2018 November Oak Cliff

REMEMBERING VETS ESCAPE FROM OAK CLIFF

VEGGIE HEAVEN

211 S. Windomere Ave. $429,500 Diane Sherman 469.767.1823

333 S. Edgefield Ave. $399,900 Diane Sherman 469.767.1823

S. Willomet

$319,900 Vinnie Sherman

S. Montreal Ave. $369,900 Jason Melton

Photo by Danny Fulgencio

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Smashing success

Dallas ISD wants to demolish or replace 47 schools, including 19 in Oak Cliff. The plan aims to consolidate schools to save money due to steadily declining enrollment as families choose charter and private schools. Some of our neighborhood’s most successful neighborhood schools, including the upper campus of Rosemont and Hogg and Reagan elementary schools are on the demolish list.

Here are a few things to know about the plan:

• Mega elementary schools that can serve as many as 850 students could replace the demolished schools.

• T hose mega schools would cost an estimated $953.8 million, from bond funding, to build.

• T he district expects to make $45 million selling the school lots.

• DISD would save about $22.8 million per year in maintenance and operation costs.

• T he plan is preliminary and not yet in motion. Express your position by emailing DISD board of trustees member Audrey Pinkerton, audreypinkerton@dallasisd.org.

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ABOUT THE COVER

A detail of Patina Bleu, a shop on Tyler at Seventh (Photo by Danny Fulgencio).

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NOV. 10

SMOKE CLIFF

The hometown of T-Bone Walker meets slow-cooked beef, pork and chicken at Blues, Bandits and BBQ. Competitive meat-smokers set up their rigs and baby their briskets all night long before the festivities. Music, barbecue tasting and beer-drinking is on Saturday from 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Kidd Springs Park, 711 W. Canty gooakcliff.org

5 things to do in Oak Cliff this November

NOV. 2

Día de los muertos

Enjoy the sweetness of life at the Oak Cliff Cultural Center’s Day of the Dead celebration with music, dance performances, food, art and a night market.

Where: CocoAndré Chocolatier, 508 W. Seventh St. More info: occc.dallasculture.org

NOV. 10

Sunset run

Run a flat course — 5k, 10k and half-marathon distances — and enjoy the scenery of the Trinity River plus craft beer at the after party.

Where: Continental Bridge Gateway Plaza, Singleton Boulevard at Beckley Avenue

More info: trinityriverrun.redpodium.com

NOV. 17

Cult hero

Gain a new appreciation for the 1993 satire “Last Action Hero” at this 8 p.m. showing, which is followed by music performances from Yaz Mean, Mountain of Smoke and Son of Stan.

Where: The Texas Theatre, 231 W. Jefferson Blvd. More info: thetexastheatre.com

NOV. 30

Gulf-coast soul

The Suffers are coming straight outta H-Town for your dancing shoes. Dazz & Brie, a womanfronted rock band from Little Rock, opens.

Where: The Kessler, 1230 W. Davis St. More info: thekessler.org

Photography by Elliott Muñoz

WHAT GIVES?

CHEFS FOR FARMERS

CELEBRATE THE HARDWORKING PEOPLE who grow and cook your food at Chefs for Farmers, Nov. 2-4.

These for-profit events aim to promote the benefits of local chefs working with local/ organic farmers. It started as a long-table dinner for 125 people in 2010.

Since then, it has grown into a nationally recognized three-day event that draws thousands of people.

This year’s festival will honor two restaurant-industry professionals with Oak Cliff ties, Kevin Lee Hitchings and Yvaun Olsen.

Hitchings lives in our neighborhood and is a server at Billy Can Can in Victory Park. Olsen works for Oak Cliff-based Chefs’ Produce, where she’s been in sales for over 27 years.

Oak Cliff chefs also will be involved: Luis Olvera of Trompo, Ryan Olmos of Cibo Divino and David Uygur of Lucia.

The weekend starts with Chef Dean Fearing’s “fall harvest backyard fest” at the Ritz Carlton Friday night. Saturday brings a streetfood night market in Victory Park. And the main event, with bites from more than 50 farmers and chefs, is from 2-6 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 4, at Dallas Heritage Village.

Chefs for Farmers’ October charity dinner, Friends of the Festival, raised funds for Youth with Faces, a nonprofit that “gives youth in the juvenile justice system a second chance to be more than a faceless statistic.”

chefsforfarmers.com

MCM w/ pool on 1/2 acre in East Kessler - 3,172 SF* Ged Dipprey ·

UP FRONT

THAT’S MY OAK CLIFF

The champion who wants to end systemic racism in Dallas 

There aren’t enough jobs, not enough access to fresh food or parks. About 39 percent of adults lack a high-school diploma or equivalent. Poverty is overwhelming.

But it’s beautiful: tree-lined streets, older houses, amazing people. It’s Oak Cliff. The part that’s predominantly African American and too-long ignored.

“This is the culture. This is the heartbeat. This is the roots of that Oak Cliff,” says Toynes, whose family goes back several generations in Oak Cliff. “This is the heartbeat of Oak Cliff.

Interview by RACHEL STONE / Photography by DANNY FULGENCIO

Taylor Toynes calls his neighborhood “the super block.” It’s a chunk of Oak Cliff roughly bounded by Eighth Street, Ledbetter and Interstates 35 and 45.

This is the culture of Oak Cliff. This is the coolest part.”

When Toynes was a teacher at Bushman Elementary in 2014, he found that students didn’t have enough supplies. So he started a nonprofit called For Oak Cliff, intending to create a backto-school festival and school-supply giveaway.

That festival keeps growing — the rapper J. Cole showed up unannounced at the Glendale Park event this year to deliver a truckload of school supplies.

But the nonprofit, whose mission is to liberate Oak Cliff from systemic oppression, has grown even more.

For Oak Cliff received a $600,000 grant from the Kellog Foundation, via the Commit Partnership, and this past summer leased and finished out an office space at the Glendale Shopping Center.

The center offers GED classes, early education resources and a writing-focused summer camp, and it serves as a community center that offers meeting space to other nonprofits.

Toynes, 29, still lives in the neighborhood with his wife, Ariel, and their 2-year-old daughter, Wednesday.

What is it about this neighborhood that outsiders don’t understand?

We have an equation: education plus activation equals liberation. We need education in our communities to understand who they are and where they come from. And we have to educate others who are not from here on what it really means to be over here. People see certain stories and form an opinion. But they don’t understand what it’s like coming from the bottom in an oppressed state. Making a simple plan for success is difficult, especially when you’re hungry. We don’t even have a grocery store. One of the biggest murderers we have here is high cholesterol, diabetes. We need to have good healthy options.

Our audience mostly lives on the “other” side of Oak Cliff, the west side of I-35. What would you say to our readers?

People want to be from Oak Cliff when it’s convenient. I can’t take that off me. I have the good, bad and ugly of Oak Cliff. Oak Cliff isn’t a whole until we can all have thriving businesses and trolleys coming through the area. We want

people to know that we are here, and we are here on a high level.

Why do you think these two Oak Cliffs are so separate?

Ultimately this neighborhood is the way it is because of racism. Systemic racism that took place: home loans, business loans, inadequate schools, neglect, segregation. These are all things that oppressed this neighborhood. This was the center of the crack epidemic in Dallas in the ’80s and ’90s. There’s so much trauma around that to this day. My people have endured so much. The KKK came and lined up on Ledbetter. I remember it; I was 5 years old. I had dreams as a kid about being chased by the KKK. And this was 1995.

What about this neighborhood makes you proud?

I’m very lucky to have this very ’hood mentality. In college I wrote an entire report on why it’s an authentic culture that should be represented. I know how to play curb ball. Those are the things we did. What I know is, we’ve got fried chicken and biscuits and Black English Vernacular. I am who I am, and I’m going to bring my community with me wherever I go. I’m going to disrupt whatever seems right or normal because I don’t want the people coming behind me to be held to those standards. Those norms have to be disrupted in this city and in this country as a whole.

Five thousand people showed up for the back-to-school festival this year, and J. Cole brought you $20,000 worth of school supplies. What other recent accomplishments are you proud of?

Our goal is to have 300 people with GEDs or in college by 2020, and that’s possible now because of this space. But also DISD just approved having GED programs at elementary schools. Bushman is a pilot program for that, and that came from our advocacy. We knew we had to go into the community to make that happen.

What do you love about Oak Cliff?

This is the closest thing to sacred land we’ve got here. I just want a safe space for my daughter.

Interview edited for clarity and brevity.

SPACE-AGE MEDICINE

Ed and C.B. Hearn opened Hearn Clinic chiropractic in 1950, boasting a free chauffeur-driven station wagon for patients with trouble walking. The field of chiropractic was only about 50 years old at the time, and the clinic opened in a modern building at 220 N. Zang, according to the Dallas Morning News Historical Archives. The Hearns lived and raised families in Oak Cliff — C.B. in Cedar Oaks and Ed in Glen Oaks — and were leaders in their industry. They served in the Dallas County Chiropractic Society, which in 1955 had 49 delegates to the 40th-annual Texas State Chiropractic Association convention in Dallas, according to the archives. Ed Hearn was president of the Texas Chiropractic College at San Antonio in the late 1950s, when the school united with San Antonio Junior College to offer the two years of college basics newly required to receive a chiropractic license. WellMed Medical Group recently bought the building (note the old-time spelling of “Zangs,” which was also styled “Zang’s” sometimes) along with the adjacent Oak Cliff Family Healthcare. —RACHEL STONE

Top: Image courtesy of the Boston Public Library. Above: Photo by Danny Fulgencio

Jack

PARTY IN THE BACK

GRANNY FLATS OK’D AFTER DECADES UNDER THE RADAR

AN ANGLE ON AFFORDABILITY pushed Dallas City Council to make granny flats legal again.

Oak Cliffers renting out their garage apartments and listing back houses on Airbnb is the worst kept secret in Dallas. Though technically illegal, they receive minimal consequences from the city.

Now these “accessory-dwelling units” are legal as part of the city’s plan to make housing more affordable in Dallas.

Garage apartments, back houses and granny flats are part of Oak Cliff’s historic fabric.

During the Great Depression, neighbors converted garages into apartments for struggling family members. And they rented back houses to supplement their own income.

An “attractive, clean” garage apartment on South Willomet with tile in the kitchen and bath was advertised for $85 a month, all bills paid, in September 1953, for example.

City Council banned these rentals in the 1970s in hopes of curbing second-rate living conditions in South Dallas.

Until this past June, the Board of Adjustment only allowed accessory-dwelling units if they were not a moneymaking venture and didn’t disturb the neighbors.

By ELISSA CHUDWIN

DID YOU KNOW?

Dallas City Council banned garage apartments in the 1970s, although they’ve been operating off the books for decades.

Photography by Emily Charrier

HOW TO GRANNY FLAT

Legalizing granny flats — activating existing ones and

contemplating converting a back house to an Airbnb, regulations on that could be next.

AN OASIS IN THE FOOD DESERT

JUICE, SMOOTHIES AND HEARTY PLANT-BASED MEALS

THERE ARE LOTS OF GOOD restaurants in Oak Cliff east of Interstate 35 — Rudy’s Chicken, Catfish Floyd’s, Sweet Georgia Brown.

But only one, Recipe Oak Cliff, is vegan.

Tisha Crear, who opened Recipe almost two years ago, stopped eating meat at age 14 and sharpened her cooking skills hanging out with vegetarian friends as a student at New York University.

Crear later owned Reciprocity, a poetry space in the 200 block of North Tyler in the ’90s.

Now an arts administrator for the City of Dallas, she started putting on pop-up markets

in Oak Cliff to activate empty lots, and she sold her juices and vegan dishes.

Philanthropist Lauren Embrey came to one of the markets and helped Crear get a loan from The Real Estate Council via the Embrey Family Foundation in 2016. That’s how Crear bought her building on South Ewing, and she opened Recipe Oak Cliff almost two years ago.

It now offers “indigenous cultural soul” food, all plant-based, amid south Oak Cliff’s food desert, where access to fresh foods is inadequate.

Everything on the Recipe menu is plantStory by RACHEL STONE Photography by KATHY TRAN

The barbecue plate is made with jackfruit and comes with slaw, salad and fruit.

based and under $10. There’s no soy, and most of it is raw.

The barbecue plate is made with jackfruit and comes with slaw, salad and fruit. There’s a taco salad that comes with “meat” made of walnuts and sundried tomatoes.

Smoothies include the “wu being,” blended with banana, dates, kale and hemp milk. Choose from a menu of juices or create your own concoction.

“I can make all kinds of vegan and vegetarian food,” Crear says. “But the menu here is to prove a point.”

Vegan food is hearty and delicious, and you will like it.

Recipe Oak Cliff

Address: 1831 S. Ewing St.

Hours: WednesdaySaturday, 11 a.m.-7 p.m. recipeoc.com

Shayna’s Place

Now Open daily from 7am-9pm. Come enjoy delicious sandwiches, salads, smoothies and pastries, as well as a local selection of coffee and sodas. BYOB.

Escape from Oak Cliff

ROADWORK HAS US SLOW ROLLING THROUGH THE ’HOOD

Story by RACHEL STONE | Photography by DANNY FULGENCIO | Illustrations by EMILY HULEN THOMPSON

In the late 1960s, the city of Dallas moved to make Oak Cliff a “flythrough” area from the suburbs to Downtown and northern Dallas.

They turned Tyler and Polk into one-way streets. And they created the Jefferson-Twelfth Connector through South Winnetka.

Dangerous and deadly car accidents caused by speeding and street racing have gained a lot of new publicity recently, though it’s a problem Oak Cliff neighbors have been dealing with for decades.

“When the city thought no one should live in, or have fun in, Oak Cliff, they started to build these high-speed roads,” says Lee Ruiz of Winnetka Heights.

That mid-century traffic engineering left our neighborhood with too many unbroken stretches of multi-lane roads that encourage speed. But now we are taking it retro, slowing things down and restoring the grid destroyed by Jefferson-Twelfth and changing Tyler and Polk back to two-ways.

That is, once we get through all the other roadwork projects currently underway.

FT. WORTH TO COCKRELL HILL

W. DAVIS ST.

W. JEFFERSON

JEFFERSON BLVD. WINNETKA AVE.

CLINTON AVE. EDGEFIELD AVE.

Jefferson-Twelfth Connector 1

This four-lane stretch of roadway connects the 1300 block of West Jefferson with the 1000 block of West Twelfth.

The city demolished 20 historic houses to create it in the ’60s.

That loss did have the positive effect of sparking preservation activism in Oak Cliff, leading eventually to the creation of Winnetka Heights Historic District and Heritage Oak Cliff.

But it also created a .75-mile speedway through residential streets, plus two turn-only intersections that are confusing and feel unsafe.

“It was very disrespectful to the people who lived there at the time,” says Ruiz, who is president

of his neighborhood association.

A $2-million earmark in the 2017 bond will fund a project to remove the Jefferson-Twelfth Connector and restore the neighborhood grid to its original form.

Once the connector is gone, the through streets at Clinton, Winnetka and Willomet — now dead ends — will reopen between Jefferson and Twelfth.

Neighbors believe it will make their streets safer and more walkable. A few homeowners will regain their rights over square-footage lost with diagonal cuts across corners of their properties to form the roadway.

In other places, the return of the grid will open new real estate. The city can sell the 20 lots and put that property back on the tax rolls.

Any new development would have to meet the historic district’s standards, Ruiz says.

Certain roadways in Dallas, including this one, require “thoroughfare amendments” before any changes can be made to them. That requires approval from the City Plan Commission and City

Council. They are expected to take up the issue late this year or early 2019. Once approved, work could begin in early 2020, and the project is expected to take about two years to complete.

The Oak Cliff neighborhood where cars crash into houses

A car once crashed and landed in Jesse Arriaga’s side yard, coming to a stop just a few feet shy of his house and fenced backyard.

Another time, a speeding car slammed into a curb diagonal from his house and went spinning across the intersection, hitting the opposite curb so hard that the car caught air, landing upside down not far from Arriaga’s front door.

So many cars have crashed into his property in the past 30 years that he’s lost count — at least five or six.

All four houses squaring up the intersection of Oak Cliff Boulevard and Twelfth Street have been struck, one of them just this past September. And the driver of a speeding car died, injuring three others, after colliding with a DART bus on Twelfth and Polk Street in July.

Neighbors say Twelfth is a speedway between Hampton Road and Edgefield Drive, a four-lane stretch of about 3/4 of a mile that has no stop signs or lights. The street is entirely residential, lined with side-facing cottages, but it contains no speed-calming mechanisms.

The heavily trafficked road encourages high velocity and drag racing, neighbors say. And they say the City of Dallas has ignored the problem for 30 years.

After a speeding truck crashed into a house on Twelfth in April, City Councilman Scott Griggs created a police task force on speeding and illegal street racing. That resulted in 140 traffic tickets there from AprilSeptember.

But neighbors along the corridor say speed traps are not making them safer, and they’re demanding trafficcalming measures.

The thoroughfare also includes the north-facing façade of Greiner Middle School, and morning drop-off sometimes results in students darting across traffic.

South Winnetka resident Fran Gaconnier remembers that a car hit a Greiner student five years ago resulting in a broken arm. She says

drop-off has improved but that there could be more safety education and enforcement.

Some homeowners say they want a traffic light halfway between Hampton and Edgefield. But Griggs and Michael Rogers, the city’s director of transportation, suggested alternatives including restriping the road to three lanes — two each way and a middle turn lane.

Major changes to the road require a thoroughfare amendment, which requires approval from City Council and takes a minimum of about three months to approve.

Rogers will meet with homeowners at Sunset Hill Neighborhood Association’s next meeting Nov. 13 to come up with short-term strategies for calming traffic as well as ideas for permanent solutions.

A makeshift memorial on Twelfth at Polk marks the spot where 20-year-old Jaime Salazar died after a high-speed crash with a DART bus in July. (Photo by Danny Fulgencio)

Tyler/Polk two-way and roundabout

Mexico City has Popocatepetl and Iztaccíhuatl, the volcanoes representing star-crossed lovers who died tragically and are left to gaze across the valley to one another for eternity.

Oak Cliff has Tyler and Polk, two powdery old presidents and one-way streets that subtract from our neighborhood’s original intent.

City Councilman Scott Griggs began working on a plan to restore the two-way structure of those Oak Cliff arteries when it became part of his district in 2013. It took many, many community meetings, a tabling at City Plan Commission and a second round of community meetings before City Council finally approved the plan in September 2016.

Intriguingly, it calls for a roundabout feeding into Sylvan Avenue near the entry to Kidd Springs Park and the Tuner Winston Block in Kings Highway.

Where both streets feed into Polk, a traffic light will be added.

The $3.3-million conversion is a fairly simple fix, Griggs says. The budget will go to replacing stoplights, repaving and restriping streets, fixing curbs and potholes and replacing wastewater drainage.

That project is next on the list. Work on it could start once the roadwork project at Beckley/Commerce is released, Griggs says. But it also depends on the Texas Department of Transportation’s schedule for Zang Boulevard, where the Interstate 35 Southern Gateway project calls for work.

“It’s such a wee bit of roadway, but it is paved with stolen pieces of our souls and flaming bills for axel repair.”

Beckley/ Commerce

There are only so many ways to get from Oak Cliff to West Dallas, and two of them were clogged for all eternity, or so it seemed.

It’s almost over.

The $7-million reconstruction of Beckley at Commerce is receiving finishing touches such as landscaping and improvements to the Beckley Overlook ramp.

The bike lanes randomly end just south of Interstate 30, but creating a safe route to the West Dallas bridge park is an improvement.

This project included reconstructing the intersection

Sylvan Avenue

Our thoughts and prayers are with the Oak Cliff families who have endured this commute for the past few years.

Sylvan Avenue between Interstate 30 and Singleton: It’s such a wee bit of roadway, but it is paved with stolen pieces of our souls and flaming bills for axel repair.

The City of Dallas promises a day when this stretch, treacherous for cars, pedestrians and bikes alike, will accommodate four lanes for cars with appealing landscaping and bike lanes all the way to the Design District.

It is not just a $7.66-million dream, friends. Winter 2019 is coming.

The delay here is utilities.

Do you want high-speed internet, Oak Cliff?

The Sylvan project required AT&T and Spectrum to relocate their lines, which has taken much longer than expected.

The project began in August 2017, and its completion date, while vague, is expected next year.

Jefferson Boulevard improvements

Rumbling along the uneven pavement of West Jefferson, drivers navigate parked cars’ backup lights and oft-rerouted lanes.

When a $2-million fix-up is finished, faux brick crosswalks made of colored stamped concrete will frame a lively section of the boulevard between Adams and Zang.

Trees recently were installed in the medians, which have new sprinkler systems. New overhead and low pedestrian lighting will add to safety and walkability in that burgeoning nightlife area.

Jefferson finally is back to four lanes after 18 months of construction, and the project is almost complete.

6West Davis sidewalks and bike lanes

This project has been in the works since 2012, and it’s fully funded. But work to create bike lanes and wide sidewalks from Bishop Arts to Cockrell Hill Road keeps getting pushed back.

Is there ever a good time to tear up a main avenue fronted by dozens of local businesses?

Certainly not while Jefferson Boulevard also is under construction.

The bike lanes and repaving, from Clinton Avenue to Cockrell Hill, will receive $4 million from city bond funds and $3.2 million from Dallas County.

The city also has $2 million to improve the sidewalks along West Davis, from Bishop Arts to Windomere.

The project could begin once Jefferson is completed.

OAK CLIFF ROADWORK COST ESTIMATES

JEFFERSON/TWELFTH CONNECTOR ELIMINATE ROADWAY, RECONNECT STREETS AND ALLEYS

$2 million

TYLER/POLK

TURN TWO ONE-WAY THOROUGHFARES INTO TWO-WAY STREETS WITH A ROUNDABOUT

$3.3 million

BECKLEY/COMMERCE RECONSTRUCT NORTH BECKLEY AT COMMERCE, ADD BIKE LANES AND SIGNAL, REPLACE WATER MAIN

$7 million

SYLVAN AVENUE

CREATE FOUR-LANE ROAD WITH BIKE LANES AND A MEDIAN, REPLACE WATER MAIN

$7.6 million

JEFFERSON BOULEVARD ENHANCE INTERSECTIONS WITH FAUX-BRICK PAVERS, ADD LANDSCAPING, IRRIGATION AND LIGHTING

$2 million

WEST DAVIS SIDEWALKS AND BIKE LANES

CREATE CONTINUOUS SIDEWALKS ON WEST DAVIS, ADD BIKE LANES FROM BISHOP ARTS TO COCKRELL HILL

$9.2 million

Source: City of Dallas

By BRENT MCDOUGAL

Stay at the table

Navigating the minefield of family gatherings

It wasn’t long after the turkey had been sliced and the dressing dished up, after everyone was seated and happy, that someone brought up politics. Here we go, I thought. On the 10-hour car ride over for this annual ritual, we discussed how to avoid such arguments. Apparently others did not have that conversation. To make matters worse, my nephew was wearing a T-shirt that was a clear act of (albeit playful) aggression, waiting to gauge our reaction. I believe this type of provocation happens because we see each other infrequently, we know we have differences, and we’re trying to have real, if unproductive, conversations.

We decided not to take the bait. The pecan pie was passed, and we survived without incident.

Our family loves one another and would come running in a crisis. But for reasons we will understand only when we get to heaven, God has knit us together as a biological family with a myriad of deep differences.

We’re a microcosm of the tribalism pervasive in America. Tribalism causes us to be prize to those who agree with us and despise those who disagree with us. Sectarian tendencies demonize those who see things differently. The result is that we don’t know how to talk anymore.

Into such a setting — with intense religious and social division — Jesus called people to love their enemies. The word enemy means “someone who is out of step with you.” It’s someone who sees things in a different way, walks in a way that may be offensive, or even chooses to harm you.

So what if you’re out of step with someone in your own family? What would Jesus say about this?

First, I believe that he would urge us to stay at the table. Don’t return offense for offense. (Luke 6:28) Ask questions rather than defending your position. Seek understanding. Don’t cut off the rela -

tionship over transitory differences. You showed up or even organized the meal, which means that you’re still hungry for some kind of relationship.

Second, I believe he would tell us to not be afraid. (Mark 5:36) I chose to ignore the T-shirt, but you may choose differently. Don’t be afraid to speak. If you must speak, speak with love, from your own experience. Don’t expect to change anyone’s mind in an hour. If you believe in prayer, pray before the meal. There’s wisdom in prayer.

Third, I believe that he would call us

WORSHIP BAPTIST

CLIFF TEMPLE BAPTIST CHURCH / 125 Sunset Ave. / 214.942.8601

Serving Oak Cliff since 1898 / CliffTemple.org / English and Spanish

9 am Contemporary Worship / 10 am Sunday School / 11 am Traditional

ROYAL LANE BAPTIST CHURCH / 6707 Royal Lane / 214.361.2809

Christian Education 9:45 a.m. / Worship Service 10:55 a.m.

Pastor - Rev. Dr. Michael L. Gregg / www.royallane.org

DISCIPLES OF CHRIST

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

Sunday School 9:30 am / Worship 8:30 am - Chapel

10:50 am - Sanctuary / Rev. Deborah Morgan-Stokes / edcc.org

EPISCOPAL

CHRIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH / ChristChurchDallas.org

Sunday School: 11:15am /Mass: 9am & 10am English, 12:30pm Español

Wednesday Mass: 6pm English, 8pm Español / 534 W. Tenth Street

METHODIST

GRACE UMC / Diverse, Inclusive, Missional

Sunday School for all ages, 9:30 am / Worship, 10:50 am 4105 Junius St. / 214.824.2533 / graceumcdallas.org

to check our tribalism. Everyone matters. God loves the whole world. (John 3:16) Our allegiances to parties and ideas may be important, but none so important as to allow us to debase another human being.

When Jesus talked about heaven, he didn’t talk about streets of gold or harps. He said heaven would be like a big table, where everyone was welcome and had a place.

Our earthly Thanksgiving tables can be a little slice of heaven or a little slice of hell. We can decide what’s served up.

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.

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

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

We’re a microcosm of the tribalism pervasive in America.

WHERE CAN I FIND LOCAL ...?

AC & HEAT

Air Conditioning

Foam Encapsulation • Insulation

Smart Home Solutions Service & Sales

Family Owned & Operated

integrity • innovative • impactful

214- 330 - 5500 iiirth.com

TACLB29169E

APPLIANCE REPAIR

JESSE’S A/C & APPLIANCE SERVICE

TACLB13304C All Makes/Models. 214-660-8898

BUY/SELL/TRADE

CARS/TRUCKS WANTED!!! All Makes/Models. 2000-2016. Any Condition. Running Or Not. Top $$$ Paid. Free Towing. We’re Nationwide. Call Now 1-888-985-1806

CABINETRY & FURNITURE

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

CLASSES/TUTORING/LESSONS

WRITING/EDITING HELP FOR APPLICANTS

Applying to HS, college, grad school? Struggling with your essays? I can improve your submission. Reasonable rates. Steve Long 972-849-4205

CLEANING SERVICES

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

TWO SISTERS & A MOP MAID SERVICE

Reliable Quality Work.Best Rates. 23 Yrs. Exp. 214-283-9732

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. Straighten Brick Mailboxes & Columns. Call Cirilo 214-298-7174

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

50 Yrs. Electrical Exp. Insd. 214-328-1333

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

EMPLOYMENT

AVON AGENTS WANTED StartAvon.com. Reference Code; CHASKIN

EXTERIOR CLEANING

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

FENCING & DECKS

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

AMBASSADOR FENCE INC. EST.96 Automatic Gates, Fences/Decks Ambassadorfenceco.com 214-621-3217

FENCING & WOODWORK oldgatefence.com . 214-766-6422

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

Northlake Fence and Deck

Locally owned and operated by the Mccaffrey family since1980

214-349-9132

www northlakefence.com

FLOORING & CARPETING

CALL EMPIRE TODAY To Schedule A Free In -Home Estimate On Carpeting & Flooring. 1-800-508-2824

FENN CONSTRUCTION Manufactored hardwoods. Stone and Tile. Back-splash Specials. 214-343-4645

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

GARAGE SERVICES

IDEAL GARAGE DOORS • 972-757-5016 Install & Repair. 10% off to military/1st responders.

UNITED GARAGE DOORS AND GATES Res/Com. Locally Owned. 214-251-5428

GLASS, WINDOWS & DOORS

ECONOMY GLASS & MIRROR Mirror, Shower, Windows Repair. 24 Hr. Emergency. 214-875-1127

PRO WINDOW CLEANING prompt, dependable. Matt 214-766-2183

ROCK GLASS CO Replace, repair: windows, mirrors, showers, screens. 214-837-7829

HANDYMAN SERVICES

HANDY DAN The Handyman. ToDo’s Done Right. handy-dan.com 214-252-1628

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

HOME REPAIR HANDYMAN Small/Big Jobs + Construction. 30 Yrs. Exp. Steve. 214-875-1127

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

ONE CALL WEEKEND SERVICES

Contractor & Handyman. Remodels, Renovations . Paint, Plumbing, Drywall, Electrical.469-658-9163

HOUSE PAINTING

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

JUNK REMOVAL

JUNK LEADERS Complete Junk/Trash Removal Service. junkleaders.com 903-742-5865

KITCHEN/BATH/TILE/GROUT

BLAKE CONSTRUCTION CONCEPTS LLC

Complete Kitchen And Bath Remodels. Tile, Granite, Marble, Travertine, Slate. Insured. 214-563-5035 www.blake-construction.com

FENN CONSTRUCTION Full Service Contractor. dallastileman.com 214-343-4645

STONE AGE COUNTER TOPS Granite, Quartz, Marble For Kitchen/Bath-Free Est. stoneage.brandee@gmail.com 940-465-6980

TK REMODELING 972-533-2872

Complete Full Service Repairs, Remodeling, Restoration. Name It — We do it. Tommy. Insured. dallas.tkremodelingcontractors.com

LAWNS, GARDENS & TREES

DALLAS GROUNDSKEEPER Organic Lawn Maintenance designed to meet your needs. 214-471-5723 dallasgroundskeeper.com

HOLMAN IRRIGATION

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

MAYA TREE SERVICE Tree Trim/Remove. Lawn Maintenance. Resd/ Commcl.Insd. CC’s Accptd. mayatreeservice.com 214-924-7058 214-770-2435

U R LAWN CARE Maintenance. Landscaping. Oak Cliff resident for over 15 years. uwereisch@yahoo.com 214-886-9202

IRISH RAIN

SPRINKLER SYSTEMS

REPAIR SPECIALISTS

SYSTEM REDESIGN DRAIN HELP

28+ Yrs. Exp.

214-827-7446

JD’s Tree Service RESPONSIBLE TREE CARE FOR THE ENVIRONMENT

Locally harvested wood!

Firewood/Cooking Wood Full service trimming & planting of native trees. 214.946.7138

LEGAL SERVICES

A WILL? THERE IS A WAY! Estate/Probate matters.maryglennattorney.com 214-802-6768

MOVING

AM MOVING COMPANY Specialty Moving & Delivery. 469-278-2304 ammovingcompany.com

PEST CONTROL

A BETTER EARTH PEST CONTROL Keeping the environment, kids, pets in mind. Organic products avail. 972-564-2495

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LAWNS, GARDENS & TREES

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

MCDANIEL PEST CONTROL

Prices Start at $85 + Tax

For General Treatment.

Average Home-Interior/Exterior & Attached Garage. Quotes For Other Services. 214-328-2847. Lakewood Resident

PET SERVICES

THE PET DIVAS Pet Sitting, Daily Dog Walks, In Home/Overnight Stays.Basic Obedience Training. thepetdivas.com 817-793-2885. Insured

WHERE CAN I FIND LOCAL ...?

PLUMBING

AC PLUMBING Repairs, Fixtures, Senior Discounts. Gary Campbell. 214-321-5943

NTX PLUMBING SPEC. LLLP 214-226-0913

Lic. M-40581 Res/Com. Repairs & Leak Location

POOLS

CERULEAN POOL SERVICES Family Owned/ Operated. Weekly maintenance, Chemicals, parts & repairs. CeruleanPro.com 214-557-6996

LEAFCHASERS POOL SERVICE Parts/Service. Chemicals/Repairs. Jonathan. 214-729-3311

REMODELING

BLAKE CONSTRUCTION CONCEPTS, LLC

Complete Remodeling, Kitchens, Baths, Additions. Hardie Siding & Replacement Windows. Build On Your Own Lot. Insured. www.blake-construction.com 214-563-5035

GREEN LOVE HOMES Turnkey

Renovations,Kitchens, Baths, Floors, Windows. Free Estimates. greenlovehomes.com 214-864-2444

INTEX CONSTRUCTION Specializing in int/ext. Remodel. 30 Yrs Exp. Steve Graves 214-875-1127

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

RENOVATE DALLAS

ROOFING & GUTTERS

BERT ROOFING INC.

Family owned and operated for over 40 years

• Residential/Commercial • Over 30,000 roofs completed • Seven NTRCA “Golden Hammer” Awards • Free Estimates

www.bertroofing.com

214.321.9341

SERVICES FOR YOU

DISH NETWORK. $59.99 For 190 Channels. $14.95 High Speed Internet. Free Installation. Smart HD DVR Included. Free Voice Remote. Some Restrictions Apply. 1-855-837-9146

DONATE YOUR CAR TO VETERANS Help And Support Our Veterans. Fast-Free Pick Up. 100% Tax Deductible. 1800-245-0398

Looking for local services and don’t have an Advocate magazine handy?

CHECK OUT OUR UPDATED DIGITAL CLASSIFIED ADS

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Support your neighborhood by contacting these local companies, who are ready to help you with home and professional services, tutoring, lessons and more.

Pull up our oakcliff.advocatemag.com, then click on the Marketplace tab. Search the category that you want, then start contacting local services. Thanks for supporting our classified section.

SERVICES FOR YOU

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SERVICES FOR YOU

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Bob McDonald Company, Inc. BUILDERS/REMODELERS

30+ Yrs. in Business • Major Additions

Complete Renovations • Kitchens/Baths

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bobmcdonaldco.net

CARS/TRUCKS WANTED. 2002 And Newer. Any Condition. Running Or Not. Competitive Offer. Free Towing. We’re Nationwide. 1-888-416-2330

DIRECT TV SELECT PACKAGE Over 150 Channels. Only $35/month (for 12 months) Get a $200 AT&T Visa Rewards Gift Card (some restrictions apply) 1-855-781-1565

SERVICES FOR YOU

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GLORIA’S FLOWERS We Deliver The Finest Flowers for Any Occasion. 3101 Davis St. 214-339-9273 gloriasflowersdallas.com

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www.DaylightRangers.com

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 214560-4203. 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.

DECEMBER DEADLINE

NOVEMBER 7

CLASSIFIED, BUT FAR FROM SECRET.

READ OUR ADVOCATE CLASSIFIEDS SECTION FOR VALUABLE SERVICES NEAR YOU.

oakcliff.advocatemag.com

By RACHEL STONE

Remembering our vets

World War II veterans from Oak Cliff

Sunday, Nov. 11, is Veteran’s Day. World War II ended 73 years ago, Sept. 2, 1945, and Oak Cliffers did their service.The Oak Cliff Advocate began interviewing World War II Veterans from our neighborhood in 2010, and a few of them have passed on, but we still love telling their stories.

Jack Armstrong

Born: 1925 in Dallas

Service: Tank commander, First Marine Tank Battalion

Oak Cliff: Born and raised, dropped out of Sunset to join the U.S. Marine Corps. Died: August 2013

Jack Armstrong was 19 years old the second time he was blown out of his tank.

The scene is depicted in a 2007 book, “The Ultimate Battle: Okinawa 1945 — The Last Epic Struggle of World War II,” by Bill Sloan: “Tank commander Jack H. Armstrong was bleeding from both ears, addled by a concussion and deafened by the shell that had just ripped a jagged 8-inch hole through the center of his Sherman tank, missing Armstrong by a foot or two at best.”

The book describes in detail the horror of the Okinawa battlefield, torpedoes ripping bodies apart, friends and enemies dying before their eyes.

Armstrong and his company were resting in Australia when atom bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. After surviving the war, Armstrong returned on a ship that was caught in a typhoon and took 32 days to arrive.

He owned an auto-repair shop in Oak Cliff for more than 30 years.

In a 2010 interview, Armstrong said that he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder for the rest of his life. He had terrible nightmares and couldn’t talk about his experiences for many decades.

Sunset High School awarded him a diploma in 2001.

Beans Bates

Born: 1918 in Pilot Point Service: Joined the U.S. Navy in 1941, storekeeper on the USS Saratoga, one of two American aircraft carriers, out of six, that survived the war.

Oak Cliff: Raised in Beverly Hills and graduated from Sunset High School in 1936.

Died: April 2014

Byron “Beans” Bates got his nickname from a kid in sandlot baseball who called everyone by a vegetable.

He enlisted in the Navy less than a year and a half before the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, and he was 24 when the Saratoga was torpedoed at Guadalcanal. Since the USS Enterprise was being repaired at the time, the damaged Saratoga had to stay at sea with not enough supplies — everyone on board ate rice and beans for breakfast, lunch and dinner for 67 days.

From our 2010 profile of Bates: When the Enterprise finally came back into service, Bates says he and some of the Saratoga crew were able to rest in Tonga. The natives threw coconuts down to them in greeting. “Boy, we ate that like it was going out of style,” he says. When the Saratoga was torpedoed again later in the war, Bates says it felt like “you’re in a box and someone’s shaking it,” he says. “It left a hole you could drive a 10-ton truck through.”

Bates worked in retail advertising sales for the Dallas Morning News for 25 years. He was married to wife Billie Jean for 68 years, and they had a daughter, four grandchildren and 10 great-grand children.

Jack Armstrong, 2010 Advocate file photo

Jim Walston was a second-generation airplane lover.

He worked on B-24 bombers, including one called the “Laden Maid,” which flew dozens of missions.

“The mechanics worked on the runways, under no cover, in all weather,” the Advocate wrote in 2010. “Walston remembers the bitter cold and deep snow of the winter of ’45, when he manually cleaned snow and ice off of airplane wings.”

On D-Day, June 6, 1944, Walston’s division had orders to send nearly every bomber up, although he didn’t know what was happening until later.

After the war, Walston received an engineering degree from Texas A&M University and went to work for Vought Aircraft in Grand Prairie, where he worked in the test lab for 37 years. The last plane he worked on as an employee was Northrop Grumman’s B2 Spirit, the famous “Stealth Bomber,” in 1988.

As part of the Vought Retirement Club, Walston helped restore at least nine vintage warplanes, several of which are displayed at the Frontiers of Flight Museum.

Beans Bates, 2010 Advocate file photo

Jim Walston, 2010 Advocate file photo

Jim Walston

Born: 1923 in Italy, Texas Service: Enlisted mechanic to the 466th Bomb Group of the Eighth Air Force and served in England. Oak Cliff: Oak Park Estates resident for about 50 years. Died: Aug. 13, 2017

1615 Junior Drive / Dallas / $1,869,000

2230 Kessler Parkway / Oak Cliff / COMING SOON

2231 Carnes Street / Oak Cliff / SOLD - Represented Buyer

1420 Brunner Avenue / Dallas / $314,000

The Wilde House / Canton / $450,000

6347 Malcolm Drive / Dallas / $499,000

Christina Bristow 214-418-3766 / cbristow@briggsfreeman.com

Mahon

Emily Ruth Cannon 415-525-9062 / ecannon@briggsfreeman.com

Jenni Stolarski 214-762-9761 / jstolarski@briggsfreeman.com Brian Davis