Anything of value needs to be secured or hard for any thief to take,” he says. “Also, become involved in your neighborhood watch group. A community of eyes and ears are safer than just two.”

Residents who see anything strange or out of the ordinary in their neighborhoods are encouraged to call the police to help prevent crimes like this.

| CRIME NUMBERS |

$2,500 Amount of cash also found, wrapped in rubber bands, when the police in June executed their search warrant

1,000 Feet separating the grow house and nearby Stults Road Elementary School

$50k

Bail that Polan will have to fork over for his release

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

SOURCE: Dallas Police Department