2018 May Oak Cliff

ready, set, grow

DeSoto ISD believes in creating opportunities for students and families to CHOOSE a route to the future.

Find the pathway that aligns with your scholar's goals, interests, and dreams right here in DeSoto ISD.

Apply for a DeSoto ISD magnet program via DeSotoISD.org/MagnetApplication or admissions consideration through Selective Enrollment via DeSotoISD.org/SelectiveEnrollment.

Never Settle

This Oak Cliff native prepares aspiring magnet students for the spotlight

Oak Cliff native and DeSoto ISD middle school theater teacher Catherine Luster is making it her mission to give students the experience and confidence necessary to make a career in the arts a real possibility.

After graduating from Booker T. Washington arts magnet high school in 1997 and then graduating from college, the charismatic cellist and lifetime Oak Cliff resident returned to Dallas and spent two years teaching at South Oak Cliff High School and another couple at South Dallas’ Roosevelt High.

“I loved them both. All schools, all districts have ups and downs,” she says.

The biggest downer: dealing with budgets, because art programs (and educators) often are No. 1 on a school district’s cost-cutting chopping block.

Luster, whose purple locks brush shoulders that shake when she laughs, has watched fellow Booker T. classmates find fame. But she’s a moth drawn to the education flame. Exposing students to culture and art is her life’s purpose; that’s why the talented cellist and digitally inclined instructor chose to join DeSoto ISD.

“I cannot get away from education. It is pure joy for me,” she says.

So when McCowan Middle School, the fine arts magnet in DeSoto ISD, offered her a gig, she couldn’t wait to get started.

The City of DeSoto practically blends into Oak Cliff, she says; the commute is just a few minutes from her home.

Granted, DeSoto’s school district hasn’t been on many Dallas residents’ radar, but that’s changing now that the district has received an A2E2 grant supporting DeSoto ISD’s magnet schools and diversifying its student populations.

The 9,000-student district will receive roughly $2.5 million annually over five years, in part to help boost magnet programs serving students in grades K-12.

Working to earn national acclaim for DeSoto’s K-12 fine arts continuum programs doesn’t intimidate Luster or her peers.

“I am ambitious. I’ve seen some of the staff members’ resumes, and they are beyond impressive. I envision so many things we can do here in DeSoto.”

Beginning at Woodridge Elementary Fine Arts Academy, students can explore dance, theatre, instrumental music, choir and visual arts.

At McCowan, students deep-dive into the arts at the middle school level so they’re ready to embrace their artistic development in DeSoto’s award-winning high school arts magnet programs, says DeSoto ISD Director of Communications Tiffanie Blackmon-Jones.

With DeSoto ISD’s growing magnet school tools and funding, Luster promises to prep her students for a solid shot at bright art-driven careers through magnet education. DeSoto ISD welcomes magnet school applications from all students in the Dallas area, particularly Oak Cliff residents.

“It just takes me 15 minutes to get there,” Luster says.

For information about DeSoto’s award-winning magnet programs for students of all ages, visit www.desotoisd.org/ magnets or call 469-747-3100 to set up a campus tour.

To apply for a DeSoto ISD Magnet Program, visit www.DeSotoISD.org/ MagnetApplication

“I’ve seen some of the staff members’ resumes, and they are beyond impressive. I envision so many things we can do here in DeSoto.”

Catherine Luster. Photo by Ralph DiFronzo.

We Get North Oak Cliff.

OPENING REMARKS

By RICK WAMRE

True grit

How I found inspiration in unexpected places

Most speakers stride to the stage reeking of authority. They are there, after all, to tell the rest of us something we don’t already know.

So it was odd to see this bearded guy carried onstage, a handler bear-hugging him and carefully setting him down in front of the crowd. It’s not the kind of entry that whips the crowd into a frenzy.

There was a reason for the low-key entrance: The speaker has no arms and no legs.

That’s why 1,500 or so people gathered a few weeks ago at Fellowship Dallas Church on Park Lane and Central Expressway to see Nick Vujicic. It’s not often a guy with no arms and no legs swings through Dallas and wants to talk about it.

Before I continue, try to picture what the rest of us saw that night. Think of that animated Progressive Insurance box on television, the one whose constant talking and weird confidence grates on the other characters in the commercials. The insurance box also has no arms or legs, so it moves deliberately, twisting its box-body back and forth as it struts from one commercial to the next, all the time yammering about its odd sense of self and, of course, insurance.

Nick Vujicic is the insurance box’s live incarnation, born with tetra-amelia syndrome, a disease so rare medical researchers have no idea what causes it. Imagine his parents’ surprise when their son was born 35 years ago looking completely normal from the neck up but missing those key body appendages the rest of us take for granted. He says his mother, shocked by his appearance, refused to even hold him at first.

During his speech, he talked a little about those early days in Australia, when his parents told him over and over again he was a “special” child, when they worked to “mainstream” him in school, and when they tried to convince him he could live a normal life despite an

abnormal body.

Much like the high school kids we feature in this month’s magazine, Vujicic dug himself out of a place he didn’t want to be. Others helped Vujicic and our students along the way, but at the end of the day, it’s their grit and determination that shaped their lives for the better.

As Vujicic shuffled back and forth on the Fellowship stage for an hour, stabilized by two small deformed feet that grew where legs should have been, I couldn’t help but wonder how I would have reacted to life in his position.

Frankly, I saw no scenario in which I wouldn’t have felt sorry for myself. Every day. All of the time.

Vujicic was in town to talk about

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Christ, who he credits for making his “Life Without Limits” book and worldwide evangelism crusade possible. It’s hard to argue with the results. The guy is a compelling warrior for Christ; he has a wife and four beautiful kids; he travels the world telling a story that inspires others, and from the looks of it, he couldn’t be happier.

Even without arms or legs, he’s a more fully developed person than most of us. Than me.

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

the Advocate. The publisher reserves the right to accept or reject any editorial or advertising material. Opinions set forth in the Advocate are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the publisher’s viewpoint. More than 200,000 people read Advocate publications each month. Advertising rates and guidelines are available upon request. Advocate publications are available free of charge throughout our neighborhoods, one copy per reader. Advocate was founded in 1991 by Jeff Siegel, Tom Zielinski and Rick Wamre.

ABOUT THE COVER

The Santa Fe Trestle Trail bridge over the Trinity River. The bridge is known for “love locks,” that couples leave to express romance.

OAK CLIFF

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He says his mother, shocked by his appearance, refused to even hold him at first.

(Photo by Danny Fulgencio)

L A UNCH

May 5

Cinco de Mayo

Celebrate

Mexico’s 1862 victory over France at the Battle of Puebla like only Oak Cliff can. The biggest Cinco de Mayo parade in North Texas starts at 10 a.m. with floats and marching bands, plus tailgating and awards.

The party on historic Jefferson Boulevard goes until 4 p.m. with ballet folklorico, mariachis, DJs and live bands. oakcliffart.org, free

Out & About

THROUGH MAY 26

‘IMAGE AS LANGUAGE’

Let the intricate geometry of Ann Chisholm’s abstract works, inspired by communication and numerology, stimulate your intellect with its appeal as “somehow all at once scientific and nonsensical.” An opening reception is from 6-9 p.m. April 28.

Jen Maudlin Gallery, 408 N. Bishop, jenmaudlingallery. com, free

THROUGH JUNE 1

ART 214

See the latest work from dozens of local artists during this four-part juried exhibition. An opening reception is from 5:30-8 p.m. April 28.

The Oak Cliff Cultural Center, 223 W. Jefferson, occcdallasculture. org, free

MAY 1-30

WOMEN GALORE

Celebrate female authors and dig into women’s issues during this monthlong festival with events almost every day including an appearance from Los Angeles-based poet Yesika Salgado May 10, a feminist read-in May 12 and a discussion of how women are portrayed in the media May 22. The Wild Detectives, 314 W. Eighth St., thewilddetectives. com

MAY 5

TACOS AND GRAFFITI

Make your Cinco de Mayo Instagram perfect with Bike Friendly Oak Cliff and Small Planet E Bikes, who will offer a bicycle tour of two taquerías and a spin down to the fabrication yard in West Dallas where paleteros will be waiting to sell you a popsicle while you check out the graffiti. Meet at 11 a.m.

Small Planet E Bikes, 330 W. Davis St., free

MAY 11

GRACE JONES

The queen of Studio 54 complains that millenials can’t keep up with her: “11:30 in New York, and people are leaving a party. Honey, they must be depressed,” Grace Jones says in a new documentary, “Bloodlight and Bami.” It screens at 9 p.m. with an after party with former Starck Club DJ Mr. Rid, aka Mark Ridlin. The Texas Theatre, 231 W. Jefferson Blvd., thetexastheatre. com, $10

MAY 17

BALMORHEA

This Austin-based duo brings a full band of multiinstrumentalists to perform their third album, released last year, “Clear Language,” and more from a catalog dating back to 2006. The show starts at 7 p.m. with openers Will Johnson of Centro Matic and South San Gabriel. The Kessler Theater, 1230 W. Davis, thekessler.org, $20$28

PHOTO BY DANNY FULGENCIO

Oak Cliff’s ‘mommy mafia’ in a battle royale

How philanthropic efforts caused a rift in RECPTA

By KERI MITCHELL | Photo By DANNY FULGENCIO

Emily Ruth Cannon found herself in the bathroom of the historic Turner House, crying so hard that she broke out in hives. In what she describes as her “most Batman move ever,” she snuck out the back door and escaped in the caterer’s truck. This was not how Cannon had pictured the day unfolding.

It was Founder’s Day, the annual celebration of Rosemont Early Childhood PTA’s storied past. Pink and cactus décor brightened the brunch tables. Former presidents and alumnae, many whose little ones are all grown up, comingled with the group’s newer members, some carrying babies in their wombs.

Cannon, the current president, opened the February event with a speech lauding the inclusive and progressive women on this year’s board. It would be the first year in RECPTA’s more than nine decades of existence that funds raised could be doled out to as many as 22 elementary schools in Oak Cliff.

This shift felt abrupt to some of RECPTA’s alumnae. The group has long been a major source of financial support for its namesake school, Rosemont Elementary, raising roughly $30,000 annually at its auction party.

Though it began as the Rosemont Preschool Association in 1926, over time, RECPTA morphed into an umbrella group for a wide swath of families. Members live as far north as Uptown and as far south as Red Bird. Of the organization’s current members, 26 percent are zoned to other Dallas ISD schools. Many families, whether they live inside or outside

of Rosemont’s attendance boundaries, choose private school or homeschooling.

The current board decided last summer that the group’s financial giving should broaden to reflect its expanding membership, and they sent letters to 22 Dallas ISD elementary schools in Oak Cliff, inviting them to request funds. RECPTA raised $376,652 between 2000 and 2017. Every dollar went to Rosemont Elementary, except for $162 donated last year toward art supplies at Hogg Elementary, just east of Rosemont.

Cannon finished her speech and gave the floor to RECPTA’s past presidents. One by one, as they stood to speak, they emphasized the important relationship between RECPTA and Rosemont Elementary. One woman warned the board that giving other schools access to funds could spell ruin for the organization.

Cannon, caught completely unaware, says she quickly realized that these were

The Rosemont Elementary School upper campus. Questioning whether the Rosemont Early Childhood PTA should give money to other schools has caused a divide in the organization.

not spontaneous responses; this was an orchestrated ambush. Her fears were confirmed when one alumna interrupted the auction party presentation to motion that all of the money raised should go to Rosemont.

“I should have realized that something was brewing, but I didn’t because no one communicated it to me or the board — very intentionally,” Cannon says. “It was the least classy thing I’ve ever seen at Turner House, and I went to the New Year’s Eve party there one time.”

The divide exists between people for whom RECPTA is an extension of Rosemont, and others, like most current board members, who see it as a way for new, bewildered parents all over Oak Cliff to connect and find support.

The board may have felt bombarded on Founder’s Day, but “actually, the opposite happened, too,” says Amy Tawil, a past RECPTA board member, past Rosemont PTA president and current Rosemont kindergarten teacher. “The mission changed, the funding changed, and we didn’t really have conversations about this. Both sides were shocked.”

Preschool associations like Rosemont’s, associated with a particular school, were more common back when the neighborhood school was the automatic choice for Oak Cliff parents, whether that school was Rosemont or Reagan, Stevens Park or Winnetka. But along the way, the neighborhood school became less and less inevitable as more choices cropped up. A Dallas Morning News headline in August 1972, a year after the school district’s court-ordered desegregation, states, “Oak Cliff has 32 new private schools.”

In an era when school choice disperses neighborhood families, RECPTA draws them together. Cannon has a child at Rosemont, as do two other RECPTA board members. Another board member sends her child to Hogg. Still others have children in private school, and several don’t yet have school-age children.

Discussions about whether to give to other schools have taken place for years, the board says. Even though a good number of RECPTA’s current and past members live outside of Rosemont’s attendance boundaries, they often transfer in. Rosemont’s 332 transfers make up nearly one-third of the school’s population. More recently, however, some RECPTA members have chosen to fan out to other neighborhood public schools.

The reason this year’s board made changes is because “we’ve grown,” Cannon says. “Oak Cliff has changed in 90 years, and we just don’t agree with the philosophy of, ‘It’s always been this way.’

“To us, this wasn’t controversial. We had no idea this would be such a heated thing.”

Tensions boiled over once again when Hogg parent Rob Shearer published an opinion piece on Medium. com. The piece launched a Facebook firestorm four days before the RECPTA auction party.

playgroup. Oh, do you live on that side of 12th? You can’t come,’ ” Cannon says.

The other challenge is that most of the 22 schools RECPTA reached out to don’t have PTAs, Cannon says, “so the idea of asking them to create ECPTAs is kind of crazy.”

The board is “not caving to pressure, and we’re not listening to half-truths,” Parker says. After the Founder’s Day debacle and a subsequent town hall that proved hostile, the board hired security to be present at the May 8 end-of-year meeting. Members will vote on each and every request for funds. Ballots will be passed out so that people don’t have to raise their hands in fear of being shamed, Cannon says.

“The voices that have opposed opening up the RECPTA donations to benefit more kids have said that those schools need to start their own ‘early childhood PTAs’ effectively saying, take care of your own kids, we’re taking care of ours,” Shearer wrote.

The push for more ECPTAs is “not about the money,” Tawil says. “They’re so focused on taking over Rosemont’s ECPTA, they’re missing a great opportunity.”

What RECPTA provides to Rosemont is “the branding, the marketing and the individualized attention to our school — as every school should have,” Tawil says. Every year until this one, she adds, Rosemont was featured on RECPTA auction party invitations.

“We’re losing focus, and that focus is what actually helps a school and a community,” Tawil says. “Until you get the school’s community involved in the school, you’re not going to achieve what Rosemont achieves. It’s just writing a check.”

The prospect of creating other early childhood PTAs is “risky,” says Jenifer Parker, the board’s community liaison. She worries it would further divide the neighborhood, and would cannibalize sponsors and volunteers.

“I don’t want to say, ‘I’m having a

This is a conflict about the role of RECPTA, Parker says. She doesn’t believe that impassioned alumnae truly don’t want to help other schools, but Parker, though she is a Rosemont parent, believes the board’s first priority is to listen to its members, many of whom are calling for change. Their votes, not the board’s or alumnae’s wishes, will determine RECPTA’s direction, she says.

“It’s hard for people to let go,” Parker says. “It’s the age-old thing of, change is hard.”

“They really love saying, ‘Change is hard,’ ” Tawil says, and she agrees: “I think it’s easier for them to commandeer a 92-year-old organization than to put the work into starting an ECPTA that supports the school of their choice. Instead of just taking over an organization, why don’t you use it as a model?”

1926

“It was the least classy thing I’ve ever seen at Turner House, and I went to the New Year’s Eve party there one time.”

RECPTA by the numbers

founding year of the original Rosemont Preschool Association that is now RECPTA.

$376,652 raised by RECPTA between 2000 and 2017, with all except $162 given to Rosemont Elementary.

number of Oak Cliff elementary schools invited to request RECPTA funds raised this year.

Source: RECPTA (Rosemont Early Childhood Parent Teacher Association)

SAY ‘YES’ TO THE HAT

Derby season in the salon of an Oak Cliff milliner

Story by RACHEL STONE | Photos by DANNY FULGENCIO

Some of the Kentucky Derby hats on display in the House of MacGregor salon. In the span of a few months, Cassie MacGregor creates about 150 original handmade derby hats every year.

Boutique owner Cassie MacGregor’s busiest season begins at the end of January.

That’s when clients from Highland Park and other tony addresses start trickling into her petite salon upstairs from Bolsa.

MacGregor, whose House of MacGregor millinery opened around the same time as Bolsa in 2008, will make 150 hats by the time the thoroughbreds Run for the Roses May 5.

MacGregor doesn’t work with an assistant; she designs and creates every one by hand from start to finish.

She’ll make adjustments and final touches up until the Friday before the derby, having spent three to five hours one-on-one with each customer throughout the process.

“I have to make sure that everyone has a different hat, that they’re all in unique styles,” she says. “It’s like having brides.”

Her hat ladies (if we may generalize; some are gents) bring their derby outfits to the studio and try them on for consultations. It could take close to an hour just to choose the materials MacGregor will use.

Some clients also attend Oaks Day, when the mares run on the Friday before, so those hat ladies and gents require two custom pieces of headwear.

Each handmade hat costs between $375-$475. Fascinators cost $175$300.

By the day of the derby, MacGregor has earned half her yearly salary, but it’s so much work that she’s never been able to have a derby party of her own.

She usually goes down to Bolsa for a mint julep.

One year, a man also watching the Kentucky Derby in the bar at Bolsa asked MacGregor if she would give him and his wife a tour of her studio.

She declined: “I was just so exhausted, and I was like, ‘I’m sorry, it’s a mess up there, and I just can’t right now.’ ”

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“Do you know who that was?” a Bolsa employee asked later.

It was Tim Delaughter.

“I was like, ‘oh, great,’ ” she says. “I could’ve been designing hats for the Polyphonic Spree. That would’ve been a lot of hats.”

She always takes the second week of May off to decompress.

“My customer service skills are shot,” she says. “This is so creative, and I love it, but I could never sustain it for a whole year.”

The rest of the time, MacGregor creates ready to wear and custom hats that cost $135-$175 for hemp or straw and more for felt. She also sells a limited number of hats from other independent milliners, and she holds occasional trunk shows for other designers.

Check out MacGregor’s goods at thehouseofmacgregor.com.

Cassie MagGregor in her studio and showroom above Bolsa.

MOVING HISTORY

Bring your old home movies for free digitization

By RACHEL STONE

When Laura Treat began asking the Denton community in 2016 for home movies and photos of bygone theaters, much of the content she received wound up coming from Dallas.

So the moving image preservation librarian at the University of North Texas applied for and received a second Common Heritage grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to compile moving image archives from Dallas.

Treat’s project, “Spotlight on North Texas,” aims to digitize, and thereby preserve, the motion picture histories of the Dallas area.

The project comes to Oak Cliff this month with a daylong event at Top Ten Records. Anyone with old home movies related to Texas or images related to old movie theaters is welcome to bring them for free digitization on Saturday, May 19.

The materials will be published on the Portal to Texas History and the Texas Archive of the Moving Image. Digitized copies will be given to the donors along with their returned original materials.

The project limits submissions to 1,000 feet of film, five videotapes or 25 print items per household.

“Dallas has such a connection to movie production,” Treat says. “It’s the Hollywood of the southwest.”

She points out that one of the most famous home movies of all time was shot in Dallas, the Zapruder film.

Already Treat has received materials from the Light Crust Doughboys related to the Big D Jamboree. And she met an “usherette” from the bygone Interstate

Movie Theater.

Home movies must be related to Texas, which is defined very broadly. They could be filmed by a Texan, created in Texas or contain Texas subject matter.

Besides photos and video, they’re also looking for ephemera related to old movie houses.

“It wasn’t that hard to get people to understand that we’re interested in home movies,” she says. “But it was hard to get people to bring in memorabilia from movie theaters. Those are the materials that are harder to come by.”

Texas Archive of the Moving Image has been doing this type of work for about 10 years, and Treat modeled her project after theirs.

Two films that organization made public, Blaine Dunlap’s “Sometimes I Run” from 1973 and “Big D,” filmed partially in Oak Cliff in 1974, will be shown at the Top Ten event starting at 1 p.m., along with treasures from other places including the Dallas Municipal Archives. The free digitization service will be offered from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Photos will be scanned on site, but film and video will have to be taken away and returned later. The project is open to anyone in North Texas, but Treat wanted to hold the event in Oak Cliff because it’s a historic neighborhood. She also would like to find images that represent a diversity of races and ethnicities.

“Even if people don’t have film and video, they can come out and watch the movies and check out Top Ten Records,” she says.

The Queen Theater is one of Oak Cliff’s many bygone movie houses. It opened on Jefferson Boulevard in 1914 and was torn down in 1958.

Seed Preschool student Ellis examines a butterfly specimen. The school-in-a-bus parks at Twelve Hills Nature Center on weekdays.

OUTDOOR PRESCHOOL

This school is on a bus, but nature provides the lessons

Story by MIKE LUKAS | Photos by DANNY FULGENCIO

A “Matilda” is an Australian bushman’s bundle of possessions carried when traveling.

It’s also the name of Seed Preschool’s movable classroom, which happens to be a bunch of school supplies bundled onto a bus.

Seed Preschool’s Matilda is a fully working remodeled and repainted school bus that owner Jennifer Stuart parks on weekday mornings at Twelve Hills Nature Center. The bus can accommodate as many as seven students ages 3-6.

Susan Melnick has been matching discerning sellers and home buyers for more than 30 years.

A longtime Kessler Park resident, she’s not only a really good neighbor, she and her team are thereal estate pros in North Oak Cliff. Call Susan at 214.460.5565.

Email SMelnick@ virginiacook.com or visit SusanMelnick.com.

YOUTH BASEBALL WITH THE SHERIFFS

Saturday, June 2, 2018 u 9:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. Kidd Springs Recreation Center, 711 W. Canty Street, Dallas, TX 75208

Methodist Digestive Institute is loading up the bases with amazing resources to educate the community about digestive health, fitness, and wellness.

⚾ Youth baseball skills sessions* (ages 3–8)

⚾ Onsite, mobile mammography unit (call 214-947-0026 to register)

⚾ Have your picture taken with Texas Rangers Mascot “Captain”

⚾ Special appearance by the Texas Rangers 6 Shooter Squad

⚾ Health information and community resources

⚾ Ask-the-Doctor

⚾ Mini health talks on the hour by health care providers

⚾ Fitness demonstrations

⚾ Door prizes and giveaways (including a scholarship to a Rangers Youth Baseball Camp!)

⚾ Free Kona Ice and refreshments

For more information, call 214-933-6601. To register for the baseball sessions visit methodisthealthsystem.org/homerun.

*Registration required only for the youth baseball sessions. Many thanks to Dallas Country Sheriff’s Department for organizing the baseball sessions, to the Texas Rangers organization, Walgreens, and to Sirtex for sponsoring our refreshments.

Serving children and families since 1920

Matilda contains projects, books and games all stored neatly in the various bins and cubbies installed where the seats used to be.

But Matilda is not really why parents choose this preschool.

It’s what’s outside the bus.

Once students arrive, sans electronic tablets, phones and laptops, they join their teacher outside for a fresh-air session of “trail hiking, collecting, observation and documentation,” Stuart says.

Nature is the main course Stuart teaches, and she’s discovered an ideal location to share her life-long passion with children. Located on 20 acres of land previously occupied by 12 apartment buildings, Twelve Hills makes an ideal setting for learning about the outdoors.

There’s no typical plastic and metal

playground, which is just fine with Stuart.

“I like things the children can play with and not have to have rules for a way to do it,” she says. “If you are one of those children that wants to climb up the slide and down the stairs, then at most playgrounds you get in trouble.”

But not here.

The Seed Preschool students get to safely enjoy the unpredictable natural materials and surfaces that Mother Nature provides. A giant fallen tree branch becomes their seesaw. Five tree stumps turn into a three-child jumping game. Sticks are magic wands and reindeer antlers. Butterflies and birds and cloud formations become lessons of the day.

Stuart studied child development at Brookhaven College and taught at the Dallas International School before starting

her own program, the Community School of the Park Cities. In 2014 she created the Farm to Market Workshop, a series of nature-based classes for children at the Dallas Farmers Market and the bygone Urban Acres market in Oak Cliff.

Lugging school supplies for that program became a challenge, though.

When Stuart began imagining some kind of trailer or RV to cart her teaching equipment around, a mechanic friend told her a better idea would be a school bus since “they’re sturdy as a tank and last a million miles.” After some Craigslist shopping during the summer of 2016 she found one in Round Rock, and its previous owners delivered it to her house.

Friends pitched in to rework and rewire the engine, strip out the remaining seats, eliminate the inches of dust that had

collected in all the crannies and redesign and repaint the inside of the metal bus until it looked like a classroom.

Because it never transports children, Matilda is registered as an RV, and no commercial drivers license was required. Matilda allows children to rediscover the outdoors, and Stuart believes that’s the most valuable lesson her Seed Preschool provides.

At the end of every day, the travelling veteran educator must somehow maneuver Matilda backwards around the parking lot’s one pesky tree and drive the big, easy-going schoolhouse back to her storage garage on Irving Boulevard, where Stuart’s bundle of treasured possessions will rest until the next day of learning begins.

Seed Preschool teacher and owner Jennifer Stuart works with students on her moveable classrooom, a bus named Matilda.

DELICIOUS Going

Baja Cali

This West Dallas taco shop is a media darling

The salmon Nayarit taco with grilled salmon, avocado mousse, julienned vegetables and passion fruit/habanero salsa.

Story by RACHEL STONE

Photo by KATHY TRAN

Jesús Carmona’s octopus order increased from three to seven cases a week earlier this year after his episode of “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” aired on Food Network. Host Guy Fieri loved the pulpo taco, which has grilled marinated octopus, asadero cheese and avocado filling a corn tortilla.

After opening two years ago Tacos Mariachi received favorable reviews. Carmona even named one of his tacos, the Wednesday special, “la prensa” in honor of his friends at the Dallas Morning News. When Fieri came to town for the State Fair of Texas last year, Tacos Mariachi was one of three restaurants in Dallas chosen for Fieri’s show.

Carmona gained repute working in resort kitchens before opening Café San Miguel on North Henderson Avenue in 2005. That restaurant closed in 2011, and Carmona went back to work for the Rosewood Hotel Group as well as for John Tesar’s restaurants Spoon and Knife.

It’s not hard to see what the media find so appealing about Tacos Mariachi.

Carmona did most of the restaurant’s interior construction himself. He built tables out of wood from pallets. He wrangled up a bunch of graffiti writers from around the corner at the fabrication yard and hired them to paint a Tijuana-inspired mural on the outdoor patio. If you see him there, which is likely, he’ll be talking to customers, vendors and friends who stop in.

He loves this place, and he’s using his talents to show off the delights of Mexican street food. Besides traditional tacos such as carne asada, carnitas and lengua, the menu also offers a gourmet side: smoked salmon with avocado and crema fresca, portabella with huitlacoche, epazote and cheese.

The cocktail menu includes a blood orange margarita and Tijuana cucumber vodka, plus aguas frescas such as jamaica and cucumber.

TACOS MARIACHI

Ambience : Tijuana cool

Price range: $5-$8

Hours: 11 a.m.-9 p.m.

Tuesday-Saturday, 9:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday, closed Monday 602 Singleton Blvd. tacosmariachi.com

Tacos Mariachi is not a drive-in. And it’s not a diner, which means that it falls into the “dives” category of “Triple D.” That’s not among the descriptors we’d offer. But given the Dallas glitz of nearby Trinity Groves and the luxury apartments cropping up all along Singleton and Commerce, it is nice to see there’s still a bit of border-town feel in the mix.

STILL I RISE

These graduating seniors embody poet Maya Angelou’s promise to find a way into a “daybreak that’s wondrously clear.”

BY RACHEL STONE

PHOTOS BY DANNY FULGENCIO

Teen mom

Carmen Flores wakes up at 6:20 on mornings when there’s soccer practice. The 17-year-old Sunset High School senior pulls everything together the night before, including a bag for her 2-year-old daughter, Amber, to take to the babysitter’s.

“It was hard to come to school and leave her,” Carmen says. “She still cries when I leave, but I have to, to have a better future for us.”

Carmen was a soccer standout, making the varsity squad as a freshman. But pregnancy and motherhood sidelined her sophomore and junior seasons; she returned to the field this year, when the team made it to district playoffs.

School was always Carmen’s thing. She likes math and wants to be a forensic accountant; she’s been offered several scholarships: $31,000 from

Southern Methodist University, $20,000 from the University of North Texas at Dallas, $20,000 from the University of Texas at Arlington.

She’s leaning toward UNT-D, but she has a fear of driving after a car accident a couple of years ago and has never gotten a license.

“How am I going to get there?” she says. “What am I going to do with Amber?”

Those are questions that she will figure out with the help of supportive parents.

The baby of her family, Carmen says she was most disappointed in herself when she found out she was going to become a mother at age 15.

She says she doesn’t care that much about going out and socializing. She went to homecoming last fall, and she’ll probably go to the prom in May. Her complaints about parenting are the same as most people’s.

“Getting to take a peaceful shower. I can’t do it,” she says. “I have to wake up with her. I can’t take naps.”

Now that her daughter is a toddler, she’s had to learn to be firm but calm in moments of chaos.

If anything, having a child so young has motivated Carmen to work even harder than before.

“Every day when I wake up, I feel unmotivated,” she says. “But then I think about my future, and I think about how I am going to provide for my daughter.”

Our lady, Fatima

Fatima Mendoza’s sister grabbed her hand as their Ford Explorer careened and began to roll over.

Fatima, who was 7 at the time, closed her eyes and felt the hand slip away. When she opened them, she was lying on the side of the road in Mexico. She’d been ejected from the vehicle’s rear windshield, which had popped out. There wasn’t a scratch on her, and everyone else in her family escaped with scrapes and bruises.

“But in that moment, I thought, ‘Oh, my God. I’m all alone,’ ” she recalls. “I think God was helping me realize that my parents might not always be there. After that, I always had a feeling to cherish every moment with them.”

Fatima, now 18, graduates from Irma Lerma Rangel Young Women’s Leadership School in June, and sadly, her mother won’t be there.

Maria Mendoza was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in February 2017, and she died about two months later.

“She was very feisty, very stubborn. She knew what she wanted, and she wouldn’t budge,” Fatima says of her mother. “But she always made friends everywhere she went; she always talked to people on the bus.”

Close friendships and mentorships at Rangel have helped Fatima through her grief.

She traveled with her class to Cuba this past summer to work on an organic farm, pulling weeds, harvesting green beans and cutting palm leaves for thatched roofs. She overcame her fear of high speeds and zip-lined through a Cuban forest, an exhilarating experience.

Fatima already knows exactly what career she wants. She plans to become an animator and already has produced short clips as part of an animation class at Rangel.

“I love how tedious it is,” she says of the artistic discipline. “One expression can change the whole story.”

She has been accepted to the University of Texas at Dallas, California College of the Arts in San Francisco and Otis College of Design in Los Angeles. Scholarship announcements come in mid-April, after this magazine is printed.

“It was hard to come to school and leave her… But I have to, to have a better future for us.”

CARMEN FLORES

At first her dad, Antolín, had pressured his bright youngest child to pursue a career in science or medicine. But Fatima wouldn’t budge, and eventually he relented.

Her sister, Maria, is now 27 and works for a refugee nonprofit in Dallas. Her brother, Antolín, is a 25-year-old engineer at an aerospace company in Grand Prairie, and he’s pledged to help his sister financially through college.

Dad is a cook in Hurst. They all live together in Oak Cliff.

“I love my family. To me they’re the ideal family. They’re not perfect, but they’re perfect to me,” Fatima says. “I’m thankful to God for that.”

“I think God was helping me realize that my parents might not always be there.”

FATIMA MENDOZA

Working man

Abraham Mendoza’s former teachers might not recognize him now.

The self-described “loudmouth” and “joker” had to cut his long, curly hair for a 40-hour a week job as a production worker at Oak Cliff-based Pecan Deluxe confectionary.

Abraham landed the job as part of the company’s partnership with Dallas Can Academy. Pecan Deluxe hired about 12 students from the school, paying $10.50 an hour and creating a shift just for them, from 2-10:30 p.m.

As dramatic as the haircut is, it’s the attitude adjustment that separates Abraham from his past as a second-time sophomore at a Dallas ISD high school, where he earned a lengthy disciplinary record for verbal confrontations with teachers.

Adamson High School, where Abraham applied for its automotive program, wouldn’t allow him to transfer.

His 26-year-old uncle finished high school at Dallas Can and now owns a roofing company. So Abraham enrolled there with just 12 of the 26 credits he needed to graduate, and something to prove.

“He’s one of my good ones,” says Abraham’s adviser Nidia Machuca. “He’s very focused on what he wants in life. He’s a very good kid.”

Abraham, who comes from a preaching family, is a Pentecostal music minister who plays drums and piano and sings. He dreams of working in the automotive industry and is proud of his selfdiscipline, always on time to school and work. He started a grunge band with his buddies and does MMA workouts in his spare time. He graduates in June.

“I appreciate the teachers who doubted me,” he says. “I’ve apologized to those teachers, and I’m proud of what I’ve done here.”

Smart puppy

Sydney Hernandez dropped out in ninth grade.

By that time, she couldn’t go a day without having a panic attack. Her muscles tensed. Her chest tightened. She lost feeling in her extremities. She became light-headed.

It ruined the whole day.

She tried to take online home school, but depression took hold, and she slept day and night.

Sydney was always a shy kid, but her world fell apart after two life-changing events. A psychological abuser was removed from her life after her mother found out about the abuse. And her brother shipped off for the Army National Guard.

She felt alone and afraid of everything.

“I didn’t want to be around people,” she says. “I was suicidal, and I just wanted to close myself off from the world.”

When homeschooling failed, she tried enrolling in Duncanville High School. But being at one of the nation’s largest high schools wasn’t ideal for her, and that was shortlived.

She went to live with an adult cousin in Oak Cliff who happens to be a mental health professional.

“Everything I did, I would apologize for it,” Sydney says.

“She told me, ‘Stop apologizing,’ and she was like, ‘You’re so defensive. Why are you so defensive?’ ”

Sydney started attending her cousin’s church, Turning Point, and she felt at home there.

“They didn’t know me as a depressed person. That was so liberating,” she says. “I wasn’t treated like this sad puppy. People started to respect me

“I appreciate the teachers who doubted me.”

ABRAHAM MENDOZA

for me.”

Her cousin also suggested enrolling in Dallas Can Academy, a private high school that helps students who might otherwise drop out, to reach graduation.

“When she came to us as a freshman, she was very in her shell,” Dallas Can adviser Luis Salazar says. “She was very quiet and shy.”

Even though her mental health was on the upswing, Sydney says, she still doubted her own intelligence.

She was out of practice and had trouble with multiplication.

“Mr. Ruiz said, ‘You’re really smart. You just need to learn,’ ” she recalls. “He really believed in me. They just have teachers that spoke into my life.”

Now math and science are her strengths. She led her team to first place in the school-wide mathlete competition. And she scored highest in science and second highest in math on the STAAR test at her school.

Now a senior graduating in December, Sydney already has a Certified Nursing Assistant certification from Mountain View College through its partnership with Oak Cliff-based Dallas Can. She plans to earn an associates degree from Mountain View and then go on to study biomedical engineering, inspired by her love of math and science and for an older brother who has cerebral palsy.

The depression and anxiety didn’t just go away. But she says she willed herself to feel better.

“When I felt bad, I made myself go out and do something,” she says. “I know that doesn’t work for everyone, but I was like, ‘I’m done with this.’ ”

She quit caffeine after having become addicted to coffee as a child

and drinking many cups a day for years. She now delights in chamomile tea with lemon. She works out. And she uses a weighted blanket to calm herself when she feels anxiety creeping up.

She hasn’t had a panic attack in a year.

“I wasn’t treated like this sad puppy. People started to respect me for me.”

SYDNEY HERNANDEZ

WORSHIP

By BRENT MCDOUGAL

Flesh and faith

Most people have no trouble believing that Jesus was killed. He was betrayed, falsely accused, handed over to the government and publicly executed.

Christians also believe that Jesus didn’t stay dead. He appeared alive after three days. Four accounts in the Bible tell of how he rose again to the surprise of his disciples. And each account stresses a peculiar detail about the resurrected Jesus: he still had his old body.

Over and over, Jesus says to his disciples, “See my hands. Look where the nails were. Put your hand in my side.” He had scars. He breathed on the disciples, whispering, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” He ate some fish and bread by a fire on the beach. He walked along the road with two of his followers.

There’s another strange detail. In the gospel of Matthew, Jesus appeared to his disciples on a mountain. Matthew 28:17 says, “When they saw him, they worshipped him. But some doubted.” He was standing right before them. Why would they doubt? Perhaps he looked different. He had been through a lot: torture, dehydration, death. Did his face and body look the same, but different?

It’s like the gospel writers were driving at something important. Why make such a big deal about the movements and details of his body?

Perhaps the gospel writers wanted us to know that this was no ghost or someone pretending to be Jesus. Apparitions don’t eat or breathe. The point is that the resurrection wasn’t a religious abstraction. This was the same body that got up out of the grave clothes. It was hard to accept even for those who saw him face to face.

But perhaps there is something deeper going on that applies to us. In the centuries following the resurrection, it has always been tempting for Jesus’ followers to over-spiritualize him, keep him in the

clouds and somehow distant from the fleshy, broken mess in which humanity seems to always find itself.

Jesus came to the earth through incarnation (meaning in the flesh) and appeared again after his cross and burial in the flesh. He taught a spirituality grounded deeply in the dirt, using examples of fields, fish, wind, flowers, water and wine. He knew affliction and pain.

The return of Jesus in the flesh means that we, too, can experience the powerful life of God in our flesh. Spirituality isn’t mushy pie-in-the-sky or the stuff of pithy phrases. It’s the breath of God in the

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

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

dust of the earth. It’s the possibility of redemption when we fail miserably and the joy of knowing that love can overcome the worst our enemies can throw at us. It’s the serendipitous discovery that our increasingly aging bodies can manifest love to a greater and greater degree.

Of course, some will always doubt, even when this truth is staring them in the face. But many, many have believed the good news, or want to believe.

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.

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

Real spirituality is down in the dirt

The resurrection wasn’t a religious abstraction.

DEVELOPMENT DIGEST

DOWN ZONING WEST DAVIS

Heritage Oak Cliff last month presented its case for changing zoning rules along the West Davis corridor. The nonprofit formerly known as the Old Oak Cliff Conservation League raised $10,000 to reopen part of the Bishop-Davis zoning, known as PD 830, which was approved in 2010.

Heritage Oak Cliff wants to change rules for four things: building heights, massing, lot size and residential proximity slope.

• Building height — Allow a maximum of

36 feet, about three stories. Five stories currently are allowed.

• Building mass — The proposal calls for requiring building facades to be broken up design-wise so that they appear to be multiple buildings.

• Lot size — The current zoning puts no limit on lot sizes, so developers may compile as many adjacent lots as they could buy and have them replatted as one property.

• Residential proximity slope — This is a ratio that explains the height a building can be in relation to the buildings

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.

around it. The proximity slope currently allowed is 1:1, and the group is asking for 1:3.

UNDERSTAND ZONING

The Legal Aid of Northwest Texas Community Revitalization Project hosts a workshop to help neighbors understand the city’s zoning regulations, jargon and processes. The “Zoning Workshop 101” is at 6 p.m. Wednesday, May 9 at the Oak Cliff Cultural Center, 223 W. Jefferson Blvd.

AC & HEAT

EMPLOYMENT

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

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Your Home Repair Specialists

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CABINETRY & FURNITURE

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CLASSES/TUTORING/LESSONS

PIANO/MUSIC LESSONS. TRY IT FOR FREE 30 Yrs. Exp. Call Tim 214-577-7497

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

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

FENCING & DECKS

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

WOODMASTER CARPENTRY 214-507-9322

Quality Wood Fences & Decks. New or Repair.

Northlake Fence and Deck

Locally owned and operated by the Mccaffrey family since1980

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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. 214-826-8096

GLASS, WINDOWS & DOORS

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

Bonded & Insured. Locally owned & operated

HOME SECURITY

SAFES For Guns, Home or Business. We Offer a Large Selection Plus Consultation & In-Home Delivery. Visit Our Showroom. 972-272-9788 thesafecompany.com

HOUSE PAINTING

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

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

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

p

HEADS UP!

Special

-10%

214-827-7446

JD’s Tree Service RESPONSIBLE TREE CARE FOR THE ENVIRONMENT 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

MCDANIEL PEST CONTROL

WE REFINISH! www.allsurfacerefinishing.com 214-631-8719 • Tubs, Tiles or Sinks • Cultured Marble • Kitchen Countertops

LAWNS,

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

BRUNO’S PLACE A d-i-y dog wash in Oak Cliff. Variety of Cowboys apparel & more. 262-427-8667

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

PLUMBING

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

M&S PLUMBING Quality Work & Prompt Service. Jerry. 214-235-2172. lic.#M-11523

NTX PLUMBING SPEC. LLLP 214-226-0913

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

THE PLUMBING MANN LLC

All Plumbing! Since 1978. Family Owned. RMP/Master-14240 Insured. 214-FAST-FIX/ 214-327-8349

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

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 renovatedallas.com 214-403-7247

REMODELING

Bob McDonald Company, Inc. BUILDERS/REMODELERS

30+ Yrs. in Business • Major Additions

Complete Renovations • Kitchens/Baths

214-341-1155

bobmcdonaldco.net

SERVICES FOR YOU

A PLACE FOR MOM The Nation’s Largest Senior Living Referral Service. Contact Our Trusted Local Experts Today. Our Service is Free/No Obligation. 1-844-722-7993

CROSS COUNTRY MOVING Long Distance Moving Company. Out of State Move $799 Long Distance Movers. Get Free Quote. 1-800-511-2181

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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

EARTHLINK HIGHSPEED INTERNET As Low As $14.95/month.(first 3 months) Reliable High Speed Fiber Optic Technology Stream Videos, Music & More. 1-855-520-7938

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SKYLIGHTS

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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

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SERVICES FOR YOU

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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

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Grave emergency

The Oak Cliff funeral home that responded to Lee Harvey Oswald’s crime scene

By MIKE LUKAS

The morning of Nov. 22, 1963, Dallas Police officer J.D. Tippit, 39, was having coffee at the Dudley M. Hughes Funeral Home on Jefferson Boulevard.

Tippit and his fellow police officers would gather there often since they served as escorts for funeral processions.

Ronald Hughes Jr., the grandson of the Oak Cliff funeral parlor’s original owner, remembers being a 6-year-old sitting at the dining room table eating warm cereal and seeing Tippit and the other familiar policemen talking and laughing together.

Later, around noon, his grandfather and uncle picked him up from preschool and took him to the El Fenix restaurant on Colorado where they had lunch.

They asked after the owner’s wife, who was usually at the register.

“She’s outside listening to the radio,” they were told. “Something happened Downtown.”

By the time they got back to the funeral home at 400 E. Jefferson, there were police cars and ambulances in the front driveway, and many officers and men in suits crowd around the home the family shared with the funeral business.

Most anyone who was alive the day President John F. Kennedy was assassinated remembers the details of their day, but for the Hughes family, their connection to that significant day goes a step further.

It was their funeral home that received a call shortly after Tippit was shot three times by Lee Harvey Oswald a block away. And their ambulance driver, Clayton Butler, drove the dying policeman to Methodist hospital.

Emergencies were handled differently in 1963, starting with the way they were reported. There was no 911 service — that wouldn’t begin until 1968. A caller had to either know the police or fire department’s direct number by heart, or they had to dial 0 and ask the operator to make the connection. In the case of Tippit’s shooting, an

eyewitness — Hughes’ barber, Domingo Benavides — used the police car’s radio to make the call.

After dispatching officers to the scene, the police switchboard operator picked up the direct line to the Hughes funeral home, whose job it was to provide ambulance services to that part of Oak Cliff. There were no private ambulance companies or emergency medical technicians in the early ’60s, and emergency medical service wouldn’t be officially implemented until 1971.

Up until 1973, the year the city of Dallas hired its own operators to answer emergency calls, ambulances were provided by area funeral homes that the city contracted. In 1963, the city of Dallas had three main funeral homes that provided ambulance services.

Hughes recalls, “The Dudley M. Hughes funeral homes covered a major

portion of the Dallas area, including West Dallas and southwest and northern Oak Cliff, while Black & Clark, the black funeral home, primarily covered southeast Oak Cliff ... Sparkman/Hillcrest Funeral Home covered everywhere else.

“The Hughes funeral home had eight emergency cars, which at the time were high-top Suburbans. Before that, we just had station wagons. Eventually we purchased four Cadillac ambulances with lights on them. The Suburbans were primarily emergency cars, while the others were transfer cars.”

Ambulances not only took the injured to the hospital, they also transported patients to and from nursing homes and even gave newborn babies and their mothers rides home.

The cost was considerably different back then, too.

“A private ambulance call cost $27.50,”

Hughes Funeral Home.

Photo by Danny Fulgencio

Hughes says. “And if it was a city ambulance call, it was $32.”

Those old ambulances were sparsely equipped, and “the city only required them to carry a first aid kit, basically a tackle box with some gauzes and bandages and maybe an oxygen bottle. It was a big deal if your ambulance said, ‘oxygen equipped’ on the side.”

Hughes adds, “If you used oxygen it was an extra $7.50.”

“The money did add up,” he says. “But the real value to the funeral home

was the advertisement that the ambulances provided.”

Having all of those oddly shaped vehicles with “Dudley M. Hughes” across each side in fluorescent paint driving around town and in front of news cameras brought a great deal of name recognition to the family’s business.

In the early ’70s, the ambulance industry shifted.

Veterans began returning from the Vietnam War with newly developed trauma emergency treatment techniques, and cities took over the ambulance services and began using teams trained to provide emergency medical services.

Ronald Hughes says he is honored that his family played a small part in history.

“In our own way, every one of us is a part of history,” he says. “It’s ongoing. Sometimes it just takes a while to recognize the significance of your part.”

Up until 1973, ambulances were provided by area funeral homes that the city contracted.

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