2024 March Lake Highlands Advocate

LAKE HIGHLANDS M A R C H 2 0 2 4 I A D V O C AT E M A G . C O M

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march 24

contents

LAKE HIGHLANDS ADVOCATE VOL.30 NO.3

PROFILE 12 From Boy Scout Troop 890 to parks planning DINING 16 The Balcony Club FEATURES 9 Old Lake Highlands' tiny art gallery 20 LHHS grad goes pro 26 The bond election 30 The grandmother of Juneteenth STUDENT STORY 24 The Pickleball Club

Pickleball paraphernalia at The Lake Highlands Pickleball Club. Read more on page 24. Photography

by Amani Sodiq.

SPONSORED CONTENT

Spring blooms At North Haven Gardens’ annual Rose Weekend, the experienced staff ensures you pick out the perfect roses

SPONSORED CONTENT

ON T HE CO VER Beauty inside and out

F

rom a lush, striking peach-orange ‘Rosie the Riveter’ to a classic red ‘Legends’ hybrid tea rose, North Haven Gardens’ Rose Weekend features a flower blossom for everyone.

With more than 130 varieties, you’ll find a wide selection of roses in all shapes and colors.

A tradition for over 70 years, NHG’s Rose Weekend has been instrumental in keeping Dallas rose gardens vibrant.

Originally, this popular weekend event was held in October. In those days, original rosarian Ira Duncan and founder Ralph Pinkus trekked to the Tyler rose fields, selecting the rose varieties that would be displayed instore for customers to browse. Bareroot canes were brought in after orders were placed. North Haven Gardens grew the shrubs over the winter in recycled food cans, and customers returned in March to pick up their shrubs.

By the mid-1970s, commercial rose growing in the U.S. was largely centered in California, but today, North Haven Gardens continues the tradition of bringing in several thousand bare root roses each winter to grow out for the next spring. Bare rootstock comes from several reputable wholesale rose growers from around the country, says general manager Cody Hoya. Rose

At North Haven Gardens, enthusiasts can find a large variety of roses, attend classes such as Chic Home Plant Care, How Not to Kill Your Indoor Houseplant and “Swap and Sips” – opportunities for interested parties to trade cuttings and seeds with others.

Front cover The ‘Lady of Shallot,’ an English Climbing Rose. Image courtesy of David Austin Roses.

bushes typically start trickling into the nursery just as the holiday season is in full swing.

Now the last full weekend of March, North Haven Gardens sells an average of 1,000 roses during Rose Weekend — almost one-third of NHG’s yearly rose sales. It’s one of a handful of Texas nurseries that features fan-favorite David Austin English Roses.

The best way to select the perfect rose for your garden?

“Visit North Haven Gardens during Rose Weekend. Our garden advisors are ready and waiting to help select the best rose for you and your garden.”

Hoya says.

Rose Weekend: March 30-31, 2024, 9am-6pm (opening 8am on Saturday) 7700 Northaven Rd, Dallas, TX 75230

7700 Northaven Rd. | 214-363-5316 | NHG.com

Left page: A ‘Boscobel,’ bred by David Austin Roses, is a climbing shrub known for its highly saturated color. Image courtesy of David Austin Roses.

Right Page: Rosarian Ira Duncan with the canned roses in front in 1959. An ad for Rose Weekend from 1967. Images courtesy of North Haven Gardens.

If your iconic neighborhood business would like an opportunity to collaborate with us on our cover photo package, please contact editor Jehadu Abshiro at jabshiro@ advocatemag.com.

8 lakehighlands.advocatemag.com MARCH 2024

Selena and Jim Dixon use their front yard to display miniature art.

T H E O L D L A K E H I G H L A N DS P E T I T GA L E R I E Jim and Selena Dixon make Lake Highlands a little more beautiful Story by SIMON PRUITT Photography by LAUREN ALLEN

“As you might guess, geologists like to be outdoors,” says Selena Dixon, showing off the latest update to Old Lake Highlands (OLH) Petit Galerie, her front-yard mini art gallery.

Selena and her husband Jim were career geologists, spending as much of their off-time outdoors as they could — now walking in their neighborhood.

They were set up by a teaching assistant i n a ge o l o g y c l a ss t h ey s h a re d a t Stony Brook University in New York and have now been married 50 years.

They moved from Houston to Dallas in 2014 to be closer to their daughter and grandchildren, retiring shortly after.

“When you retire,” she says. “You’re supposed to challenge yourself.”

S e l e n a s a y s s h e ’s a l w a y s b e e n interested in art, but never got the chance to truly dive into it due to her work.

“Everybody walks by this corner with their dogs,” she says. “I thought, you could put an art gallery out there. It gives people something to look at and a place to stop, visit and learn.”

That’s where Jim got involved.

“There are a few of those little libraries in our neighborhood which was kind of the inspiration,” he says. “Everytime we walked by, I kind of looked at it and how it was built,” says Jim. Jim found a blueprint similar to them on Etsy and adjusted the design to make sure the art could be easily viewed but remained safe.

“I modified the front so that there'd be more area to view,” he says. “I wanted it to be more secure, so we screwed the front on so people can’t go in there and fuss around.”

In November 2022, the OLH Petit Galerie was officially born, featuring all original art from Selena. The first installation was themed after the birds she saw in the neighborhood. Since then, she’s tailored themes around fruit, flowers and abstract designs.

“I do not try to one-up myself,” she says. “I would be crippled by it. Trying to do better than you did before? That’s a career thing. I'm retired. I don't have to torture myself like that anymore.”

In January 2024, the gallery featured work from Kay Wyne, a local artist that

march 2024 lakehighlands.advocatemag.com 9

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marks the first installation that wasn’t created by Selena.

“Painting large takes more paint and more time,” Wyne explains. “There’s a satisfaction to creating something and having a finished product on a faster timeline.”

Wyne isn’t limited to one artistic style. Her paintings ra n ge i n s i ze, fo r m a t a n d concept. She created them at an art studio she shares with Selena and 10 other local artists.

“Selena saw my artwork in the Dutch Art Gallery and asked if I taught,” she explains.

“I don’t teach, but I told her she could paint with me.”

Once Selena opened her own gallery, Wyne was the c l e a r c h o i c e fo r t h e f i rs t featured artist.

“I’d love to have a rotation,” Selena says. “Especially people who don’t do what I do.”

OLH Petit Galerie is just over a year old, but the couple says they have no plans to stop doing it.

“As long as we can crawl out there, we’ll do it,” Jim jokes.

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MARCH 2024 advocatemag.com

11

p ro f i l e

A TRAIL-BUILDING RENAISSANCE

How a Lake Highlands Boy Scout became a parks planner Story by ALYSSA HIGH Photography by VICTORIA GOMEZ

12 prestonhollow.advocatemag.com MARCH 2024

G

rowing up in Lake Highlands as an avid member of Boy Scout Troop 890, Robert Kent’s childhood was immersed in the outdoors.

“I got to go spend some really wonderful formative experiences in the outdoors both in high adventure backpacking treks through Rocky Mountain National Park and more local things like our annual triathlon along White Rock Green Belt,” Kent says. “After five or six years in a row training for that, it instilled in me a deeper appreciation for the outdoors.”

So much so, he says, that Kent went to college and aimed to get a job in international development with an environmental focus, hoping to help build a sustainable economy in developing nations.

“Life has different paths that take you in different directions,” he says.

Graduating during the 2008 Great Recession landed him a chance to dive back into the outdoors.

“I ended up taking six months to backpack the Appalachian Trail end-to-end, which is about 2,100 miles from Maine to Georgia,” Kent says. “That’s just one of those formative experiences outdoors that really developed a deep appreciation and passion for our connection to nature and how important it is for everyone to be able to experience nature close to home.”

Kent returned to Dallas and landed a job at the North Texas Commission as their environmental program director.

“Within about six months of being back in Dallas, I realized that this was exactly where I needed to be,” Kent says. “I didn’t need to travel halfway around the world. There’s plenty of opportunity to do it right here in Dallas, in our own backyard.”

Three years after accepting the job with the North Texas Commission, Trust for Public Land was preparing to open their Dallas office and Kent put himself up for the job.

Trust for Public Land is a national nonprofit organization that works with local parks and recreation departments to purchase land to create parks and ensure that everyone lives within a 10-minute walk of a park or trail.

Kent was first hired to reestablish TPL’s Dallas office and reopen the nonprofit’s presence in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

From there, he was promoted to the Texas State Director.

His role at TPL has changed over the years. Historically, Kent says, the nonprofit has been about land acquisition — buying land, setting it aside for conservation purposes and working with public agencies like the Dallas Parks and Recreation Department or the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.

“In the last half of our history, we’ve also had a focus on really urban parks and not only buying the land, but also doing design and development work,” Kent says. “From that, we’ve developed a really strong planning practice.”

Trust for Public Land established a project called Smart Growth for Dallas, a data mapping platform that examines factors like urban heat islands, health disparities, equity indicators, soil types and flood zones to determine where parks are most needed and possible locations for said parks.

“When you have a park close to home and you make an

investment in some type of green infrastructure, whether it’s a park or a trail or trees, that can have positive benefits for the environment, public health and communities,” Kent says.

Two notable projects that the group has worked on is the South Oak Cliff Renaissance Park, a 1.8 acre neighborhood park across from South Oak Cliff High School and the Five Mile Creek Greenbelt. “[South Oak Cliff Renaissance Park is] a really cool project where the neighborhood and the school had this vacant piece of land across from the high school that had been used as a place to dump tires and as a place where people were camping out or kids were skipping school. The grass was overgrown up to your shoulders. Every day when the bell rang, kids were walking from the school across this overgrown, dirty, littered, vacant field to go home,” Kent says. “The park was designed in partnership with the high school and with the nearby residents and neighbors, so every feature in that park is reflective of some need that the community identified.

South Oak Cliff Renaissance Park opened in November of 2021, now a “well-loved, central piece of that community.”

Five Mile Creek Greenbelt, on the other hand, has been a long time in the making and still has a bit of work to go.

The 17-mile trail aims to connect much of Oak Cliff and Southern Dallas along the already existing watershed.

“Oak Cliff has got the most pretty land in Dallas, and that’s because it is the northmost edge of the Balcones Escarpment (the eastern boundary of the Texas Hill Country that gives Oak Cliff its hills and cliff-like structures),” Kent says. “When you’re driving through the area, these big hills and valleys have these commanding views over Downtown Dallas, which is surprising considering at this point you’re a good eight to 10 miles south of Downtown.”

Plans for the project started as early as the 1940s, and Kent hopes to realize that nearly 80-year-old dream.

“Within the community around Five Mile Creek, there’s a great hunger for this type of amenity,” Kent says. “Dallas is undergoing a trail-building renaissance. It’s wonderful ... The Five Mile Creek Trail is going to be that connection that will finally connect Oak Cliff to the rest of the city.”

Kent aims to break ground on the project in 2025. In the meantime, the nonprofit is focused on raising money and starting the design process so that the trail could be open by 2030.

Though Kent supports a statewide team, his inspiration comes back to his childhood in Lake Highlands.

“Growing up in Lake Highlands, being a part of scouting had a huge impact on me and I was really privileged to be able to have White Rock Creek Trail in my backyard, literally,” Kent says. “I took that for granted, and it wasn’t until I was an adult in the last 10 years realizing that it was actually an incredibly unique experience and that most children in Dallas did not get to do that as kids because those amenities just weren't there. That has really motivated me to think about how I can help pay it for ward to help improve the whole city in this way." march 2024 lakehighlands.advocatemag.com 13

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A CONVERSATION WITHOUT WORDS The Balcony Club: A quintessential hidden gem for jazz aficionados and Dallas’ nightlife Story by KELSEY SHOEMAKER Photography by LAUREN ALLEN

Saxophonist Shelley Carrol is widely known in Dallas for his talent and often plays at jazz clubs like The Balcony Club and Revelers Hall.

Balcony Club owner David Luckey (left) has been playing the venue since 2018.

Sundays are for jazz.

And those who are in the know, know it’s the most popular night of the week at the Balcony Club.

“Jazz has an identity,” owner and performer David Luckey says. “It's intelligent.”

Before the Balcony Club was even a concept, the space was used as an attic by the Lakewood Theater when it opened in 1938. There are still traces of the original staircase behind the walls, but now the only entrance is from the outside.

“It’s not a place you find by accident,” he says about the music lounge.

Luckey, a Lake Highlands resident, now switches between running the club, and playing it. He took over the venue in July 2021, and bounces between instruments depending on what the night calls for.

He may be the most recent owner of the Balcony Club, but he’s been playing the venue since 2018. For a while he worked the happy hour slot on Sundays, playing piano and singing. He took a quick break during the year he wrote his dissertation — he has a Ph.D in religion and culture from SMU — but returned soon after to the place that helped him “decompress.”

Jazz parallels Luckey’s interest in theology. By day, he is an adjunct at SMU teaching theolog y and world religions. But by night, it’s all about the jazz.

“I wear a few hats,” he says.

When the Balcony Club opened in

1988, the stage was pushed toward the front. Guests would awkwardly make it through the stage area and then through the thick clouds of cigar smoke before finding a table.

The Balcony Club, which celebrated its 35th anniversary in October, hosts all genres of music throughout the week.

Blues, rock n’ roll, classic rock and R&B, even open mic nights are on the table.

It’s promised its patrons that dayt o - d ay a n d w e e k-t o -w e e k , n o tw o performances will be the same. “ T he Balcony Club has been the linchpin holding the music community together,” Luckey says. “They love that all of us love playing here … I get chills thinking about it.”

Legend has it that the place is haunted by past performers. Cocktail glasses have been known to slide and things have been known to move. At this point, it’s part of the character of the place and a running joke among the regulars.

It’s not uncommon to get a shoulder tap on no-talking nights, which resemble listening rooms in Paris. Guests can focus on the music, each note battling it out or an instrument getting its solo.

Luckey describes the exchange between jazz ar tists as an “improvisational language,” with each performer building off the other.

“You’re dealing with interlocutors or conversation partners of the most skilled variety,” Luckey says. “It’s a conversation with rhythm and harmony, with a great deal of dissonance. They work inside a framework and give one another space

18 lakehighlands.advocatemag.com MARCH 2024

to solo over segments of it and pass it around where every musician on the stage gets to articulate their voice evenly.”

The BYOF — bring your own food — destination rotates between seasonal cocktail menus.

In t h e b a ck , a l a rge w a l l h o l d s caricatures of past and current musicians and previous owner Teddy Daves and his wife, Lorena. Everyone from bassist Chuck Rainey to keyboard players for Michael Bublé and guitarists for Hall and Oates have graced the venue.

“It's the craziest thing ever,” says James May, who has performed regularly since the ‘90s. “It's like you'd be sitting in here and playing everything. And all of a sudden, somebody who's somebody walks in, you go ‘OK, I know who it is.’”

The intimate lounge credits the feeling to its seasoned musicians and reliable regulars.

“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” Luckey says. “Especially when something has been something to someone for a long time, and it's been celebrated for a long time.”

Elaine True happened upon the club after wanting to go out after a medical procedure in 2013.

Ten years later, she visits four nights a week and has dubbed herself the Balcony Club Queen. She can be found at her regular table with her friends, and thinks of it as the Dallas version of Cheers.

“Everybody likes everybody,” True says. “Why sit home by myself, when it’s fun here?”

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march 2024 lakehighlands.advocatemag.com 19

going PR

Lake Highlands golfer achieves his dream, qualifies to play on the PGA Tour Story by SAM GILLESPIE | Photography by KATHY TRAN

T

housands of young golfers dream about playing professionally. LHHS grad Blaine Hale Jr. will be living his dream this year as he tees it up on the 2024 PGA Tour with Tiger, Rory, Scottie and

Jordan.

Hale, a 2015 graduate, sealed the deal last month in Ponte Vedra, Florida, when he finished in third place in the final stage of the PGA Tour Qualifying School Tournament. Only the top five finishers on the TPC Sawgrass course received PGA Tour Cards.

The Advocate caught up with Hale shortly after his victory, and we asked him about golf, family and Lake Highlands.

SO HOW HAS YOUR LIFE CHANGED ALREADY? I guess the fact that I will play in a PGA tour event will be the biggest thing. This will be my first PGA Tour event I get to play in, so that has been a dream come true and something in the past I thought maybe would never happen, so I’m very excited.

THIS FINAL PGA TOUR QUALIFYING EVENT IS FOUR ROUNDS. WERE YOU IN THE TOP FIVE GOING INTO THE FINAL ROUND? I was. I was 10 under par going into the final round in solo second place.

TELL US ABOUT GROWING UP IN LAKE HIGHLANDS AND HOW YOU GOT STARTED IN GOLF. I grew up in Lake Highlands. My parents have lived in the same house since I was three years old. I went to Highlander School for elementary. I went to Lake Highlands Junior High, because that’s where most of my classmates were going, and then I graduated from Lake Highlands High School in 2015.

I grew up near Royal Oaks Countr y Club. We were never members there, but our high school team practiced there. We joined Dallas Athletic Club when I was in the ninth grade.

Before that, I basically just played a lot of the municipal courses around Dallas with my dad and some of his buddies. I played in a bunch of junior tournaments during the summer.

Most of my early golf was in my backyard with plastic golf balls or at the municipal courses before I got into high school.

20 lakehighlands.advocatemag.com MARCH 2024

I was super lucky and blessed that I got a great place to play and practice in high school at Dallas Athletic Club. I am still a member there now and represent them on their young professional program. I am very thankful for them.

WHAT WAS YOUR HIGH SCHOOL GOLF EXPERIENCE AT LAKE HIGHLANDS? Christopher Cole was my coach all four years. He is a cousin of my father-in-law, going back before I ever knew my wife.

In my class, Preston Dickson and I were teammates and buddies and still friends today. Braden Beasley is another good buddy of mine from the team, along with Kyle Kennedy and Parker Morgan.

High school was my first taste of team golf, having guys to practice and play with and compete and play money games and rib each other and spend time on the golf course for hours and hours on end.

I’m super thankful for them and the way they pushed me and the way that hopefully I pushed them as well.

A LOT OF YOUNG KIDS SAY THEY WANT TO PLAY IN THE NFL OR NBA OR WANT TO BECOME A PROFESSIONAL GOLFER. WHEN DID IT BECOME REAL FOR YOU? I would say golf has always been my sport. I loved everything growing up — I loved football, baseball, soccer, golf. Those were my four sports growing up. Whatever season it was, I was competitive in that sport, but I played golf all year round.

I just loved the challenge, the internal struggle of how can I get better, how can I be better than my peers, how can I beat my low round, how can I beat my dad, how can I beat my dad’s friends? For me, golf has always been my sport.

Probably when I really thought I could do something is when I got to high school my freshman year. I was pretty good my freshman year but was really small. I had a growth spurt at the end of my freshman year and turned from a short-hitting guy with a decent short game to a pretty long guy off the tee but still had a decent short game to where I was starting to beat some good players and star ting to compete in some big tournaments. I started thinking that I could really do this.

WHAT HAS PROFESSIONAL G OLF BEEN FO R

march 2024 lakehighlands.advocatemag.com 21

YOU UP TO THIS POINT? For me, the year I turned pro was in 2019, and I played Q -school that year. Q -school (qualifying school) was my third professional event, and I ended up missing by one shot.

Had I made it to the finals, I would have made Korn Ferry (the golf tour below the PGA Tour but above the mini-tours) status. I wasn’t too worried about it as it was my first run and could get a year playing mini-tour stuff and I’ ll breeze through next year. Well, COVID came, and the world shut down. I was actually planning on playing in China my first year as a pro, but that didn’t work out because of COVID, so I stuck to the mini-tours. They canceled Q -school that year, too, so I stayed another year on the mini-tours. I kept trying Monday qualifiers but never made it through. I kept pushing myself to get ready for Q -school in 2021 and put a ton of pressure on myself and didn’ t play ver y well my second year as a pro.

I missed in the first stage that year by one or two shots, and that was super disappointing. I came home, and that was a tough time as you realize you have nothing in front of you. You have no guaranteed tournaments. You’re going to be traveling again by yourself to mini-tour events. So I did that again in 2022 and had a much better year and felt pretty good about my game, but unfortunately missed the Q -school again by one shot.

So then that whirl of emotion came again. Am I doing the right thing? Is this the right sport for me? Do I need to go get a job? All those thoughts creep into your head.

This past year, I set my mind to just go compete each week.

Don’t worry about what will happen at the end. Just play good golf, and everything will take care of itself in the end.

Coach Hybl used to tell us all of the time: If you’re playing good golf, it doesn’t matter where you’re playing, it doesn’t matter where you’re at, it will benefit you in some way. So I just stuck to the mini-tours. I played every event I could this summer. I traveled all over the countr y, driving to Kansas, Illinois, Oklahoma, Arkansas, playing as much as I could. Thankfully, I had a really good year. I was consistent and felt my game took a big step. More of my good weeks became really good, and some of my bad weeks, I still had good weeks. All that was a huge confidence-boost heading into Q -school and stringing together a ton of good events this summer. I came into Q -school obviously e xtremely nervous, but I made it through the first stage pretty easy.

Second stage was very difficult, but I had a good last day and obviously the third stage, when I got my card, was a dream come true.

WHAT CHANGED IN YOUR GAME, IF ANYTHING, THE WEEK OF Q-SCHOOL TO GET YOUR CARD? The weather made it ver y difficult, and I had a ver y nice week off the tee and with the irons. I never really put myself in trouble other than the last hole on the last day! By that point I had basically locked it up, so I was all right. I putted well, consistent all week. I made a couple of long putts here

22 lakehighlands.advocatemag.com MARCH 2024

and there and made the short ones I was supposed to. It wasn’t one of those weeks where the putter was extremely hot, but it was very solid in windy conditions.

HOW DO YOU HANDLE THE STRESS OF PLAYING PROFESSIONAL GOLF WHERE EVERY SHOT COUNTS? Fo r m e , w h e n I ’m o n t h e c o u r s e , i t ’s a r o u t i n e . W h e n everything is spinning, you have to fall back on something that’s solid. For me, my pre-shot routine, before I hit a shot, I try to keep very consistent. It helps to calm your mind and get channeled over your shot versus not moving too much or thinking about it.

Off the co ur se is where I feel the s tress co m es mo re into play. Just running scenarios through your head. And truthfully, I try to keep it similar to on the course. I try to do similar things at night, similar things in the morning to calm my mind. Just trying to use all my energy on the golf course rather than off of it.

WHAT HAT ARE YOU GOING TO WEAR ON THE TOUR? I’m not sure. I’ve been wearing the Lee Trevino Super Mex hat most of this year. Hopefully, I can keep doing that, but if not, someone will come calling.

WILL THERE BE MORE SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES NOW THAT YOU HAVE YOUR CARD? There are few sponsors that I’ve had for the past couple of years. I hope I can continue with them, because they’re the guys who got me started and got my career going. I’m a big believer in giving back to the people who got me to this point. I would like to stay with them and add a couple more here and there, and off we go.

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE PGA TOUR VS. LIV GOLF CONTROVERSY? It’s sad, because you want the best players in the world playing against each other. I think that will only happen in majors (Masters, U.S. Open, British Open and PGA Championship) now. I imagine they will get together and figure this out sooner or later, if I was going to guess. I don’t know the politics that goes along with all that. I’ve been worried about playing mini-tour golf for the last few years, so I might be the least-qualified guy to talk about LIV-PGA drama.

WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS FOR YOUR FIRST YEAR ON THE PGA TOUR? I’m not sure yet. I need to sit down and think about that coming up.

I’ ll need to sit down with Allison and talk about those things, because we’re expecting our first child in May, so that’s a life- changing event as well. We’re super- excited, and that will throw another thing in that we have ahead of us. Big year ahead! I’ ll be a father and on the PGA Tour.

This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

January MLS home sale statistics*, plus annual totals

REAL ESTATE REPORT

a r e a h o m e va l u e s

SOLD JAN ‘24 6 2 3 6 2 8 3 0 2 1 3 1 11 2 3 53 -

Year-To-Date Sales ‘24 111 72 46 193 60 35 75 15 46 100 30 17 81 25 55 961 -

Year-To-Date Sales ‘23 100 73 71 221 65 23 91 21 65 147 17 16 115 42 53 1,120 -

Avg Days on Market YTD 55 28 28 34 25 21 30 25 36 27 24 18 26 28 19 424 28

Avg. Sales Price YTD ‘24 $560,323 $358,468 $387,113 $243,081 $461,788 $716,974 $699,650 $695,433 $602,448 $287,066 $879,807 $813,554 $740,360 $631,516 $631,149 $8,708,730 $580,582

Avg. Sales Price YTD ‘23 $419,458 $371,766 $345,495 $294,306 $413,556 $729,317 $697,026 $730,790 $585,177 $236,712 $720,831 $894,375 $627,125 $603,976 $568,082 $8,237,992 $549,199

3

Whitehurst

7 an

9

11

Walnut Hill

12

13

Northwest

14 15

Jupiter

Park

5

J

Plano Rd

s ak

rO

i Fa

Church

LB

Ferndale

10

5-

8

env

ille

6

Royal

4

63

Audelia

*Statistics are com piled by Ebby Halliday Realtors, and are de rived from Dallas Mul ti ple List ing Service (MLS). Numbers are believed to be re li able, but are not guar an teed. The Ad vo cate and Ebby Halliday Realtors are not re spon si ble for the ac cu ra cy of the in for ma tion.

2

1 Gre

PETER LOUDIS PETERLOUDIS@EBBY.COM 214-215-4269

75 - Central Expressway

Forest

West Fork Ja son Branch ck

Walnut

Sponsored by:

Skillm

SOLD JAN ‘23 5 5 5 15 1 0 5 2 3 10 2 2 2 1 4 62 -

Abrams

SUB AREA 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 TOTAL AVG

Hw y

SPRING TIME, HOME REPAIR TIME

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march 2024 lakehighlands.advocatemag.com 23

PICKLEBALL IS HERE to stay LHHS' pickleball club packs the court Story by BO RICHARDSON | Photography by AMANI SODIQ

From a backyard pastime to the fastest-growing sport in America, pickleball has taken the world by sto r m . I t h a s m ost re ce n t l y i n vaded LHHS, prompting the birth of the Lake Highlands Pickleball Club.

L i ke m a ny p l aye rs, P i c k l e ba l l C l u b fo u n d e r a n d L H H S j u n i o r, Katie Threadgill “discovered [pickleball] with [her] family when [t h ey] we re tr y i ng to f i n d something new.”

But people try new things all the time. So, what makes pickleball so special, and why is it so popular?

The 58-year-old pastime’s popularity is due in large part to its appeal to all skill levels, its oppor-

tunity for social interaction and its massive benefits to “picklers” mental and physical health. "[I like] that everyone can play," Threadgill says. "You don't have to be really good to enjoy it. It is also a great way to meet new people."

Pickleball Club meetings give students a refreshing break and allow people to connect with other students outside of a school setting.

The Lake Highlands Pickleball Club began last year when Threadgill and a friend wanted to share t h e f u n of t h e s p o r t w i t h o t h e r students by starting a club sponsored by Sunny Carroum, a math teacher at LHHS.

24 lakehighlands.advocatemag.com MARCH 2024

“I wanted to be the sponsor because I enjoy the sport and think the students of LHHS would also enjoy playing,” Carroum says.

A n d m a ny st u d e n ts d o e n j oy playing.

The Pickleball Club hosted an o p e n - t o u r n a m e n t i n O c t o b e r, with 24 teams of two competing to win on a fun, pickleball-filled day. Their biweekly meetings on t h e f i rst a n d t h i rd We d n esd ays of the month tend to fill up the rec center courts across from the stadium with 10-15 people showing up to play and hangout.

“Students should join the pickleball club because it is a way to socialize with lots of different peo-

LHHS pickleball club founder Katie Threadgill (right) took initiative after discovering the sport with her family. Allie Lorino (left) is a member of the club.

ple at Lake Highlands,” Threadgill says. “It’s a great way to get outside and enjoy what’s around us, and it’s really easy to pick up on and have fun. Moving forward we definitely would love to expand and encourage more people to join and have this club be inviting to all.”

One club member suggested expanding into the community and allowing the people of Lake Highlands to play whether that be parents or just anyone in the community.

If you’re interested in keeping up with the Lake Highlands Pickleball Club, you can follow them on Instagram @lhpickleballclub.

march 2024 lakehighlands.advocatemag.com 25

CITY HALL

Illustraition by Frank Ramspott via Getty Images

By EMMA RUBY

W H AT ' S N E X T FO R T H E B O N D ?

In the Feb. 14 Dallas City Council meeting, the horseshoe approved an election for a $1.25 billion bond package that will go before voters May 4.

Early voting will run from April 22-30.

The council vote, which passed 14-1, set the amount of funding that each section of the bond will receive.

Funding will be allocated to projects in 10 categories: roads, parks, libraries, housing, homelessness, public safety, cultural arts facilities, flood protection and storm draining, economic development and city information technology.

“I believe in this,” said Council Member Omar Narvaez, who introduced the allocation amounts.

The largest chunk of the funds will be given to streets and transportation, which received $521,200,000.

The second largest section, park and recreation, will receive $345,270,000. Both categories were

identified as top priorities by Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson in his 2022 State of the City address.

Council member Adam Bazaldua was the lone vote against the allocations, advocating for money to

BOND BREAK DOWN Streets & Transportation $521,200,000 Park and Recreation $345,270,000 Libraries $43,530,000 Housing $26,400,000 Economic Development $72,300,000 Homeless Housing $19,000,000 Flood Protection & $52,100,000 Storm Drainage Public Safety $90,000,000 Cultural Arts Facilities $75,200,000 Information Technology $5,000,000

be earmarked for City Hall repairs.

Bazaldua presented an alternative allocation motion that would fund some deferred maintenance he says is needed at City Hall, but the motion did not gain the support of the rest of the council.

26 lakehighlands.advocatemag.com MARCH 2024

“I wish I was able to support this bond, but as long as it isn’t one that supports our city staff and our city’s homeless and housing crisis, then I don’t feel it’s truly a reflection of our city’s greatest needs,” Bazaldua wrote on X, formerly Twitter, following the vote.

Fu n d i n g t h a t , i n e a r l i e r b o n d drafts, had been allocated to City Hall maintenance was removed in January by the council. Nearly $30 m i l l i o n wa s rea l l o ca te d to o t h e r sections of the bond.

Council members have until t h e e n d o f Fe b r u a r y t o i ro n o u t th e fin al list of p ro je cts that w ill be included in the bond. Some p ro j e c t s a re a l re a d y c o n f i r m e d , like the Law Enforcement Training C e n t e r t h a t w i l l b e b u i l t fo r t h e Da l l a s Po l i ce De pa r t m e n t o n t h e U n i ve rs i ty of N o r t h Texa s Da l l a s ca m p u s. F i f ty m i l l i o n d o l l a rs a re e a r m a r ke d fo r t h e c e n t e r i n t h e p u b lic safe ty cate go r y.

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march 2024 lakehighlands.advocatemag.com 29

THE GRANDMOTHER OF JUNETEENTH Opal Lee shares life lessons with Girl Scouts Story by CAROL TOLER Photography by LOWRY MANDERS

O

PA L L E E k n o w n a c r o s s t h e country as “The Grandmother of Juneteenth” for her pioneering efforts to have the day recognized as a national holiday, drew a standing-room-only crowd at last month’s Girl Scout “3 C’s Speaker” event.

Lee, 97, challenged the girls to use their mission of the 3 C’s — courage, confidence and character — to make the world a better place.

Leaning forward in her chair on the stage and reading aloud in her quiet, expressive voice, Lee shared Juneteenth: A Children’s Story with the assembled audience, including Brownies, Daisies and their families.

Community members, including a few Dallas City Council members and RISD officials, were also on the edges of their seats.

"What was it called? The Emancipation Proclamation. Which president issued it? Abraham Lincoln,” Lee prompts, using her experience as a third grade teacher to engage the girls. “It’s not a Texas thing. It’s not a Black thing. It’s a freedom thing.”

“J u l y 4 t h f re e d t h e l a n d , b u t Juneteenth freed the people,” Lee instructs, reminding her rapt audi-

ence. “Everyone has the opportunity to find themselves in the Juneteenth story. It is part of our combined heritage of being an American.”

It takes character to stand up for what is right, Lee tells the Girl Scouts, describing her own 1,400 mile walk from Fort Worth to Washi n g t o n D.C. a t t h e a ge o f 8 9 t o convince lawmakers to recognize Juneteenth as a federal holiday.

Some called her crazy, but she didn’t care. Once someone leads the way, others follow, she says.

“Make yourself a committee of one,” she says. “To change somebody’s mind. Because if people can be taught to hate, they can be taught to love.”

Le e w a s a c c o m p a n i e d by h e r granddaughter, Dione, who spoke alongside her and challenged the girls not to get comfortable thinking of all they have overcome. “ Eve n to d ay i n o u r n a t i o n , n o t everyone has the freedom to take advantage of what we consider ‘inalienable rights,’” Dione says. “We must still walk and speak for freedom of mind and pocketbook for all our people. We must fight against

30 lakehighlands.advocatemag.com MARCH 2024

policies like red lining that will keep people oppressed.”

At question-and-answer time, one of the Girl Scouts asked why she and her peers should care about history since it’s all in the past.

“You should learn about your history — the good, the bad and the ugly — because there is some of it that you don’t want to repeat,” Lee says. She then called on parents — and RISD officials seated on the front row — to stand up to those who want to take books out of school libraries and important lessons out of school curriculum.

“Our children need to know our history,” she told them.

The Girl Scouts will join Lee for her 2.5 mile walk for freedom this Juneteenth at Fair Park. The 2.5 miles represents the two and a half years it took for the enslaved people of Texas to learn of their freedom and “absolute equality” when General Granger and U.S. Colored Troops arrived in Galveston to read General Order No. 3: “All Slaves are Free.”

They plan to attend the 2025 opening of the National Juneteenth Monument and Museum in Fort Worth, which Lee is helping to design.

Now is the time.

Let’s talk real estate.

Call us to learn your home’s value.

We’d love to help!

(214) 693-1686

wrighthousegroup.ebby.com info@wrighthousegroup.com

An End to End Real Estate Experience Price and availability subject to change. Information deemed reliable, but not guaranteed.

9027longmont.daveperrymiller.com

SOLD, Represented Buyer

PENDING

9027 Longmont Drive

9511 Covemeadow Drive

7311 Hundley Boulevard

4 BED | 4.1 BATH | 4,203 SQ. FT. | $1,595,000

4 BED | 2.1 BATH | 2,889 SQ. FT. | PRIVATE SALE

3 BED | 2.1 BATH | 2,789 SQ. FT. | $765,000

The B·A·R Group

The B·A·R Group

The B·A·R Group

214.444.8044 home@thebargroup.com

214.444.8044 home@thebargroup.com

214.444.8044 home@thebargroup.com

SOLD, Represented Buyer

SOLD, Represented Buyer

SOLD, Represented Seller

9432 Dartcrest Drive

9557 Dartridge Drive

9619 Meadowhill Drive

5 BED | 4 BATH | 4,511 SQ. FT. | $1,730,000

3 BED | 3.1 BATH | 3,008 SQ. FT. | $1,250,000

3 BED | 2 BATH | 2,194 SQ. FT. | $749,000

Heather Hicks

Sam Bullard

Louise Boll

214.763.5585 heatherhicks@dpmre.com

817.304.1069 sambullard@dpmre.com

214.497.3731 louiseboll@dpmre.com

PENDING

SOLD, Represented Seller

SOLD, Represented Seller

9518/9520 Summerhill Lane

618 Kirkwood Drive

9619 Highland View

DUPLEX | 3/2 EACH | $650,000

2 BED | 2 BATH | 1,392 SQ. FT. | $515,000

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Rinne O’Halloran Group

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