2017 April Oak Cliff

page

“We want to create a pipeline of teachers who will return to Oak Cliff and become leaders.”

Marcario Hernandez

28

OPENING REMARKS

By RICK WAMRE

Between the lines

Fret not over facial wrinkles,

Without fail, every time I see my mom, she apologizes to me.

“I’m so sorry that I didn’t know to put tanning lotion on you kids when you were little,” she says. “I just didn’t know the sun could cause wrinkles and cancer back then. I was so dumb!”

Now, I haven’t had skin cancer yet, although she has faced down a couple of bouts. So I assume she’s talking about the wrinkles she sees sprouting effortlessly on my face.

I like to think I’m aging pretty well and that the wrinkles she apparently can’t avoid seeing aren’t that big of a deal. And to be honest, I doubt my many days in the sun as a kid caused the problem.

I have a feeling they’re of my own doing.

A co-worker has been telling me for years that my constant frowning risked turning my forehead into something akin to a striped crosswalk. I listened, politely of course, but it’s not as if I can control my facial expressions all that much after years of practice perfecting them just so.

But sure enough, she has been proven correct: I have a bit of a creek bed growing deeper and wider up there, and I catch myself in the mirror looking for the bottom from time to time.

I don’t think sun damage and facial expressions alone have caused my mom to be disconsolate, though. I have slackened and tightened my face enough times over the years relatively unprompted, if you consider stress and worries to be unprompted.

It seems easy to say: “Don’t worry about things. They take care of themselves.” And, of course, that is probably the truest statement of them all.

But the “getting there” part of the pro-

cess claims most of my attention and energy, and somehow my face becomes the focus for all of that needless angst.

I’ve wondered how things would be different if I simply dropped everything and everyone (except my lovely wife, of course) and headed to a Greek island, where the natives and tourists alike are as brown as coconuts and seemingly as healthy as can be.

The sun doesn’t seem to be causing alarm there, and their lives seem simple

and quiet. There may not be a whole lot to do on a remote island in the middle of the ocean, but maybe that is a good problem to have, as opposed to being too involved in too much with too many?

Of course, the skin is always tanner and less wrinkled on the other side of the fence, so I’m probably just envying something not meant to be for me.

Maybe you can see where I’m going with this: Mom, I earned this face, and unless something drastic happens, I’m not done with it. And no matter how it turns out, don’t blame yourself.

I will take care of that on my own.

Rick Wamre is president of Advocate Media. Let him know how we are doing by emailing rwamre@advocatemag.com.

(Mom), for they tell our stories

It’s not as if I can control my facial expressions all that much after years of practice perfecting them just so.

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L A UNCH Out & About

APRIL 7

Stories and songs

Jeffrey Liles traces the roots of popular music in Dallas from the Longhorn Ballroom to the revival of Deep Ellum. “Echoes and Reverberations: An Evening of Storytelling and Songwriters” begins at 7 p.m.

APRIL 4

‘1984’

The Michael Radford classic film “1984” makes its one-day return to the screen. For every ticket purchased, $2 will be donated to the National Endowment for the Arts.

The Texas Theatre, 231 W. Jefferson Blvd., 214.948.1546, thetexastheatre.com, TBD

APRIL 6

AFTERSCHOOL ART

Bring the kids to the library to unwind and express their creativity with a hands-on craft project. The after-school program is held from 4:30-6 p.m. North Oak Cliff Library, 302 W. Tenth St., 214.670.7555, dallaslibrary.org, free

APRIL 8

KESSLER KRAWL

Kessler Neighbors United hosts its annual progressive cocktail party and fundraiser. Enjoy bites from Cretia’s, Dallas Grilled Cheese Co., LUCK, Norma’s Café, PhD, VH Casual Dining & Bar and Davis Street Espresso. All proceeds go toward the neighborhood association, which has been working to open the Kessler Steps and fight erosion along Coombs Creek.

Knott Place Circle, kesslerneighborsunited.org, $54

APRIL 20

‘TERROR FROM THE SKY’

In 1957, a tornado ravaged Oak Cliff and West Dallas, killing 10 people and injuring 200.

Mark Doty, the City of Dallas’ chief planner, revisits the destruction during the presentation “Terror from the Sky – The Dallas/Oak Cliff tornado of April 2, 1957” from 7:30-9 p.m.

Oak Cliff Society of Fine Arts, 401 N. Rosemont Ave., 214.946.1670, turnerhouse.org, $15-$20

APRIL 22

KESSLER DERBY

Dress in your best cocktail attire, bet on your favorite horse and browse auction items at Lone Star Park’s Alysheba Ballroom. Proceeds will be used to fund scholarships and technology at The Kessler School.

Lone Star Park in Grand Prairie, 1000 Lone Star Parkway, 214.942.2220, kesslerderby.com, $115$1,400

APRIL 28-23

REMEMBERING EMMETT TILL

“The Face of Emmett Till by Mamie Till-Mobley and David Barr III” recounts the story of the 13-year-old boy murdered after a white woman accused him of whistling at her in 1955. Stay for a conversation with the playwright, David Barr III, after the performance. Bishop Arts Theatre Center, 215 S. Tyler, 214.948.0716, bishopartstheatre.org, $17-$22

The Kessler, 1230 W. Davis St., 214.272.8346, thekessler.org, $16.75

The Red Hot Chili Peppers perform at the bygone Theatre Gallery in Deep Ellum, 1985.

PHOTO BY DAVID WALBERT

THE LOTTS’ GIFT TO OAK CLIFF

From abandoned church to a game-changer in the Dallas theater world

By RACHEL STONE

Real-estate brokers marketed the 88-year-old church on Windomere at Twelfth as a three-lot commercial teardown.

But it’s residentially zoned and in a historic neighborhood.

Not a teardown. Not commercial property.

Lola and Todd Lott had no intention of tearing down the 1929 Winnetka Con-

Lola Lott, center, is funding the entire restoration of Winnetka Congregational Church with her husband, Todd Lott, second from left. Also involved in the project, from left to right, are Brad Nitschke, Anastasia Munoz and Tony Wann.

PHOTOS BY DANNY FULGENCIO

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gregational Church when they bought it for $330,000 in 2015. But turning it into the arts center of their dreams has been a struggle.

After nearly two years of zoning battles, painstaking restoration and turmoil with the city, they’re making it happen. Arts Mission Oak Cliff launches this spring.

It’s a for-profit arts space, currently funded entirely by the Lotts, that will offer workshop and rehearsal space for theater companies as well as studios

and art classes. They’ll host summer camps, and in the fall, they’ll begin offering a conservatory for students at nearby Greiner Middle School. They hope to add a number of one-off after-school classes and events as well.

At the helm is Anastasia Munoz, an actor, director and teacher with years of experience on the Dallas stage.

The building, beautiful and dramatic as it is, gives the city’s theater community one major thing that’s lacking: Space.

It offers theater companies the opportunity to workshop plays at low cost, with a unique venue where donors can see their new work. It opens the door for experimentation, Munoz says.

“There’s such limited space available,” she says. “They really have to play it safe all the time. Now we have a place to play again and dive into the unknown.”

Munoz says she expects Shakespeare Dallas, the Dallas Children’s Theater, Kitchen Dog and many others to take advantage of the space. Cara Mia Theater will be the first to perform a play in the church’s former sanctuary this month.

Along with theater and performance-art work, Arts Mission Oak Cliff will host workshops, classes and studio space for technical theater, costuming

ROCK HOME TOUR

The Lotts hired a craftsman to work onsite restoring the church’s dozens of windows to historical accuracy. They also added restrooms and have plans for a wheelchair lift to bring the building into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

and set design. They’re finishing out a commercial kitchen where cooking classes could be offered for adults and children. There’s a yoga and dance studio behind the sanctuary. The Richards Group donated a small sound booth.

Artists and actors can do their own work and teach classes to earn some cash.

There’s nothing else like it in Dallas, Munoz says.

Lola Lott owns the post-production video-editing studio Charlie Uniform Tango, and Todd Lott restores old houses. The Lotts found themselves in the position to invest in a “legacy project,” and the church was perfect, Todd Lott says.

They are painstakingly renovating the church to qualify for historic tax credits

“Now we have a place to play again and dive into the unknown.”

Photography by MetroplexHD

THE GREATEST COMEBACK IN HISTORY

Celebrate Holy Week and Easter with Cliff Temple Baptist Church at the corner of 10th and Zang

April 12

6:00 p.m. Community Easter Egg Hunt & Cook Out

April 13

7:00 p.m. Temple Choir Presentation Lux Aeterna (Eternal Light) by Morten Lauridsen

April 15

12:00 p.m. Service Day with Our Calling ministry to the homeless

April 16 Easter Sunday

6:30 a.m. Sunrise Service at Lake Cliff Park

9:00 a.m. Contemporary Easter Celebration

11:00 a.m. Traditional Easter Celebration

from the state. One example of their dedication: They hired a craftsman to rebuild many of the church’s dozens of windows onsite.

Besides all new plumbing, electrical and air conditioning, they also had to figure out how to make the building compliant with the Americans with Dis-

They are painstakingly renovating the church to qualify for historic tax credits from the state.

abilities Act. Oak Cliff-based architect Alicia Quintans designed a space for a lift in a former electrical closet for that purpose.

The Lotts are spending around $600,000 to get the building up and running. At every turn, there are obstacles. It’s a project that would’ve been impossible to undertake as a moneymaking venture or with grants from nonprofits, Munoz says.

“Todd and Lola are patron saints,” Munoz says. “They’re independent investors who stayed the course. They’re truly rooted and invested in this.”

SALES@ADVOCATEMAG.COM

The Lotts like how the exposed rafters look, but that wouldn’t be historically accurate, so a new ceiling is being installed in the sanctuary.

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“FREE” ADVERTISING IS WORTH EXACTLY WHAT YOU PAY FOR IT.

MORE AT CLIFFTEMPLE.ORG/EASTER

OLD FAVORITES

If you’re mourning the loss of Brew Riot, which is taking a hiatus for 2017, you may find comfort in knowing that Go Oak Cliff is organizing a new beer festival this spring called Brewhaha. The details are still being finalized, but it’s slated May 22 at 1311 S. Ervay St. in the Cedars.

Aunt Stelle ’s has been an Oak Cliff mainstay for 55 years, but there’s no guarantee the beloved sno-cone stand will last forever. Lee Albert, the daughter of Aunt Stelle, is retired, lives in the suburbs and will close up shop when the business becomes too much to handle, she says. The stand reopens for the season on April 29, so stop by to savor the self-induced brain freeze in case it’s the last you’ll ever have.

IN THE WORKS

A new bar could be coming to West Davis at Tyler. Tiny Victories is planned for a 1,000-square-foot space in the same shopping center as Spinster Records Because most drinking establishments are mandated to earn 51 percent of their revenues from food, landlord David Spence and bar owner Brandon Hayes

requested a specific-use permit to solely sell alcohol.

“No one wants Davis to become bar central,” City Plan Commission member Mike Anglin said. “But today we really don’t have this kind of amenity. I think it’s safe, and I think it’s going to be a good amenity.”

DELICIOUS

By RACHEL STONE

DID YOU KNOW: Owner Armida Ortega started baking at age 12 and for years ran a side business making pies and cakes for events such as birthdays, weddings and quinceañeras.

rmida Ortega began selling pies out of her Kessler Plaza home in November 2015.

Customers pre-ordered before picking up their pies in her driveway. Business went so well that Ortega and her daughter Debra Cano opened a storefront on Tyler near Seventh Street last year.

The pie boutique joined a robust market for sweets. There’s the old-school Norma’s Café with its mile-high meringue pies and a more direct competitor in Emporium Pies. Our neighborhood also has two chocolatiers and a macaron shop, not to mention Cretia’s, Potpourri

of Silk and numerous Mexican bakeries, among other places to find a dessert fix. But so far the market is showing there’s room enough for everyone.

Kessler Pie Co.’s specialties include a chocolate mousse pie called the “suit and tie,” the “mellow yellow” lemon custard pie and the “moon over Texas” moonshine-infused pecan pie. They can be ordered as whole pies for $30-$35, or as a pie-in-a-jar, which start around $5.

But Kessler Pie Co. isn’t just about sweets. The shop offers savory pies, including the “Thanksgiving” turkey potpie and occasional specials such as the “wake and bake” breakfast pie with eggs, bacon, sausage, hash browns and cheese.

KESSLER PIE CO.

Ambiance: Boutique

Hours: Noon-6:30 p.m. Wednesday, 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Thursday, 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 1-6 p.m. Sunday, closed Monday and Tuesday

Price: $5-$35

kesslerpieco.com

Celebrating 27 years serving the community. Southern-style comfort food and New York style deli favorites ready for you every day. Open 7 days.

Opposite page: The suit and tie, a chocolate mousse pie. Left: Pie in a jar. Above: Armida Ortega, left, and her daughter Debra Cano run Kessler Pie Co.

DIRTY ALLAS

We recycle less than most major cities, and that has to change

BY RACHEL STONE

PHOTOS BY DANNY FULGENCIO

Chucking recyclable materials is easier, too. It’s the status quo.

In the bigger picture, however, failure to recycle will cost the City of Dallas one of its biggest non-tax revenue sources, the McCommas Bluff Landfill. Municipalities all over Texas pay to send their trash to our landfill, which earns $22 million for the city every year. That offsets the $54 million the city spends on trash and bulk/brush disposal annually. At the rate the landfill is filling up, its life could end as soon as 2062. If that happened, the city would have to consider whether to build a new landfill or pay to have our garbage shipped at high cost to a landfill elsewhere.

There’s also the environmental concern: Plastic pollution alone kills as many as 1 million sea birds and 100,000 ocean mammals every year, for example. Take a walk out to any creek in Dallas to see our city’s own overwhelming plastic pollution firsthand.

Plastic is only one part of the picture. Dallas also lacks recycling efforts for food and yard waste, construction materials, glass and more.

Dallas is far behind the curve, even by the standards the city set for itself in 2013. But a brand-new $20-million recycling center and new efforts from city leaders show promise for the future.

FALLING BEHIND

Most homeowners recycle, but apartments and businesses typically do not. About 80 percent of single-family homes in Dallas have blue recycling bins.

And an ordinance went into effect last year that allows small apartment complexes to receive up to 10 blue bins for around $20 a month each, making it easier for tenants to recycle.

The city’s sanitation department also has reached out to small businesses to offer recycling plans.

But the recycling rate in Dallas has not improved since the city passed its “zero-waste plan” in 2013.

At that time, the city had a 20 percent

It’s cheaper to throw it in the landfill.

“diversion rate.” That is the percentage of the city’s waste that doesn’t end up in the landfill. In 2013, City Council set a goal of increasing the diversion rate to 40 percent by 2020. This “zero-waste plan” included a voluntary recycling program for high-use clients like apartments and businesses.

As of March 2017, however, the city’s diversion rate remains stagnant at 20 percent.

“It’s pretty clear that there’s been littleto-no progress,” says Murray Myers of the city’s sanitation department.

Because the rate hasn’t increased, City Council may consider making recycling

mandatory for apartment complexes later this year. About half of Dallas’ population lives in the city’s 2,300 apartment complexes. Only about 30 percent of those offer recycling.

“We’re going to be woefully short by 2019,” City Councilman Philip Kingston says.

The Apartment Association of Greater Dallas hasn’t come up with a plan to increase participation, Kingston says.

In 2013, the message to apartment owners was, “Come up with something you guys can live with, or we’re going to hammer you,” Kingston says. But nothing apparently has changed.

Rinse out containers for milk, yogurt, juice and soap.

Don’t

put this in

your blue bin

Food waste

Styrofoam and plastic utensils

Clothing Yard clippings

Wires and cables

Garden hoses (Hoses, tubing and electrical wiring can become entangled in machinery and cause plant shutdowns.)

Hazardous materials including aerosol cans, propane tanks and batteries (Even empty, they can explode or start fires.)

Medical waste (The FCC plant collects a 50-gallon drum of “sharps,” hypodermic needles, every week, putting workers at potential risk of blood-borne pathogens.)

There are some larger apartment owners, such as Lincoln Property Co., Camden and Gables Residential, that do a good job with recycling, says Kathy Carlton, director of government affairs for the Apartment Association of Greater Dallas.

Those operators offer recycling dumpsters to residents, and they recycle materials such as old carpeting and padding, Carlton says.

“We don’t believe anything is accomplished by mandating it,” Carlton says. “It needs to be something that people do willingly.”

Offering recycling dumpsters to apartment and office tenants could have zero

HOW RECYCLING WORKS

The Spanish company FCC built a $20-million recycling facility adjacent to McCommas Bluff, in partnership with the City of Dallas.

The new recycling plant, which opened Jan. 2, comprises 60,000 square feet and has the capacity to process 500 tons a day. It is FCC’s first American plant and its biggest.

Currently, the plant receives about 190 tons of recycling every day from the City of Dallas, and it also has agreements with Garland, Mesquite and University Park. Altogether, the plant currently receives about 225 tons of recycling per day.

Here’s how it works:

Trucks arrive at the plant’s bays carrying 12-13 tons of recycling, which are dumped onto the concrete floor.

An earthmover shovels the materials into a drum feeder equipped with 10-inch metal teeth.

As the drum turns, it “fluffs” the material up onto a conveyor belt, where it’s fed up into the first of the facility’s climate-controlled sorting cabins, which are about 30 feet above the floor.

Inside the first cabin, with the conveyor belt moving about 200 feet per minute, four workers perform an initial sort, pulling out trash, scrap metal and large pieces of colored plastic, such as cat-litter buckets, and send them down the appropriate chutes.

The material then moves to two other cabins, where workers pull cardboard and paper.

As it moves down the line, the material is further sorted. Plastic film and glass are pulled.

Plastics are sorted by their value. The least valuable, plastics 3-7, are kept together. Cartons also are separated.

An optical sorter can recognize the molecular structure of plastic water bottles and then shoot puffs of air to separate them out.

“Natural” plastics such as milk jugs are the most valuable. Those and dyed plastics, such as laundry-detergent bottles, each are separated.

An eddy current can pick off aluminum cans, and a magnet can pull steel cans.

There is still a dizzying amount of hand sorting, with workers separating aluminum, steel and plastic coming down the line all day.

The plant is capable of sorting up to 33 tons of materials in one hour.

Recyclable materials are baled and stacked until trucks haul them off to buyers in the United States. Even though China is one of the biggest buyers of recyclables in the world, FCC is committed to selling to American companies.

cost to building owners if their tenants actually use them. It divides the same amount of waste between garbage and recycling pickups, which should keep costs flat. But requiring apartments to offer recycling without any education could result in empty recycling dumpsters that cost building owners while their trash dumpsters still fill up, Carlton says.

Education has to be a major component of any recycling plan, City Councilwoman Sandy Greyson says.

But the sanitation department’s marketing budget is only $200,000 a year, compared to its payroll budget, which is more like $45 million annually. They have radio spots and print ads, but they can’t afford TV commercials or other big media buys.

Their marketing dollars also go toward the Art for Dumpsters competition in Deep Ellum, now in its second year, in which local artists paint recycling dumpsters as a way to raise awareness. The department has demonstration gardens and other educational opportunities at its headquarters, Eco Park, in southeast Oak Cliff, where schools are invited for field trips.

ELCYCER RECYCLE TIP

Oils can contaminate recycling and should be kept out of blue bins.

The city’s new recycling facility, owned and operated by FCC Environmental Services, has an onsite classroom and recycling plant observation deck that schools will soon be able to visit.

“Kids are the ones who really need to get the message,” says Darrell Clemons, general manager of the Dallas FCC plant.

THE CADILLAC OF BULK-AND-BRUSH PICKUP

Most municipalities would not pick up, say, a refrigerator, a car engine or part of a boat in regularly scheduled bulk trash pick-up.

But Dallas does. There are some who figure that Dallas has the most permissive bulk trash pick-up of any major city in the United States. Even things that bulk trash technically is not supposed to take — parts of fences and construction materials, for example — are collected in the interest of neighborhood cleanliness.

Our bulk trash practices also contribute to our recycling woes. That’s because bulk and brush are picked up together.

“We think we have clean brush, but then there’s a TV mixed in,” Myers says.

Last year, the department picked up about 170,000 tons of bulk and brush, about half of that is brush, and virtually none of it is recycled because of contamination.

If more had been recycled, the city could either sell the resulting mulch and compost or offer it free to Dallas residents, Myers says.

City Council could consider changing the bulk and brush pick-up later this year, and there are a couple of suggestions.

They could keep it virtually the same but push for residents to separate bulk and brush. Or they could pick up bulk and brush on alternative months.

If the bulk/brush problem is solved, the city could increase its diversion rate by up to 10 percent, Myers says.

Electronics: A landfill’s deadliest enemy?

Electronics take up the least amount of space in the 996-acre McCommas Bluff Landfill, yet they are the most detrimental to the environment.

These devices contain hazardous materials such as lead and mercury. When used technology is tossed in the landfill, the toxic chemicals can leak into the soil and seep into the water supply, Myers says.

The city manages four drop-off e-cycling locations to deter residents from

OTHER CITIES: DIVERSION RATE COMPARISON

The lid of a pizza box can be recycled, but the greasy bottom portion should go in the trash

*Based on the 2012 EPA MSW study

Opposite page, clockwise from top left: An earthmover shuffles a mound of materials that trucks have dumped on the floor of the FCC plant. Recycling materials make their way up a conveyor belt. Workers in one of the plant’s cabins perform the initial sort. Below: Marcos Estrada, left, the city’s waste diversion coordinator, and Darrell Clemons, the FCC plant’s general manager.

dumping electronics in the trash or on the curb. Neighbors can leave items ranging from batteries to flat screen TVs at Bachman, Fair Oaks and Oak Cliff transfer stations, as well as McCommas Bluff’s Customer Convenience Recycling Center.

In 2016, the city collected 527,118 pounds of used devices.

Some residents aren’t aware of Dallas’ e-cycling program, Myers says, so the city plans to launch a media campaign this summer. It also is installing secure storage pods at each location to quell residents’ fears about dropping off cellphones and laptops with personal information.

But unpredictable changes in cost may be detrimental to Dallas’ efforts.

Electronic recycling companies struggle to earn a profit because the value of the materials they collect have decreased.

“When a recycler can’t sell materials, then they start to charge whoever is dropping it off money,” Myers says.

It’s a conundrum for many municipalities, including Dallas, which could pay anywhere between $31,000 to $148,000 a year for e-cycling companies to collect

and recycle items. Four months ago, the city contracted with the company URT Solutions after ECS Recycling estimated its services would exceed $100,000.

“It is utilized, but if the cost of the program goes up, we may have to look at transitioning to another program,” Myers says.

There are other options, but they’re not as convenient as a drop-off location. The State of Texas now requires manufacturers to take back TVs and computers, so many businesses like Best Buy have their own trade-in programs.

—ELISSA CHUDWIN

A wasteful problem

In a world where one out of every nine people is starving, according to The Hunger Project, it’s distressing to think that here in America 40 percent of our food ends up in the garbage. The City of Dallas estimates that 30 percent of all materials in its landfill are compostable material, and it’s working to do something about that.

PLASTIC FILM, SUCH AS BAGS

*Glass

is not biodegradable and should be kept out of the landfill, if possible. FCC does sell the glass it collects, but its market value is so low, and glass weighs so much, that the cost to transpor t it are about equal to its price, resulting in no profit.

**Plastic film, such

as grocery sacks and bread bags, comes through the facility by the ton and is baled. But it has a market value of zero. FCC has not yet found a viable buyer for plastic bags, but the ones that make it into bales are being kept out of the landfill.

“Last month, we attended a U.S. Composting Council conference and have returned with a few new ideas that we’ll be working on,” Myers says.

He would love to offer citywide compositing, but it is cost prohibitive and, unlike recycling, doesn’t have much potential to make money, allowing the program to cover its own expenses.

“We’ve evaluated organics recycling at Dallas ISD, sending food waste to the water department’s anaerobic digester and other programs, but we haven’t found a path forward,” Myers says.

The department does encourage residents to compost on their own. The Sanitation Services’ website offers stepby-step instructions for how to build a smell-free compost bucket at home, and the department has planned a series of free daylong workshops to teach residents

ELCYCER RECYCLE TIP

Paper should be dry; it often becomes contaminated in heavy rains.

everything they need to know to start composting (get upcoming workshop dates at dallascityhall.com/departments/ sanitation).

For those who don’t want to get their hands dirty but want to help reduce waste, the North Texas company Recycle Revolution offers composting bins and coordinates pick-ups every week or month, depending on the need. They specifically target apartment complexes and restaurants, where large quantities of organic material end up in the landfill.

—EMILY CHARRIER

Cool to compost:

Kitchen waste (e.g. egg shells, vegetable and fruit scraps)

Leaves

Straw

Wood chips or sawdust (untreated wood only)

Yard trimmings

Shredded paper, cardboard or newspaper

Coffee grounds

Never compost:

Meat, including fish and poultry

Dairy products

Grease or oils

Pet feces

Treated wood

Ashes

Glossy paper

NO FOOTBALL, NO LOCKERS, NO DRAMA

College credits, maturity and responsibility take priority at Trini Garza high school

By RACHEL STONE

Photos by RASY RAN

Horacio Silva met trouble at his Oak Cliff middle school.

He had to fight, to prove himself a tough guy every day, he says.

But four years ago, he entered Trini Garza Early College High School at Mountain View College as a high school freshman. Garza is a Dallas ISD high school located on the Mountain View campus, where students can earn college credits for free while completing their high school diplomas.

Silva is one of 81 Garza seniors, out of a class of 99, who will have an associate’s degree when he graduates from high school this spring.

All of that childish drama disappeared as soon as he started high school, Silva says. Garza students have more freedom — to walk outside between classes, to visit a snack machine or make a phone call, for example — and they are held personally responsible for getting to their college courses.

“They treat us like adults,” says Silva, who plans to earn a bachelor’s degree in business and own a car dealership. “My mentality is way different now.”

Right: Freshman Chris Zavala does biology pre-AP work. Below: An aquaponic system in the environmental science classroom holds sweet million tomato plants and mosquitofish.

Dr. Gary & Anne Dye

Garza opened in 2006 and was one of the first early college high schools in the district. Next school year, 10 DISD high schools, including Molina, Sunset and Adamson, will offer similar models. Adamson students will take classes at El Centro College, those at Molina will attend Mountain View, and Sunset students will take classes at UNT-Dallas.

Giving students responsibility has resulted in greatness at Garza.

The school has won the district’s attendance award for two years running, achieving 99.2 percent attendance. Its graduation rate is around 92 percent, compared to the 88 percent district-wide.

Running an early college high school is complicated, and Garza has become a Texas Education Agency demonstration site. School administrators and teachers from all over the state and country visit the school to learn how to start such a program in their own districts.

There is one negative: Garza has only 120 open slots every year for about 450 applicants.

The school gives priority to first-generation college students and kids at risk of dropping out; no academic assessment is required.

“If we could take all of them, we would,” says principal Marcario Hernandez.

But the school’s small size is part of what makes it successful. The students all know each other. They have all the same

kids who might be in the same situation,” she says.

Garza students also learn maturity through volunteerism. The school currently requires 100 volunteer hours for graduation, and next year, they’re increasing the requirement to 200 hours. Most public schools don’t require any volunteer hours.

There are no athletic programs, but students can take physical-education electives, and they can join the Mountain View dance team. Besides that, there are debate and mock trial teams, and a ton of clubs: chess, robotics, volunteer club, a step team and more. The health club promotes fitness, and about 60 percent of Garza students run in the annual Mayor’s 5k race.

instructors and take the same classes.

“The students encourage each other,” says teacher Gracie Garcia. “We are a team.”

Hernandez, himself a graduate of Sunset and Mountain View, has served Oak Cliff schools for his entire teaching career, and he believes hometown teachers are key to great schools.

He’s excited about Sunset’s partnership with UNT-D, which offers students a pathway to teaching.

“I believe in hiring local talent because they can connect to our students a little better,” Hernandez says. “We want to create a pipeline of teachers who will return to Oak Cliff and become leaders.”

Gracie Garcia, 25, is one such homegrown teachers Hernandez hired. She was among Garza’s first graduating class and was able to graduate from Texas Woman’s University, obtain alternative teaching certification and begin teaching at age 21. Garcia, a math instructor, says she “Came from a hard background.” Even though she was a straight-A student and a cheerleader, no one knew her private struggles at home, she says.

“That gave me a heart for

In part because they’re entering as transfer students and not as freshmen, Garza students regularly receive acceptance letters from impressive colleges. Take senior Toni Byrd of Oak Cliff. She hasn’t yet heard from her No. 1 choice, New York University. But she’s been accepted to her second choice, Howard University, for theater and dance.

“If I had a chance to speak to middle schoolers, I would say, ‘Come check it out,’” Byrd says. “There’s so much opportunity, and everyone is focused on academics.”

The school gives priority to first-generation college students and kids at risk of dropping out; no academic assessment is required.

Trinidad “Trini” Garza Early College High School is inside the Mountain View College campus.

Realtors

Recognizing the real estate professionals who promote our neighborhood with the Advocate’s annual Top Realtors in Oak Cliff.

MICHAEL BATES

Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage

BRIAN BLEEKER

Dave Perry-Miller Real Estate

The Bleeker O’Brien Group

MERIDITH BREWER

PSW Real Estate

CHRISTINA BRISTOW

Dallas City Center Realtors

BRIAN DAVIS

Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s International Realty

GED DIPPREY

Dave Perry-Miller Real Estate

CRYSTAL GONZALEZ

David Griffin & Company Realtors

GLORIA GONZALEZ

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DAVID GRIFFIN

David Griffin & Company Realtors

STEVE HABGOOD

Dave Perry-Miller Real Estate

Hewitt Habgood Group

KATHY HEWITT

Dave Perry-Miller Real Estate

Hewitt Habgood Group

TOMMY HILL

Dave Perry-Miller Real Estate

ROBERT KUCHARSKI

David Griffin & Company Realtors

ROGER LOPEZ

Value Properties

SHANE MARA

Champions Real Estate

SUSAN MELNICK

Virginia Cook Realtors

The Melnick Team

MELISSA O’BRIEN

Dave Perry-Miller Real Estate

The Bleeker O’Brien Group

ROGER PICKETT

Century 21 Judge Fite

DANIEL QUINTANA

Joe Atkins Realty

Homespun Real Estate Group

RIC SHANAHAN

Keller Williams Realty

DIANE SHERMAN

David Griffin & Company Realtors

JENNI STOLARSKI

Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s International Realty

KERRY WALTON

Dave Perry-Miller Real Estate

DORI WARNER

KAY WOOD

Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s International Realty

By BRENT MCDOUGAL

A lesson about dying

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

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

ST. AUGUSTINE’S /1302 W. Kiest Blvd / staugustinesoakcliff.org

A diverse, liturgical church with deep roots in Oak Cliff and in the ancient faith / Holy Eucharist with Hymns Sunday 10:15 am

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

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

UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST

UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST CHURCH OF OAK CLIFF / oakcliffuu.org

Sun. Worship 10am / Wed. Meditation 7pm / 3839 W. Kiest Blvd. Inclusive – Justice Seeking – Spirited – Eclectic – Liberal – Fun!

UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST

PROMISE UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST / www.promiseucc.org

Worship: 10:30 am Sundays / 214-623-8400 / 2527 W. Colorado Blvd

An Open and Affirming Church where everyone is welcome!

NPR’s “This American Life” shared a story about a father whose daughter became fascinated with Jesus at Christmastime. She wanted to know more about the manger and shepherds, so the father bought a children’s Bible and began to read to her about Jesus’ birth and teaching and what it all meant. The little girl especially loved what Jesus said about doing unto others what you would have them do to you.

One day they drove past a big church with an enormous crucifix out front. “Who is that?” she asked. “That’s Jesus,” he answered, realizing that he had neglected to tell her the ending. He explained that Jesus ran afoul of the Roman government. His message was so unnerving that the authorities had him killed.

About a month after Christmas, the little girl’s preschool was out for the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday. Her father stayed home and took his daughter to lunch. Sitting at the table, she noticed a newspaper with a picture of Martin Luther King, Jr. “Who’s that?” she asked. The father said that he was a preacher. “Like Jesus?” she asked. “Yeah,” the father said, adding that King also had a message: Treat everybody the same no matter what they look like. She thought for a minute, and then observed, “Well, that’s like what Jesus said.”

The father said, “You know, I never thought of it that way.”

Then she paused, her little mind working to understand, and said, “Did they kill him, too?”

King followed Jesus, and Jesus taught, “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” (John 12:24)

Without a death, there can be no new life.

We remember this hard truth every spring. Seeds that long ago fell to the

ground, dormant through winter, now spring up in every combination of color. Life comes from death. Dust becomes beauty.

I frequently talk to people about the cross, and yet in some ways it remains a mystery to me. How can this symbol of death, the ultimate sign of the authorities declaring “we are in charge,” this grotesque and brutal tool of torture, somehow be celebrated and even carried around one’s neck?

How can the cross be an emblem of hope?

First, there’s hope in the way that Jesus suffered in the fulfillment of his mission and message. It was all about love. He paid a high price for forgiveness, and his

sacrifice brings hope to everyone who has ever messed up and wondered if they could find redemption. For everyone who suffers to create more love in the world, they labor not in vain.

Second, there’s hope in the belief that Jesus didn’t stay on the cross. He was buried, and after three days, rose again. The tomb is empty. Death doesn’t have the last word. Even when it seems like it’s over, it’s not over.

Not for Jesus, not for King, and not for you and me.

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.

Painful as it may be, without death, there can be no new life

For everyone who suffers to create more love in the world, they labor not in vain.

GUIDE to advertise call 214.560.4203

BISHOP DUNNE CATHOLIC SCHOOL

Contact: Charleen Doan at 214.339.6561 ext. 4020 or admission@bdcs.org

A co-educational, college preparatory school serving students in grades 6-12. We provide a strong faith and valuebased education with high academic standards, encouraging all students to achieve their full potential. Our curriculum emphasizes individualized attention, and is constantly at the forefront of technology integration through the use of laptops, ebooks, and our Online Education Program. Additionally, we provide a full range of extracurricular activities ranging from athletics, to the arts, to clubs and service organizations.

HOLY TRINITY

CATHOLIC SCHOOL

3815 Oak Lawn Ave., Dallas 214-526-5113, htcsdallas.org For more than 100 years, Holy Trinity Catholic School, has been committed to the religious, intellectual, emotional, social and physical growth of each student. This commitment is carried out in a nurturing atmosphere with an emphasis on social awareness, service to others, and religious faith in the Catholic tradition. The Immaculate Heart Program at Holy Trinity School was initiated to fully realize our school’s mission of developing the whole child by meeting the needs of one of the most underserved and underperforming groups in catholic schools, children with dyslexia.

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. ELIZABETH OF HUNGARY CATHOLIC SCHOOL

4019 S. Hampton Rd. Dallas 75224/ 214.331.5139 / www.saintspride.com

At St. Elizabeth of Hungary, our fundamental task is the education of the whole child -- combining learning with faith, Catholic doctrines and moral teachings. We introduce all PK3-8th Grade students to the integrated ways of STEM. This approach to education is designed to revolutionize the teaching of subject areas such as mathematics and science by incorporating technology and engineering into regular curriculum. Over the past 10 years, 95% of St. Elizabeth 8th graders were accepted to their first choice high school. 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.

69%

of our readers say they want to know more about private schools.

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PROFESSIONAL SERVICES

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

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

The sun is out and spring is here. Time to get your grass that luscious green — the color of envy, or rather, lawn envy. Make your yard stand out this season:

1. Rake your lawn to wake it up.

2. Re-seed any bare patches — use plenty of water.

3. Apply a layer of mulch around your plants, trees and shrubs — 2-3 inches is plenty.

4. Fertilize growing plants with compost, including those in containers.

5. Get things growing by thoroughly watering new plants. Remember to stay cool and drink plenty of water yourself while out in the sun.

HOUSE PAINTING

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

KITCHEN/BATH/ TILE/GROUT

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

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FLOORING & CARPETING

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HANDYMAN SERVICES

Your Home Repair Specialists

BURRIS TREE SERVICE | 469-939-3344

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The bleacher defense

How Oak Cliff’s minor-league team gave the greatest pull-hitter a run for his money

By FRANK JACKSON

Ted Williams managed the Texas Rangers when they moved to Arlington in 1972, and he was the face of the franchise. Williams’ playing career had ended in 1960. But he already was a hall-of-famer, and there were no big stars on the Rangers’ original playing roster.

The ’72 home opener at Arlington Stadium was not Ted Williams’s first appearance on a baseball field in Texas. That event took place 25 years previously.

The minor league Dallas Rebels, who played at 1500 E. Jefferson, was one of the charter members of the Texas League, and iterations of the team played in Oak Cliff from 1888-1965. On April 2, 1947, the Rebels played one exhibition game against the American League champion Boston Red Sox, led by left-fielder Williams, then the league MVP and still the last major leaguer to hit .400 in a single season.

Williams was the highest-paid player in baseball and a notorious pull hitter, whose dominance had inspired a revolution in defense tactics during the 1946 season. Cleveland Indians manager Lou Boudreau had put six men on the right side of the field when Williams came to bat in the second game of a double header that July.

Prior to Williams’ appearance in Dallas, Rebels team owner Julius Schepps and manager Al Vincent hinted to local newspapers that they had devised their own defense to neutralize Williams.

How could the minor league Rebels succeed where seven American League teams had failed?

When Williams stepped up to the

plate in the first inning, he must have thought the Rebels were playing a belated April Fools Day prank. Aside from pitcher Quentin Alitzer and catcher Bob Finley, the other starting Rebels took up positions in the right-field bleachers.

The 6,303 fans in attendance loved the joke. Williams got a kick out of it too. The umpires probably laughed, but

of course, they had to call the players back onto the field. One of the umpires, by the way, was Art Passarella, later an MLB umpire who would become an actor and serve as umpire on the “Home Run Derby” TV series.

After the fielders decamped from the bleachers, the real strategy was revealed. It was similar to the Cleveland shift but less extreme. The left fielder (Bill Ser-

ena) was still playing shallow but he was not the only fielder on the left side. Shortstop Johnny Lipon played just to the left of the second base bag. Second baseman Gene Markland was closer to first base than second base, while center fielder Johnny Creel and right fielder Al Carr played Williams as they would any dead-pull hitter.

The strategy worked. The Rebels won

7-4, and Williams was held to one single in four at-bats. It was an exhibition game of little consequence, but it was a memorable footnote in Williams’ career.

It’s unlikely Ted Williams saw it, but he might’ve enjoyed the cartoon that appeared in the April 4 issue of the Dallas Times-Herald. The cartoon featured Williams at the plate with six fielders lined up along the right-field foul line

and one in the bleachers. The caption read, “What, if anything, will Ted Williams do to scatter those birds off the rightfield line?”

Once the 1947 season started, he responded with one of his greatest seasons: 32 home runs, 114 runs batted in and a .343 batting average, while leading the league in on-base percentage (.499) and slugging (.634).

The Dallas Rebels’ bleacher defense might have been the one strategy that would’ve motivated Williams to change his swing. Unfortunately, even in exhibition games, there are limits to the hijinks permissible, so we’ll never know how Williams would have responded.

But we do know that the only time such a defense was attempted – albeit in jest – was in Oak Cliff on April 2, 1947.

Ted Williams was one of the greatest hitters of all time. His pull swing was so deadly that it inspired a revolution in defense tactics during the 1946 season. Inset: Williams, second from right, chats with former Arlington mayor Tom Vandergriff during opening night at Arlington Stadium, 1972.