Is Home Where Your Heart Is?
We all want to love where we live. But in the event you don’t, it could be the right time to start looking for a place that makes you more comfortable with the idea of forever. Reach out to one of our matchmakers today!
As women, we put everyone else first. But it’s time to take the lead. It takes heart to check in on yours.
Embracing a healthy and active lifestyle is a great way to encourage others to do the same. And it just might save your life. Heart disease is the number one health threat against women, but with diet, exercise, and the right information, we can change that. Texas Health, along with Go Red for Women®, encourages you to take the heart health assessment to determine your risk and familiarize yourself with the warning signs of heart disease. Your journey to better health begins when you prioritize your heart.
more at TexasHealth.org/GoRed
LAKE HIGHLANDS ADVOCATE VOL. 32 NO. 2
6 The neighborhood beekeeper
DINING
12 Pan Asian Kitchen
FEATURES
8 14 ZIP codes
16 LHHS Love stories
20 Lights on McCree
Pan Asian Kitchen and Noodle’s menu spans three cuisines: Japanese, Chinese and Korean. Read more on page 12. Photography by Kathy Tran. PROFILE
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A STORM IN 2019 BROUGHT MORE THAN JUST GALE FORCE WINDS AND HEAVY RAIN TO JODI DUBUCLET’S FOREST MEADOW HOME.
It brought buzzing bees — eventually, anyway.
After the storm, her once tree-filled property backing up to White Rock Creek was left significantly less forested. On the positive side, in the absence of once abundant maple and cedar elms, sunlight finally shone over her backyard. Sustainability is a guiding principle for Dubuclet. She has a chicken coop on her property for fresh eggs, and after the storm finally brought the sun to her sloping, still decently wooded yard, it was time to plant her own garden.
THE BEEKEEPER ON WHITE ROCK CREEK
Jodi Dubuclet of D’s Bees harvests and bottles ‘LH’ honey from her five backyard hives
Story by AUSTIN WOOD
When her cucumbers didn’t grow, she realized she had a pollinator problem. Fortunately enough, her husband had a solution.
“So I was complaining about it, and my husband bought me a hive for Christmas,” she says.
“So it’s like, 2019, I get that hive. And I’m like, ‘OK, well, this is one way to get pollinators. So I ordered my bees. You order bees the season before you need them. So I ordered bees for Christmas, picked them up that spring, started my first hive and kind of learned from there.”
As unlikely as it may seem, she started a full-blown beekeeping operation on White Rock Creek in a residential neighborhood. But backyard beekeeping has become increasingly popular in recent years, with cities like Salt Lake City loosening code
restrictions and others like Chicago issuing beekeeping permits for backyard apiarists.
What started out as one hive quickly became two. Now, over four years later, the neuroscience research engineer by day manages five hives with close to two million bees, although their numbers dwindle over the winter.
“I was surprised, because everything about learning to be a new beekeeper is that you’re gonna fail. It’s like preparing you for the failures, looking for things that are going wrong, preparing for when things go wrong,” Dubluclet says. “Nobody really teaches you what you do when they do really, really well. And I was completely unprepared for it. But what happens when they do really well is they make more bees. Yeah, and that has been my experience since then, is I have a bee Mecca.”
Invariably sweating from within the safety of her heavy beekeeper suit, she monitors her bees to ensure colony health, introduces parasite-resistant queens to combat threats like varroa mites and bundles hives up for cold winter months. During the summer months, the creek provides an ample water source for the hives. Workers bring the water to the hive, where a group of bees collect near the entrance and use their wings to bring cool air in and push hot air out, acting as a natural HVAC unit.
The fun comes in the fall and spring, when Dubuclet harvests honey from the hives. Each season’s honey crop looks and tastes different due to varying environmental conditions and nutritional sources. Robustly flavored fall honey runs darker, whereas spring honey
Photography by LAUREN ALLEN
appears lighter and has a sweeter, floral flavor.
“Spring was amazing this year, it’s actually the first spring I’ve ever had two five-gallon jugs of spring honey,” she says. “I’m used to the inverse. I’m used to really great falls and pretty poor springs, and it’s not because we don’t have a ton of flowers, it’s because of our rain. We get those big gushing rains in the spring. It washes out the nectar.”
As her honey operation has grown, she’s begun producing more honey than she and her family need. That’s how D’s Bees was born. At her husband’s urging, she started her own business, selling honey and other products from her hives at pop-ups. Her products include lotions, beeswax salves, whole honeycomb and bottled “LH” honey.
“The first big, like vendor thing I ever did, it was incredibly rewarding, because people were grateful to find a local honey source,” she says. “Like they’ve gotten a local source before, but they couldn’t find it anymore, or their local source is local to Dallas-Fort Worth, local to the city you’re standing in, right? Usually, somebody has come from some other place and I’m like, ‘No, I’m right here. I’m not just local, I’m down the street.’”
She and her husband also occasionally make mead and honey-infused vodka, rum and whiskey for home use and gifts.
Even though her bottles of D’s Bees LH honey sell well at events, the business isn’t the most important aspect. For her, the priority is sustainability and creating a natural product for herself, her husband and three kids to enjoy.
“I absolutely am a big fan of honey for its medicinal properties. I think of holistic self care and wellness as a pretty important factor in my life,” she says. “I am all about sustainability to some degree, that’s my engineering nerd kind of working here, right? How can I produce exactly what I want, which is the highest quality? If I wasn’t producing the highest quality, I could just buy it.”
Dubuclet says that the white beekeeper suits some people might imagine don’t reflect reality, with things often getting messy in her apiary.
Kauffman says NCM will continue to grow its programs and diversify its outreach in the coming years.
FROM ARAPAHO TO NORTHWEST HIGHWAY
The Network of Community Ministries operates in all 14 RISD ZIP codes, including 75238 and 75243
Story by AUSTIN WOOD | Photography by LAUREN ALLEN
The Network of Community Ministries’ (NCM) facility may be located in North-Central Richardson, just north of Arapaho Road, but its impact is felt deep into Lake Highlands.
Founded in 1985 as a nonprofit collective effort of churches in the Richardson ISD attendance zone, The Network serves all 14 ZIP codes in RISD. In fact, 47.7% of neighbors served by NCM last year lived in Lake Highlands.
Programs include immediate needs assistance, food pantry outreach, stabilization programs and, most recently, mental health services. NCM’s 40,000-square-foot facility acts as a one-stop-shop for neighbors, as clients are referred to at The Network, looking to engage with its all-encompassing mission.
“We can really create a more holistic plan of action for the neighbors,” CEO and President Abbie Kauffman says. “At the time they get certified to receive services in our food and clothing closets, our basic needs areas, and if they choose to participate in our more
comprehensive services, we’ll schedule some time or do a walk-in appointment with our stabilization coach.”
Kauffman stepped into the executive role in 2022. She credits her predecessor for creating “an incredibly stable organization” and describes her task as growing the organization into maturity. One of her first steps was to transition The Network’s client intake system from a pen and paper setup to an online interface.
The launch of The Network’s mental health services program in June of 2023 is something Kauffman is especially proud of. She says the organization looked at contracting with outside partners on the program, but ultimately decided it would be best offered as an in-house service. NCM created a Chief Strategy Officer position to oversee the program and The Network’s other long-term stabilization services, and shortly after, the organization hired two clinical therapists.
“You can’t be healthy unless your mental health is good, and
poverty, in and of itself, rewires the brain,” Kauffman says. “And so here are our first attempts at trying to tackle all of it in a systems, holistic approach. Both of them have almost completely full case loads with individual counseling neighbors, which is wonderful. People do exit the program, which is also great, you have some people who only need a short period of time. We’ve invested resources and training. So both of my therapist clinicians have now been trained in EMDR therapy.”
Aside from mental health services, The Network’s long-term outreach is anchored by the Pampillonia Stabilization Program. Stabilization at the organization means case management, life coaching, financial education, job training, interview practice and referral programs. Clients preparing for an interview are also given access to the organization’s clothing closet. Kauffman says these initiatives are emblematic of NCM’s holistic approach to sustainably break the cycle of poverty.
The Senior Net is also a large part of long-term outreach. Most neighbors must provide proof of income at 185% or below the federal poverty line — seniors over the age of 55 do not. Services available for older neighbors include free handyman visits, grocery delivery and companion calls, which provide neighbors with a sorely needed connection, especially following COVID-19.
“We definitely found during the pandemic that the isolation in the senior community was far beyond what we had initially realized, and we’ve leaned into that area very heavily,” she says.
The Network’s outreach to its community extends to community events. Trunk-or-treats, senior days and Supper with Santa around the Christmas season are all important parts of the organization’s calendar, Kauffman says.
Supported by the North Texas Food Bank, The Community Food Market looks like a small Aldi with neatly stocked shelves, full freezers and checkout lines where clients can use their “community money.” It’s an important area for The Network, which distributed 1.6 million pounds of food in 2023, representing the most substantial portion of its outreach. Choice is at the core of the market program.
“The human experience is such that we want to feel dignified in choice,” Kauffman says. “And so for some people who are coming, they’re stuck in cyclical poverty, and this is the first time that they’ve had a choice in a while. A choice of green beans or corn is really simple in just creating empowerment in ourselves and feeling seen and respected as a person.”
Food pantry outreach also finds its way to RISD schools. The district is one of The Network’s 60 stakeholder partners, and the organization’s mobile food pantry regularly makes its way to Lake Highlands Learning Community campuses like Forest Lane Academy and Audelia Creek Elementary.
When it was founded in the mid-80s, RISD-area churches had bonded together to enhance their individual offerings with a more comprehensive approach. This heritage is still evident with stakeholder partners like Lake Highlands United Methodist Church and Forest Meadow Baptist, although new partners include rotary and women’s clubs.
Kauffman says The Network will continue to strengthen and diversify its programs as need grows and won’t rule out a more concrete presence in our neighborhood.
“We continue to try and lean into place based initiatives, and, being in Lake Highlands, physically present more when we reach capacity at this facility. Where do we go? We’re not leaving here. But is there a second Network campus in our future? TBD. My board would kill me if I say yes. But unfortunately, the need continues to grow, and therefore so does the need for our services.”
The Network’s community market operates as a nearly full-fledged grocery store, giving clients plenty of options
Japanese may be a new challenge for the Wangs, but Korean and Chinese are their family staples.
CHINESE TO JAPANESE
(AND EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN)
Recently opened Pan Asian Kitchen and Noodle brings a myriad of options to Lakeridge Village
Story by AUSTIN WOOD | Photography by KATHY TRAN
OPTIONS ARE WHAT JARREN WANG WANTS TO BRING TO LAKERIDGE VILLAGE WITH HIS NEWLY-OPENED RESTAURANT, PAN ASIAN KITCHEN AND NOODLE.
Ramen. Tangsuyuk. Dan dan noodles. The menu covers three East Asian cuisines: Japanese, Korean and Chinese, putting the “Pan” in Pan Asian Kitchen, which opened in December. With over 50 menu items available across a geographically varied offering, options abound.
Ramen is a new challenge for the Wang family, who owns the Howard Wang family of restaurants. Chinese, however, has been their bread and butter since the opening of the original Howard Wang’s in Preston Hollow in 2005. Korean food has been a part of their story since Jarren’s father, Howard, grew up in Korea as a Chinese emigrant. It doesn’t hurt that his mother (who does all the vegetables for Pan) is Korean either.
“She’s very passionate about her culture, which she’s Korean,” Wang says. “She’s very proud of being from there and just all the food coming from her own culture, so she puts a lot of love into it.”
Howard is involved in the business too, working with Jarren in the kitchen for the first few months to “keep quality consistent” until staff fills out.
The menu is organized by cuisine from left to right: Korean (which Jarren says is the most exciting portion of the menu), Chinese and Japanese. Korean offerings include bulgogi ($19) and japchae — clear sweet potato noodles cooked in Howard Wang’s savory lo mein sauce ($14 for veggie, add on for protein).
In Korea, much like in the U.S., the cuisine of Chinese emigrants has been tranfused into the mainstream with originally Chinese dishes adapted for local tastes. Pan Asian’s menu pays tribute to the Wang family’s mixed roots in its Korean offering with dishes like tangsuyuk ($17), a sweet-and-sour sauce-smothered bowl of Korean crispy pork with assorted vegetables, and jjajangmyeon ($15), Chinese-style wheat noodles cooked in a sauce made with fermented black bean paste known as chunjang.
“We’ve grown up eating Korean food all the time, but we just never opened a business for it but now we have a little small Korean offering so we’re very excited,” he says.
Chinese options span a variety of regional traditions but focus especially on Northern — where Howard’s family is from — and Sichuan cuisines. The Sichuan heat is felt with dan dan noodles ($11), kung pao chicken ($17) and mala chicken ($16), served with onions, peppers, zucchini and farm-to-table shiitake mushrooms. The Northern influence is apparent with moo shoo pork ($17).
Most Americanized staples like orange chicken ($17) and General Tso’s chicken ($17) can be ordered at Pan Asian. Its menu also features Cantonese dishes like Hong Kong-style fried egg noodles ($19 base price) and a house-special clay pot ($20).
“Traditionally, they put the rice in this clay pot. And it’s like a very small portion of the rice soup, like a cup, and then it’s put it over fire, and it cooks with stir fried meat coagulation and some kind of brown sauce with veggies. And it’s placed on top of the rice, uncooked rice,” Wang says. “It’s supposed to steam together and have this little rice bowl that just makes just like a nice addition to eating the saucy meat thing that got going on top of the rice.”
Hibachi bowls, ramen, udon and teriyaki protein round out the Japanese offering and can be ordered with a variety of toppings.
Last but not least, the noodles. Pan Asian offers flat noodles, pad thai and yakisoba (Japanese buckwheat). All three can be ordered with vegetables and tofu for a base price of $14, and proteins such as chicken or shrimp can be added on for a few dollars more.
Pan Asian serves beer, wine and sake from its bar, which may also one day be churning out sushi, Jarren says. In the absence of higher-proof spirits, the cocktail menu is confined to sakebased concoctions.
He says business has been going well since opening in December. That may come as a surprise to some, as restaurants in the space have had trouble staying open in the past. Predecessors like The Koi Way and Hei Hei were open for just about a year before shuttering their doors. Wang says he feels Pan Asian’s options will be what sets it apart.
“The menu can just cover a wide array of options, kind of never can lose interest from our customers and clients, just because we are offering different cuisines.”
As owner of the area’s newest dining addition, Wang says Lake Highlands has welcomed him with open arms. He is looking forward to “building a community” and wants the restaurant to be a casual everyday eatery for the neighborhood.
“Neighborhood restaurants are special because of the day-to-day life amongst everyone that comes into restaurants, and we want that here, where people can just kind of relax and set the tone for their everyday lives. Just come in and enjoy some good food.”
Pan Asian Kitchen and Noodle, 9660 Audelia Road, 214.964.0895, pan-asian-kitchen.com
Pan Asian’s Chinese offering focuses on Northern and Sichuan cuisines.
2005. It was Haley Mason’s, neé Maturi, freshman year at Lake Highlands High School, and she was on the third floor of the old Freshman Center for Ms. Chesal’s world geography class.
LOVE
Sitting behind her was Brad Mason, a golf player. She’d gone to Northlake Elementary, he’d gone to Merriman Park. A Lake Highlands Junior High graduate and a former Forest Meadow Charger. He “just wasn’t very nice.”
Not a great start.
But 20 years later, the now-married Masons have chosen to stay in Lake Highlands — just like Ms. Chesal, who is currently serving as the school’s geography department chair.
It’s no surprise. The Maturis are through and through Lake Highlands.
Her parents both grew up in Lake Highlands. Her mother, Jana, grew up on Edgecove Drive, and her father, Paul Maturi, went to Forest Meadow before playing football at LHHS. He was close friends with Jana’s brother, and the two were roommates at Harding University in Arkansas.
“That’s how my dad met my mom is through his friend, Brett, who is my mom’s brother,” Mason says. “They knew each other in high school and people will say they dated, but I don’t think they dated in high school. Then they went to Harding and she cheered, and then they ended up dating. Both sides of my family live here, and we just never left.”
Paul coached football at LHHS for 14 years. Haley says she was a prototypical coach’s daughter on the sideline and “daddy’s girl.” Cheerleaders babysat her and football players would tug her ponytail on the bus ride home as she sat on a briefcase for headsets. She was “probably annoying” about her dad being a coach in elementary school, she admits.
Her Wildcat pride extended to the high school. She was a Highlandette and remained heavily invested in the football squad. Brad continued to golf for the school team. Grouped together for test-taking by their last names, the pair grew closer. After Haley’s junior year winter formal date left her at an after-party, a new suitor came into play.
“My boyfriend left me to pretty much go drink, because we were not at a house that was drinking, we just didn’t do that,”
she says. “Brad kind of stepped in and was trying to be the cool guy. He was there with one of my best friends but kind of hit on me after my boyfriend left. Then it was the Highlandette review, and we kind of started talking around then, and I broke up with my boyfriend.”
In high school just before the advent of the iPhone, the pair passed notes in between classes in the hall. They hung out with friends, visited drive-in movie theaters and frequented the TC Shaved Ice on Garland Road.
Brad went to Mississippi State University in Starkville to play golf. Haley followed her parents footsteps to Harding University in Arkansas, leaving close to 300 miles between them. The mothers worried about the long-distance relationship, but the young couple found a way to make it work.
“It was definitely hard because we didn’t see each other a lot because of golf, and I didn’t have a car, so I borrowed my friend’s car one time to go visit him,” she says. “Sometimes he would drive and get me and then go back to Starkville. And then I think probably like sophomore year of college, was when we were like, ‘OK, this is it, we’re gonna get married.’”
After coming back to the neighborhood, he proposed in his parents’ backyard, the venue for many teenage hangouts. Haley and Brad tied the knot at Park Cities Baptist Church in June of 2015. His parents led the newlywed class, and the ceremony was filled with friends from the neighborhood, she says.
Now parents to a 3-year-old and a 5-year-old at Moss Haven Elementary, the couple lives less than a half-mile away from his parents. They enjoy spending time with other families, getting ice cream and taking part in Lake Highlands traditions like the 12 Days of Christmas on Timberhollow Circle. Football games are still a huge draw, albeit a little more complicated now that Haley’s dad coaches at Jesuit.
“(Her son Luke) says he’s going to be a Wildcat and a Jesuit Ranger, but he doesn’t understand that he can’t be both,” she says with a chuckle.
The Masons enjoy spots like Shinsei on Inwood Lane for date nights. Despite a poor first impression, Haley says she’s found a kind, considerate match in Brad.
“He’s 100% present, and he’s very involved, even with work, and he does a really good job being there for me. And we just know each other’s struggles, and we know what makes each other happy. So I think that can stem a little bit from knowing the person that you used to be and how far you’ve come to become the person you are.”
IN LH
Stories by AUSTIN WOOD
HUSBAND AND WIFE Madison Chapman and Priscilla Wasson met as sixth grade trumpeters at an RISD band meetup. Madison went to Lake Highlands Elementary and Priscilla went to White Rock Elementary before meeting up at the junior high. In high school, they dated each other’s friends, ran in the same circles and began a friendship that would eventually become much more. He was an athlete and a Bell Boy, while she managed the basketball team.
After graduation, they fell out of touch as Chapman dove headfirst into his artificial turf business and Wasson remained in a committed relationship. Following the end of Wasson’s previous relationship, the pair reconnected over Snapchat and text. The budding connection was eventually cemented at the Class of 2010 10 year reunion. After a few months of going back and forth between Lake Highlands and Austin, where Chapman lived at the time, things started to get serious.
Close to four years later, the couple is now married and living in Burnet in Central Texas with their son Boone, who will be joined this spring by a sibling.
YOU MET IN SIXTH GRADE. WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER FROM THAT MEETING?
M: I was all nervous, so we were chairs next to each other in trumpet, and I was just really nervous. And I was like, ‘this girl’s tight.’ I just didn’t really know how to react or how to talk to her or anything like that.
HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE EACH OTHER IN HIGH SCHOOL?
M: So the way I remember her was like band T-shirts and jeans and converse and all that kind of stuff. Shy, but once you kind of crack into her, super outgoing, always good time, but always liked to hang around the guys.
P: I remember you being … OK I loved the flippy hair. He was very popular. Always a goofball, doing little stunts to make people
laugh. He was a Bell Boy, too. You know how we all had our like little groups — he was everyone’s buddy, all the teachers loved him.
DID YOU FALL OUT OF CONTACT AFTER HIGH SCHOOL?
P: We didn’t fall out of contact, but I was in a serious relationship, so you don’t really talk to your old guy friends and stuff. I guess we would keep up little pictures on Snapchat or something like that, but we weren’t really talking on a regular basis by any means.
TELL ME ABOUT REUNITING AT THE REUNION.
P: I remember I was talking to him at the reunion. I was at an after party, and I was talking to him about how he has always been there for me. So I told him, ‘I think that means something, and I think it means that I like you.’ And he wouldn’t say anything to me for five minutes. We were just watching the party go on around us. And I was like, ‘Oh, man, maybe I just made a mistake.’ But I was like, ‘I’m pretty sure he likes me.’ I was so confused.
M: It was like everything I wanted came true that I’ve been looking for years, and it just fell in my lap.
HOW WAS DATING?
P: He visited me every weekend. He would come in every Friday morning or whatever, and be there till Monday morning. And he’d leave at like 4 a.m. to go back to work to Austin. I went down there sometimes too, and I knew how devoted he was from the very beginning.
WHAT DO YOU ALL DO FOR FUN DOWN THERE?
M: I’m usually gone by seven or eight in the morning, and don’t get back until five or six with my commute. They go to the
park every other day. We’ve got four acres, so they go walk around and play with the dog. We’ve got a big German Shepherd, and they go throw the ball and stuff like that, kind of cruise around the neighborhood and everything. On the weekends, we really like to kind of hang out and lay low and kind of catch up on Saturday. But we’re still trying to find all the restaurants.
LOOKING BACK, HOW LUCKY DO YOU FEEL TO HAVE FOUND EACH OTHER AGAIN?
M : Lucky as it gets. She kind of brought me down to a different level of life. I was so focused on business, and that’s what basically ran my life. Monday through Friday all I did was work. I would get up at five, six every morning. I would devote my whole entire day to growing my business and get home, eat something and go to bed at eight o’clock. I had no life on the weekends. I was never really interested, or even had a will to date anybody, simply because of the amount of time and effort that I was focused on my business. I just didn’t think it would really be right to bring somebody into that when I didn’t really have the care, the will to change. And when Priscilla came along, things flipped very quickly.
WHERE CAN I FIND LOCAL ...?
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TECL 31347 Brightening Homes and Businesses
LAKEWOOD ELECTRICAL Local. Insured. Lic. #227509 Call Rylan 214-434-8735
TH ELECTRIC Reasonable Rates. Licensed & Insured. Ted. E257 214-808-3658
WHITE ROCK ELECTRIC All Electrical Services. Lic/Insd.TECL-34002 214-850-4891
ANTHONY’S ELECTRIC
Master Electrician Family Owned · Insured Anthonyselectricofdallas.com 214-328-1333
Tecl #24948.
EMPLOYMENT
BENJAMINS PAINTING Hiring:18-26Yr.olds, Top Pay- Will Train. In Advocate since 2007. 214-725-6768
EXPERIENCED NANNY 2 months-6 Years Great References.15 Years Experience warconie@gmail.com. 469-987-2172
EXTERIOR CLEANING
G&G DEMOLITION Tear downs, Haul. Interior/Exterior. 214-808-8925
FENCING & DECKS
4 QUALITY FENCING • 214-507-9322 Specializing in Wood. YourWoodmaster.com
AMBASSADOR FENCE CO. Automatic Gates, Fences/Decks, Pergolas, Patio Covers, Arbors. AmbassadorFenceCo.com 214-621-3217
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LONESTARDECKS.COM 214-357-3975
Trex Decking & Fencing, trex.com All Wood Decks, Arbors & Patio Covers
HANNAH WOODWORKS
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Hannahwoodworks.com 469-427-0058 or 214-435-9574
FLOORING & CARPETING
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HARDWOOD INSTALLATIONS Waterproof, hardwood, carpets, tile laminate, & vinyl click. 214-440-6244 . aaa-texas-floors.com
FOR SALE
FOR SALE 6 pc Queen bedroom set (solid wood). Separately or together. Good Condition. $1200 for set. 956-645-1747 FOUNDATION REPAIR
Slabs • Pier & Beam
Mud Jacking • Drainage
Free Estimates
Over 20 Years Exp. 972-288-3797
Answer Our Phones
GARAGE SERVICES
UNITED GARAGE DOORS AND GATES Res/Com. Locally Owned. 214-251-5428
GENERAL CONTACTING
A2H GENERAL CONTRACTING,LLC Remodel, Paint, Drywall/Texture, Plumbing. Electrical, Siding, Bathroom/Kitchen Remodels Tilling, Flooring, Fencing. 469-658-9163. Free Est. A2HGeneralContactingLLC@gmail.com
GLASS, WINDOWS & DOORS
LAKE HIGHLANDS GLASS & MIRROR frameless shower enclosures • store fronts replacement windows • mirrors 214-349-8160
ROCK GLASS CO Replace, Repair. Single, Double Panes. Showers, Mirrors. 214-837-7829
HANDYMAN SERVICES
BO HANDYMAN Specializing In Historic Home Renovations & Pro Remodels. Custom Carpentry, Doors, Kitchens, Baths & more. 214-437-9730
DANHANDY.NET Repairs Done Right For A Fair Price. References 214-991-5692
HANDY DAN The Handyman. ToDo’s Done Right. handy-dan.com 214-252-1628
HANDYMAN SPECIALIST Residential/Commercial. Large, small jobs, repair list, renovations. Refs. 214-489-0635
HANDYMAN WANTS your Painting,Repairs, To Do Lists. Bob. 214-288-4232. Free Est. 25+yrs exp.
HOME REPAIR Doors, Trim, Glass. Int/Ext. Sheetrock, Windows, Kitchen, Bathroom 35 yrs exp. 214-875-1127
HOMETOWN HANDYMAN All phases of construction. No job too small 214-327-4606
ONE CALL WEEKEND SERVICES
Contractor & Handyman. Remodels, Renovations . Paint, Plumbing, Drywall, Electrical. 469-658-9163
Us Tackle Your To-Do List!
HOME IMPROVEMENT
RGC - HOME IMPROVEMENTS 214-477-8977
HOUSE PAINTING
BENJAMINS PAINTING - Professional work @reasonable price. In Advocate since 2007 214-725-6768
HECTOR PEREZ PAINTING Commercial/residential. Intrior/ Exterior. Fair Rates. 214-489-0635
RAMON’S INT/EXT PAINT Sheetrock, Repairs. 214-679-4513
TEXAS BEST PAINTING LLC Resd,Interiors 30Yrs. 214-527-4168
TOP COAT 30 Yrs. Exp. Reliable. Quality Repair/Remodel. Phil @ 214-770-2863
VIP PAINTING & DRYWALL Int/Ext. Sheetrock Repair, Resurfacing Tubs, Counters, Tile Repairs. 469-774-7111
Over 25 years of experience Free Estimates 214-702-2188 morganexteriorsdfw.com
INTERIOR DESIGN
FENN CONSTRUCTION Full Service Contractor. dallastileman.com
dallas.tkremodelingcontractors.com
HUIZAR CERAMIC & MARBLE TILE • Repair & Install
Redo Showers • Kitchen Backsplash
alvinohuizar@yahoo.com
LAWNS, GARDENS & TREES
REAL ESTATE
ESTATE HOME NEEDS TO BE SOLD? Facing forclosure? IG Heron Homes Call Ricardo Garza @ 469-426-7839
SERVICES FOR YOU
AGING ROOF? New Homeowner? Got Storm Damage? You need a local expert provider that proudly stands behind their work. Fast, free estimate. Financing Available.1-888-878-9091.
#1 WHITE ROCK TREE WIZARDS Professionals, Experts, Artists serving Dallas 15 years.Trim, Removals. Tree Health Care services. Insured. Arborwizard.com. Free Est. (972) 803-6313.
A BETTER TREE MAN Trims, Removals, Insd. 18 Yrs Exp. Roberts Tree Service. 214-808-8925 Lawns, Gardens & Trees
DAVIS LAWN CARE, LLC 580-222-4909 or davislawncare214@yahoo.com
Serving Lake Highlands & Lakewood.
HOLMAN IRRIGATION
Sprinkler & Valve Repair/ Rebuild Older Systems. Lic. #1742. 214-398-8061
MAYA TREE SERVICE Tree Trim/Remove. Lawn Maintenance. Resd/ Commcl.Insd. CC’s Accptd. mayatreeservice.com 214-924-7058 214-770-2435
MONSTER TREE SERVICE DALLAS Certified Arborists, Fully Insured 469.983.1060
NEW LEAF TREE, LLC
Honest, Modern, Safety Minded. 214-850-1528
PAT TORRES 214-388-1850 Lawn Service & Tree Care. 28 Yrs. Complete Landscape Renovation. New Fence Install & Brick Repair. Concrete Removal and Gutter Cleaning.
RED SUN LANDSCAPES • 214-935-9779 RedSunLandscapes.com
RGC - STORM WATER MANAGEMENT drainage solutions 214-477-8977
TAYLOR MADE IRRIGATION Repairs, service, drains. 30+ years exp. Ll 6295 469-853-2326. John
WALTON’S GARDEN CENTER
Stop in for home decor, candles, house plants, succulents and more. It’s time to plan for spring. Call us for design, prep and plantings! 8652 Garland Road 214.321.2387
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FOR RENT Little Forest Hills 2/1 Single Family Home w/fence. $1,600mo. $1,600 deposit. Cheryl. 214-235-1399
GARDEN OFFICE SPACE FOR RENT Walnut Hill @ CENTRAL.3 Smaller Suites Avail. Flexible Terms 214.915. 8886
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REMODELING
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BO HANDYMAN Specializing In Historic Home Renovations & Pro Remodels. Custom Carpentry, Doors, Kitchens, Baths & more. 214-437-9730
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A CHARMING HOME
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PEST CONTROL
MOSQUITO SHIELD 972–850-2983
Imagine A Night Outside Without Mosquitoes
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PLUMBING
AC PLUMBING Repairs, Fixtures, Senior Discounts. Gary Campbell. 214-321-5943
ABOUT DISCOUNTS!
POOLS
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CERULEAN POOL SERVICES Family Owned/ Operated. Weekly maintenance, Chemicals, parts & repairs. CeruleanPro.com 214-557-6996
PROFESSIONAL SERVICES
C.A.S. BOOKKEEPING SERVICES
Personal/Small Business. Payroll, Accounting, Organizing, Consult. Cindy 214-577-7450
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New Construction & Remodels FiferCustomHomes.com• 214-727-7075
Kitchens, Bathrooms, Windows, Doors, Siding, Decks, Fences, Retaining Walls, New Construction
TK REMODELING
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TUTOR/LESSONS
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LIGHTS ON MCCREE
LHUMC’s Artist of Christian Talent program is celebrating 50 years of Broadway-style musical productions in our neighborhood this month
Story by CAROL TOLER
ARTISTS OF CHRISTIAN TALENT (ACT) AT LAKE HIGHLANDS UNITED METHODIST CHURCH WILL PRESENT GUYS AND DOLLS AND CELEBRATE 50 YEARS PRODUCING BROADWAY-STYLE MUSICALS WITH A SPECIAL PERFORMANCE AND RECEPTION FOR ALUMNI IN EARLY FEBRUARY.
ACT was founded in 1976 by church member Jeri Johnston, who wanted to create an outlet for students who struggled to earn a role in Lake Highlands High School theater productions. She declared there’d be a spot in ACT’s cast or crew for every young person who wanted one. That’s still the case – 50 shows later.
“Everyone deserves a venue,” Johnston said in 2022 when the Lake Highlands Advocate named her one of our magazine’s Fierce Females. “Everyone should be highlighted for the skills they have and made to know that they are special. Putting on the show is hard, but it’s important to tell kids how wonderful they’ve been and what a good job they’ve done. ACT does that, and the community does that. It’s important for them to know they can do anything they aspire to.”
“One sweet thing about ACT is that people keep coming back,” says Melissa Alloway, who’s been prop master since her own kids got involved 20 years ago. Daughter Meredith (LHHS Class of 2007) is now a filmmaker and son Garrett (Class of 2010) is a video editor. “People who began as ACTors return to volunteer.”
Technical Director Michael Willman (Class of 1984) has been at the sound and lighting board every year since seventh grade. Choreographer Hannah Willard Powers (Class of 2013) and Director Kathryn Williams (Class of 2002) were frequent cast members. Others, including Lindsay Holland (Class of 2002) and Claire Daniels (Class of 2008), have come back to direct or lead music.
LHUMC Discipleship Coordinator Gretel Roberts is organizing ACT’s 50th celebration, and she’s been combing through old photos, T-shirts, programs and posters from the first 49 shows.
“It’s just amazing and impressive that it’s lasted this long — this little idea that Jeri had all those years ago and all the lives
it has touched. We’re here almost 50 years later still putting on amazing shows, and the alumni come back to either work on the show or see it again. There’s excitement to get back together with their cast. As a church, our number one goal is to honor the impact that this ministry has had on so many people. It’s been long-lasting, and people are still excited about it all these years later.”
Larry Engel began helping with set creation when son Austin (Class of 2003) joined the cast of Annie Get Your Gun his seventh-grade year. His first call was to Rick Holland, whose daughter was also participating. That was 1998. Engel still serves as set designer and Holland is house manager.
“I enjoy the creative process — trying to figure out how to put the set together,” says Engel, who recalls his own days on stage. He played Will Parker in his high school’s production of Oklahoma! , performing a solo of “Kansas City.” He learned the art of set design in high school, too, and he was happy to lend his talents where they are needed. His boys are now grown, but he’s still at it.
Those who purchase a ticket for the show rarely see the small things gone wrong, or the lifelong friendships made backstage. Holland says the cast and crew spend weeks working together toward a singular goal, and that can bring big life changes.
“I like to watch the kids mature and grow from seventh grade to 12th. You find some who are early wallflowers, and by the time they’re juniors or seniors, they think they are Broadway stars. Those that don’t have a lot of friends suddenly have friends. Some that are a little bit full of themselves find humbling aspects by the end of the show.”
Engel and Holland wouldn’t name names, but they chuckle remembering aspects gone askew during productions.
“What goes on backstage, stays backstage,” laughs Engel.
ACT’s decades of success have had a few drawbacks.
“If you go back to what Jeri (Johnston) said originally, ACT was an opportunity for the kids who might not make the high school musical. Through ACT, they found out they could do it. Many times, our kids earned big parts at the high school, and that became a conflict.”
Like many of today’s volunteers, Engel is now a grandfather and has gained a special appreciation for the benefits of participation.
“Being on stage builds self-confidence, and it’s easier to do if you’re part of a group up there,” says Engel. “It’s teamwork, whether it’s sports, theater, orchestra, choir — doing something as a group and making something beautiful in the process is very important for self-esteem, self-worth, belonging, community and all those values we hold so dear.”
Kathryn Williams teaches theater at Lake Highlands Middle School and Forest Meadow Middle School and serves as middle school theater director for the Lake Highlands Learning Community. Her first show was Into the Woods in 1997, and she starred as Sister Sarah Brown in ACT’s 2002 production of Guys and Dolls , among other roles.
“ACT was my introduction to theater. I always liked to sing and dance, but it wasn’t until I did ACT in the seventh grade that I knew theater was something I wanted to make part of my life. One of my favorite things about ACT is that the kids are not only creating this incredible storytelling experience, but they’re also forming lifelong bonds of friendship. We’ve got kids that are involved in so many different organizations from all walks of school life that come together for eight weeks to create something pretty magical.”
Williams says ACT draws students not initially interested in the performing arts. Some are invited by friends to join. Many surprise themselves when they love it.
“Kids try to find their home. They need to find their people,” she says. “I’ve had students discover theater as their path, and now they’re looking at colleges for theater. Students who are not involved in theater or choir at school will get up on that ACT stage and sing and dance and put on costumes and just blow my mind. They are some of my favorite people to watch, because this is their yearly opportunity to put themselves out there and have fun.”
The special alumni show will be held Saturday, Feb. 8 at 7:30 p.m., and the reception is at 6 p.m. Tickets are $30 and permit entrance to both events. Additional performances will be held Feb. 7, 13 and 14 at 7:30 p.m. and Feb. 9 and 16 at 2 p.m.
We worked with Bart during one of the hottest housing markets in recent history. Bart stuck with us through several offer cycles, and each new house he found was better than the last. His background in architecture and construction is a huge plus. He always has a flashlight in the car and is ready to crawl down below a house. You won’t be disappointed with his skills and work ethic. Thanks Bart for everything! -Maggie M.
A Next-Level Real Estate Experience
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