2018 June Oak Cliff

INSIDE: AUNT STELLE’S | CHARLEY CROCKETT | OAK CLIFF FILM FESTIVAL

We Get North Oak Cliff.

Rainbow Dr. PENDING David Griffin

Lausanne Ave. SOLD Bart Thrasher

Top: Photo by Lyza Renee. Above: Photo courtesy of the Oak Cliff Film Festival. Cover photo by Kathy Tran.

OPENING REMARKS

By RICK WAMRE

Guitar man

Something keeps him going, not miles and miles away, but in my sandwich shop

It’s rare to find a restaurant that doesn’t have a television, or 10 televisions, blaring sports or news programs. People seem more interested in watching than listening, so from a business standpoint, banks of televisions make perfect sense.

But in food services, as in all things, there are still a few that buck a trend. One is a sandwich spot we hit from time to time. Around lunchtime for as long as I can remember, a thin, graying guitarist sits in a corner singing his heart out while flipping the hand-written pages of his songbook.

Over the years, I’ve noticed that “(Sitting On) The Dock of The Bay” is a favorite. Same with Beatles tunes and Eric Clapton. These are songs radio people call “classic rock” at the moment but likely soon will be known as golden oldies.

It’s not my job to pass judgment on this guy’s talent, but one day while chomping through my sandwich and listening to his version of Dylan’s “All Along The Watchtower,” I wondered what kind of person spends his lunch hour entertaining disinterested people who, as far as I can tell, would be just as happy watching television.

So I asked.

“Sometimes, there’s very little engagement,” says Bill Martin, 65, who retired after 23 years with Dallas Parks and Recreation striping softball and soccer fields in our neighborhoods.

“I’m there, but I’m not really there. I guess I like that, because I get a little nervous when people are paying attention to me.

“I’m content to be the background ambience. I’m happy to do my craft in obscurity.”

Martin’s story sounds like most of ours, although he is a little shy about telling it. His life has been eventful if not particularly newsworthy.

He grew up in Colorado, bounced among a bunch of colleges without

bagging a degree, somewhere along the line meeting and marrying a woman he describes as the love of his life.

Marriage didn’t stop his self-described drifting and pot-smoking, and he wound up divorced. So he prayed for help to quit pot, received it, and then remarried his former wife, had a couple of sons, took a job with the city and made it a career. These days, he and a few buddies play together as the Purple Martins, but you’ll have to look pretty hard to find their music. You can check out William Dale Martin on Reverb Nation. Click on his acoustic version of “Fish Out of Water.”

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“I sound pretty good on that one,” he says.

And here’s where he sounds like the rest of us.

“I’m so grateful, after all these years of mistakes and bad decisions, that I’ve been able to make a few good decisions and reap the benefits. The fact that Melissa and I are still together and happy is good enough for me.”

He probably won’t be a big star, it turns out, just a small light on a smaller stage in a sandwich shop, sometimes earning the attention of otherwise-distracted diners willing to be entertained by a guy enjoying life with a guitar and a harmonica.

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“I’m so grateful, after all these years of mistakes and bad decisions, that I’ve been able to make a few good decisions.”

JUNE 2

HISTORIC

JEFFERSON TOUR

Walk Oak Cliff’s main drag with Heritage Oak Cliff and Preservation Dallas from 10-11 a.m.

The Texas Theatre, 231 W. Jefferson Blvd., heritageoakcliff. com, free

JUNE 14-17

FILM FEST

Make a plan for the Oak Cliff Film Festival, which showcases dozens of feature, documentary and short films over four days. Highlights include “The Passion of Joan of Arc” from 1926 with a live performance of the score, a documentary about Joan Jett and “Virus Tropical,” an animated film from Columbia that’s based on a graphic novel.

Buy a pack of four tickets for $35 or an all-inclusive VIP badge for $175. Individual screenings cost $11.50. Various locations, oakclifffilmfestival.com

7 things to do in Oak Cliff this June

JUNE 2

READ FOR FUN

Encourage kids to read during the summer with the Mayor’s Summer Reading Program, which kicks off with a party from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Kids 18 and younger can earn stamps for daily reading that can be redeemed for coupons and passes to events and attractions.

North Oak Cliff Library, 302 W. Tenth St., 214.670.7555, dallaslibrary.org, free

JUNE 7

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PRINCE

“Purple Rain” screens at 8 p.m. and then there’s a dance party with Mark Ridlin. Wear purple.

The Texas Theatre, 231 W. Jefferson Blvd., thetexastheatre.com, $11

JUNE 8

SYMPHONY IN THE PARK

Bring a picnic and blanket for the Dallas Symphony Orchestra’s 10th concert in the park here, for the first time on a Friday night. The music starts at 8:15 p.m.

Kidd Springs Park, 711 W. Canty St., mydso.com, free

JUNE 11

BOOK CLUB

Read “The Sky is Yours” by Chandler Klang Smith, a “genre-defying epic set in a dystopian metropolis plagued by dragons.” It’s the Wild Detectives book club selection for June. The club meets at 7:30 p.m.

The Wild Detectives, 314 W. Eighth St., thewilddetectives. com, free

JUNE 28

DAVID RAMIREZ

Austin-based singer-songwriter David Ramirez records a live album at the Kessler as part of his Bootleg Tour.

The Kessler Theater, 1230 W. Davis St., thekessler.org, $18$34

“Opuntia,” a film directed by David Fenster (Photo courtesy of the Oak Cliff Film Festival).

or Heather Holland, taking the principal job at Stockard Middle School was “going home.” The 30-yearold lives in Elmwood, just east of the school, and spent her own middle school years at Greiner. When she returned to Dallas after college as a Teach for America corps member, she was assigned to Cochran Elementary, whose fifth-graders graduate to Stockard.

Holland then spent a couple of years teaching at Stockard before becoming the school’s assistant principal. She left to take the helm at Anne Frank Elementary School in Far North Dallas, but when Stockard’s top post opened up two years later, she jumped at the chance to return.

“It was funny, when I told my staff at Anne Frank that I was moving, they were like, ‘We can’t be mad at you because you’re going home. We know how much you care about the community and how much you love Oak Cliff,’ ” Holland says. “There is something about Oak Cliff that — it’s special. I don’t know how to describe it. It’s hard to put words to it. But it’s a calling.”

She’s not alone in this sentiment. A number of Holland’s staff either live in or grew up in the neighborhood, too. The same is true for schools all around Oak Cliff. Based on anecdotal evidence, Oak Cliff has the highest concentration of Dallas ISD employees who both work and live in the neighborhood.

Softball coach and seventh-grade history teacher Xochitl Saavedra, whom Holland hired during her stint as assistant principal, believes that’s because Oak Cliff is “allencompassing.”

“It’s a little bit of a mixture of people from varying backgrounds, and we all just kind of bring something to the table,” Saavedra says. “Culture is everywhere, art is everywhere, music is everywhere. You can open the window to your classroom and you’ll just hear the neighborhood coming into the classroom.

“I guess if you’re not used to it, when you come to Oak Cliff, you’re

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Left: Kerry Sweeny, Heather Holland, Monica Jimenez, Michelle Ayala and Xochitl Saavedra are Cliffites who work at Stockard Middle School.

just in awe of it, and if you’re local, if it’s home, it’s always going to be home.”

Even though Holland didn’t hesitate to return home, she also knew her Stockard house was in disarray. Two years ago, the state labeled the middle school “improvement required,” the lowest possible status. When the district surveyed staff and parents about the school’s climate, Stockard ranked rock bottom among DISD secondary schools.

“And of course that leads to parents wondering if this is the right school for my child — is this a safe environment for my student?” Holland says. “So we really needed to overcome this idea of ‘Stockard isn’t a great school,’ because we are. We have great kids, and I think that sometimes that gets lost.”

Stockard Middle School, by the numbers

57.5%

of Stockard’s staff felt like the campus was headed in the right direction when surveyed in fall 2016.

93.9%

of Stockard’s staff felt like the campus was headed in the right direction when surveyed one year later, in fall 2017.

When Holland was assistant principal, roughly 1,400 students attended Stockard. That number has since dropped to 1,160. She spent last summer asking her staff, “What do you love about Stockard? What about Stockard needs to change?” At the beginning of the school year, she assembled a focus group of parents and asked them, “Do you know what your child does while they’re here at school?”

When they gave Holland the answer she expected — “no” — she began hosting regular coffees and tours for parents, leading them through classrooms and asking for feedback.

“Especially in middle school, they think, oh gosh, kids are fighting, ‘things’ are happening in this building — and actually, no,” Holland says. “I’m not saying that it’s always perfect. It’s not ever going to be always perfect. But they’re always in classrooms, always learning, and our teachers are 100 percent here for our kids.”

It’s already working. Stockard saw substantial gains in its climate surveys this year. Holland says she knows the potential of her students and is determined that they realize it — both those already at Stockard and the 200 or so who are opting out.

“We want those kids back,” Holland says.

92.4% of staff responded positively to climate survey questions this fall, compared to 73 percent overall last year.

30

after-school clubs and activities are offered at Stockard, in addition to after-school tutoring.

100% of Stockard’s softball players met the college readiness standard on state exams, which Principal Heather Holland attributes to not just classroom teaching but also “because they’re working as a team. They’re going to tutoring [together] and they’re really supporting each other.”

“Culture is everywhere, art is everywhere, music is everywhere.”

2302 Kessler Pkwy $1,150,000 5 Bed | 5.1 Bath | 4,087 sqft Stevens Park Golf Course Views

1005 Knott Place Staged, Listed & Sold in

Pocket

T FOR THOMAS

The Thomas Garage operated at 3007 W. Davis St. for many years.

Oak Cliff native Robert Camplen submitted this photo. His dad, Charley Langdon Camplen, is in the back of the tow truck, about 6 years old at the time and with a broken arm.

The property stayed in the family over the decades, and Dallas County property records state the owner is Jack Allen, who died in 2016.

West Davis between Hampton Road and Loop 12 awaits gentrification. It’s coming, no doubt.

Do you own a classic photo of Oak Cliff from 1890-1990? We want to see it! Email editor Rachel Stone, rstone@advocatemag.com

Top: Photo courtesy of Robert Camplen. Above: Photo by Danny Fulgencio

REMEMBER DEEP ELLUM

Charley Crockett’s career blossomed out of Dallas, no thanks to the scene

Story by RACHEL STONE

Charley Crockett came up as a vagabond musician who literally lived the hobo life, hopping trains from New Orleans to New York City and performing as a street musician for years before hitting on major success in the music industry more recently.

His latest album, “Lonesome as a Shadow,” was released digitally in April. When the vinyl album dropped last year, he played a party at Spinster Records, and he headlined the Kessler Theater last summer. This past spring, he sold out the Majestic Theater in Downtown. He performs June 22 at the Statler Ballroom Downtown.

Crockett is originally from San Benito in the Texas Rio Grande Valley, but he grew up in Dallas and New Orleans. His sound has been described as honky-tonk and rockabilly, but mostly the songs are good-ol’ 12-bar blues.

He said on the “Texas Music Scene” TV show, “People ask me what my songs are about. I say, ‘They’re about two or three minutes.’ ”

But then he told the Rolling Stone earlier this year that his perspective is from the struggle to escape poverty.

“That’s my whole message. It’s the only thing I sing about in any of my songs. That’s all anybody’s doing, really,” Crockett told the magazine. “You have one song. There’s just a lot of different ways to sing it.”

What is your connection to Oak Cliff?

I’ve played so many places in Oak Cliff. My first gig playing in a theater anywhere in the country, I was opening at the Kessler Theater. Jeff Liles [the Kessler’s artistic director] had me opening for The Weight and then he had me open for Joe Ely. I played block parties there. Some of the guys in my band are from Oak Cliff. It’s a big part of my Dallas come-up I guess.

Thank goodness for the Kessler.

It’s my favorite room in Dallas. People come to the Kessler because they know it’s going to be a good time no matter who’s playing. When you can cultivate that in a community, it’s an incredible achievement. I’ve been able to get myself off the ground through the Kessler. Jeff Liles is one of those people who saw me from the jump and was giving me the best advice I could’ve gotten. He said, “You’ve got to stop playing in all those bars for free if you’re going to come to my theater and sell tickets.” He was the first person to ever tell me that. I’d never heard that before. He was a really great, honest voice of guidance for me when I wasn’t getting it anywhere else. I’m really grateful to him for that because the rest of the scene was really tough.

Photo by Lyza Renee

There are so many great musicians from Dallas, but the music scene here is not the best in the world.

The culture that creates the artists is great here. But there’s the culture and there’s like, a scene. Dallas/Fort Worth has a very deep cultural heritage. The wellspring of talent is really unique and, in a lot of ways, unmatched. That doesn’t necessarily line up with a scene. It ties into the heritage of Dallas and why Deep Ellum was such a culturally important place for music. The amount of artists that shaped American music who played in Deep Ellum is really vast. The only thing that I would criticize Dallas on is … it’s strange to me that it can have such a rich musical heritage and there seems to be such a lack of awareness of that by the movers of the city themselves. That hasn’t ever seemed to be a problem for Memphis or New Orleans or even Austin. I mean, Austin has made itself the “live music capital of the world,” but all of the most important artists who made that possible were coming up in Dallas. Yet Dallas itself doesn’t really have that. It just continues to blow my mind. I can name 30 blues players who could arguably be the most important people in the history of American music who played on the streets of Dallas. There’s no plaques for any of them almost except for Blind Lemon Jefferson, and there’s like one plaque for him.

We don’t appreciate our own musical heritage.

Look at what happened in Oak Cliff. The money they raised to put up a [memorial for Stevie Ray Vaughan], none of it came from the city. It all came from private donations. I can’t understand how Clarksdale, Mississippi, the poorest state in America, has information and signage all through, not just Clarksdale, but all through the Delta honoring all these important artists. And they can get that together in the poorest state in the Union. And we don’t have that in Dallas/Fort Worth. For me that’s a shocking thing.

It’s a missed opportunity.

It makes business sense even. Even if the people we’re talking about are blind or insensitive to the black contribution to American music coming out of Dallas … black and white. Bob Wills and all those guys. I don’t understand why we’ve got to watch Deep Ellum turn into condos and boutique restaurants, and there’s tons of money for that. But there doesn’t seem

to be anything coming from the state or the city of Dallas to make it a globally important place for audiences around the world to travel to hear the blues and Texas music history. That’s what brings people to New Orleans. That’s what brings people to Beale Street [in Memphis]. That’s my only bone to pick when it comes to what Dallas is as a scene.

Is Dallas’ musical heritage still relevant?

You talk to people who say, “That music was 100 years ago. We don’t care about that now. It’s not important.” I’ve heard that said many times. There’s a straight line from Lightning Hopkins and Bessie Smith and Lead Belly and Mance Lipscomb and T-Bone Walker … there’s a straight line from those people playing music in those neighborhoods to all the modern hip-hop that’s coming out of those neighborhoods today. It would benefit Dallas greatly to educate people walking through Deep Ellum and Oak Cliff to say, “Here’s where Ray Charles lived in the ’50s. Here’s where Stevie Ray Vaughan grew up and changed Texas blues. Here’s where Robert Johnson recorded and eventually would change the history of American music. Here’s where T-Bone Walker played barefoot in a family band on Commerce Street. Here’s where Henry ‘Ragtime Texas’ Thomas played, on this corner.” Look at the money pouring out into a lot of these business ventures in Oak Cliff. I just don’t understand why Austin can get that together, and it doesn’t have the heritage that Dallas does. But Dallas has endless amounts of money. The rich people who move that city can stroke a check and change everything. I don’t know. The more attention that comes to me, I’m going to put a spotlight on that. It’s one of the most important blues cities in the world, and the nature of this city is such that it doesn’t even recognize or acknowledge its own heritage.

You have a really good point. And I think that shows you really care about Dallas.

Dallas should not be best known for people visiting the Sixth Floor Museum where Kennedy got killed and the Dallas Cowboys. It should be known for its insanely amazing musical heritage. It’s just a choice that the city and the community make. They’re always trying to figure out how to improve tourism in Dallas. You don’t improve it by taking its most cultur-

ally rich neighborhood and gentrifying it. Because what is that going to be based on in a few years? What’s the draw? What’s the international draw to that if it’s not the musical heritage at the center of it? That’s how poor places like Tennessee have figured out how to regenerate themselves.

That would be a great thing for all the real blues musicians out there.

The real blues artists of Dallas aren’t in Deep Ellum for the most part. They’re playing at Nate’s Seafood in Addison and the Goat and the Cottage Lounge.

You’ve been touring hardcore. Who all is in your band?

Alexis Sanchez, he’s from Garland and lives in East Dallas, on guitar. Mario Valdez, he grew up in Oak Cliff, on drums. They’re Deep Ellum guys. Kullen Fox, lives down in New Braunfels, he’s my multi-instrumentalist. He plays accordion, trumpet, organ, piano, trombone, bunch of stuff. Then Collin Colby, who lives down in South Austin, is my bass player. Half the band is in Dallas, and half the band is in Austin.

You’ve been in the struggle for your art for a long time. Now you’re getting some recognition and hopefully some money. What are you looking forward to now?

It was hand-to-mouth in those days. I never knew where I was staying. That part was really difficult. But back then I didn’t have to worry about anybody else. Now I’ve got about 10 other people to think about. There’s a lot more responsibility in that way. There’s more money and more stuff on the line. But being able to have a bed in the back of the RV, and I don’t have to drive? It is difficult, but compared to standing on the side of the highway all day and doing all that hobo-ing, it’s a blessing. Every now and then a journalist will ask me if I dream about being back in that lifestyle. And the answer is “yes.” You’ve got nothing on the schedule. You’re just playing music and floating. That’s a lot easier to do when you’re a lot younger. But you asked me what my goal is now. I’m still just processing the fact that I was able to play the Majestic and sell tickets there. I’m still trying to take that in. To be able to play Majestic theaters around America in places that’ll have me, that’s my goal. If I can sell out [the equivalent of] the Majestic around the country, that would be a dream come true.

‘HELP! OUR NEIGHBORHOOD IS CHANGING!’

Fifth-graders at Reagan Elementary, worried about losing classmates to waves of new development in their Bishop Arts District neighborhood, decided to investigate

By KERI MITCHELL

One day, in the middle of their schoolwork, John H. Reagan Elementary fifth-graders began discussing where they live. Their school sits a couple of blocks from the vibrant Bishop Arts District, the north Oak Cliff retail and restaurant mecca that saw its heyday in the 1930s as Dallas’ busiest trolley stop, and in recent years experienced a renaissance.

Not surprisingly, residential construction followed. The last several years have seen developers buying up and tearing down decades-old cottages and craftsman-style homes around the shopping district. Many of them housed families whose children attend Reagan.

Joseph Resendiz’s family is among them. He told his classmates that developers’ interest in his former home led to his family’s move last year. They weren’t forced out, he says; they were offered another house even closer to Reagan, “which is actually something better,” he says.

But it got the fifth-graders thinking — how many of their classmates have had to move because of their gentrifying neighborhood?

Instead of sitting around wondering, they decided to find out. Reagan’s project-based learning curriculum encourages students to “pick a question that is somewhat interesting to them,” says Reagan gifted and talented teacher Susan Stone, “and then they explore it over a long period of time.”

The fifth-graders titled their project, “Help! Our neighborhood is changing!” They started by surveying their peers to find out how many had moved over the past couple of years. Of the 209 second- through fifth-graders who responded, roughly one-fifth of them had moved since the start of the school year.

What’s more, only half of the students surveyed live in the same house or apartment this year as they did the prior school year. The fifth-graders working on the project found it encouraging, however, that so many students who had moved since last year still attend Reagan.

“People didn’t run away, even though change was happening,” Stone says. “That’s just not something you assume; they have the data that proves it.”

Next they conducted shoe leather research, taking a walk

Fifth-graders in John H. Reagan Elementary’s talented and gifted class met with the foreman of the Bishop Highline apartment project to discuss development plans near their school (Photo courtesy of Susan Stone).

through the neighborhood and even approaching workers at construction sites. When they stopped at the Bishop Highline apartment project, at Melba and Adams, they asked the foreman whether the project would improve the area and whether the units would be rented or owned.

“He said the new projects would blend in with the older housing to make a good mix of styles,” says fifth-grader Yulianna Huertas, “and that they will provide new students for our school.”

“Did we catch him on something, though?” Stone asks her fifth-graders, prompting them to recall what they were told when they asked whether the project would bring in new residents.

“He said they would bring new children for us to play with,” fifth-grader Mariana Gonzalez says.

“But then what happened, Daisy?” Stone asks.

“It would be only one room” per unit, fifth-grader Daisy Mojica recalls, “so we didn’t understand.”

“It was kind of a disconnect,” Stone says, between the one-bedroom units and the promise of new families, who typically need more than one room. “We’ll see. They know we’re on it, that we’re going to check back in with them and see if that’s going to hold true or not.”

Reagan’s student population has fluctuated between 500 and 600 since 2005, according to Dallas ISD records. As recently as 2013, 583 students were enrolled; that number has since dropped to 364. More than 100 of those students transfer in. The portable buildings on the school’s property belie that its campus is only 60 percent full.

The fifth-graders’ investigation, however, left them more encouraged than discouraged.

“When we noticed that more people stayed at their houses, we felt more comfortable with our neighborhood,” Joseph says, adding that their research shows most people are choosing to move rather than being forced.

All of the fifth-graders can walk to school. Most of them have attended Reagan since kindergarten or even pre-K. The school’s population is stable, barring the residential disruptions caused by recent development.

Stone, who grew up in north Oak Cliff and still lives here,

hopes the students’ work will remind people that Bishop Arts is more than a Dallas hot spot; it’s a neighborhood.

“It’s not just about fancy coffee shops and five-dollar slices of pie,” Stone says.

Above: On their neighborhood walk, the Reagan Elementary fifth-graders examined new construction at Bishop and Melba. At right: This “for sale” home on Ninth Street has since been demolished. Bottom right: A beautifully restored 108-year-old home on 10th Street was proof to them that history can survive into the present. (Photos courtesy of Susan Stone).

JUICE BOOST

This Austin-based chain has Dallas roots

Story by ELISSA CHUDWIN and RACHEL STONE I Photos by KATHY TRAN

JuiceLand is only seven years old, but it’s already grown from one little joint near Barton Springs Pool in Austin to nearly 30 locations in Texas and New York.

The one at Sylvan Thirty opened in 2016.

Owner Matt Shook is from Dallas and attended Jesuit College Preparatory School and W.T. White High School. He was living in Austin in 2001 when he took a part-time job at place called the Juice Bar.

The building had plenty of charm, and the customers provided an education about the health benefits of coldpressed juice.

When the owner fled without notice, Shook took over the business. He hired

WHAT TO TRY:

Matt Shook recommends the Halla Pain Yo juice, made with carrot, lime, cilantro, turmeric, jalapeno, Himalayan sea salt and habanero. If heat isn’t your thing, stick with the carrot apple ginger juice.

his friends as employees, and since then, he’s opened 21 more locations in Austin and the surrounding area, one in Park Slope, Brooklyn, three in Houston, one off Central Expressway in Dallas. Another is coming soon to Plano.

JUICELAND

Hours: 7 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Saturday, 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Sunday 1888 Sylvan Ave. Juiceland.com

“It provided me a creative outlet,” Shook says. “I get to surround myself with people I like.”

The menu has expanded to include smoothies, bowls and vegan options. Shook says it’s been so successful because of its simplicity. All of the smoothies are made with frozen fruit and juice, without any dairy or added fillers. Add in the chain’s relaxed vibe, and it’s a winner.

“You don’t have to be a UFC fighter,” he says. “You don’t have to be driving a Rolls Royce … we welcome everybody.”

CHILL OUT

Everyone’s favorite snow cone place closed, but you can still “freeze” the day

BY RACHEL STONE | PHOTOS BY KATHY TRAN

hen Aunt Stelle’s snow cone stand announced this year that they’re closed for good, it ended more than 50 years of an Oak Cliff tradition.

An Aunt Stelle’s snow cone was the taste of summer itself. Waiting in line with friends and neighbors, standing on the asphalt and eating it with sticky fingers. Aunt Stelle’s was just so Oak Cliff. But it’s gone, and it’s not coming back. So now what? We offer these candidates for a new generation of summertime frozen treats.

hile there is only one Aunt Stelle’s, there are plenty of places to get a snow cone in Oak Cliff.

Located in a shopping center on Kiest just south of Hampton, Jafan Snowcones doesn’t have a sign. But it’s next to the catfish place.

This shop, which has been open five years, only sells snow cones, and it has a dizzying menu of flavors.

There are the typical cherry, grape and lime, plus mixes such as tiger’s blood, pink lady and hulk (that’s grape, green apple and pineapple). Some flavors have no food dye, such as “clear cherry.”

Jafan Snowcones

2460 W. Kiest Blvd.

Noon-9 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, 1-8 pm. Sunday-Monday

Owner and operator Alma Vallejo also comes up with custom blends, which include the Obama (blue Hawaiian) and Michelle (strawberry daiquiri).

These snow cones are made with fine shaved ice and come drenched in syrup so there’s not that drained ice at the top. The place is no frills, lacking décor and tables. You’ll find yourself eating yours out on the front sidewalk with other snow cone-heads. In that way, it is reminiscent of Aunt Stelle’s, and it’s close enough to Kiest Park that it might be possible to get there before your ice melts.

ALSO TRY

Water Boy, the water store that serves snacks and frozen treats. Here you can buy hot Cheetos covered in nacho cheese, a scoop of Blue Bell ice cream, a mango smoothie or a rainbow snow cone topped with sour gummies.

Water Boy

2645 S. Hampton Road 10 a.m.-9:30 p.m. every day

tephen Smith always wanted to open a chocolate shop.

But by the time he got the financing together, there were already two chocolatiers operating in Oak Cliff — CocoAndré and Dude, Sweet Chocolate.

There weren’t any locally owned ice cream shops after Carnival Barker’s closed, so last summer he opened Betty Ringer Ice Cream at Sylvan Thirty.

Smith previously owned Nib Chocolates, holds a degree from Le Cordon Bleu in Paris and has worked in Michelinstarred restaurants.

All of the ice cream at Betty Ringer is made from scratch.

Most places whose ice cream is made in-house use pre-made bases, but not here.

“It’s expensive, and it’s more work,” Smith says of making the base.

Besides that, it prevents him from selling wholesale unless he buys a multi-thousand-dollar pasteurizing machine. Even though everything in the ice cream is pasteurized, Texas requires pasteurization at the end, unless you’re using a pre-made base.

Anyway, this truly scratch-made ice cream is worth the $4 per scoop.

The flavors change all the time, but there’s always a cookie flavor (cookies and cream is in high demand and often sells out quickly). And there’s always a tea flavor because Smith is a tea-drinker, so he makes up flavors based on things he likes from the Cultured Cup. There’s always vanilla, which is used to make shakes and floats.

And there’s always a vegan flavor.

“The vegan ice cream is a work in progress,” he says. “It’s hard to get the texture just right.”

But he’s getting close after experimenting with pea-shoot milk.

Creative flavors Smith has concocted include Oaxacan spice, raspberry lemonade (that’s raspberry sorbet swirled with lemon ice cream), banana pudding and blueberry/lavender/honey.

Betty Ringer has atmosphere — bright paint colors and café tables — and there are places to sit outside.

It’s open year round, regardless of the outside temperature, and it’ll be open seven days a week starting in June.

Betty Ringer Ice Cream

750 Fort Worth Ave.

Noon-9 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, noon-6 p.m. Sunday, closed Monday

TWO MORE PLACES TO TRY

Paletería Nevería

539 W. Jefferson Blvd.

Paletería

Nevería is the place for those of us who still miss bygone La Michoacana in the Bishop Arts District. They serve house-made ice creams in flavors such as strawberry cheesecake and coconut, plus juices, fruit cups, antojitos and sandwiches.

Azucar

azucaricecream.com

Miami-based Azucar comes to Oak Cliff this summer. The popular Little Havana ice cream shop is expected to open in the Nazerian family’s Bishop Arts Village on Bishop at Ninth soon.

on’t forget to support your neighborhood paletero. When it’s 90 degrees, and you see him or her pedaling or pushing a cart up and down the hills of Oak Cliff, buy two. Buy three. Heck, buy the guy out and make some friends.

From Paletería la Mexicana to Frutería Cano, there is no shortage of places to buy a Mexican popsicle in Oak Cliff.

But these two are really special.

Former Richards Group executive Diana Díaz started Encanto Pops with her sisters in 2016.

They learned the craft from an uncle who has a paletería outside of Chicago, and their place is adorable.

Popsicle flavors include cucumber/ lime/jalapeño, watermelon/hibiscus, strawberries and cream, and café de olla.

Picolé Pops opened in the Bishop Arts District last year.

It’s the concept from two brothers, Adrian and Andrés Lara, whose grandfather owned Manhattan Paletas in Mexico City. They were inspired by the ice cream flavors on a trip to Brazil for the FIFA World Cup in 2014.

Fruity or creamy flavors include açai, hibiscus, avocado and peanut butter. The can also come filled, such as banana with Nutella, passion fruit with condensed milk and mint with chocolate ganache. Any of them can be dipped in chocolate and sprinkled with unlimited toppings such as nuts or crushed Oreos for $1.

Encanto Pops

831 W. Davis St.

Noon-8 p.m. every day

Picolé Pops

415 W. Davis

Noon-9 p.m. Sunday-Thursday, noon-10 p.m. Friday-Saturday

hile snow cones abound, there is only one New Orleansstyle snowball place in Oak Cliff. There’s a difference.

Maureen Ehrlicher opened NOLAsnoballs at Jefferson Tower last summer.

Ehrlicher and her husband, David, are from New Orleans, but they’ve lived in Oak Cliff for 27 years.

“I grew up with four kids in the family, and we weren’t rich by any means,” Maureen Ehrlicher says. “But we could always afford to go out and get a snowball.”

Snowball ice is fluffier than the crunchier ice of a snow cone. NOLAsnoballs employs a New Orleans-made Southern Snow machine to get that authentic effect.

They have a few dozen flavors, including four that are

sugar free and three — cherry, pineapple and raspberry — that are made from real fruit.

Cream flavors, such as dreamsicle and pink passion, have evaporated milk in the syrup. The chocolate flavor is made with Hershey’s syrup, just like in New Orleans.

Ehrlicher says she and her middle daughter used to go to Aunt Stelle’s “all the time.”

NOLAsnowballs

“In fact, the first time I went, I ordered a chocolate, and she said, ‘You must be from New Orleans because nobody orders that flavor,’ ” Ehrlicher recalls.

345 W. Jefferson

1-9 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, 2-8 p.m. Sunday, closed Monday

But she says she’s won a few converts to chocolate snowballs since opening her own place.

Ehrlicher has adapted the menu to include requests such as pickle flavor. She now offers a pickle-juice snowball with chopped pickles on top. Call it New Or’cliff.

The stand is open all year as long as the temperature is over 50 degrees. And really, it’s OK to call it a snow cone.

“I don’t care what you call it as long as you come in and try it,” Ehrlicher says.

Kidd Springs Park pool opens June 2 for the final season in its current form. A $4.5-million renovation is expected to begin in late fall or early next year. When it’s finished, by summer 2020, Kidd Springs will have a six-lane lap pool and a separate pool with flume slides and a jungle gym, plus a 3,000-square-foot bathhouse with showers and dressing rooms. Shoreline and dam improvements at the Kidd Springs lake are nearing completion.

The luxury of Dallas’ bulk and trash collection practices could come to an end soon. Currently the city’s sanitation department will pick up almost anything residents put on the curb during monthly combined bulk and brush days. Dallas City Council on June 6 will consider a new system that would cut bulky trash pick up to four times a year but also result in citywide brush and yard waste recycling. Leaves and yard clippings, picked up monthly, would have to be bagged in paper or other compostable yard bags, no plastic. The city also plans to improve its on-demand bulky trash pickup service, where residents can get estimates by phone or online and be charged on their water bills. Besides that, more bulky trash dropoff centers could be added. Changing the system could eventually save the city as much as $1 million a year, but more important, it will keep tons of trash out of the city-owned McCommas Bluff Landfill. As much as 90,000 tons of brush and yard waste could be diverted from the landfill every year. Those materials could be turned into mulch that’s given away to Dallas residents.

It’s no longer free to ride the Oak Cliff streetcar. City Council in April approved creating a $1 fee to ride each way. Dallas Area Rapid Transit thinks the fare will bring in about $133,000 a year in revenue; the streetcar costs about $2.1 million a year to operate. But the decision to create a fare was about fairness to all transit riders in Dallas, not profit.

The Coombs Creek Trail will reach from Beckley Avenue to Bahama Drive in the next couple of years. The Dallas City Council recently approved spending $7.2 million to bring the Kessler Park trail to Beckley Avenue and the Interstate 30 pedestrian bridge. Another $2.2 million will go to extending the trail from Hampton at Plymouth up to Fort Worth Avenue at Bahama Drive. That project, connecting the trail from Hampton Road to Fort Worth Avenue, will create bike lanes on Bahama between Plymouth and Fort Worth Avenue and along Fort Worth Avenue from Bahama to Interstate 30. Sidewalks will be widened along Bahama and the trail will be extended along Plymouth from Hampton to Bahama. It is funded 80 percent from regional toll revenue funds and 20 percent from the Fort Worth Avenue TIF fund. Construction on that part could begin in March 2019 and be completed in September 2019. The project to bring the trail about 1.5 miles from Kessler Parkway to the Interstate 30 pedestrian bridge will include building a 12-foot-wide trail. This Kessler Park part of the project could begin in July 2020, with construction taking about a 10 months.

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.

RESTAURANT ROUNDUP

Neighborhood resident Adam Loew recently opened a restaurant in Elmwood called Grassroots Kitchen. The restaurant, at 2109 S. Edgefield, offers bahn mi sandwiches, meatloaf, jerk chicken and more on a frequently changing menu. Loew and his wife, Thania, make everything from scratch. Loew manned a smoker and pop-up food stand outside of North Oak Cliff Beer and Wine every Friday and Saturday for three years before opening this brickand-mortar location.

You like tacos. You like wine. Here’s a restaurant that pairs tacos with wine. It’s called Taco y Vino and was expected to open in the Bishop Arts District at the end of May. Wine professional Jimmy Contreras, who lives in Oak Cliff, is partnering with chef Sharon Van Meter for the concept, which will offer a selection of tacos, quesadillas and desserts along with wine pairings.

A family friendly coffee and smoothies bar opened in the Bishop Arts District recently. Real estate agent Brad Lambert and his wife, Kim, bought the cottage one door down from the Wild Detectives as an investment. But then they decided to open their own place there. The cafe, Serve , offers coffee drinks and smoothie bowls of acai or matcha with fruit, granola and nuts. The Lamberts, who have three young children, wanted the space to be family friendly. So they installed turf in the backyard for a play area. They’re planning to offer “mommy and me” yoga on Saturday mornings as well as occasional craft workshops on the building’s wrap-around front porch. A Rhode Island-based restaurant that hires people with special needs has leased a space at Sylvan Thirty. Shayna’s Place Cafe is a family owned sandwich and coffee shop. Lou Olerio is opening Shayna’s Dallas location. His uncle

started the restaurant in 2015, inspired by his daughter Shayna who has Down syndrome. The restaurant is expected to open next to Cibo Divino in late summer. They’ll serve breakfast, lunch and dinner including sandwiches, salads, smoothies, pastries and juices as well as coffee, beer and wine.

A meat market and steakhouse opened recently at Sylvan Thirty. Cooper’s Meat Market’s original location opened in San Antonio in 1997. Michael Johnson, the son of Cooper’s San Antonio owners, lives in Oak Cliff and owns this store. Along with cut-to-order beef, pork, poultry and fish, Cooper’s also offers appetizers, sides, casseroles, wine and beer. It’s also a 50-seat steakhouse with executive chef Kenny Mills, who previously has worked at Chop House Burger, Capital Grille, Sullivan’s Steakhouse and Dallas Chop House. Catering also is available.

WORSHIP

By BRENT MCDOUGAL

Look for your joy

Have you ever had something stolen from you that you didn’t know was missing?

Our home seemed undisturbed when returned from vacation in late June a few years ago. A week later, however, when I went to our back shed, something didn’t seem right. The leaf blower and lawnmower were missing. Then I realized that my extension cords weren’t in the right place. Finally, seeing the empty spot where my Trek mountain bike used to be, it dawned on me: We had been robbed.

That’s the way we lose our joy. Silently, when we’re not looking. Sometimes we’re fully aware when we lose our joy, with the sudden death of a loved one or unexpected loss of job. But most of the time it just slowly drains away.

At one time you relished life. You laughed more. You sang in the shower. You smiled at people. You felt peace, even when things went sideways. But then you woke up one day and saw that the joy had leaked out of your life.

It has happened to me from time to time. I got worn out or overwhelmed, or perhaps faced some disappointment as life tends to give us. Over time, little by little, I lost that joyful feeling.

Has it ever happened to you?

Joy is a vital gauge on the dashboard of the spiritual life. It’s a fruit of the Spirit, evidence of the divine. Some people say joy and happiness are different. Joy is what lasts, deep contentment and peace even in the storm. Happiness is about good circumstances, which may or may not come. But I have trouble telling joy and happiness apart. Both deal in delight, cheerfulness and satisfaction.

I believe that joy has crept out of our society. Maybe it’s as it should be. We’re in a time of reckoning, with #metoo and #timesup and addressing long-standing

racial injustice, conversations we have been avoiding. We have lived with false heroes like Bill Cosby and felt deflated by partisan yelling while our kids wonder if their school will be the next site of a shooting.

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

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

We won’t reclaim joy, or experience it for the first time, until we get honest about where we are. That’s true of a country and of souls. What have we lost? You have to go through the pain. You have to say “I’m sorry” or lament what has been taken from you: a childhood, a dream, a promise. The good news is that joy can be rediscovered.

For my part, I am rediscovering joy in the little things: a quiet conversation with my daughter over mundane things, a glass of wine, good coffee with friends, the laughter of children, the delight of color, a job well done, a neighbor who loves me. The psalmist said, “Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.” (Psalm 30:5) Like the dawn, joy is not far away. God can restore what has been stolen from you.

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

NON-DENOMINATIONAL

KESSLER COMMUNITY CHURCH / 2100 Leander Dr. at Hampton Rd. “Your Hometown Church Near the Heart of the City.”

10:30 am Contemporary Service / kesslercommunitychurch.com

If it’s lost, you can get it back

Sometimes we’re fully aware when we lose our joy, with the sudden death of a loved one or unexpected job loss. But most of the time it just slowly drains away.

WHERE CAN I FIND LOCAL ...?

AC & HEAT

EMPLOYMENT

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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

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

ANTHONY’S ELECTRIC

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AVON AGENTS WANTED StartAvon.com. Reference Code; CHASKIN

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WOODMASTER CARPENTRY 214-507-9322 Quality Wood Fences & Decks. New or Repair.

Northlake Fence and Deck

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www northlakefence.com

FLOORING & CARPETING

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

WILLEFORD HARDWOOD FLOORS

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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

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

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

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

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

HANDYMAN SERVICES

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

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

ONE CALL WEEKEND SERVICES

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

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

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IRISH RAIN SPRINKLER SYSTEMS REPAIR SPECIALISTS SYSTEM REDESIGN

• Tubs, Tiles or Sinks

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• Kitchen Countertops

www.allsurfacerefinishing.com 214-631-8719

LAWNS, GARDENS & TREES

A BETTER TREE MAN Trims, Removals, Insd.

12 Yrs Exp. Roberts Tree Service. 214-808-8925

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

HOLMAN IRRIGATION

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

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214-924-7058 214-770-2435

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

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

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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

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GREEN LOVE HOMES Turnkey

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214-864-2444

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

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

ROOFING & GUTTERS

BERT ROOFING INC.

Family owned and operated for over 40 years • Residential/Commercial • Over 30,000 roofs completed • Seven NTRCA “Golden Hammer” Awards • Free Estimates www.bertroofing.com 214.321.9341

SERVICES FOR YOU

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

SERVICES FOR YOU

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BACKSTORY

By RACHEL STONE

Dallas, my love, get a grip

Preservation starts with self-respect

When I first moved to Dallas from Washington state in the late 1980s, I had a teacher who said to the class, in what I thought then was a hilariously over-the-top drawl, “I wouldn’t stick my big toe in the Trinity River!”

And so I was indoctrinated to our city’s culture of low self-esteem.

Later I had a professor at Mountain View College who questioned Dallas’ right to even exist, frequently stating, “There’s no reason for Dallas to be here” and daring us to fight him about it.

I know now that Dallas was founded by idealists and a few … colorful characters who camped and then built homes and farms and businesses and eventually a city on the Trinity River.

But by this professor’s view, the Trinity was a trickle of swill with no value to anyone.

The river is our city’s one major waterway. And yes, it is the original reason that Dallas is here.

But it’s been constantly abused and chastised for 100 years or more.

The city itself contaminated the river with sewage early on so that by the 1930s, it was a disgrace. A Congressional committee in 1937 said it was “virtually an open sewer” when at low flow.

Besides that, industry ran nearly unchecked over it even up into the current decade. The citizens and leaders of Dallas just barely killed a plan to build a highspeed toll-road between the levees. What a fight it was to drop that bad idea.

But consider the existing land-use disaster for the Trinity: We literally built enormous prisons on its banks.

We treated it like garbage, and it became garbage.

But this is not just about our river; it’s about our culture. The Trinity River is a metaphor for the whole City of Dallas.

Dallas is like that one friend who is

“You

perfectly nice but totally lacks boundaries and bounces from one scheme or romance to the next, always blaming others for their problems while at the same time bending over to accept the burdens of others as their own.

And so I say to you, Dallas, my love, get a grip! You are not an open sewer. You are a beautiful, worthwhile city. Anyone would be lucky to have you, but bad things will continue to happen as long as you lack self-respect and healthy boundaries.

Dallas is home to the Great Trinity Forest, a 6,000-acre wood in Southern

Dallas. But even with that largest urban hardwood forest in the United States, Dallas is becoming hotter faster than any other big city in the United States besides Phoenix.

That’s because Dallas has too few trees and too much impermeable concrete.

We are constantly paving and building while doing nothing to preserve our ecology.

That behavior has got to stop.

Dallas must have the self-respect to address this serious ecological threat and have the boundaries to put its own health and wellbeing ahead of quick profit.

The Mayor and City Council are moving ahead with an ordinance that would require developers and builders to dedicate land for parks or pay fees that would go in a fund for the city to purchase land for parks.

We should demand this to ensure that when we allow investors, developers and builders to cash in on our “hot” real-estate market that they are giving something back to our deserving city.

Currently, very little is required of developers. If they cut down trees, they have to donate to the city’s tree fund. If apartment builders accept taxpayer funding, they have to offer a few units as “affordable.”

That’s not enough.

The citizens of Dallas must advocate better building practices, such as permeable paving and requirements for developers to create green spaces. We have got to find ways to plant more trees.

are not an open sewer. You are a beautiful, worthwhile city.”

Dallas is an incredibly desirable location for development. Our commercial real estate market draws big money from all over the United States and the world.

We are not some sad mistress meeting in shady motels. We are the queen, the number one, and we need to act like it.

If you want to build something in my city for your own profit, what are you going to do for me? That is the attitude I want our city leaders and our city’s policies to take.

Let’s take a hard look at ourselves, at our whitened teeth and our crooked noses, at our perfectly fine river, and decide that we are loveable and that we deserve better.

Editor’s note: Preservation Dallas last month gave an award to Advocate writer Rachel Stone for her reporting on historic preservation challenges in Oak Cliff. They wisely didn’t let her give a speech, but she wanted to tell our readers what historic preservation means to her. Want to comment? rstone@advocatemag.com.

Downtown Dallas and its riverfront prisons, viewed from the Trinity River at sunset. Photo by Danny Fulgencio