2015 January Oak Cliff

LAST YEAR’S MOST CAPTIVATING PHOTOS, EXPLAINED

ROAD RULES

It has been awhile since Mrs. Hanson administered my in-car driver’s test, and I remember all too well the various vehicle pirouettes I performed to enjoy all of the benefits associated with having a driver’s license.

What I recall was pretty straightforward stuff. The left lane is for passing. Come to a complete stop at stop signs and stop lights. Yield to pedestrians and cyclists.

And by sticking to the rules, I’ve stayed out of vehicular trouble, for the most part. There was the time I was rear-ended on Central, but that wasn’t my fault. And the time I was T-boned by a semi-truck, but that wasn’t my fault. And that period of three months when I was tapped from behind hard enough at stop lights to warrant thousand-dollar bumper repair bills each time (again, not my fault).

But I’m starting to feel queasy about what the rules are any more, particularly on Dallas streets.

For example, on a two-lane thoroughfare in the city, the rules say slower traffic should remain in the right lane. But the rules don’t account for the tremendously poor condition of many lanes on the right side of Dallas streets; those lanes typically slope a bit to the right to facilitate drainage, and they’ve been so poorly maintained over the years that if you drive the speed limit in the lane, you’re likely to feel like a downhill skier on a mogul course, jumping up and down and right and left.

So here’s my question: If I avoid the horribly pock-marked lane to the right

by driving the speed limit in the left lane, what am I legally required to do when a big vehicle is breathing down my neck wanting to pass? (They don’t want to be in the right lane, either.) Driving the speed limit in the right lane will virtually destroy the bottom of my car, so what am I to do — yield to the jerk behind me or continue obeying the speed limit while protecting my vehicle investment, all the time hoping the guy’s road rage doesn’t include a weapon?

And what about all of those manhole covers that, for some reason, are an inch or so below the pavement right in the path of my tires? Is it legally OK to bob and weave in heavy traffic along the street avoiding these landmines, or do I need to slow to a crawl to protect my car even though I know that will incur the wrath of other drivers who have places to go?

Same with signaling my intent to turn right or left — do I still need to do that, or has being transparent about my intent gone the way of typewriters and disco music?

I know texting and driving is bad (although still not illegal), but what about texting, driving and putting on makeup? Is that something I can call 911 about?

And if I see a lapdog with its paws on the steering wheel, is that something I should be concerned about, or should I just assume the dog is acting as an extra set of eyes for potholes, manhole covers and uneven pavement?

You see what I mean? Driving in Dallas is a lot more complicated these days, and I’m just not sure whether I should spend as much time yielding to others as I used to, or whether I should be using Grand Theft Auto video game strategy to send a message to fellow drivers that I’m no patsy on the street?

I don’t think Mrs. Hanson would know the answers, either.

rwamre@advocatemag.com.

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Navigating the mean streets of Dallas is more confusing and treacherous than ever

WHAT YOU’RE MISSING

Wine bar, salon, boutiques coming to the old Cannon’s Village

How should Wynnewood Village be redeveloped?

A new tenant for the old Twelfth Street Minyard

Seven reasons Oak Cliff residents still ‘go across’

Watch: the realities of students’ lives at Quintanilla Middle School

THE DIALOGUE

“I have a weird relationship with those stairs. I found those stairs by accident when I was out for a jog while waiting on my child at Greiner. So the years go by and I keep having these dreams about the place but I forgot it was a real place. Then one day I rode my bike by it — all of sudden, I realized that was the place in my dreams. And then I never dreamed about it again. I think that part of Oak Cliff is crisscrossed with passages like that —there is a similar one just off Hampton north of the golf course — you just have to find them and hope the neighbors don’t shoot you. East Dallas has the long rambling connections — but OC has the tiny dreamscapes.”

on “Viewfinder: Kessler Park’s hidden steps” from our December issue

—Bob Dobbins

Launch

community | events | food

Oak Cliff Galleries

Even though some people call our neighborhood hot spot the “Bishop Eats District” for its many culinary attractions, North Oak Cliff still has its feet planted in the arts, thanks to galleries such as Mighty Fine Arts,

the Basement Gallery, Ginger Fox Gallery and the Oak Cliff Cultural Center, to name a few. Three new galleries have opened in the neighborhood in the past year or so. Here’s

what they have to offer.

Left to right/ Michael Savoie of Savoie Gallery, Mickie of the Misfit Gallery and Adam Spigel at Exhibit 3 Gallery: Photos by Danny Fulgencio

a look at

Savoie Gallery

212 S. Tyler · 972.800.4787 · savoiegallery.com

Artist Michael Savoie first pursued a career in fashion, attending a school in California before realizing he wanted to be an artist.

So he returned to Texas and “taught myself to paint.” Eventually, he finished his art degree at Burlington College in Vermont, but he already had discovered his own style. Savoie describes it as “abstract realism.”

“It could never be abstract because I paint portraits,” he says. “But it has an abstract quality and feel to it based on the way I layer the paint. Layering the paint makes up the skin tone of the subjects.”

Savoie quit his job in 2013 to paint full time, and he opened his namesake gallery a few months later.

Savoie was at Art Basel in Miami in December, and his work is receiving attention in Hollywood.

Director Lee Daniels of “The Butler” and “Precious” bought one of Savoie’s paintings and later asked him to provide artwork for his new TV series, “Empire,” which was picked up by Fox. Savoie’s work also has appeared on “Real Housewives of Atlanta.”

So far, Savoie Gallery has shown only the artist’s own work, but he is planning to invite other artists to show there soon.

“I don’t want to be a gallery entity as in representing other artists,” he says. “But I want other people to have an opportunity to show their work.”

Savoie Gallery is open by appointment.

The Misfit Gallery

443 W. Davis · 214.501.8189

· themisfitgallery.com

The photographer known as Mickie moved back to Dallas last year after a few years working in fashion photography in Los Angeles. In California, she had started a nonprofit for homeless artists and produced a few plays. Back in Texas, she wanted to do something to support the local arts. So a friend, Kathy Corbin of the Barefoot Hippies, told her to check out Oak Cliff. Mickie found a space near the Bishop Arts District, and opened her gallery, which is “unlike any other,” she says. She possesses so much energy that she produces a new gallery show every month. In its first four months, the gallery showed the work of more than 100 artists. “The space welcomes anyone and everyone,” she says. “We embrace the strange and the not-so-strange artists.” So far, the shows have included photography, painting, sculpture and art glass. Mickie mixes high-brow art with off-beat work. She wants to provide a market for serious art collectors as well as “people who never thought they could afford to buy art.” The gallery also represents about 20 artists and offers ocasional art classes. “The gallery gives an opportunity for never-seen artists to blend with masters,” she says.

Exhibit 3 Gallery

1221 W. Davis · 972.861.0150

Adam Spigel started off in the art world promoting his mom. He actually obtained the domain name exhibit3.com for her in 1997.

He works a full-time job in IT, but he started taking photos with a camera his dad gave him when Spigel was 5 years old.

About 10 years ago, Spigel started doing panoramic landscapes, and over the past few years, they’ve started gaining attention from art collectors.

One night over drinks at Nova with his pals the Padilla brothers, Spigel up and decided to open his own gallery in a space across the street from the Kessler Theater, just down the block from where Daniel and Manuel Padilla have their gallery.

“It was a spur-of-the-moment thing,” he says.

He also decided to buy a house in Oak Cliff.

Exhibit 3 opened with a show of Spigel’s own photos on Day of the Dead weekend. Next, he plans to show his photos mounted in Plexiglas, and he also is working to bring in more artists, primarily painters and photographers.

“I want to change it up and keep it fresh,” he says.

The gallery is open noon-6 p.m. Saturdays and by appointment.—Rachel Stone

Out & About

January 2015

Jan. 7-28

Elvis’ birthday

El Ranchito celebrates The King every Wednesday in January. Make reservations for the Elvis impersonation shows and contests, from 7:30-9 p.m. Admission costs $5 per person. El Ranchito, 610 W. Jefferson, 214.946.4238, elranchito-dallas.com

more LOCAL EVENTS or submit your own

OAKCLIFF.ADVOCATEMAG.COM/EVENTS

JAN. 6

‘Gasland 2’

This 2013 documentary continues the investigation into domestic natural gas production and is the First Tuesday Social Justice film for January.

Unitarian Universalist Church of Oak Cliff, 3839 W. Kiest, 214.337.2429, firsttuesdayfilms.org

JAN. 8-10

Italian gore horror

“The Beyond” is Italian filmmaker Lucio Fulci’s 1981 horror film, part of the “Gates of Hell” trilogy, that originally was censored in the United States because of its gory scenes. The Texas Theatre, 231 W. Jefferson, 214.948.1546, thetexastheatre.com

JAN. 9

Atomic Frolic Burlesque

La Divina Productions presents a burlesque show at the Kessler Theater. General admission tickets cost $25. Tables for four cost $180, and a suite for eight people costs $300. The Kessler Theater, 1230 W. Davis, 214.272.8346, thekessler.org

Jan. 11

Cat show

Mighty Fine Arts opened this cat-themed art show Dec. 13, and the closing reception is Jan. 11. Artists include Andy Don Emmons, Bruce Lee Webb, Rosemary Meza-Des Plas, Ray-Mel Cornelius, Brian Scott, Brian Jones, Chaitra Linehan, Sara Cardona, Jason Cohen, Clay Stinnett, Matt Bagley, Sharon Neel-Bagley, Steve Cruz and Teresa Megahan. Mighty Fine Arts, 409A N. Tyler, 214.942.5241, mfagallery.com

An Elvis impersonator at El Ranchito: Photo by James Coreas

“Pink Pussycat” by Bruce Schieflenbein

Jan. 17

Billy Joe Shaver

This old-school honky-tonk hero from Corsicana performs songs spanning his 40-year career. The Kessler Theater, 1230 W. Davis, 214.272.8346, thekessler.org

JAN. 24

Jazz at the TeCo

This year’s jazz series begins with Lee Ritenour and Elan Trotman. There are two shows, at 7 p.m. and 9:45 p.m. Tickets cost $65 for the early show and $60 for the late show.

The Bishop Arts Theatre Center, 215 S. Tyler, 214.948.0716, tecotheater.org

JAN. 31

Verse & Rhythm

B. Randall hosts this 7 p.m. spoken-word event at the Oak Cliff Cultural Center. Oak Cliff Cultural Center, 223 W. Jefferson, 214.670.3777, dallasculture.org/ oakcliffculturalcenter

C. SEÑOR

330 W. Davis

214.941.4766

AMBIANCE: FOOD STAND

PRICE RANGE: $2-$8.50

HOURS: MONDAY-SUNDAY, 11 A.M.-9 P.M.

DID YOU KNOW?

THE OLD OAK CLIFF STREETCAR RAN RIGHT THROUGH THIS PLAZA, AND THE RED SCULPTURE THERE PAYS TRIBUTE TO IT.

Businessis great at C. Señor, the Cuban sandwich stand in the Bishop Arts District, as long as the weather is nice. Owners Hal Dantzler and Tony Alvarez, who are also partners in Hattie’s, are working to figure out a solution to their bad-weather-day woes. Since the food stand, formerly El Padrino taquería, has no bathrooms, they are restricted from creating a covered outdoor eating area. But they are thinking about starting curb-side service — phone in your order, and they will run it out to your car. And they would like to improve the adjacent city-owned pocket park to benefit their customers. Even when the weather is frightful, though, C. Señor is worth a trip. The menu is small — a pressed Cuban sandwich, a beef-and-chorizo burger and three other sandwiches: fried mahi, Portobello, and turkey with cream cheese and jalapeño jam. Any sandwich can be ordered as a taco, too. The stand also serves Cuban coffee and yucca fries, which you definitely should order.

—Rachel Stone

SEE MORE PHOTOS

Visit oakcliff.advocatemag.com

A line-up of tacos ($2 each) at C Señor: Photo by James Coreas

Best Specialty Shop IN OAK CLIFF

Best Specialty Shop IN OAK CLIFF

VOTE ONCE A DAY, NOVEMBER 1ST UNTIL NOVEMBER 21ST. And the winner is …

Rose Garden Remake (835 W. Davis)

Kelly Wiley opened her second-hand store on West Davis 16 years ago.

Now known as Rose Garden Remake, its mission to help formerly incarcerated women continues.

When David Spence bought the building in the 800 block of West Davis, he asked Wiley to move from an enormous corner space into a smaller space in the middle of the block.

She says it was one of the best things that ever happened to her business. The move forced her to get rid of things she didn’t need or that weren’t working for the business. The new space is fresh and clean and more orderly than the old one.

The shop is tied to a charity, 2000 Roses Foundation, which helps women coming out of jail to find housing, job training and education opportunities. The women who live in the foundation’s partner shelters work in the shop as part of their job training, and they have mentors who have gone through the program before them.

“We’re making sure everybody is supported,” Wiley says.

Women who work in the store also make candles, clothing, pillows and jewelry to sell.

“I love what I do,” Wiley says. “As long as it’s something that I love and still have a passion for, it just drives you.”

Runner up: Zoomo’s Pop-up Shop

Third place: Collector’s Crypt

SNEXT UP:

Visit oakcliff.advocatemag.com/bestof2014 for a roundup of all the ‘Best Of 2014’ winners.

Rose Garden Remake: Photo by James Coreas

STEPHEN KING once advised aspiring writers, “Kill your darlings, kill your darlings even when it breaks your egocentric little scribbler’s heart — kill your darlings.” What did popular culture’s most prolific horror writer mean by that? That good storytelling often requires nixing superfluous parts, no matter how much the author loves them. Each month when we publish the Advocate magazine, photos and anecdotes we adore are often left scattered about the figurative cuttingroom floor. Please allow us to indulge our egocentric little hearts as we share the more fascinating photos and tidbits from 2014 that almost lost their lives in the interest of brevity and limited page space.

SEE “LES SKROKS PERFORM AT BASTILLE ON BISHOP,” PAGE 15

PICTURE THEBIG

Stories behind our favorite, previously unpublished, neighborhood photos

Stories by Rachel Stone | Photos by Danny Fulgencio

A RETIRED COP REVISITS THE BEAT SEPTEMBER

C.S. Tull was so disappointed to see Austin’s Barbecue gone. He says he wouldn’t have recognized the corner of Hampton and Illinois. Tull worked this intersection as part of his territory when he was an Oak Cliff beat cop in the 1960s. Now in his 80s, Tull lives out in the country, but he happily drove into town for a photo shoot, which was to be part of an Advocate story that wound up going a different way. Austin’s was friendly to cops, and the old-school Dallas’ finest ate there all the time, Tull says. J.D. Tippit, who was slain by Lee Harvey Oswald following the JFK assassination, worked as a security guard at Austin’s, and Tull says he knew the strapping World War II vet. “I worked with Tippit quite often,” Tull says. “I remember he was a lot of fun to work with.”

On the day of the Kennedy assassination, Tull was assigned to a detail at Market Hall, where the President had been scheduled to speak. Tull had reported at 7 that morning, and he was assigned to secure an area near the kitchen. As the staff began preparing filet mignon and baked potatoes for lunch, Tull says, his stomach began to growl. “We were about starved to death,” he remembers. “We tried to figure out how we were going to get one of those steaks.” They heard the news over a walkie-talkie. “We did get word that J.D. had been shot, but we didn’t know there was any connection,” he says. Once the crowd started leaving Market Hall, the cooks offered those fancy lunches to the police officers. No one ate. Tull says they didn’t know whether there was “an all-out attack on the United States.” There was much confusion and sadness. He worked until about 7 p.m. “They’ll be talking about the Kennedy assassination for as long as this ol’ world still stands,” he says.

LES SKROKS PERFORM AT BASTILLE ON BISHOP JULY

PHOTO ON PREVIOUS SPREAD

By 3 p.m. on July 14, the temperature had reached 107 degrees. “I was worried, but then about 4 o’clock, a big thunderstorm came and cooled the temperature about 10 degrees,” says Bastille on Bishop co-founder Pierrette Lacour. By the time Bastille on Bishop started, at 6 p.m., it was drizzly but pleasant considering it was July in Texas. Lacour, who is from France, had invited Les Skroks, a brass band from Angers in western France, to perform at Bastille Day. It was a last-minute deal. The band was in Texas because Austin and Angers are sister cities. “Austin celebrates Bastille Day, just like we do, although they don’t have as big a celebration,” Lacour says. The city of Austin had invited brass bands from Angers to its Bastille Day celebration, which was July 13, a Sunday. A friend of Lacour’s from Austin phoned to say Les Skroks would be available to play at Bastille on Bishop, always on July 14; this past year, a Monday. “So I said, ‘Of course!’ ” she recalls. All 13 band members needed a place to stay for the night, so Jason Roberts of Go Oak Cliff put out a call on social media to see if anyone could put them up. A Kessler Park neighbor offered a bed to all 13 in one big house. With wine flowing, mussels to taste and games to play, Bastille on Bishop is a great time on its own. But add a streetperforming brass band? It was magic. “They created a great French ambiance,” Lacour says. “They played through the streets, and people were following them under their umbrellas. I just thought that was one of the best of the years we’ve had it.”

SPEAKING OF PARIS JANUARY

Even though we wanted to strangle this one girl who kept drunkenly shouting “Yaaaaaaasss!” during literally every scene of “Paris Is Burning” during the inaugural CineWilde at the Texas Theatre, the night was a total success. Anyone who wanted could walk in a fashion show behind the screen that night. Cody Sanders lives in Richardson, but he drove all the way to Oak Cliff for the event.

Advocate photo editor Danny Fulgencio saw Sanders walking to the men’s room with a blonde wig and kimono, so he followed him in and got this shot. “I wasn’t planning to do the drag show, but my brother and I put on a little light makeup, and they provided wigs and dresses,” Sanders says. “I hadn’t even shaved, and I was still slightly bearded, but it was a good time.” Since then, Sanders says he’s come back for several more installations of the monthly event, which celebrates LGBTQ cinema. About 100 people attended that first event, and about 20 of them participated in the after show.

Now 1 year old, CineWilde is going strong. This month’s film had not been announced as of press time, but check thetexastheatre.com for more information.

Climate change is real, y’all. An ice storm the second day of March 2014 in Dallas, Texas, could not even snuff out the inimitable Oak Cliff Mardi Gras parade.

Ice on the roads resulted in official cancellation at the last minute. The 8,000 revelers typical for an Oak Cliff Mardi Gras stayed cozy at home in their wool socks and whatnot. But a dedicated few would not let freezing temperatures and a little North Texas sleet cancel the tradition, nor the party, in reality. Too much had been invested. So they fished out their earmuffs, costumes and beads to skitter down Davis. Among those floating on ice were the Winnetka Heights Neighborhood Association, winners of multiple past parades. After several years of decades themes — ’70s, ’60s and ’20s, in that order — they moved into classic film last year with a “Casablanca” float.

Ilsa, Rick, the club, the planes just imagine. The sets, costumes and choreography didn’t get their due that sleety March day, but oh, Winnetka will be back. Production started in November on this year’s “Wizard of Oz” float. About 25 people will work on the construction, overseen by neighbor Steve Bossay, who procured a garage for the building of the float. “A lot of people will come out to work if you have enough champagne,” says Candace Bossay. Neighbor Chris Barker, an opera singer, does the choreography. It is very serious.

In 2013, the year of the 1920s float, neighbors worked for hours — happy hours, that is — to learn a number that transitioned from ragtime into “Gangnam Style.”

Susan Melnick 214.460.5565 smelnick@virginiacook.com Olga Salinas-BUYERS REP 214.282.1188 osalinas@virginiacook.com

Winnetka Heights, which has a $2,000 budget (much of which is spent on champagne), previously kept its theme top secret until parade day.

“The Wizard of Oz,” which the neighborhood association announced early on, is the equivalent of throwing down a trump card. It’s huge. Winnetka Heights has competitors. Stevens Park, Kings Highway, Oak Cliff Earth Day and the Dallas Off Road Bicycle Association are a few of the groups that also produce grand floats. So the champs just can’t put out a gal in a checked dress and groove on down the road. No, this will have the wicked witch, the yellow brick road, the Emerald City, flying monkeys, dance numbers — a veritable spectacular. We would expect nothing less.

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A PREMATURE FUNERAL JUNE

Rumors of the Trinity toll road’s death have been greatly exaggerated. Celebrants threw a New Orleans parade-style funeral for the Trinity toll road in the Bishop Arts District last year, but it was just wishful thinking. God love ’em. This photo does not portray the actual end of the toll road. Mayor Mike Rawlings announced in November that, using funds from wealthy donors, the city had hired a “dream team” of six out-of-state urban planners to design the toll road and Trinity River park. The six had been expected to present their proposal in a series of community meetings beginning in December. After that, they would rework their plan based on community feedback. The city is expected to find out this month whether the Federal Highway Administration and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will allow a freeway to be built between the levees. After that, the North Texas Tollway Authority will assess whether building the highway would be profitable for them. All of this means that actual construction of a toll road between the Trinity River levees could begin as soon as this year. In other words, it’s not dead yet.

OAK CLIFF CINCO DE MAYO MAY

The Oak Cliff Cinco de Mayo parade is the biggest of its kind in Texas. The parade travels down Jefferson Boulevard from Zang to Polk, with vendors and party people all along the way. Since former City Councilwoman Delia Jasso first pitched reworking Jefferson in the image of Barcelona’s Las Ramblas a few years ago, politicians and developers have been trying to figure out a way to make over the boulevard while keeping its Latino tradition. The Ramblas idea faded away, but Jefferson Boulevard is changing. Jim Lake Cos. is renovating the Jefferson Tower, leasing ground-floor space to hip businesses — a craft ice-cream shop, a micro brewer, a high-end coffee roaster — and offering loft apartments with rents upward of $1,000 a month. But he says he doesn’t want all the quinceañera seamstresses and western-wear specialists to be shoved out. Lake hired as an intern Adamson High School standout and Georgetown University scholar Adan Gonzalez last summer. Part of Gonzalez’s job was to reach out to Jefferson Tower’s Latino neighbors in an effort to find out what they want for the neighborhood. That’s how Lake came up with the idea for Jefferson Tower Mercado, which he plans to launch soon. The market, in a 7,000-square-foot space next door to Family Dollar, will offer small retail spaces for local artists, crafters and start-ups. Jefferson Boulevard is going to change. But there will always be Cinco de Mayo.

Out of the urban wilderness

The tide is turning for a forgotten Oak Cliff neighborhood

Story by Rachel Stone | Photos by Danny Fulgencio

When Anita Mills bought her house in the Dallas Land & Loan neighborhood for $54,000 in 1981, they called her an “urban pioneer.”

She remembers there was a laundromat at the corner of Tyler and Davis where a couple of stabbings happened. The coroner had to come with body bags to the corner of Davis and Van Buren, formerly a biker bar, after one particularly rough night.

“People thought we were crazy,” Mills says. “But it was the most house for the least money, and a lot of great people were moving here.”

Now the old Dallas Land & Loan neighborhood is being rebranded as the Bishop Arts Neighborhood Association, and a few investors are banking on it to become the next desirable Oak Cliff neighborhood.

The oldest houses in Dallas Land & Loan are in the American Queen Anne style and date to 1901. The neighborhood was named after the company that original Oak Cliff developers Thomas Marsalis and John Armstrong created in the 1890s to buy up land here and create subdivisions. The Bishop Arts District, now a conservation district, was carved out of the Dallas Land & Loan neighborhood.

As older residents began moving out of the neighborhood in the ’80s, investors bought up some of their homes for rental properties.

When the two sisters who lived at 836 W. Eighth moved to assisted living in the late ’80s, Mills bought their house, just across the street from hers, and renovated it.

She wound up losing money on the deal but says she has no regrets.

“I didn’t want someone to slap a coat of paint on it and be a slumlord,” she says.

Absentee landlords are still a problem for the 6-month-old Bishop Arts Neighborhood Association, generally bounded by Davis, Jefferson, Zang and Tyler.

“As soon as I moved here, I was like, ‘This is the stepchild of Oak Cliff,’ ” says neighborhood association president Daniel Quintana. “It’s just kind of been forgotten, almost. People weren’t coming in and investing, and there were so many absentee landlords.”

He and his partner had wanted to buy in Winnetka Heights or Kings Highway when they moved to Dallas from San Antonio about a year and a half ago, but they found something more affordable on Eighth at Van Buren.

He helped start the neighborhood association out of frustration after calling 911 and Dallas Animal Services several times in the first month he lived there.

“It was like, ‘I can’t believe people put up with this stuff,’ ” he says. “Stray animals, litter, speeding cars, loud music, ran-

LAKEHILL PREPARATORY SCHOOL

Leading to Success. 2720 Hillside Dr., Dallas 75214 / 214.826.2931 / lakehillprep.org Kindergarten through Grade 12 - Lakehill Preparatory School takes the word preparatory in its name very seriously. Throughout a student’s academic career, Lakehill builds an educational program that achieves its goal of enabling graduates to attend the finest, most rigorous universities of choice. Lakehill combines a robust, college-preparatory curriculum with opportunities for personal growth, individual enrichment, and community involvement. From kindergarten through high school, every Lakehill student is encouraged to strive, challenged to succeed, and inspired to excel.

ST. JOHN’S EPISCOPAL SCHOOL

848 Harter Rd., Dallas 75218 / 214.328.9131 / stjohnsschool.org Founded in 1953, St. John’s is an independent, co-educational day school for Pre-K through Grade 8. With a tradition for academic excellence, St. John’s programs include a challenging curriculum in a Christian environment along with instruction in the visual and performing arts, Spanish, German, French, and opportunities for athletics and community service. St. John’s goal for its students is to develop a love for learning, service to others, and leadership grounded in love, humility, and wisdom. Accredited by ISAS, SAES, and the Texas Education Agency

ST. ELIZABETH OF HUNGARY CATHOLIC SCHOOL

4019 S. Hampton Rd. Dallas 75224/ 214.331.5139 / www.saintspride. com / PK3-8th Grade. St. Elizabeth of Hungary offers a full day curriculum for PK3-8th Grade, including English Language, Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies, Religion, Technology, Athletics, Art, Music, Spanish, and Library. Caring teachers enhance curriculum with individualized attention and handson interactive participation. St. Elizabeth is a model of diversity, rich, and reflective of the ethnic and economic composition of the community it serves. Join us for an informational school tour and see for yourself how easy it is to become a Saint! Call 214.331.5139 for information.

Academic excellence & Catholic spirit since 1958

Our mission at St. Elizabeth of Hungary Catholic School is to serve God through our ministry of educational excellence and to develop the spiritual lives of our youth within the ramework of the Gospel and the tradition of the Catholic Church.

dom vagrants, shopping carts it goes on and on.”

The neighborhood association started a “yard of the month program” to promote beautification. They have monthly workdays to clean up litter and tidy up properties that have suffered neglect, including at least one of those apartment buildings with absentee landlords. And they volunteer to help older neighbors who aren’t strong enough to do their own yard work.

They have a crime watch, a Facebook page and a phone tree, and they do call 911.

“We don’t necessarily feel like we’re in a high-crime area it just seems like there’s never been an organized group to come together and say, ‘We’re not going to put up with this stuff,’ ” Quintana says.

Major investment

When I tell Anita Mills that someone is putting a house on the market in the 600 block of Eighth for almost $500,000, she goes silent. Then she starts giggling.

“OK!” she says. “I’ve been waiting 30 years for that.”

Mark Voisard compares the neighborhood to the Montrose neighborhood of Houston, where he renovated houses in the late ’70s.

He and business partner Stephen Glover have purchased three houses to renovate in the old Dallas Land & Loan neighborhood, and they’re not cutting corners.

Their house on Eighth has the original bois d’arc foundation. They salvaged an original oak cabinet in the dining room, and they pulled up and re-laid the original wood floors. But just about everything else has been redone.

The new home has thick walls, crown molding, a high-end kitchen, top-of-theline heating and cooling, efficient windows and appliances, a new two-car garage and a 12-foot fence.

They built a staircase and converted the half-story into space for two bedrooms and a full bath.

It’s a gorgeous redo, and they want about $479,000 for it.

That’s top of the market for Winnetka Heights, and this is not Winnetka Heights.

But Voisard and Glover believe in their new Montrose — in that central Houston neighborhood, the low end of the market now calls for about $750,000.

The partners are looking for more homes to buy in the new Bishop Arts Neighborhood Association.

“The market is ready for this level,” Glover says.

Being so close to the Bishop Arts District means northern Dallasites and suburbanites are likely to drive through on their way to Bolsa or Tillman’s, Quintana says. He just wants it to live up to its potential.

“Every other neighborhood north of Jefferson has just seen a complete transformation, so we want to be a part of that as well,” he says.

Your gardening partner since 1951, specializing in garden education, the best quality plant selection and the most knowledgeable staff committed to your gardening success!

BUSINESS BUZZ

The lowdown on what’s up with neighborhood businesses

Send business news tips to livelocal@advocatemag.com

Restaurants closing

Driftwood (642 W. Davis) closed Nov. 20 because of plumbing repairs and had not reopened as of press time (Dec. 18). The owners had not moved out of the space, but Dallas Morning News food critic Leslie Brenner has speculated that the place could remain closed, as Driftwood’s executive chef Kyle McClelland and owners Sal Jafar and Michael Martensen are busy with their popular new restaurant, Proof + Pantry. Victoria’s Mexican Grill on Willomet and West Davis has closed for good. The two-story building is for lease.

Restaurants opening

Small Brewpub opened in the Jefferson Tower in December with a menu including house-made charcuterie from chef Misti Norris and 12 beers on tap. Dallas Grilled Cheese Co., which is taking the old Book Doctor space next door to Chan Thai in the Bishop Arts District, is expected to open mid-January. The restaurant will offer many varieties of cheese with bread, plus beer and wine. Partners Mack Simpson, Diana Ezzell and Glen Shank hired Stash Design, which designed the interiors of Oddfellows and the Chicken Scratch, to finish out the restaurant’s interior. The latest offering at Sylvan Thirty is a juice bar. Boom Juice, from husband-and-wife business partners Davio and Jessica Ventouras, will focus on “organic juices and grab-and-go raw, vegan and paleo snacks and meals,” and had been expected to open by the end of December.

Big-box fitness

Planet Fitness opened in December in the 20,000-square-foot former Minyard store at Twelfth and Polk. The space most recently had been El Mariachi grocery and then a bazaar.

Moving crafts

Oil and Cotton is moving across West Davis into a space adjacent to Davis Street Espresso and Oak Cliff Coffee Roasters. Oil

Giving

Dallas County Commissioner Elba Garcia of Oak Cliff donated more than $12,000 to 20 nonprofits in December as part of her pledge to donate a portion of her commissioner’s salary to charity. Recipients included the Friends of Oak Cliff Parks, the Sunset High School Bisonettes drill team and La Academia de Estrellas.

and Cotton opened in 2011 at Tyler and Seventh. That space will be turned into artists’ studios after the business moves in March. Artists are expected to occasionally offer workshops at the old space, but most classes and the retail shop will be in the new digs at 817 W. Davis.

The old Cannon’s Village is fully leased

Restaurateur Jean Michel Sakouhi is planning to open a wine bar, Cepage, in the old Cannon’s Village shopping center. Sakouhi also is opening a Cepage in Deep Ellum, which will focus on French food. The Oak Cliff restaurant could be open as early as March, says building owner Kacy Jones. Two boutiques currently in the Bishop Arts District, Zola’s Everyday Vintage and the Cozy Cottage Children’s Boutique, are moving into the building as well. Those could open as soon as Feb. 1. Hairstylist Jake Tafoya is moving her hair salon, the Mod Labb, to the West Davis building. The Book Doctor already moved to a corner space there a few months ago. And the dog grooming place, Oak Clips, is staying put in its space on Edgefield. Cannon’s Village owner Kacy Jones says work could begin on two second-story residences, where his family and in-laws plan to live, as early as this month. The Joneses also are working on renaming the building.

A Big Table dinner in the Bishop Arts District in October raised $2,200 for Reagan Elementary School. Katherine Clapner of Dude, Sweet Chocolate organized the event with friends. The school plans to use the money for campus beautification.

Go Oak Cliff donated $500 to the Movember Foundation in November. The money was raised via the group’s first ever 5k, the Stache Dash, which was part of Blues, Bandits and BBQ.

Milestone

Melinda Imthurn of Oak Cliff celebrated her 10th year as creative director of the Women’s Chorus of Dallas. Imthurn is a professor of music at Eastfield College and a private voice instructor.

Athletic feat

Bishop Dunne Catholic School senior Mayleen Cantu was one of 16 athletes who competed in the MetroPCS Dallas Marathon’s high school challenge relay team in December. The marathon asks elite high school runners to compete in a relay against the marathon’s top competitor. If the marathon winner can beat the relay team, he or she receives a $1,500 bonus.

HAVE AN ITEM TO BE FEATURED?

Please submit news items and/or photos concerning neighborhood residents, activities, honors and volunteer opportunities to editor@advocatemag.com. Our deadline is the first of the month prior to the month of publication.

Dallas Grilled Cheese

BAPTIST

GRACE TEMPLE BAPTIST MULTI-CULTURAL CHURCH

Sunday Worship: English Service 9:30 am / Spanish Service 11:00 am

831 W. Tenth St. / 214.948.7587 / gracetempledallas.org

DISCIPLES OF CHRIST

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

Sunday School 9:30 am / THE TABLE Worship 9:30 am

Worship 8:30 & 10:50 am / Rev. Deborah Morgan-Stokes / edcc.org

EPISCOPAL

CHRIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH / 534 W. Tenth St. / 214.941.0339

Sunday: 8 & 10 am Holy Eucharist, 12:30pm Santa Misa en Español

Sunday School for all ages / Children’s Chapel / christchurchdallas.org

METHODIST

KESSLER PARK UMC / 1215 Turner Ave. / 214.942.0098 / kpumc.org

9:30 am Sunday School / 11:00 Worship / All welcome regardless of creed, color, culture, gender or sexual identity.

OAK CLIFF UMC / 549 E. Jefferson Blvd. / oakcliffumc.org

Young Adult Gathering & Worship “The Cliff” 9:30 am / Contemporary Worship 11:00 am (Bilingual) / facebook.com/oakcliffumc

TYLER STREET UMC / 927 W. 10th Street / 214.946.8106

Sunday Worship at 8:30 am and 10:50 am www.tsumc.org

NON-DENOMINATIONAL

KESSLER COMMUNITY CHURCH / 2100 Leander Dr. at Hampton Rd.

“Your Hometown Church Near the Heart of the City.” 10:30 am Contemporary Service / kesslercommunitychurch.com

PRESBYTERIAN

OAK CLIFF PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH / 6000 S. Hampton Road

Sunday Worship at 9:30 am & 11:05 am 214-339-2211 / www.ocpres.com

‘LET THERE BE LIGHT ’

You may know the movie “Forrest Gump,” which tells the story of a charmed man with a low IQ. Forrest meets presidents, plays ping pong in China and captains a shrimp boat. Forrest was a simple man, guided by the wisdom of his mama. “Forrest, life is like a box of chocolates,” she said. “You never know what you’re gonna get.” She taught him that you have to put the past behind you before you can move on and that you have to do the best with what God gave you.

“Mama always had a way of explaining things,” Forrest said, “so I could understand them.”

Our world is awash with words. Counting web page visits, email, blogs and other media, approximately 500,000 words pass daily in front of the average American’s eyes. Tolstoy’s War and Peace is only 460,000 words. The University of California, San Diego, says that by this year, the sum of media delivered to consumers on mobile devices and to their homes will take 15 hours a day to see or hear.

While there’s much about the era of Big Data that I enjoy, I’m not sure if all of this knowledge and information sharing is leading to greater understanding. What I do know is that our lives have a lot more noise. Now more than ever, we need deep, weighty words.

Genesis states, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, “‘Let there be light,’ and there was light” (Genesis 1:1-3 ESV).

So creation, the coming of a great light, began with a word. God spoke, and the word brought order out of the chaos.

This is a hopeful idea. Our words, too, can bring light. They can foster peace and bring illumination, but they also can create darkness. Words can wound or words can heal. If our communities are to overcome racial divisions or any number of complex problems, we’ll need the right words, spoken in the right way and at the right time.

So how can we discern the useless, transitory words from the timeless ones? Here are a few ideas:

1. Identify a few noteworthy authors, poets and thought-leaders, and dig deeper. Occupy your mind with writers who deserve a greater share of your attention.

2. Filter out the junk. Decide which words will occupy your mind and avoid everything else. A leader that I admire suggested this simple maxim: no crap. Give up the web sites that produce endless drivel and the books that numb your brain.

3. Finally, practice more face-to-face communication. It’s the most effective and powerful way to share words, and the only way we’ll ever be reconciled one to another.

We need less noise, but more words that cut to the heart and speak in ways that we can understand.

Our world is awash with words. Counting web page visits, email, blogs and other media, approximately 500,000 words pass daily in front of the average American’s eyes.

Brent McDougal is pastor of Cliff Temple Baptist Church. The Worship section is a regular feature underwritten by Advocate Publishing and by the neighborhood business people and churches listed on these pages. For information about helping support the Worship section, call 214.560.4202.

Seeking meaning in a digital, word-saturated world

Local

Lights on Oak Cliff-based Texans

Can Academies recieved a $12,000 grant to implement a mural program at four of its campuses. Students learned to design and paint a mural over the spring and summer semesters. Dallas Can Academy officially unveiled its mural in October. Pictured, from left to right, After School Center for Education coordinator Catherine Dunnet , Dallas Can trustee Delia Jasso and Dallas Can superintendant Oscar Rodriquez

Local BULLETIN BOARD

PROFESSIONAL SERVICES

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

JAMES H. DOLAN, MA, L.P.C Therapist, Executive Coach 214-629-6315. Individuals, couples & teens.LGBT

SERVICES FOR YOU

DISH

PET SERVICES

DUKE CANINE Certified Behaviorist & Trainer. Board/Train. Indoor kennels. www.dukecanine.com or 214-529-2598

In-Home Professional Care

Customized to maintain your pet’s routine

BUY/SELL/TRADE

TEXAS RANGERS AND DALLAS STARS front row seats. Share prime, front-row Texas Rangers and Dallas Stars tickets (available in sets of 10 games). Prices start at $105 per ticket (sets of 2 or 4 tickets per game available) Seats are behind the plate and next to the dugouts for the Rangers: seats are on the glass and on the Platinum Level for the Stars. Other great seats available starting at $60 per ticket. Entire season available except for opening game; participants randomly draw numbers prior to the season to determine a draft order fair for everyone. Call 214-560-4212 or rwamre@advocatemag.com

TOP CASH FOR CARS Any Car, Truck. Running or Not. Call for Instant Offer. 1-800-454-6951

ESTATE/GARAGE SALES

ESTATE SALES & LIQUIDATION SERVICES

Moving, Retirement, Downsizing. One Piece or a Houseful. David Turner. 214-908-7688. dave2estates@aol.com

REAL ESTATE

SOUTH OAK CLIFF HOME Renovated, 3488sf, 4 Bed, 4.5 Bath, 3 Car, Golf Course Community. $259k. 972-748-7628

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LEGAL SERVICES

A WILL? THERE IS A WAY Estate/Probate matters. Free Consultation. 214-802-6768 MaryGlennAttorney.com

In-Home Pet Visits & Daily Walks

“Best of Dallas” D Magazine

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Bonded & Insured www.societypetsitter.com 214-821-3900

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OLD GUITARS WANTED Gibson, Fender, Gretsch, Martin. 1920s-1980s. Top dollar paid. Toll Free 1-866-433-8277

MORE THAN A MAGAZINE

advocatemag.com/newmedia

AC & HEAT

CONCRETE/ MASONRY/PAVING

CONCRETE, Driveway Specialist Repairs, Replacement, Removal, References. Reasonable. Chris 214-770-5001

ELECTRICAL SERVICES

ANNA’S ELECTRIC Your Oak Cliff Electrician Since 1978. tecl25513. 214-943-4890

ANTHONY’S ELECTRIC Master Electrician. TECL24948 anthonyselectricofdallas.com Family Owned/Operated. Insd. 214-328-1333

EXPERIENCED LICENSED ELECTRICIAN Insd. Steve. TECL#27297 214-718-9648

CABINETRY & FURNITURE

JD’S TREE SERVICE Mantels, Headboards, Kitchen Islands, Dining tables. Made from Local Trees. www.jdtreeservice.com 214-946-7138

CARPENTRY & REMODELING

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

FENN CONSTRUCTION Any Tile Anywhere. www.dallastileman.com Back Splash Specials! 214-343-4645

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

RENOVATE DALLAS

renovatedallas.org 214-403-7247

TK Remodeling

Your neighborhood remodeler

•Repair •Remodeling •Restoration

•Complete full service

Name

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Tommy 972-533-2872 INSURED

CLEANING SERVICES

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

WINDOW MAN WINDOW CLEANING.COM

Residential Specialists. BBB. 214-718-3134

CONCRETE/ MASONRY/PAVING

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

BRICK, STONEWORK, FLAGSTONE PATIOS Mortar Repair. Call George 214-498-2128

CONCRETE REPAIRS/REPOURS

Demo existing. Stamping and Staining Driveways/Patio/Walkways

Pattern/Color available

Free Estimates

972-672-5359 (32 yrs.)

GOVER ELECTRIC Back Up Generators. New and Remodel Work. Commercial & Residential. All Service Work. 469-230-7438. TECL2293

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

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

EXTERIOR CLEANING

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

FENCING & DECKS

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

4 QUALITY FENCING Call Mike 214-507-9322 Specializing in Wood, New or Repair.

HANNAWOODWORKS.COM Decks, Fences, Pergolas, Patio Covers. 214-435-9574

EST. 1991 #1

COWBOY

FENCE & IRON CO.

214.692.1991

SPECIALIZING IN Wood Fences &Auto Gates

cowboyfenceandiron.com

FLOORING & CARPETING

CLIFTON CARPETS 214-526-7405 www.cliftoncarpets.com

FENN CONSTRUCTION Any Tile Anywhere. www.dallastileman.com Back Splash Specials! 214-343-4645

LONGHORN FLOORS LLC 972-768-4372. www.longhornflooring.com

N-HANCE WOOD RENEWAL. No Dust. No Mess. No Odor. nhance.com. 214-321-3012.

WILLEFORD HARDWOOD FLOORS 214-824-1166 • WillefordHardwoodFloors.com

FLOORING & CARPETING

NEED FLOORING?

Carpet • Ceramic • Wood • Luxury Vinyl Call John Roemen 972.989.3533

john.roemen@redicarpet.com

Commercial / Residential

REDI CARPET

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GARAGE DOORS

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

HANDYMAN SERVICES

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

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

HANDYMAN SPECIALIST Residential/ Commercial. Large, small jobs, repair list, renovations. Refs. 214-489-0635

HOMETOWN HANDYMAN All phases of construction. No job too small 214-327-4606

HONEST, SKILLED SERVICE With a Smile. General Repairs/ Maintenance. 214-215-2582

Handy Dan

The Handyman “ToDo’s” Done Right Save $25 on Service Call of $125 or $50 on Service Call of $250 handy-dan.com

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

HOME INSPECTION

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TK REMODELING 972-533-2872

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LAWNS,

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

GREENSKEEPER Winter Clean Up & Color. Sodding, Fertilization. Lawn Maintenance & Landscape. Res/Com. 214-546-8846

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

HOUSE PAINTING

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

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

LAWNS, GARDENS & TREES

ROOFING & GUTTERS

BERT ROOFING INC.

Family owned and operated for over 40 years

• Residential/Commercial

Online police reports less transparent

The Dallas Police Department in June upgraded a 40-yearold system that made police reports available to the public online.

But the new system offers much less information than the previous one.

Online police reports previously offered limited narratives about crimes — anything from a sentence to a couple of paragraphs describing the crime. Now the online reports list the type of crime, location, time and date, but they offer no specific information, no narrative, on the crime.

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ADVOCATE PUBLISHING does not pre-screen, recommend or investigate the advertisements and/or Advertisers published in our magazines. As a result, Advocate Publishing is not responsible for your dealings with any Advertiser. Please ask each Advertiser that you contact to show you the necessary licenses and/or permits required to perform the work you are requesting. Advocate Publishing takes comments and/or complaints about Advertisers seriously, and we do not publish advertisements that we know are inaccurate, misleading and/or do not live up to the standards set by our publications. If you have a legitimate complaint or positive comment about an Advertiser, please contact us at 214-560-4203. Advocate Publishing recommends that you ask for and check references from each Advertiser that you contact, and we recommend that you obtain a written statement of work to be completed, and the price to be charged, prior to approving any work or providing an Advertiser with any deposit for work to be completed.

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That’s because the new system requires two data entry fields — one public and one for internal police purposes. The old system had just one data field that would cut information off at a certain point in the narrative. When the new system first rolled out in June, patrol officers began copy and pasting the same narratives into both data entry fields. That resulted in confidential information inappropriately being made public.

So the police decided to keep all narratives out of public view until they can find a solution, says Maj. Robert Sherwin.

“A lot of people are going to say ‘we want it back the way it was,’ and that’s not going to happen,” Sherwin says.

Neighborhood crime watch groups also have complained that not all crimes in their areas are being reported online. That’s because lawyers advised the police to omit any crime that involved a juvenile suspect. Since many crimes have an unknown suspect, DPD was omitting from public view any report with an unknown suspect on the idea that the suspect could be a juvenile. But the department since has reversed course on that, and reports with unknown suspects should be appearing online now, Sherwin says.

CRIME NUMBERS |

$50-$70 million would pay for body cameras for the state’s law enforcement officers. State Sen. Royce West has said he will push for the cameras in the next legislative session, which starts in Austin this month.

200 body cameras will be purchased for the Dallas Police Department using forfeiture funds.

50 body cameras DPD has been field-testing. The field tests ended in October but are still in use, and some officers have purchased their own body cameras.

VINTAGE VELO

Bike racing was an Oak Cliff pastime in the 1920s and ’30s

Bike Friendly Oak Cliff’s Spooky Cross bike race draws some 2,000 bike racers to Oak Cliff every October and is considered one of the best cyclocross races in Texas. While Spooky Cross is the biggest bike race in Oak Cliff, it is not the first. Back in the 1920s and ’30s, many bike races were staged on our side of the river, and Oak Cliff was home to a few of the best amateur racers in the United States at the time.

Dallas bike clubs including Star Cycling Club and the Busy Boys’ Bicycle Club formed sometime before 1920, with messengers and deliverymen at the core of their memberships.

Star Cycling’s president, B.A. Dunn,

owned a namesake bike shop at Wood and Browder downtown. In 1922, the club sent two riders, 14-year-old George Howe and 17-year-old J.C. Barnett of Oak Cliff, to the amateur national bike racing championships in Atlantic City, N.J. They both had won state titles in a competition at the old Fair Park velodrome earlier that year. Howe took third place in the juniors category at nationals.

On July 4, 1923, the clubs staged races on Eagle Ford Road, which now is Singleton. This was a substitute location for the traditional Fourth of July bike races, which had been held since the late 1890s at Fair Park. But that year, the velodrome was being re-

purposed for horse racing. Anyway, it is the earliest news report of a bicycle race on our side of the river. There were 10 competition categories for distances of one-quarter mile, one mile and two miles. The overall winner of the day, Leslie James, won a gold watch. The second- and third-place winners, R.J. Reitz and Marshall Young, won a pair of tires and handlebars, respectively.

After the Eagle Ford Road races, the clubs began staging races at Lake Cliff Park.

This was at a time when bicycle racing was not considered to be the stuff of Flanders and the French Alps. It had been a wildly popular sport in America.

In the 1890s, a new bicycle was like an

A delivery boy straddles his bike in downtown Dallas in the 1930s. Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress

iPhone 6. Everybody wanted one. Baseball already was the national pastime, but consider there was no Super Bowl, no March Madness. Beginning in 1891 and through the 1920s, six-day track bicycle races held in Madison Square Garden were as big as the World Series. They were broadcast nationally by radio, and Dallas newspapers ran photos and results of those races on their pages.

McBride’s wife competed in the one-mile race.

Geoffrey McBride and another racer named Rollin Burns had won the state championship in Waco in 1925. Dallas racers had owned that competition, taking first place in every category. McBride and Burns went on to compete at nationals in St. Louis that year. Burns had taken fifth place at nationals in the five- and 10-mile races the previous year. We could find no record of how the two, who would have been around 18 at the time, fared in the 1925 national amateur bike racing competition.

In the 1940s young bike racers were plucked out of their saddles and into World War II. Rubber was scarce, and industrial efforts focused on the wars overseas. After the war, suburban lifestyle proliferated. Cars, highways and parking lots began to dominate the landscape. Bikes came to be considered children’s toys to be ridden safely on cul-de-sac sidewalks.

Americans’ interest in cycling began dying down in the 1920s. But then bicycling made a comeback in the mid-1930s in reaction to the onslaught of automobile culture.

In April 1935, a San Francisco-based cycling coach named Ernest Ohrt came to Dallas scouting for the 1936 U.S. Olympic cycling team. He staged a 25-mile race from Lake Cliff Park to the old Arlington Downs horse racing track and back. None of our boys made the team, but after that, cycling clubs began staging occasional road races from Lake Cliff to Fort Worth and back.

In July 1937, a 100-mile race starting at Fair Park drew 75 racers from Texas, Oklahoma and Missouri. The winner was Geoffrey McBride, an Oak Cliff resident and 15-year veteran of the Dallas bikeracing scene. McBride won the race in five hours, five minutes and four seconds.

Later that summer, in August 1937, McBride organized a women’s race as part of the Texas state bicycle racing championships at Kiest Park. Six women including

Bicycle racing all but vanished from American culture.

When old B.A. Dunn, the bike-shop owner, began holding bike races at the Fair Park speedway in 1954, it was touted as a “revival.” A few races were held that year, but there are few mentions of bike races in Dallas until the sport’s next revival in the 1970s.

Bike racing returned to Oak Cliff with the construction of the mountain bike trail at Oak Cliff Nature Preserve, where several races are staged every year. In the 2000s, Bike Friendly Oak Cliff and fixed-gear riders made bikes cool again in our neighborhood. Now Oak Cliff has two bike shops — Oak Cliff Bicycle Co. and Dallas Bike Works — that sponsor road and mountain-bike racing teams. And although the velodrome is long gone, there are criterium races held at Fair Park every Thursday in the spring and summer.

Now if we can just get another race going at Lake Cliff Park. —Rachel Stone

Back in the 1920s and ’30s, many bike races were staged on our side of the river, and Oak Cliff was home to a few of the best amateur racers in the United States at the time.

January 28

Presented by the Ann and Jack Graves Charitable Foundation

Lincoln Wallen

Chief Technology Officer, DreamWorks

LINCOLN WALLEN is the chief technology officer for DreamWorks Animation, where he is responsible for providing strategic technology vision and leadership. Under his leadership, DreamWorks Animation was named to MIT Technology Review’s “50 Most Innovative Companies” list.

April 8

Presented by Ericsson

Hugh Herr

MIT Media Lab

Biomechatronics Program Head

HUGH HERR is responsible for advances in bionic limbs that offer new hope to people with physical disabilities.

Time magazine called him the “Leader of the Bionic Age” because of his work in the emerging field of biomechatronics, a technology that marries human physiology with electromechanics.

Visit utdallas.edu/lectureseries

March 4

Presented by State Farm

John Maeda

Design Partner, Kleiner Perkins

Past President, Rhode Island School of Design

JOHN MAEDA has worked for more than a decade to integrate technology, education and the arts into a 21st-century synthesis of creativity and innovation. He believes art and design are poised to transform our economy in this century as science and technology did in the last.

April 28

Presented by the Ann and Jack Graves Charitable Foundation

Tony & Jonna Mendez

Author of Argo and both former CIA Chief of Disguise

TONY and JONNA MENDEZ are former CIA officers whose lives have been featured in books, TV documentaries and the Oscar-winning film Argo Tony Mendez engineered the 1980 rescue of six U.S. diplomats from Iran in an operation that inspired the movie. Jonna Mendez worked as a technical operations officer with a specialty in clandestine photography.

Hosted by UT Dallas’ Arts and Technology (ATEC) program, the series features speakers from a wide range of backgrounds in science, technology and art. They will present public lectures on topics aimed at exploring the evolving relationships among art, technology, engineering, and behavioral and social sciences.