2023 September Lake Highlands Advocate

Page 18

LAKE HIGHLANDS SEPTEMBER 2023 I ADVOCATEMAG.COM

For Those Who Celebrate September

It’s your month - lots to celebrate! Need a new space in which to make new memories? We’re here and in gear for Fall Market. Just reach out!

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Herrera uses her art to give back. Read more on page 8.
PROFILE 8 Emily Herrera Art DINING 14 Tony’s Pizza & Pasta FEATURES 10 Dallas strays 18 High-tech coop 26 Dallas City Lacrosse BACKSTORY 28 Backus Shell
contents LAKE HIGHLANDS ADVOCATE VOL. 30 NO. 9
Emily
Photography by Yuvie Styles.
sept 23

More paths traveled.

Joint care that helps you get more out of life.

You have your reasons for taking care of your joints and at Texas Health, we’re ready to help you every step of the way. That’s why more North Texans choose Texas Health than any other health system for their joint care. With our range of programs – from preventative care and physical therapy to non-surgical options and full joint replacements – you can rest assured you’ll receive quality, compassionate care tailored to your unique needs. From our joint care coordinators to specialists on the medical staff of Texas Health hospitals, our focus is to help you recover quickly and get back to what you love. That's how Texas Health cares more.

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Doctors on the medical staffs practice independently and are not employees or agents of Texas Health hospitals or Texas Health Resources. © 2023 Texas Health Resources

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HOBBY TO HUSTLE

Emily Herrera uses her artistic eye in more ways than one

profile

When Emily Herrera graduated from the University of North Texas with a Bachelor of Fine Arts, she never intended to become an artist. She had gone to school for interior design. But a few years later, she found herself looking at large art pieces and unable to afford them, so she took matters into her own hands.

Now, seven years since she first put paint on a canvas, Herrera has sold art to clients across the nation and as far as South Africa. Living by Newton’s laws of motion by staying busy, Herrera is a full-time interior designer, mother of two and abstract artist on the side — textured abstract artist to be exact.

Working with acrylic paints, trowels and palette knives, she creates layered pieces from her studio in her Lake Highlands home. The medium she works with is conveniently adaptable: juggling work and family means she has to step away from her works-in-progress frequently. But Herrera always comes back to the canvas to recenter and recalibrate.

AT WHAT POINT DID YOUR ART GO FROM A HOBBY TO A SIDE HUSTLE?

I thought, “I’m gonna try this.” I don’t know why I just felt like I could do it. I started painting. And then suddenly, I had 10 pieces of art stacked up and my husband was like, “The only way you can keep doing this is if you get rid of some.” So at first I was just, “Who wants it?” And then it was, “Alright, at least let me try to cover my costs.” So when I was actually making a little bit of money, I thought, “Oh, shoot, I need to do this for real and pay taxes. And if I want this to become something real, I need a business name. I need people to take me seriously, and I need to take me seriously.”

DID YOU HAVE A MOMENT OF REALIZATION THAT OTHERS LIKED YOUR WORK?

People would be like, “Oh, how long would it take you to do this,” and my typical standard lead time was about two weeks. And all of a sudden, I was like, “I’m gonna need two months.” I was so booked out, and I was just trying to find the time to get it all done. I thought, “OK, this isn’t slowing down.”

WHAT IS THE HARDEST PART OF THE CREATIVE PROCESS FOR YOU?

Every time I’m creating a piece there’s a part where I’m staring at it, and it’s ugly, and I know I’m not done. Most of my pieces are layers and layers and layers of paint. And at one point, I will step back and go, “Oh my gosh, what am I doing? This is awful.” And I have learned to really enjoy that part. And now I smile through it because I know that these are base layers and that I’ve got to trust the process until it’s done. And it happens every single time. I’m finally to the point where I can giggle and keep going.

HOW DO YOU FIND INSPIRATION FOR YOUR PIECES?

I go through moods. And I giggle because people will talk about Van Gogh’s Blue Period. Clearly, I’m no Van Gogh, but I definitely have moods. Painting during COVID, everything was really dark. I was using a ton of greens, very dark greens. But I use a lot of gold leafing or metallic paint. There’s always that hint of light, even when I’m working with really dark stuff. And then right now, spring and summer, I’m very motivated by the weather. I’m using tons of brights right now. Everything is super bright and electric pinks and electric yellows. My color palette is a little obnoxious at the moment.

HOW DOES YOUR FAMILY SHOW THEIR SUPPORT FOR EMILY HERRERA ART?

I couldn’t do it if they weren’t totally on board. The kids are fun. They always want to paint too. I’ll set up a little area in my art room and let them get messy and paint. I think as an artist I let go of trying to keep everything clean a really long time ago. So I never mind letting the kids go crazy. And then I’ll hose them down in the backyard or do whatever needs to happen. But they really like being a part of the process. My husband is everything in between. He lugs all the stuff around, and he puts up with my chaos. And he’s real quick to hang everything and photograph and hold the art while I photograph. My father-in-law is amazing. He made us all T-shirts, and he shows up to all my shows. So yeah, it’s definitely a family effort.

HOW HAS LAKE HIGHLANDS PLAYED A ROLE IN YOUR BUSINESS’S SUCCESS?

I’ve sold hundreds of pieces to people locally. I feel wholly supported by this area. I donate pretty much to every single elementary school in Lake Highlands, all the little school auctions that they do. I’m constantly donating to try to give back because the community has been so great and supported me.

AFTER A BUSY DAY OF PAINTING, WHERE DO YOU LIKE TO WIND DOWN?

I really like to go to Vector Brewing. It’s nice to sit outside and have a beer. And you can find my art on the way to the restroom in the hallway.

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE PART OF USING ART AS A CREATIVE OUTLET?

You put in so much into your family, and that gives back. And into your work, and that gives back. For art, it’s my own selfish little thing that I can disappear into. And it’s all me. It’s all mine. I’m doing it because I want to do it. It’s very cathartic.

emilyherreraart.com, @emily_herrera_art

This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

september 2023 lakehighlands.advocatemag.com 9

THE SHELTER SURGE

In Dallas, stray and lost dogs roam the streets. Found dog signs cover lamp posts. And shelters and rescues are struggling to keep up.

Photos courtesy of DALLAS

10 lakehighlands.advocatemag.com SEPTEMBER 2023

Across Dallas, many neighborhoods are seeing a surge in stray dogs and cats roaming the streets.

You’ve likely seen the dogs running along hot streets unleashed, untagged, unchipped. Every other post on the Nextdoor app seems to be looking to rehome a dog, find a lost dog’s owner or illuminate the number of dogs overpopulating shelters and rescues.

In apartment complexes, residential areas and restaurant hubs, feral cats — which once were fondly seen as an adorable method of pest control — now roam in packs and reproduce faster than anyone can keep track.

According to Dallas animal activists and Dallas Animal Services, it’s a problem that can no longer be ignored — and one that will be difficult to solve.

Population problems

Shelters usually see a surge in population during the summer months, says Amanda Atwell, spokesperson for Dallas Animal Services.

It was especially true this summer, as DAS’s shelter on Westmoreland Road struggled to keep up with the dog population, which hovered around 140% capacity for weeks on end.

The 300-kennel shelter regularly had about 400 dogs, leading to dogs being doubled up in kennels, makeshift kennels being erected in hallways, a decreased ability to take in strays and an increase in euthanizations.

While the shelter saw anywhere from 10 to 40 adoptions a day, its daily intake was nearly always double that.

“The issue that we’re having is not something that is going to be solved overnight. It’s going to take weeks of just having more positive outcomes than we have

animals come to our shelter,” Atwell says.

Large dog breeds such as German Shepherds, or breeds that have been historically labeled as aggressive such as pit bulls, are most common at the shelter.

“People just don’t want big dogs right now, and so part of the issue is finding the market for those big dogs,” Atwell says.

Atwell says a rise in housing costs, which has led to more people renting, has contributed to fewer people taking in large dogs, restricted breeds or multiple dogs.

In a June briefing to the Quality of Life, Arts & Culture committee, Dallas Animal Services said the department was experiencing a staffing deficit of 21%.

According to Atwell, those shortages are not in the animal care department and have not impacted the shelter’s ability to care for the animals in its population.

But Oak Cliff resident Sophia Rodriguez says the summer’s strain was obvious when she went to the DAS shelter in mid-July with two “bitty little” kittens that had been abandoned near her home. She and her daughter decided to care for them after it was clear one was struggling in the summer heat.

But when Rodriguez’s daughter took the cats to the shelter, she says an employee did not evaluate the cats before sending her away. Rodriguez returned the next day with the kitten, who was at that point “near death,” and was told it would be euthanized because of a lack of space in the shelter and the cat’s failing health.

“I felt like if they’d taken him in (the day before), maybe he would have had a better chance. But now he was basically dying. Like, he looked like he was suffering at this point,” Rodriguez says.

The experience stood in stark

contrast with the one she’d had 10 years prior, bringing in feral cats to be neutered as part of a trap, nurture and release program. While the program still operates, Rodriguez says she has noticed it is not as robust as it once was, and her neighbors have begun turning to shelters in neighboring cities.

The cat population at the shelter fluctuates but hovered around 30%-40% in the later months of summer, Atwell says.

The DAS shelter does have a cat neonatal intensive care unit for infant cats that have been abandoned, but Atwell says the shelter generally encourages the public to leave kittens outside and wait for a mother to return for the “best chance of life.”

“We’ve looked at studies, and community cats are able to thrive without being a nuisance. We will take them in and spay or neuter them, and then we release them into the population,” Atwell says.

Fostering a found dog

Rescues are also feeling the burden of the number of stray dogs in Dallas.

According to Leslie Sans, founder and executive director of Dallas Pets Alive!, the rescue group is experiencing the largest dog population since pre-COVID.

Dallas Pets Alive! is a foster-based group that aims to pull medically or behaviorally needy dogs from the DAS shelter, but Sans says she has been unable to find the number of foster families necessary to field the number of dogs the rescue wants to help.

“I need fosters and I need adopters more than ever before to step up and open their homes to these animals in need so the shelters can take in the strays that don’t have a place to go,”

september 2023 lakehighlands.advocatemag.com 11

Sans says. “But right now they have to have an outlet to create that space.”

Dallas Pets Alive!’s intake inquiries from community members who find a stray or are looking to rehome their pet have increased 50% since summer 2022.

Sans says that the high number of inquiries led the organization to emphasize the Positive Alternatives to Shelter Surrender, or PASS, program. Through the program, the rescue is able to support anyone who may have found a stray and is willing to foster it instead of taking it to the shelter.

Lake Highlands resident Ivey Dugan says rescue programs like PASS are integral to rehoming dogs that might be in dangerous living situations.

Dugan adopted her dog Boo from a rescue after the dog was surrendered by a domestic violence victim. The victim told the rescue Boo had also been abused in the home.

“That woman was so brave to leave him and give up her animals so they wouldn’t be beaten anymore. That’s another problem that needs to be solved,” Dugan says. “People with pets need a place to go with their pets when they need to get out of a bad situation.”

Dugan also has rescued dogs Meanie and Bunny, and now advocates for responsible pet ownership such as implanting tracking chips in dogs and making sure pets are collared with appropriate tags.

When dogs are not properly labeled so they can be identified, they often end up as a stray or in the shelters.

“People don’t take the time to prepare for when their pet makes the great escape,” Dugan says.

The push for awareness

Rebecca King has “maxed out” the number of stray animals she is able to take care of.

A retired Gil Elementary School teacher, King says after taking in five cats of her own, she turned to the Nextdoor app as a way to raise awareness for the stray animal issue.

King started the Nextdoor group Dal -

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las 4 Paws For Change, which has over 200 members who share information and resources about rescues and shelters.

“I’m trying to make a positive difference in my little [way], by communicating to the public about … what’s going on and trying to help others find homes or rescues for the dogs that are in need,” King says.

But the power of the internet goes both ways.

While King has been able to facilitate a community that focuses on positive, productive feedback and awareness, she has seen flare-ups online.

King says she considers the shelter to be in “crisis mode,” but it also has become a scapegoat for frustrated animal lovers.

“There are so many people that are bad-mouthing the shelter, saying that they’re just killers,” King says. “You know, they don’t want to have to put down all those dogs. I don’t believe that they just don’t care, that they just want to kill them all. That’s just crazy talk, but it spreads like wildfire all over the net, and people are really being turned against the shelter.”

King’s biggest concern is the rising numbers of animals who are dumped on streets.

The Dowdy Ferry Animal Commis sion formed in response to dumping. The group monitors cameras placed along Dowdy Ferry Road, which has become a hotspot for people dumping dogs.

As of 2021, the commission had re sponded to 780 dumped dogs in six years, Jeremy Boss, one of the founders of the group, told reporters.

Dowdy Ferry Animal Commission’s website features graphic videos of dogs being left behind by owners. Although hard to watch, the videos raise awareness for the issue and have helped police find the perpetrators on multiple occasions.

Without awareness, Sans says, animal rights groups will continue to be in the difficult situation they are in now.

“I don’t foresee it getting any better until we start talking about it and letting the community know that we have to have their help to solve this problem. We absolutely do,” Sans says.

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food

FAMILYOWNED JEWEL

Tony’s Pizza & Pasta quiets rumors of leaving Lake Highlands, says they ‘aren’t going anywhere’

The meat lovers pizza from Tony’s is topped with pepperoni, hamburger, pork sausage and Canadian bacon.

SOME SAY TONY ZHUTA’S marinara sauce is the glue that holds Lake Highlands together. In fact, some customers believe there’s no better venue than Tony’s Pizza & Pasta for a wedding party or a 70th birthday, and there’s no one better to turn to than Tony when your kitchen is being remodeled or life feels too hectic to cook.

After 22 years, Zhuta’s family has grown to include his waitstaff, customers and neighbors. Zhuta might say he has two kids, but everyone knows he really has three — one just has four walls and an oven instead of two arms and legs.

Zhuta’s mother, Amdije, is the “face of this whole place,” Zhuta says. But before the restaurant, Zhuta grew up watching his mother make everything with her hands.

“My dad was a very picky eater, so my mom was always into fresh fruit. It’s how she brought out her love,” Zhuta says. “My mom loves making food like that, and it’s how I learned to cook: with consistency and commitment, no cutting corners.”

Zhuta says that hard work is what he knows, and “family-owned” means dedication.

“Hard work is a part of life,” Zhuta says. “I left college to take care of the family business, and I’ve been here nonstop. ... I love this place, and there’s consistently a friendly face here, whether it’s my mom,

one of my brothers or my wife. It’s home away from home, except sometimes I’m here more than I am at home.”

But Zhuta has dealt with another concern lately: rumors of his and other nearby businesses being shut down for new development.

“The rumors drove me nuts, because we have customers crying, thinking that they’re kicking us out,” Zhuta says. “People are saying that this building and the strip is gonna be torn down because H-E-B might be coming in.”

Zhuta wasn’t worried about the possibility of having to leave Lake Highlands. He says he recently renewed his lease through 2030.

Zhuta says that the restaurant’s location is prime for business because of the tight-knit community.

“It’s a gold mine,” he says. “It makes [the work] worthwhile, knowing that you’re a part of something.”

The restaurant doesn’t have any official social media platforms, but one TikTok video by @nighthawk reviewing the pizza place received almost a million views and tens of thousands of likes. The caption of the video read, “I will die on this hill Tonys pizza is one of dallas best Italian joints (sic).”

“After that TikTok blew up, we saw a big increase in numbers,” Zhuta says. “Now, there’s a huge wait on weekends,

an hour or so, just to sit at a table.”

Sue Gregory and Becky Justus, who drive in from Garland, remember having their first date nights at the restaurant. Gregory says it reminds her of family.

“Growing up, my mother made Italian food, and [Tony’s] is the closest reminder of home since she’s passed,” Gregory says. “Nobody even comes close.”

Justus says the employees “treat us like family.”

Many echo the sentiment.

“We started to know ‘mama’ and her sons well and over time she started to recognize my voice on the phone with take-out orders during the wife’s three pregnancies,” said one customer under a Facebook post seeking local opinions on Tony’s.

Another commenter said Tony and his brother Brad taught her preschoolers how pizza is made, throwing dough in the air and showing them the kitchen.

Lake Highlands neighbors say they simply adore the idea of a family-owned business.

“Love that a small family business has survived in Dallas for so long,” Lake Highlands resident Susan Krasnow says. “They work HARD!! But you didn’t hear it here, because we don’t need the wait for a table to be any longer.”

Tony’s Pizza & Pasta, 10233 Northwest Highway, 214.503.0388, tonyspasta.com

16 lakehighlands.advocatemag.com SEPTEMBER 2023
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september 2023 lakehighlands.advocatemag.com 17 area home values REAL
REPORT Northwest Hwy Walnut 635-LBJ Forest Royal Park Walnut Hill 5 4 32 1 6 7 9 12 8 11 13 1415 Audelia Ferndale Plano Rd Jupiter Abrams FairOaks Whitehurst Church 75Cent ral Expressway W e s t F o r k J a c k s o n B r a n c h Greenville10 Skillman Sponsored by: *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. PETER LOUDIS PETERLOUDIS@EBBY.COM 214-215-4269 July MLS home sale statistics*, plus annual totals SUB SOLD SOLD Year-To-Date Year-To-Date Avg Days on Avg. Sales Avg. Sales AREA JULY ‘22 JULY ‘23 Sales ‘23 Sales ‘22 Market YTD Price YTD ‘23 Price YTD ‘22 1 3 3 15 16 25 $447,880.00 $425,125.00 2 7 8 52 45 31 $379,102.00 $377,454.00 3 7 2 24 48 23 $371,542.00 $342,146.00 4 27 15 117 141 43 $221,018.00 $295,254.00 5 3 1 38 50 30 $448,826.00 $420,623.00 6 0 3 20 13 12 $729,595.00 $723,638.00 7 6 7 44 57 31 $706,926.00 $656,853.00 8 2 2 12 15 23 $680,958.00 $771,250.00 9 4 5 5 42 22 $552,400.00 $603,910.00 10 0 4 30 0 52 $604,981.00 $11 2 1 19 12 21 $882,026.00 $740,844.00 12 1 0 11 10 9 $891,402.00 $874,300.00 13 15 7 51 77 29 $680,978.00 $650,581.00 14 4 1 15 25 22 $630,327.00 $644,102.00 15 4 4 36 30 20 $665,039.00 $581,905.00 TOTAL 85 63 489 581 393 $8,893,000.00 $8,107,985.00 AVG 5.66 4.20 32.60 3.86 26.20 $592,866.66 $540,532.33
ESTATE

COOP IS IM-PECK-ABLE

The chicken business that does it all

Story by LAUREN TURNER | Photography by Lauren Allen

AJ FORSYTHE STUMBLED INTO RAISING

CHICKENS as a college student in California. Walking through a meat market and seeing chickens for sale, he bought three for $15. After an eight-hour train ride from Los Angeles to San Luis Obispo, Forsythe and his new pets arrived at his apartment.

He did not know what to do with them. “I let them go in my apartment complex, and then built them a little coop from a dresser that I bought on Craigslist,” he says. “And then my apartment complex loved the chickens, and everyone had fresh eggs. It was awesome.”

Forsythe had officially been converted to a “crazy chicken person,” and he never looked back. Raising chickens has become a lifestyle for him. When Snowvid-21 hit Texas, he knew his chickens were at risk.

Leaving his winter vacation in Colorado behind, Forsythe recruited longtime friend and fellow vacationer and Lake Highlands native Jordan Barnes to travel back to Texas with him.

“No one was trying to get to Texas, except for us,” Barnes says.

After a flight to Dallas and a five-hour, $700 Uber ride to Austin, Forsythe made it back to his chickens and started brainstorming. If Planes, Trains and Automobile s was a movie about chickens, it would be about Forsythe and Barnes, the founders of Coop.

Backyard chickens are on the up and up. Your neighbors have them, your mom’s book club friend has them, the store down the street sells them. But many people see chickens as animals

rather than pets. Taking care of them isn’t the same as taking care of a dog or cat — or is it?

GREAT EGG-SPECTATIONS

The pet supply market is huge, with products for dogs, cats, turtles — you name it. But nothing like Coop has been developed for chicken lovers.

“There’s just this whole underbelly of chicken people that until you have chickens you don’t really know is there,” Barnes says.

With many people becoming chicken curious, the demand for products and services is on the rise, creating a perfect market opening for Barnes and Forsythe and allowing them to meet the needs of chicken lovers like them.

At their HQ in Austin, the pair has about 30 chickens, each with their own personality and lifestyle. And Barnes and Forsythe have adapted their lifestyles to their chickens, too.

“It was a really hot day, so I built them a kiddie pool, and I filled it all up, and then I put ice in it. I was like, ‘One day you’re normal, and the other day you’re filling up a kiddie pool for your chickens,’” Barnes says.

COOP LOVES CHICKEN TENDERS

Coop started as a service. After thinking through the chaos of Snowvid, Barnes and Forsythe knew there had to be a better way to ensure chickens were well cared for while their owners were gone. As they started developing prototypes for their high-tech chicken coop, Barnes launched the service side of their business.

september 2023 lakehighlands.advocatemag.com 19
Above: Smart Coops offer a high-tech experience to chicken lovers, with weather-proof technology, cameras and trays to keep the coops clean. Photography courtesy of Coop Inc. Opposite: Photography by Lauren Allen.

“I threw up the first ads on Craigslist in Austin and Dallas looking for the supply side — for people who wanted to do the services,” Barnes says. “And I think the first night like 75 people applied in each city. People were like, ‘I would have done this for free. If I can make money doing this, this is incredible.’”

The servicers were ready. With her background in tech development, Barnes was able to vet and background check those who applied to be Tenders: people who can check on your chickens, refresh your coop and collect eggs while you’re not home. The business currently has 100 Tenders in 15 cities across the country.

“It wasn’t intended to be its own business. It just sort of kept growing,” Barnes says.

With the official Smart Coops rolling off the trucks in August, the company combined the physical chicken coop side of their business with the service side through their app, Albert Eggstein.

FLOCK FROM AFAR

Through Albert Eggstein, Smart Coop users have access to their chicken coop no matter where they are. Subscribers can view Tender profiles, read Tender reviews, book services and view their Smart Coop live feed all within the app.

“We’ve designed our coop to be very

low-maintenance, and we patented these poop trays. So you’re looking at the patent holders of the first poop tray in America — well, patent [pending],” Barnes says, laughing.

The Smart Coops are made with the same molding technology as Yeti coolers, making them sturdy and weather-proof. With an elevated base, steel caging and interior and exterior cameras, Smart Coop is nearly indestructible: cool in the summer, warm in the winter and chicken safety heaven.

“We’re trying to keep our chickens safe, so it needs to be the safest cage in the world,” Forsythe says.

With their chicken-based innovations, Barnes and Forsythe are confident their Smart Coops will benefit the chicken community.

“We want to build a system that anyone with a backyard and a desire to raise chickens would be able to, and so what we’re doing is building a ton of technology that makes it feel effortless,” Forsythe says.

THE BIG PECK-TURE

So, why raise chickens? Sure, fresh eggs are nice, but what’s the kicker?

“The average egg in a grocery store is about 45 days old,” Forsythe says. “The USDA mandates egg cartons to print a

three digit code that is one to 365 for the day of the year that the egg was handed from the farm to the distributor — not the day it’s laid. And the farm has 30 days to hand it from the time it was laid to the distributor.”

“It’s not rotten, but it is going through a degradation process,” Barnes says.

With the way commercial food systems work, most eggs travel miles before reaching their final destination which means they have to be refrigerated and processed for traveling. Fresh eggs, on the other hand, can be stored on the counter and washed before use, bypassing the chemicals used by large agricultural companies.

“Right now, the average American family is throwing away around $2,000 of edible food a year, which is about 250 to 300 pounds of food that is perfectly good,” Forsythe says. “When you have chickens, like 95% of that goes right to the chickens in terms of into [the] eggs.”

That’s right: Much of the food thrown out can be given to chickens. A common misconception is that chickens are vegetarians, but they’re actually omnivores. Of course, moldy leftovers from Thanksgiving aren’t OK, but good food that you may not want to eat anymore can be used as egg-laying nutrition.

Food waste solution? Check. Fresher and more nutrient-dense eggs? Check.

20 lakehighlands.advocatemag.com SEPTEMBER 2023
AJ Forsythe and Jordan Barnes are Lake Highlands natives with a passion for chickens. Photography courtesy of Coop Inc.
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FOWL LANGUAGE

What goes in must eventually come out, and chickens don’t only lay eggs — they poop, too. That’s why Coop strongly believes “chicken shit needs a rebrand.”

“Chicken shit is some of the best nutrient-dense manure you can use for fertilization,” Forsythe says.

And with the patent-pending trays Coop is designing, it’ll be easier than ever to clean your coop and compost the waste for your yard.

“It’s a very real, everyday system that’s happening, and then your yard looks incredible,” Barnes says.

Once your backyard ecosystem is established, the Smart Coop and its inhabitants function as an fairly independent ecosystem — one that can feed a family with ease.

“The average chicken lays about 250 to 270 eggs a year. The average American right now eats about 290 eggs a year. So it’s about one chicken for every person,” Forsythe says. “The coops are designed for four to six hens. And so four to six hens are designed to put off about 100 to 100 dozen eggs a year.”

GET CHICKEN CRAZY

As a startup, Coop is still a very hands-on business, with Barnes and Forsythe doing chicken coop cleanings for clients when other Tenders aren’t available. They know firsthand that the cleaning side of owning chickens can be off-putting — Barnes’ first deep clean took her four hours.

But that’s where Coop comes in. Currently 56% of Smart Coop orders have been placed by people who haven’t raised chickens previously.

“The goal is to get people that we call ‘chicken curious’ — how do we get people that are ‘chicken curious’ to be comfortable raising chickens?” Forsythe says. “There’s a very good chance you can raise chickens if you think you can’t.”

Barnes and Forsythe weren’t raised to be chicken people — they became chicken people. Now they’re ready to enable the next generation of backyard chicken lovers.

“This is truly powering a complete, sustainable ecosystem in your backyard,” Barnes says.

Forget farm-to-table, Barnes and Forsythe think it’s time for backyard-to-table to become a reality. And the first step in making that a reality is to become chicken crazy.

22 lakehighlands.advocatemag.com SEPTEMBER 2023
coop.farm, Instagram: @thechickenapp 214-341-1448 | OBrienGroupInc.com SINCE 1996 2023 469-291-7039 · www.exteriorscc.net Local, Licensed, Insured · Serving our Local Community. TIME FOR YOUR HOME TO GET A FALL FACE LIFT? Windows, Roofs, Siding, Repairs, Exterior Paint and More.
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LAX GIRLS

Dallas City Lacrosse player Mea Andres.

GIRLS

Clear eyes. Full hearts. Bright blues.

by PETE HOFFMAN SOCCER WASN’T ELIZA BRINKMAN’S SPORT. She had been asking her mom, Talia Brinkman, about trying out field hockey, but Talia couldn’t find any opportunities.

Lacrosse, though — that was a different story.

Talia had played for five years growing up, from eighth grade through high school.

“I played for a school on the East Coast, a little private school that didn’t have a football team, but we had really strong girls sports,” Talia says. “And our field hockey team and our lacrosse team — I’m not going to compare them to Texas football — but they were the strongest teams at the school, so they got all of that spotlight.”

She took Eliza, then a first grader at Moss Haven Elementary, to a free clinic hosted by Dallas City Lacrosse.

The program was started by East Dallas residents Pete Hoffman and Varina Lin.

Hoffman, originally from upstate New York, had grown up playing the sport and continued

as an undergraduate at TCU on the club team. Lin played on the Division I women’s team at George Washington University.

Both parents of Mockingbird Elementary students, they had always talked about how great it would be when their daughters could play lacrosse together. They were aiming for 2022 as the year they would start a team for young girls in Dallas.

But the COVID-19 pandemic altered their plans.

Around October, Hoffman and Lin’s families were going stir crazy.

“So we went over to Mockingbird Elementary, and we trained our girls, and we had a really great experience,” Hoffman says.

While Hoffman had coached kids in sports before, he relied on Lin for her experience as a former player.

“Men’s and women’s — completely different rules. Completely,” Lin says. “I mean it is two different types of sports.”

The next week, a daughter of one of Hoffman’s acquaintances came to play. They kept training the girls for a few weeks, and then the parents started talking about getting the team started.

It was earlier than Hoffman expected but still possible. In just over a week, he built a website, made social media accounts and reached out to more contacts to invite more girls to play.

They held a clinic at Glencoe Park for girls in kindergarten through second grade who were interested in lacrosse. Of the 32 who signed up, 24 decided to join the two teams: one for kindergarteners and one for first and second graders.

Now, just three years after Dallas City Lacrosse

began, the program has grown to include more than 100 girls in kindergarten through fourth grade who are zoned to Dallas ISD schools or those in the Lake Highlands High School feeder pattern. Next year, they’ll have a team for fifth graders.

Alex Fergus, whose daughter was one of the first 24 to join the organization, says the team gave the girls something safe to do outside during the pandemic, and it has helped them grow their confidence.

Plus, it’s provided young girls an opportunity to participate in a sport not offered by their schools.

“We’ve got over 100 girls who never would have picked up a stick,” Fergus says.

There are about 15 adults on staff of the nonprofit organization, and most of them are women.

Brinkman is one of them. As soon as Hoffman learned she used to play, he asked if she wanted to coach.

“It really brought me back to that joy of how much fun it was to play for a team and being part of a team,” she says.

Dallas City Lacrosse plays teams from the suburbs and nearby private schools, such as Hockaday and Episcopal School of Dallas. The hope for the program, Hoffman says, is to grow it to a club team for high schoolers across Dallas, including in East Dallas and Lake Highlands.

“It’s just amazing to watch these girls play, the first year playing, never having picked up a stick, never having heard of lacrosse,” Lin says. “And then all of a sudden, they love the sport. They want to play. At practice, they’re always asking for more time.”

26 lakehighlands.advocatemag.com SEPTEMBER 2023
Dallas City Lacrosse is hosting a free clinic at Glencoe Park on Sept. 24. Learn more at dallascitylacrosse.org Left: Dallas City Lacrosse athletes play during a “play day” at Woodrow Wilson High School. Right: Adelaide Hoffman, a daughter of DCL co-founder Pete Hoffman.

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A neighborhood classic

50 years of service: The beloved Backus family endures unthinkable heartache

For those who grew up in Lake Highlands, the Starbucks on the corner of Northwest Highway and Ferndale is likely a conflicting sight. The coffee shop sits on the plot of a former Lake Highlands icon, the Backus family’s full-service gas station that was there for 50 years.

Wayne Backus opened the full-service gas station as Backus Mobil in 1962. It later became Backus Texaco, and it was Backus Shell — one of three remaining full-service gas stations in Dallas — when it closed in 2015.

Since the closure, the long-trusted family has endured unimaginable heartache, the Advocate learned after checking in with Wayne and his granddaughter Meccala Wright. She was practically raised at the shop known to most as “that place with the ’55 Chevy out front.” (The car, on which was posted a “Win Me” sign for 24 years, was essentially a novelty meant to sell Texas Lottery tickets, the family previously told the Advocate.)

Darren Backus worked at the station since he was 5 years old, says Wayne, Darren’s dad, who now resides in an assisted living facility. “He hung around my wife [Margie] while she did the books.”

When Wayne retired, Darren, who took over, had already worked there for decades.

Everyone knew and loved him, neighbor Bryan Witherspoon says in a Facebook message. “I had a really good friendship with Darren. He watched me grow up. Like him, I worked in my dad’s shop and later took ownership. He and his wife were both great people we all miss.”

Last January, Darren was gravely injured in a head-on collision with a teenage drunken driver, according the Backus family. He held on for two weeks and underwent five major surgeries. It allowed time for his family to say goodbye, his daughter Meccala says. He died in February.

A few months later, his wife Clarisse succumbed to cancer. And the previous year, Margie, the family matriarch, also died. Margie was a fixture at the station from day one until 2013.

“She outworked me and my dad both,” Darren told the Advocate in 2014. “She was here all the time. Did the books until she couldn’t handle it anymore.”

Darren, too, dedicated the majority of his life to the shop, Meccala says. “I’ve realized even more with his passing just how much he did for others. Working at the station, there were a lot of elderly customers in the area, and he did his best to try and help them.”

After Darren retired, most of his time was spent taking care of his parents or working part-time at Martha’s Senior Gourmet delivering meals to senior adults, his daughter says. He was bringing medicine to Wayne and Clarisse when his accident occurred.

Lake Highlands mom Allison Hancock says her dad worked with the Backuses in the ’60s. When she was pregnant in the ’80s, “they would come out and pump my gas, even if I was in the self-serve aisle. When I would take my toddler inside, they were so sweet to her.”

They remembered what cars her grandparents drove long after they died, she adds. “You just can’t find people like that anymore.”

Each time Rhonda Clifford pulled in to gas up her 1980 Camaro, “they would check fluids, tire pressure and clean the windshield. They came to the rescue on minor repairs many times. They were a true gift to the neighborhood.”

Jessica Valentine, a childhood friend, recalls visiting the station with Meccala. “I remember thinking it was so cool that her family owned it.”

Despite the heartaches of the past few years, Meccala cherishes so many memories of Lake Highlands, the service station and the classic car on the corner — watching her Nana, Margie, working away on finances, her gregarious dad helping happy customers in the bay, serving Cokes and popcorn to Texas Lottery reps and, yes, actually riding around in the ‘55 Chevy.

“There’s a dent in the dash where my head once hit it,” she says, and the thought makes her laugh.

28 lakehighlands.advocatemag.com SEPTEMBER 2023
Story by ALYSSA HIGH | Photography by KIM LEESON

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SERVICES FOR YOU

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OFFICE SUBLEASE In Bishop Arts. Cool, Quiet. 1,179 Sq ft. 4 rooms + kit / bath, parking. $2,950 + NNNs. 713.302-7722.

Residential • Commercial (214) 503-7663 www.scottexteriors.com

OCTOBER DEADLINE

SEPTEMBER 5

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TUTOR/LESSONS

WANTED: OBOE TEACHER needed for 14 year old student. Call 214–235-7429

30 lakehighlands.advocatemag.com SEPTEMBER 2023 WHERE CAN I FIND LOCAL ...? Click Marketplace at advocatemag.com Click Marketplace at advocatemag.com LOOKING FOR REMODELING OR ROOFING & GUTTERS PROS? Look here for local serivces.
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CARE ABOUT YOUR TREES” On Staff: • 4 - Certified Arborists • 1 - Tex- Tech Degreed Ag • 1 - Tex A&M Degreed Forester • 3 - Certified Applicators 214-327-9311
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Scan for all Listings 10025 Estate Lane | 4,513 sf 4 Beds | 3.5 Baths Offered at $3,150,000 9563 Windy Knoll Dr | 2,665 sf 4 Beds | 3 Baths Offered at $799,000 9607 Woodmen Cir | 4,680 sf 5 Beds | 4 Baths Offered at $1,479,000 8028 Forest Trail | 4,146 sf 5 Beds | 4 Baths Offered at $2,150,000 10136 Robin Hill Ln | 4,329 sf 6 Beds | 4 Baths Offered at $2,100,000 9655 Brentgate Dr | 3,015 sf 4 Beds | 3.5 Baths Offered at $679,000
An End End Real Estate Experience to Price and availability subject to change. Information deemed reliable, but not guaranteed. 10605 Hillpoint Drive 3 BED | 2.1 BATH | 2,064 SQ. FT. | $434,000 Rinne O’Halloran Group 214.552.6735 maryrinne@dpmre.com SOLD, Represented Seller Bart Thrasher 469.583.4819 bartthrasher@dpmre.com 6308 N. Jim Miller Road 3 BED | 2 BATH | 1,960 SQ. FT. | $299,900 6915 Sedgwick Drive 4 BED | 3 BATH | 2,598 SQ. FT. | $799,900 SOLD, Represented Buyer Kaleigh Walker 310.913.8005 kaleigh@dpmre.com SOLD, Represented Seller 170 Classen Drive 3 BED | 2.1 BATH | 2,001 SQ. FT. | $639,900 UNDER CONTRACT The B·A·R Group 214.444.8044 home@thebargroup.com 10219 Lakemere Drive 3 BED | 2 BATH |1,974 SQ. FT. | $599,000 PENDING The B·A·R Group 214.444.8044 home@thebargroup.com 10532 Royalwood Drive 4 BED | 2 BATH | 1,937 SQ. FT. | $649,800 UNDER CONTRACT TREND Group 214.538.3390 jason@trenddallas.com 9469estate.daveperrymiller.com 9469 Estate Lane 4 BED | 3.1 BATH | 2,974 SQ. FT. | $849,900 TREND Group 214.538.3390 jason@trenddallas.com 9709 Elmcrest Drive 4 BED | 3.1 BATH | 2,695 SQ. FT. | $899,900 SOLD, Represented Seller TREND Group 214.538.3390 jason@trenddallas.com The B·A·R Group 214.444.8044 home@thebargroup.com 4 BED | 3 BATH | 2,612 SQ. FT. | $680,000 7152tabor.daveperrymiller.com 7152 Tabor Drive

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