2015 September Oak Cliff

UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL WITH AMAZING NEIGHBORHOOD ANIMALS

PETS!

Joint

replacement today may have you home tomorrow.

Typically, hip or knee replacement surgery puts you in the hospital for days. But at Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas, you could be back home one day after joint replacement surgery. You may even qualify for a procedure that has you home the same day. The difference in either case includes pre-surgical preparation from education to innovative anesthesia and immediate post-operative physical therapy. So end your chronic joint pain today and move on with your life.

For a referral to an orthopedic joint surgeon who specializes in one-day discharge procedures, call 1.800.4BAYLOR or visit us online at BaylorHealth.com/DallasOrtho

Ready for the road ahead.

Clay Cooley’s multi-state automotive group began over 19 years ago on a dirt lot. The road to success comes with a few detours, but in partnering with LegacyTexas, Clay was able to adapt. As a result, he now has a company ready for whatever comes next.

WHAT’S YOUR LEGACY?

CLAY COOLEY’S LEGACY Owner, Clay Cooley Automotive Group

Radiation oncologist Dr. Michael Folkert and other members of our genitourinary cancer team are treating select prostate cancer patients with a technique that delivers a more potent dose of radiation in fewer treatments. Stereotactic ablative radiotherapy, SABR for short, is a technology that was pioneered at UT Southwestern and is now being adopted worldwide. It’s another example of the specialized care available at UT Southwestern—where scientific research, advanced technology, and leading-edge treatments come together to bring new hope to cancer patients.

To learn more, contact: Radiation Oncology at 214-645-8525 | UTSWmedicine.org/radonc

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This is where prostate cancer can be eradicated in just five treatments.

Photo of Mean Bird by Danny Fulgencio

STAY CLASSY, DALLAS

Pedestrian friendly doesn’t necessarily mean friendly pedestrians

I keep seeing on television that Dallas is becoming an urban mecca, a place where it’s easy and fun to walk everywhere. Well, almost everywhere. OK, maybe between the car and the house, and vice versa, as well as inside NorthPark Center.

Anyway, the point is it’s not all that unusual — or at least it’s no longer out of the question — to see a real, live pedestrian on a Dallas street these days. You know, the type of sophisticated, sleek pedestrian looking to cross the street or walk from one retail location to another just like in all of those TV commercials for new cars.

All of this is pretty typical in large cities. In New York, pedestrians basically have the right of way, and drivers know to beware of people walking everywhere, ignoring street lights and signs at will. The same is true in Chicago, in Boston, in Washington, D.C., in San Francisco — all places with dense urban development and a city environment that favors walking from here to there.

One of these days, we may get there in Dallas, but I’m not thinking that day will occur before I’m fitting myself for a flash-fried resting place in a pine box.

I did, however, encounter a single said pedestrian on a city street the other day. This bearded walker had a backpack and seemed content to be traversing the city afoot, at least in as much as I could tell from my vantage point in the driver’s seat of my car.

It was late in the day, and I had on my wrap-around, cool-a-few-years-ago sunglasses. I was sitting at the stoplight, patiently waiting for the light to turn green.

The street wasn’t crowded. This guy was the only dude around, in fact.

So I was surprised when, as he passed along the crosswalk in front of my generally unremarkable vehicle (a Mini Cooper), he decided to salute me after what he probably assumed had been a hard day for both of us.

Only his idea of a salute was a little risqué for a PG-oriented magazine, and it was lacking a couple of fingers that typically denote an indication of respect.

He was rather blasé about the whole thing as he crossed in front of me, too. He stopped precisely in the center of my car’s hood, turned intentionally toward me, pulled out the digit of respect, and made it clear he wasn’t “pointing” at the car next to me or the one behind me — no, this salute was clearly intended for me.

Then, just as deliberately, he holstered the weapon, turned back in the direction he was headed, and crossed the street in plenty of time to beat the signal change.

I have to admit the whole thing caught me off-guard, and I was glad my reflective sunglasses hid the at-the-moment bulbous whites of my eyes.

I thought about reaching for my opencarry weapon until I remembered I don’t have one, for that exact reason. I considered rolling forward a bit to ensure he knew I wanted to provide a salutation of my own. And I wondered if I should have rolled down the window and given him some directions about the next place he could go.

But by the time all of this had floated through my brain, the light turned green, and the driver behind me also seemed to believe I was in need of a salute, this time of the audible kind.

So I slid through the intersection and continued on my way home, marveling at the wonders of living in what is becoming a truly urban city.

Rick Wamre is president of Advocate Media. Let him know how we are doing by writing to 6301 Gaston, Suite 820, Dallas 75214; or email rwamre@advocatemag.com.

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DIGITAL DIGEST

WHAT YOU’RE MISSING

ON OAKCLIFF.ADVOCATEMAG.COM

Brumley Gardens closes its Oak Cliff location

Should the Kessler Parks steps be repaired?

Neighbors divided over Bishop Arts apartment plan

Common Desk opens shared public workspace

The mysterious disappearance of Alejandro Arzola

THE DIALOGUE

A deadly month in Oak Cliff, five homicides since June 14

“Death is an ugly word and murder is even uglier. Oak Cliff because of its size, has always caught more than it’s share of negative press. The distance between the Bishop shooting and the shooting on Ledbetter would be considered across town anywhere else in Dallas. In fact it may be just as close from Bishop to say Lakewood, Uptown or Oaklawn but it’s just Oak Cliff to the rest of Dallas.”— Smokey

“Better stay away greedy, land-grabbing developers — it’s dangerous here.”— Linda_Coleman

Should the Kessler Parks steps be repaired?

“Seeing as how no one who walks up and down Edgefield knows which side of the road to walk on, yeah, they should re-open the steps.”— Lolotehe

“Absolutely. They were originally part of the neighborhood and would add to the charm, livability, character and value of the area.”— Bill

Sign up for the Advocate’s weekly news digest advocatemag.com/newsletter

Email editor Rachel rstone@advocatemag.com

The love virus

Art project 24 Pieces offers positivity, scholarships to Oak Cliff students

Almost 50 Oak Cliff high school students applied for 24 slots to work on a project with artist Karen Blessen.

How do you make sure a teenager really wants the job?

Ask them to show up for an 8 a.m. interview on a Saturday. That’s one way Blessen’s nonprofit arts organization 29 Pieces did it.

“We wanted to give them the feeling that they were applying for a position,” project manager Mauricio Navarro says. “We wanted them to really feel connected to the project.”

Piece 24 “aims to spread the message of a ‘viral influence’ that inspires people to choose to be contagions of respect and compassion for all living things.”

It’s not just volunteering. The 24 students chosen for the project receive a $250 scholarship for every 30 hours they work.

And they’re not there passively. The students conceive, design, create and craft

all of the projects that are part of Piece 24, including the final signature, a totem that will be placed somewhere in Oak Cliff.

Piece 24 has a storefront in the 500 block of West Jefferson, strategically placed to be convenient to Sunset and Adamson high schools, and they work Tuesday through Saturday.

Real estate investor Craig Schenkel is Blessen’s partner in Piece 24. They met while working out at Doug’s Gym downtown. He says he already knew her reputation.

“If she got behind it, it would be done right,” he says. “I knew she could pull this off.”

Schenkel is not an artist, but he is an Oak Cliff booster who has donated and raised funds for Sunset and Adamson; that money has been used for band instruments, football uniforms and other things the schools need. His role in Piece 24, he says, is to raise the money.

He’s motivated by his desire to “level the

playing field” for high school students in the Oak Cliff neighborhood where he’s invested in commercial real estate and has an office. Neighborhood kids too often are “used to being passed over and underappreciated,” he says.

Piece 24 is in line with 29 Pieces’ overall mission of creating peace and love through art, and it is driven by the poem “Let Me Walk in Beauty.” Most of the kids involved see Piece 24 as a way to foster neighborhood pride.

“People think Oak Cliff is a bad ’hood,” says Karina Muñiz, a 16-year-old junior at Adamson, who already has earned $500 in scholarships. “The best way to show that Oak Cliff is a beautiful place is through art.”

Yes, a 16-year-old really said that. Schenkel, Blessen and everyone else we spoke to who are involved with Piece 24 said the best part is the students.

“I’ve been impressed with their profes-

Karen Blessen and Craig Schenkel: Photos by Danny Fulgencio

sionalism,” Schenkel says.

Every Friday, Blessen brings in professional artists to work with the students so that they can see there are careers available in the arts. Eno’s, Hattie’s and Nova provide lunches on Fridays.

Sometimes the artists show the students techniques. Artist Nancy Pollock taught them mosaic.

Asked what they’ve learned through Piece 24, almost all the students mention mosaic. And the steppingstones Pollock walked them through creating are strikingly beautiful and professional looking.

“The kids are amazing,” she says. “The creativity is unbelievable. I have a great respect for their art.”

Ysidro Garcia, 18, graduated from Sunset and is enrolled at Mountain View College. He has a part time position at the George W. Bush Presidential Center. Even so, he says, the application and interview for Piece 24, “was intense.”

He says he also wants to shine a positive light on Oak Cliff. Jefferson Boulevard is misunderstood, he says.

“There are nice people around here,” he says. “People have good motives around here. This is a way to show that side of it.”

Beyond that, it’s a safe place where creative high school students can try things artistically and not be judged.

Richard Rodriguez, a 17-year-old junior at Sunset, points to the colorful mock-up totem he created.

“All of those are positivity viruses,” he says. “See how everything is climbing up?”

Piece 24 started meeting in May. Blessen expects Piece 24 to build its full-scale 15-foot totem next spring.

Donate to the project via 29pieces.org.

—Rachel Stone

With more than 100 daily shows, concerts and family-friendly activities included in admission, you can’t miss this Lone Star celebration of all things Texan.

New for 2015! Save BIG when you purchase a Family 4-Pack online at bigtex.com. Each 4-pack includes 4 admission tickets and 100 food/ride coupons for just $99.

Out & About

September 2015

Sept. 3 Vaughan tribute

Neighbors want to raise $68,000 to commission artwork at Kiest Park honoring Jimmie and Stevie Ray Vaughan. All proceeds from this concert, with performances from Jim Suhler, Smokin’ Joe Kubek and Carolyn Wonderland will go to the project. The musicians are expected to pay tribute to the Vaughans as well as Freddie King, T-Bone Walker, The Nightcaps and Blind Lemon Jefferson. Guitars autographed by celebrities will be auctioned off between sets.

The Kessler, 1230 W. Davis, 214.272.8346, thekessler.org, $75-$250

SEPT. 1

Deepwater Horizon

“The Great Invisible,” a documentary about Deepwater Horizon, the offshore drilling rig that exploded off the coast of Houston in 2010, causing the largest oil spill in U.S. waters and killing 11 people, is the First Tuesday Social Justice Film. The Unitarian Universalist Church of Oak Cliff, 3839 W. Kiest, 214.337.2429, firsttuesdayfilms.org, free

SEPT. 4-6

‘Turbo Kid’

Set in a post-apocalyptic future, this 2015 Canadian film is about a young solitary scavenger who is obsessed with comic books but has to man up and save the girl of his dreams.

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

SEPT. 5

Artist DIY

Oak Cliff’s own Daniel Yanez, aka Artist DIY of the Basement Gallery, opens a solo show at Deep Ellum shoe store Epocha.

Epocha, 2540 Elm, 972.863.9260, epochadallas.com, free

Sept. 26

90th birthday

Sunset High School celebrates its 90th anniversary with an official dedication of a Dallas County historical marker and Texas Registered Landmark designation. The event includes tours of the school and speeches from students. RSVP to sunsetbisons@gmail.com.

Sunset High School cafeteria, 2120 W. Jefferson, 972.502.1500, sunsetalumni.com, free

The Vaughan brothers as children: Photo courtesy of Martha Vaughan

Sunset High School: Photo courtesy of DISD

SEPT. 8

Book club

The North Oak Cliff Library’s book club selection for September is the historical novel “The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society” by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. The club meets at 6 p.m.

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

SEPT. 10

The Weight

The Band had massive hits, including “The Weight,” “Ophelia,” “Up On Cripple Creek,” “Arcadian Driftwood,” “Makes No Difference,” “Rag Momma Rag” and so many more. The Weight, the band, includes members of The Band, Levon Helm Band and Rick Danko Group.

The Kessler, 1230 W. Davis, 214.272.8346, thekessler.org,

$28-$42

SEPT. 10-20

Play Pride

The second-annual Play Pride LGBT Festival from TeCo Theatrical Productions features one-act plays from local playwrights. Audience members vote for their favorites, and one author will win $500.

Bishop Arts Theater Center, 215 S. Tyler, 214.948.0716, tecotheater.org,

$15-$20

SEPT. 19

Rock the Cliff

The second-annual Rock the Cliff 5k funds scholarships for Oak Cliff high school students. It starts at 10 a.m., and there’s also a 1-mile fun run.

Lake Cliff Park, Colorado at Zang, rockthecliff.com, $10-$35

Plastic BagsStyrofoamShredded Paper

Delicious

TEN RAMEN

1818 Sylvan

AMBIANCE: RAMEN BAR

PRICE RANGE: $10-$20

HOURS:

11:30 A.M.-2 P.M. AND 6-10:30

P.M. TUESDAY-SUNDAY, CLOSED MONDAY

SEE MORE PHOTOS Visit oakcliff.advocatemag.com

—Rachel Stone

Say what you want about Sylvan Thirty, but it got at least one thing right. Ten Ramen is like nothing else in Dallas. The concept from Tei An chef/owner Teiichi Sakurai offers a simple menu of excellent ramen. Diners order from iPads — soup, extras, drinks — and then pay via iPad or with the server in cash. There are no tables in Ten Ramen, and there are no chairs or stools. Diners stand and slurp their noodles at the bar right in front of the kitchen. Beautiful dishes come out of that kitchen window, served in handmade pottery bowls. Chances are, they’ll be too busy to chat, but you can watch head chef Matt Hoa and sous chef Christian Koelling do their thing.

Ten Ramen: Photo by Kathy Tran

Best Place for Kids IN OAK CLIFF

And the winner is …

The North Oak Cliff Library is open seven days a week, and there is some kind of activity scheduled just about every day. “We all try to do as many programs as possible,” branch manager Ray Sablack says. “It’s a collective staff effort, and we try to be responsive to the community.” This past summer, 1,000 readers signed up for the Mayor’s Summer Reading Program at the North Oak Cliff Library. They’ve had “creepy critters” from the Dallas Zoo, a jazz quartet, Aztec dancers, the Dallas Fire Department along with a fire truck,

plus science and technology lessons, art programs and story time. Library staffers realized earlier this summer that they had a bunch of board games and puzzles to put out and, not surprisingly, kids started playing with them every day. Then someone suggested they needed toys and games for younger children, so the Friends of North Oak Cliff Library put out a call, and the next day, toys started pouring in, Sablack says. A very enthusiastic staff of 10 and the North

Oak Cliff Library friends are what make the library pop, Sablack says. “We love our community, and we want them to love us back,” he says.

Runner-up: Hampton-Illinois Library

Third place: Dallas Zoo

NEXT UP: Look for a roundup of all the ‘Best Of’ winners at oakcliff.advocatemag.com/best-of-results

Senior Vice President Senior Vice President

Advanced Historic House Specialist

NOW OPEN through Sept. 7

Included with admission DallasZoo.com #DallasZooDinos

BREAKFAST CLUB

Breakfast lovers, rejoice! You have an excuse to indulge in the morning meal any time you wish this September, because it’s national Breakfast Month. With so many options for breakfast, the key to my success is easy and satisfying for the whole family. Sour Cream Coffee Cake is an old family classic, baked straight from my “Nanny’s” kitchen. This recipe has a rich buttery flavor, filled with a cinnamon sugar swirl, and will pair well with a soothing cup of tea or coffee to give your day a boost.

Sour Cream Coffee Cake

GROCERY LIST:

CAKE

2 cups granulated sugar

1 cup butter, unsalted

4 eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

4 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 cups sour cream

FILLING AND TOPPING

2 teaspoons cinnamon

½ cup granulated sugar

1 cup pecans, chopped

DIRECTIONS:

Cream sugar and butter until smooth. Add eggs and vanilla extract until combined.

Sift dry ingredients together and add to the egg mixture alternating with sour cream. Pour half of the batter into a 9x13 greased pan.

Sprinkle half of the filling mixture to cover the first layer.

Add the remaining batter to the pan and sprinkle the remaining filling mixture over the top of the cake.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 40-45 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean.

Kristen Massad writes a monthly column about sweets and baked goods. The professional pastry chef graduated from the French Culinary Institute in New York City and owned Tart Bakery on Lovers Lane for eight years. She blogs about food and lifestyles at inkfoods.com.

KAI, page 24

FETCHING PERSONALITIES

People love their pets.

Like doting parents, owners hold forth on the virtues of their domesticated mammals, “… makes my world a better place,” “… changed my life,” “… has the sweetest soul.”

And most Americans back those warm sentiments with cold cash. We will spend some $58 billion pampering our animals this year, according to the American Pet Product Association. Around Dallas, we have our pick of posh pet hotels and pooch patios, doggie bakeries (barkeries) and upscale grooming services.

We took a close-up look at a cross section of neighborhood pets to find out what makes them so worth it.

EDITOR’S NOTE:

If you submitted a photo of your pet to the online photo contest, keep an eye on our regular Pet Pause section in future issues, where you might see your furry friend and his tale in print.

FETCHINGPERSONALITIES

Sasha Fierce is a sheltie who sticks out

Sasha Fierce can’t sit and stay because she’s so old that her hips can’t stand it. She’s not a candidate for obedience training, like the other three members of neighbor Jill Peterson’s pack of shelties.

But Sasha, 13, can do other things, like practicing scent training.

“We play at games that she can do,” Peterson says.

Even though Sasha is old, she’s only been part of Peterson’s pack for a year. The endodontist, who lives in Kessler Park, was sitting on the floor at a dog show in July 2014 when Sasha came and sat in her lap and gave her two licks.

“So I thought, ‘Oh, I guess you’re supposed to come home with me,’ ” Peterson says.

Sasha’s owner in Lawton, Okla. had died, and foster parents had a hard time placing her because of her age and health — she had kidney disease and joint problems.

Peterson had just lost an old dog to cancer, and she figured Sasha was in her last days. So she decided to take her in and give her the best end to her life as possible. But then she took her to the vet for kidney treatment, and the dog’s health improved. They decided against knee surgery, but Sasha has a doggie chiropractor who makes house calls, Peterson says.

“Now I can probably have her in my life another two or four years,” she says.

Peterson has had shelties since she was 4 years old, and Sasha is her ninth. Another of her pack, Phoebe, is an American Kennel Club national champion. And her other two dogs are obedience stars.

Sasha is a blue merle, and she has one blue and one brown eye. Since bringing her home, Peterson says, she’s become an advocate for adopting older dogs because Sasha has made her life better.

“She’s taught me attention, focus, love, all these lessons that we need to be reminded of as humans,” Peterson says. “I’m truly blessed to have her in my life.”

FETCHINGPERSONALITIES

Advocate Pet Contest Winner: Duke was voted as the cutest pooch in Oak Cliff by readers

Advocate Pet Contest Winner: Duke was voted as the cutest pooch in Oak Cliff by readers

After suffering a stroke last year, Les Spradlin sometimes gets confused about where he is, even in very familiar surroundings.

Recently, he walked out of his back door in Beckley Club Estates and forgot where he was, but his faithful dog, Duke, reminded him.

“He came and got me and showed me where the back door was,” he says.

Spradlin, 55, also has trouble climbing the stairs in his two-story house. He knows to put one foot on the step and pull himself up, but it’s like his mind can’t convince his body to do it. So when he’s home alone, Spradlin could spend 15 minutes to an hour getting upstairs. No matter how long it takes, though, Duke never leaves his side. Sometimes, when Spradlin resorts to scooting up the stairs on his bottom, the chocolate lab puts his head under Spradlin’s armpit to nudge him up.

“When we finally get to the top, he just wags his tail and is so excited,” Spradlin says. “It’s like he’s celebrating.”

Spradlin and his partner, Greg Hutchinson, find Duke’s helpfulness all the more amazing because he’s never had any training as a service dog. In fact, he was a dog someone tried to cast off. Their pal in East Texas found Duke as a puppy after someone dumped him near her rural property.

Spradlin also found out this year that he has the beginning stages of Parkinson’s disease, which afflicted both his parents as well. And Hutchinson, a real estate agent, recently took chemotherapy for skin cancer on his scalp. So it’s been a rough year for them.

“You just have to stay positive and enjoy the good days,” Spradlin says.

Having a loyal dog by your side doesn’t hurt, either.

FETCHINGPERSONALITIES

Kai, the puppy who wouldn’t be caught, captures hearts

There’s nothing like a stray puppy to pull Oak Cliff neighbors together.

Christy Nielson of Kessler Park noticed a wretched little mutt in a field near Sylvan and Singleton while on her way to an appointment one day last year.

On the return trip, she stopped to look for the puppy and didn’t see it, but she couldn’t stop thinking about it. So she got on the neighborhood social media site Nextdoor and found that several of her neighbors had mentioned they’d seen the same puppy, too. She started chatting online with her neighbor Anna Duke-Bettin, whom she’d never met before, and they decided to go look for the pup.

The two of them took turns on a feeding schedule for the stray in hopes of gaining its trust so they could capture it. They also chatted up the guys who worked at an ad-

jacent truck yard. It took about two weeks, but those guys are the ones who eventually caught the dog, and they called Nielson to come get it.

Nielson, who is a volunteer with streetdog rescue nonprofit Duck Team 6, already had a 14-year-old black lab and a 5-year-old border collie. She and her husband were wary of adopting a third dog.

“You think three isn’t that different from two, but it is. Three is a lot different than two,” she says.

But the dog, which turned out to be a female they named Kai, was too sweet. Her underdog status was too irresistible. So they welcomed her into the fold anyway.

She had a lot of bad habits including digging, jumping and getting into the trash.

But her “big brother,” the border collie, Kodi, sets a good example.

“She saw Kodi doing the right things, and she learned from him,” Nielson says. “He was her mentor. She still feels more comfortable and more confident with him around.”

Duke-Bettin trains working dogs, so she offered tips to the Nielsons, including keeping Kai on a 20-foot leash around the house. That way they can correct her by pulling the leash instead of using physical touch or verbal corrections. That eliminated the negativity Kai associated with humans while still allowing them to train her, Nielson says.

Besides having a great addition to their pet family, the Nielsons also have great new friends. Duke-Bettin and her husband have become some of the Nielsons’ best neighborhood buds.

“She’s been awesome because she’s a trainer, and she’s also a good friend,” Nielson says.

FETCHINGPERSONALITIES

Don’t buy the hype on Mean Bird

Her real name is June.

Mean Bird is one in a long line of pet hens that Zac and Heather Lytle named after female singers. In Mean Bird’s case, June Carter Cash. But she picked up her nickname after developing a habit of pecking at two speckled hens in the flock.

The Lytles are headed to Lilongwe, Malawi this coming fall for a two-year fellowship in global women’s health; Heather is an obstetrician/gynecologist who trained at Parkland. So in preparation for the move, they found a new home for seven of their 11 birds.

Their Kings Highway neighbor and friend, Amanda Pounds, agreed to adopt them. And she takes her new poultry pets very seriously.

When the Lytles first moved into their house on Montclair in 2008, Zac threw together a chicken coop using scrap wood and an old door he pulled out of bulk trash.

When graphic designer Pounds took on

the hens, she went over and measured their previous coop and built a brand-new one of similar dimensions. She wanted them to feel at home.

She says it tickles her that the hens “put themselves to bed” around dusk every day, like a bunch of old ladies. And since she’s had them, she rises extra early to open the door to their coop so they can start their day of scratching, laying and doing chicken things.

Pounds reports that Mean Bird, now separated from those two hens she bullied, is not even mean anymore. But the nickname prevails.

Mean Bird lays pretty speckled eggs, and Pounds says fresh eggs are a perk of raising hens. But that’s not why she’s doing it. She finds it meditative to sit and watch the little cluckers.

“I like watching them being busy doing nothing,” she says.

How to make a chicken sit

Photo editor Danny Fulgencio really opened up a can of worms for his photo shoot with Mean Bird. This isn’t Fulgencio’s first rodeo shooting portraits for our annual pets issue. So he knows only the finest mealworms will do when asking a hen to smile for (or in Mean Bird’s case, glare at) the camera.

the best quality plant selection and the most knowledgeable staff committed to your gardening success!

5REASONS to maintain HOPE IN DALLAS ISD

The reform superintendent has skipped town. The board of trustees can’t quit fighting. Teachers and principals are exiting by the hundreds. Despite

A matter of choice

Magnet schools have reigned supreme in Dallas ISD for decades. Formed as equalizers in the days of desegregation, the schools have evolved into a great source of pride for the district. How many years running has the Townview Talented and Gifted School been named one of the top high schools in the country by U.S. News and World Report?

A funny thing happened, however, over the last year or so. The district still sent out its annual press release lauding the TAG school and its other magnets on the list of the nation’s best. But “choice school” has begun to supplant “magnet” in the DISD lexicon.

Choice schools are different, first of all, from “school choice,” which evokes a reference to “people who want to use my tax money so they can subsidize their kid’s education in the Radio Church of God,” writes Dallas

Observer columnist Jim Schutze.

They’re also different from magnet schools in a slight but significant way: Choice schools don’t have academic entrance requirements. They may give students priority based on vicinity, but IQ, grades, talent, references and the like are not part of the application process.

So more than 40 years after its schools desegregated, it appears that Dallas is attempting to level the playing field once again.

Though choice schools were championed by recently resigned Superintendent Mike Miles, the concept didn’t initiate with him. It’s been practiced in Dallas ISD for years, in fact. The idea is for a school to have some sort of unique offering that attracts students and their families, giving them a choice beyond the neighborhood school to which they are zoned.

Stories by Keri Mitchell

This isn’t too different than the criteria already used for in-district transfers. Historically, parents could cite something a school offers — Rosemont Elementary’s dual language program, for example — as a reason their child should attend a more desirable school. It was a way to escape an unpopular campus. Conversely, the choice school movement propels families toward a school rather than away from one.

Officially, Dallas ISD has designated only a handful of choice schools, and none of them are in our neighborhood. That could change soon, however. Any school in the district is invited to build a team, develop a choice program, and apply to be an “innovation” school. The few getting off the ground next year are mostly personalized learning campuses, plus a science, technology, en-

all this, many parents are taking a second look at neighborhood schools — and for good reasons.

gineering and math (STEM) academy for young women.

The district also hopes to turn its existing, vacant campuses into “transformation” schools, taking their bones and infusing them with a new purpose. The historic Adamson High School building could be one of these; a proposed Dallas ISD bond package includes $11 million to make it a choice school.

“It’s our building, it has a historical designation, it’s not going anywhere, so it makes sense to explore some options,” says Mike Koprowski, Dallas ISD chief of innovation and transformation.

What kind of school it would become depends entirely on the applications that land on Koprowski’s desk by Sept. 1.

“There’s uncertainty to it, but that’s sort of the beauty of it,” he says. “If we’re going to be an innovative organization, we’re going to have to be OK with a little bit of uncertainty.”

Choice schools are Dallas ISD’s response to the city’s proliferation of private schools, the more recent emergence of charter schools, and the underlying funding threat of “school choice” legislation driven by people dissatis-

THE PRE-K PANACEA

Statistics don’t lie, and when it comes to the importance of educating children before they ever reach kindergarten, the truth is disheartening. All data shows that if students are behind by the time they reach kindergarten, it will be more difficult, more expensive and less effective to remediate them later on.

So if pre-K is a crucial answer to myriad education problems, why is Dallas ISD struggling to implement it?

85-90

Percentage of brain development that happens by the time a child is 5

fied with public school options. Choice schools add more options to the mix, and the response — such as more than 400 applications for 100 spots in the district’s personalized learning high school, its inaugural year — seem to con-

6,900

Number of eligible children enrolled in pre-K for the 2014-15 school year, up from 3,300 in 2013-14

5 Percentage of the State’s education funding devoted to those first five years

4 of 10

Dallas ISD kindergarteners who begin the year “kindergarten ready”

9,500

Number of eligible children already registered for Dallas ISD pre-K for the 2015-16 school year

96

firm that options are what we want.

Never mind that Miles has skipped town. Principals have latched on, and parents too, are jumping on the choice school bandwagon. Interim Superintendent Michael Hinojosa, who held the job for six years before Miles assumed it, has vowed to continue the effort.

As if he had a choice.

3 Months of catch-up required for every month children are behind by age 5

27,000

Number of Dallas ISD 3- and 4-yearolds who qualify for state-funded half-day pre-kindergarten (the district offers full-day pre-K by tapping into other funding sources)

Percentage of Texas parents who send their children to kindergarten, funded but not required by the state

350

Percentage increase in the likelihood that students will be “kindergarten ready” if they attend a Dallas ISD pre-K program

Source: Dallas ISD executive director ofearlychildhood Alan Cohen and national data

Choice schools are different from magnet schools in a slight but significant way: They don’t have academic entrance requirements.

Photo courtesy of Dallas ISD

Rosemont Elementary: Spanish immersion from kindergarten through eighth-grade

Dual language classrooms, where students learn in half English and half Spanish, launched at Rosemont in 2006, the first year the program was adopted in Dallas ISD. It soon became a source of pride and a large draw for young families in the north Oak Cliff neighborhoods whose children attend the school.

As the program’s initial kindergarteners grew older and moved closer to middle school, however, parents worried about their children losing the Spanish they had spent years learning. So they petitioned Dallas ISD to add a dual language middle school at Rosemont, and received a green light from the board of trustees.

Rosemont’s first class of dual language sixth-graders launched two years ago, meaning they’ll be eighth-graders this fall. Parents were thrilled, not only that their children would continue learning in Spanish but also that they would be part of a tight-knit middle school.

“Middle school in DISD, to many of us, was this big scary thing,” says Scott Dugger, whose daughter entered into Rosemont’s dual language program during its infancy.

“We were very happy having our kids at our

local elementary school with a group of cohorts and teachers we were really in love with.”

As parents looked for information to support their cause, they “ran into research that K-8 is beginning to be a very successful model in schools around the country,” Dugger says.

Rosemont parents are not alone in their desire to prolong the elementary atmosphere. Sanger Elementary in East Dallas launched a middle school dual language program this fall, and Harry Stone and George Bannerman Dealey Montessori schools both continue through sixth-grade and have seventh- and eighth-grade academies. Parents at Preston Hollow Elementary also are petitioning to extend their International Baccalaureate curriculum into the middle school years.

A 2014 change in board policy may open the door for more Dallas ISD schools to make this conversion. When trustees were asked to approve grade configuration changes for East Dallas’ Mount Auburn and Eduardo Mata elementary schools, making them two distinct schools rather than one feeding into the other, trustees opted instead to pass an amendment that gave administrators authority to make such decisions.

Facility restraints are still a factor, however, and additions require board and, often, voter approval. A couple of kindergarten through eighth-grade schools are part of the tentative bond package trustees are consider-

A Rosemont student sports a T-shirt with the school’s catchphrase: Photo from Rosemont Dads’ Club Facebook page

Susan Melnick 214.460.5565 smelnick@virginiacook.com

Olga Salinas 214.282.1188 osalinas@virginiacook.com

ing, including a new upper elementary campus at Rosemont to relieve overcrowding for third- through eighth-grade students.

Currently, Rosemont’s middle school is limited to dual language students and capped at 60 students per grade. More space may allow the program to expand to traditional students, and Dugger says more students would improve extra-curricular offerings.

Though Dugger was among the parents who pushed for the Rosemont middle school, his daughter moved to Bishop Dunne last year for sixth-grade.

“We decided at the end of fifth-grade that the dual language model was fantastic, but we wanted a little more,” he says. “We wanted the athletics, the academic clubs, and that’s what kind-of forced our hand.”

The Rosemont Dads’ Club, in which Dugger still participates, is hoping to sponsor UIL teams “for our kids to compete against other middle schools or charters and private schools in the area,” he says. Rosemont students can participate in sports and other extra-curriculars at Greiner Middle School; one of the dual language students did play on Greiner’s football team, “but it’s two separate environments,” Dugger says. “You’re leaving your home school and going somewhere else.”

Though Rosemont’s middle school wasn’t a fit for Dugger’s family, he believes in the program and is glad neighborhood parents have the option. Though not officially a “choice school,” Rosemont was a pioneer in the concept, harnessing the power of parent advocacy and administrative support to create a dual language program and later a middle school.

The same kind of thing could happen in schools all over Oak Cliff, says Mike Koprowski, Dallas ISD chief of transformation and innovation, giving families even more options.

“The seed ideas are there; they’re moving forward,” Koprowski says. The district has invited not just principals and teachers but also parents, community members, even nonprofit organizations to submit ideas that would overhaul current schools and create new ones.

“My guess is we will see West Dallas and Oak Cliff schools apply this time around in the 2.0 process,” Koprowski says.

LAKEHILL PREPARATORY SCHOOL

Leading to Success. 2720 Hillside Dr., Dallas 75214 / 214.826.2931 / lakehillprep.org

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

ST. ELIZABETH OF HUNGARY CATHOLIC SCHOOL

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

At St. Elizabeth of Hungary, our fundamental task is the education of the whole child -- combining learning with faith, Catholic doctrines and moral teachings. We introduce all PK3-8th Grade students to the integrated ways of STEM. This approach to education is designed to revolutionize the teaching of subject areas such as mathematics and science by incorporating technology and engineering into regular curriculum. Over the past 10 years, 95% of St. Elizabeth 8th graders were accepted to their first choice high school. Join us for an informational school tour and see for yourself how easy it is to become a Saint! Call 214.331.5139 for information.

ST. JOHN’S EPISCOPAL SCHOOL

848 Harter Rd., Dallas 75218 / 214.328.9131 / stjohnsschool.org

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

Academic excellence & Catholic spirit since 1958 Our mission at St. Elizabeth of Hungary Catholic School is to serve God through our ministry of educational excellence and to develop the spiritual lives of our youth within the ramework of the Gospel and the tradition of the Catholic Church.

A new look for lunch: Goodbye hot Cheetos, hello

vegetarian options

Healthy, sustainable items dominate Dallas ISD’s new menus

A green-leaf logo on each day’s menu identifies vegetarian items. New items this year include the “rojo fiesta pizza” (a crust topped with refried beans, salsa and cheese), “vegetarian dippers” (cheese toast with marinara), three-bean chili, and a spinach and cheese flatbread. “We have a fairly large population of people who don’t want to eat meat for all kinds of reasons, and we’re trying to address that,” says Margaret Lopez, Dallas ISD director of nutrition, noting the district’s 75 different home languages that include cultural and religious food parameters, as well as families who are vegetarian for environmental reasons.

Two antibiotic-free chicken options will be featured on this year’s menu: the chicken nuggets and the grilled chicken sandwich.

High school menus are moving from a one-week to a two-week cycle. Menus already offer eight entrées daily, and add a monthly featured item to the standard menu. In September, the feature is “chic penne” with whole wheat pasta, fresh broccoli florets, a variety of cheeses and grilled chicken. “People kind of get stuck in a rut and gravitate to the same thing,” Lopez says. “This is an effort to put a few more choices out there.”

Hot ‘n Spicy Chex Mix

Serving size: ~1 oz

Calories: 110

Fat: 3.5 g

Sodium: 160 mg

vs.

Look at other smart snacks and their nutrition information at oakcliff.advocatemag.com/DISDhope

“Harvest of the month”

menu items are grown by local Texas farmers. September’s menu features watermelon from the Green family in Henderson. Cafeterias feature posters with fun facts about harvest items, such as, “Did you know the vine can grow as much as 8 feet within the first month?”

Flamin’ Hot Cheetos

Serving size: ~1 oz

Calories: 170

Fat: 11 g

Sodium: 250 mg

“We won’t be selling hot Cheetos this year,”

Lopez says. Last year the district piloted a program with roughly 20 schools to find out whether students would still buy snacks if there were no Flamin’ Hot Cheetos or the Nacho Cheese Doritos to be had. “And actually, they did,” Lopez says. This year, the program rolls out to all 224 schools, where any items sold at lunch and from vending machines must meet the new federal “Smart Snacks” guidelines. Lopez knows that lower calorie counts and the absence of trans fats shouldn’t be the only factors in snack selection. “We’re looking at clean labels for next year and will review them this year,” she says.

Dallas ISD’s new compostable lunch plates will hold healthier options this year: Photo by Rasy Ran

LUNCH TRAYS by the numbers

120,000

Lunches served daily at 227 Dallas ISD

Rectangular polystyrene trays used and

5 cents

Cost of new, compostable plates, thanks to the collective purchasing power of the Urban School Food Alliance, a coalition of Dallas ISD and some the largest school districts in the United States including New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, MiamiDade and Orlando

Number of polystyrene trays projected to be removed from landfills annually.

“The only reason that school districts and others haven’t used recyclable products is cost, so by bringing together these six major districts in the country, the volume of buying power was able to push the price of recyclables down to polystyrene,” says Margaret Lopez, Dallas ISD director of nutrition. “In the future, hopefully they will be available to smaller districts as well.”

James Bowie Elementary: Zero tolerance for treats How one Oak Cliff school is changing its students’ eating and exercising habits

No celebrations featuring sweets took place at James Bowie Elementary this past school year — no Halloween candy, no Valentine’s Day treats, no birthday cupcakes.

It may seem a bit austere, but “we really wanted to do that so parents would understand how serious we were about the changes,” says Sharon Foster.

The hard work paid off. Foster, an 18year veteran physical education teacher, will travel to Washington, D.C., this fall to personally accept — from President Bill Clinton — the Alliance for a Healthier Generation’s Gold National Recognition Award. Bowie is the only Dallas ISD school to receive this designation, and the only one in Texas to earn it two years in a row.

One-hundred percent of Bowie’s students qualify for free and reduced lunch. Because of this, Foster knows her students may not have access to healthy food or safe places to play in their neighborhoods. So she makes sure to pack all she can into each school day.

Foster implemented a school-wide program that encourages two- to three-minute exercises — leg lifts, arm lifts and the like — that they can do right at their desks “just to keep them energized while they’re doing their lessons,” she says. Bowie also added a 20-minute recess to increase ac-

tivity, and piloted a program that gave pedometers to students to track their steps throughout the day.

Nutrition lessons are taught in classrooms and reinforced in the cafeteria, where menu items receive input from a team of eight fourth- and fifth-graders. Foster makes sure any after-school snacks meet the district’s new Smart Snacks standards. “No more hot Cheetos,” she says, referring to the perennially popular snack. Students don’t complain much, however, because they are educated to understand the importance of health.

Just as important as educating students is educating their parents, Foster says.

“They go home and they talk to their parents about the foods that they should be eating,” Foster says. “They go shopping with their parents and help them select food for them to eat.”

Bowie made one exception to its celebration rule this past year — the last day of school. The week prior, the school sent home a letter instructing parents to bring nothing but fruit.

On the final day of the year, Foster was overjoyed to find a table spilling over with watermelon, cantaloupe, grapes and strawberries.

“Now our parents understand what we’ve been trying to do,” she says.

James Bowie Elementary students participate in Jump Rope for Heart: Photo courtesy of Dallas ISD

Source: Dallas ISD food and child nutrition services

BUSINESS BUZZ

The lowdown on what’s up with neighborhood businesses

Send business news tips to livelocal@advocatemag.com

Getting naughty on West Davis

The pop-up restaurant at Trinity Groves, Kitchen LTO, spawned a permanent Oak Cliff restaurant. Pink Magnolia, a southernfood spot from chef Blythe Beck, who is known as the Naughty Chef, and LTO owner Casie Caldwell, is expected to open in the former Driftwood space on West Davis in September.

New digs for chocolate shop

CocoAndré Chocolatier closed its shop on West Davis at Tyler in July with plans to open a new shop closer to the center of Bishop Arts, at 508 W. Seventh at Adams. Chocolatier Andrea Pedraza first opened her shop in 2009. The family business bought the house on Seventh last year and has been converting it to a shop and chocolate production facility since then. The new space is much larger, so Pedraza can offer expanded shop space, coffee and pastries, along with her chocolate. There also will be space for Pedraza to offer hands-on classes and chocolate lectures.

Houndstooth signs on at Sylvan Thirty

Austin-based Houndstooth Coffee signed a lease at Sylvan Thirty, with plans to open its second Dallas location next year. Houndstooth was established on North Lamar in Austin in 2010 and later expanded to Congress Avenue. Its first Dallas location opened on North Henderson at Monarch

in August 2014. That Henderson space was vacated by Pearl Cup, which had lost its lease. A little background: Pearl Cup had been announced as a Sylvan Thirty tenant in February 2012, before the mixed-use development had been constructed. The latest Houndstooth also will include a new food concept that is in development, according to a media release from Sylvan Thirty. Houndstooth is expected to open at Sylvan Thirty in the first quarter of 2016.

Common Desk opens

The Common Desk co-working space opened its Oak Cliff location at 633 W. Davis in June. A dedicated space — either a desk or office — costs $400 a month. And a membership with no dedicated space costs $200. The daily drop-in rate is $25. SMU grad Nick Clark started Common Desk in Deep Ellum in 2013. It was so successful that the company will expand its Deep Ellum space by 30 percent. Common Desk hired 44 Build, the design and build-out company whose resume includes the Local Oak and Goodfriend Beer Garden and Burger House, which also designed the Deep Ellum location. Clark says clients in Deep Ellum come from all over Dallas and the suburbs. In Oak Cliff, almost everyone who has leased a space lives in the neighborhood, he says. “Oak Cliff has a very strong sense of community already,” he says. “Community is important to our business. I think it’s going to create an atmosphere that is unmatched.”

People

Some of the The Dallas Morning News’ top writers took voluntary buyouts recently, including Roy Appleton, who covered Oak Cliff.

A film studio bought the rights to the 2014 biography “Blood Aces: The Wild Ride of Benny Binion,” about a Dallas gangster who went on to reinvent Las Vegas casinos. Relativity, the company behind “The Fast and the Furious” and “The Fighter,” among many others, has acquired the rights to the book, according to Deadline. Relativity pegged Cliff Dorfman, the head writer for HBO’s “Entourage,” to adapt Dallas Morning News investigative reporter Doug J. Swanson’s book to a screenplay. Binion, a lifelong racketeer who invented the World Series of Poker, had West Dallas connections.

Obituary

Kipenzi, the giraffe whose birth was broadcast on Animal Planet and over live Internet feed from the Dallas Zoo, died suddenly in an accident in July. She was not quite 4 months old. On July 28, zookeepers were herding the giraffes inside; Kipenzi made a sharp turn while scampering around, “as she loved to do,” they said. She hit a corner, broke three vertebrae in her neck and died instantly. “Our hearts are broken,” the Dallas Zoo stated via Instagram. “Please keep the entire Dallas Zoo family in your thoughts.”

Transportation

The city recently invested $135,000 to improve the Jefferson Viaduct bikeway and create bike lanes between Colorado and the bridges. The money came from general funds set aside for bicycle lanes and bond funding for the Houston Street Viaduct rehab project. The city replaced flimsy yellow pylons with sturdier ones, trade name Tuff Post Flexible Posts, which can withstand an impact of about 45 miles per hour.

HAVE AN ITEM TO BE FEATURED?

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

PRESENTED BY

A HEALTHY LIFESTYLE WITHIN REACH

Oak Cliff is home to some of the best restaurants and boutiques in Dallas, but did you know that it’s also minutes away from nationally recognized health and wellness facilities?

Whether you’re a 20-something yoga addict or a Baby Boomer recovering from an injury, acclaimed doctors and trainers are easily accessible and ready to help achieve the personal fitness — and lifestyle — you desire.

METHODIST DALLAS: PATIENT-CENTERED CARE

When medical attention is needed to restore health and wellness, it’s important to find a facility where doctors are passionate about helping patients.

For more than 12 years, The Liver Institute at Methodist Dallas has been a comprehensive, multidisciplinary disease management center specializing in patient care and diseases of the liver, bile ducts and pancreas.

“We provide on-call service to all of our patients 24 hours and seven days per week,” says Miya McClary, Methodist Health liver services marketing coordinator.

“Our team is as diverse as the patient population that is served, which provides a personal understand-

ing of cultural norms and beliefs that can impact individual care needs,” McClary says.

Earlier this year, Tracy Giacoma, vice president of transplant services at Methodist Dallas, received the national Deedle Heckenkemper leader award in transplant administration.

“Being able to serve the brave individuals who seek transplantation has been a privilege I never have nor ever will take for granted,” Giacoma says.

The Liver Institute at Methodist Dallas recently added new imaging technology to assess metabolic liver disease cirrhosis and initiated new clinical trials in the study of fatty liver disease.

the Baylor Tom Landry Health and Wellness Center can help just about anyone who walks through its doors.

The Health and Wellness Center rst opened in anuary . But that doesn’t mean the facility lacks modern conveniences and technology.

We recently completed a million renovation says shley aton Landry membership sales and marketing manager.

The Health and Wellness Center’s locker rooms received a facelift and ve new family locker rooms were added among various other improvements.

New staff members have contributed further to the exciting changes at the facility.

ustin Walters our new strength and conditioning coach runs our Baylor Sports Performance Academy for elite athletes. Walters has worked with Olympic medal-winning athletes and served as an assistant coach for the Chicago Cubs aton says.

At the Landry Health and Wellness Center the variety of studiouality group classes is worth the membership alone. Barre a uatic tness and reformer classes are just a sample of what’s offered weekly.

We offer classes geared towards men and women of all ages and tness levels including daily classes for people and over aton says.

LEARN MORE

methodisthealthsystem.org/dallas

la dry t ess. om

Christopher York was not a swimmer two years ago. The best he could do was tread water. Now he swims circles around competitors in triathlons.

For aspiring athletes, or anyone who wants to be faster, stronger and ahead of the game, personalized training is a stroke of genius.

Complimentary one week pass and 50% off the enrollment fee when you join. Call 214.820.7872

BAPTIST

CLIFF TEMPLE BAPTIST CHURCH / 125 Sunset Ave. / 214.942.8601

Serving Oak Cliff since 1899 / CliffTemple.org

English and Spanish / 9:30 am Sunday School / 10:45 am Worship

CATHOLIC

UNIVERSITY OF DALLAS MINISTRY CONFERENCE / udallas.edu/udmc

October 22-24, 2015 / Sponsored by Catholic Diocese of Dallas

Sessions on Faith, Scripture, & Ministry / Exhibitors / Music / Mass

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

NON-DENOMINATIONAL

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

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

PRESBYTERIAN

OAK CLIFF PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH / 6000 S. Hampton Road

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

LOVE AT YOUR OWN RISK

One year ago in this space I wrote about what our beagle Rosie had taught me: unconditional love, wonder, dependence on others. But in November, Rosie started to refuse food, her favorite time of day. Over a few months she ate less and less and we soon learned that she was experiencing acute kidney failure. In March we buried her in the backyard under a beautiful, shady vine with a small concrete angel to mark the spot.

It was tough, and I’m not even a dog lover. She was a part of our family. Plus, she was so easy to make happy — so much easier than to make humans happy!

Having a pet signals a strange choice. We open our hearts to love these little creatures while knowing that we likely will watch them grow old, and that one day we will say goodbye. To love them is to accept their eventual departure. But we make the choice again and again.

Love is the great risk. When we love, we put our hearts on our sleeves and hope for the best, knowing that they could get tromped on. It’s the choice in marriage: for better or for worse, in sickness and in health. ‘Til death do you part.

MORE THAN A MAGAZINE

In his poem “Love’s As Warm As Tears,” C.S. Lewis writes, “Love’s as fresh as spring/ Love is spring:/ Bird-song in the air/ Cool smells in a wood/ Whispering ‘Dare! Dare!’/ To sap, to blood/ Telling “Ease, safety, rest/ Are good; not best.”

To love is to dare. But it’s a good, healthy dare. Choosing to love brings more goodness, more joy and more hopefulness to our lives than any potential sadness. On the other hand, to not give and receive genuine love ranks among the greatest tragedies of life. It leaves us scrounging in our own self-sufficiency, detached from our natural inclination to

be social animals and stingy in sharing our gifts with others.

Paul in the Bible called love “the most excellent way,” affirming love as a kind of road to the best possible life. He said that when everything is said and done, “faith, hope and love remain, these three; and of them all, love is the greatest.” (1 Corinthians 13:13) Why is love the great-

Love endures. It transcends hurt and loss, even life and death. It’s the most excellent way to a better you, a better neighborhood and a better city.

est? Each of the three point to a better day, and life would be cruel without them. Faith is what we trust in when things are uncertain; hope is what we long for. But one day the need for faith and hope will cease. An old hymn says, “Faith will vanish into sight, hope be emptied in delight, love in heaven will shine more bright ...” Love endures. It transcends hurt and loss, even life and death. It’s the most excellent way to a better you, a better neighborhood and a better city.

Love is the path that leads to the best possible world.

So love the ones around you bravely. Love your pets. Love yourself. Love your neighbors.

“Dare! Dare!”

Heartbreak is inevitable, but the reward is everlasting

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.

Dance party

Los Patos Poderosos , a Denton-based cumbia band, performed at the Wild Detectives in July.

CLASSES/TUTORING/ LESSONS

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PIANO LESSONS All ages & levels. Over 20 years experience. Oak Cliff area. Call Tim at 214-989-7093

EMPLOYMENT

AVIATION GRADS Work with JetBlue, Boeing, Delta and Others. Start Here With Hands On Training For FAA Certification. Financial Aid If Qualified. Aviation Institute Of Maintenance. 866-453-6204

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PET SERVICES

GREEN PET DELIVERS FREE TO OAK CLIFF All natural dog/ cat food, treats/supplies. 214-942-6042, greenpetdallas.com SMART DOG DALLAS Daycare, Boarding, Training, Chauffeur. 214-884-7529

BUY/SELL/TRADE

OLD GUITARS WANTED Gibson, Fender, Gretsch, Martin. 1930s-1980s. Top dollar paid. Toll Free 1-866-433-8277

TEXAS RANGERS AND DALLAS STARS

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

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

Photo by Scott Wayne McDaniel

AC & HEAT

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CABINETRY & FURNITURE

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

CARPENTRY & REMODELING

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

FENN CONSTRUCTION Full Service Contractor. www.dallastileman.com Back Splash Specials! 214-343-4645

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

RENOVATE DALLAS

renovatedallas.com 214-403-7247

CLEANING SERVICES

AFFORDABLE, PROFESSIONAL CLEANING

A Clean You Can Trust Staff trained by Nationally Certified Cleaning Tech. Chemical-free, Green, or Traditional Cleaning. WindsorMaidServices.com 214-381-MAID (6243)

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

TWO SISTERS & A MOP 20 Yrs Exp. 214-242-9885

WINDOW MAN WINDOW CLEANING.COM

Residential Specialists. BBB. 214-718-3134

CONCRETE/ MASONRY/PAVING

ALL EPOXY COATINGS, CONCRETE

Countertops, Stamping, Staining & Designs, Floor Demo and Overlays

Landscape Designs Call 214-916-8368

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

BRICK, STONEWORK, FLAGSTONE PATIOS Mortar Repair. Straighten Brick Mailboxes & Columns. Call Cirilo 214-298-7174

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

ELECTRICAL SERVICES

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

ANTHONY’S ELECTRIC Master Electrician. TECL24948 anthonyselectricofdallas.com

Family Owned/Operated. Insd. 214-328-1333

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

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

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

EXTERIOR CLEANING

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

FENCING & DECKS

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

4 QUALITY FENCING Call Mike 214-507-9322

Specializing in Wood, New or Repair.

FENCING & WOOD WORK oldgatefence.com charliehookerswoodwork.com 214-766-6422

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

#1

EST. 1991

COWBOY

FENCE & IRON CO.

214.692.1991

SPECIALIZING IN Wood Fences &Auto Gates

cowboyfenceandiron.com

FLOORING & CARPETING

FENN CONSTRUCTION Full Service Contractor. www.dallastileman.com Back Splash Specials! 214-343-4645

THE TEXAN FLOORING SERVICES Wood, Laminate. Remodel Showers, Bathrooms. thetexanflooringservices.com 214-680-0901

214.560.4203 TO ADVERTISE

FLOORING & CARPETING

CARPET · HARDWOODS · CERAMIC Quick, Reliable Installation

John: 972.989.3533

john.roemen@redicarpet.com

REDI CARPET

Reinventing the Flooring Experience

Willeford

GARAGE SERVICES

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

GLASS, WINDOWS & DOORS

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

HANDYMAN SERVICES

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

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

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

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

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

·

HOUSE

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

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

KITCHEN/BATH/ TILE/GROUT

FENN CONSTRUCTION Full Service Contractor. www.dallastileman.com Back Splash Specials! 214-343-4645

STONE AGE COUNTER TOPS Granite, Marble, Tile, Kitchen/Bath Remodels. 972-276-9943.stoneage.dennis@verizon.net

TK REMODELING 972-533-2872

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

LAWNS, GARDENS & TREES

A BETTER TREE COMPANY • JUST TREES Complete tree services. Tree & Landscape Lighting! Mark 214-332-3444

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

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

HOLMAN IRRIGATION

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

IRISH RAIN SPRINKLER SYSTEMS TXL#2738 Repair, Stonework & Drains 214-827-7446

LSI LAWN SPRINKLERS “Making Water Work” Irrigation system Service & Repair. Specializing In Older Copper Systems. LI #13715. 214-283-4673

OCT. DEADLINE SEPT. 9

LAWNS, GARDENS & TREES

ORTIZ LAWNCARE Complete Yard Care. Service by Felipe. Free Est. 214-215-3599

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

JUST

JD’s Tree Service

ROOFING

Allstate

THE MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE OF ALEJANDRO ARZOLA

BERT

SKYLIGHTS

Installing Since 1995

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

PLUMBING

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

ANDREWS PLUMBING • 214-354-8521

# M37740 Insured. Any plumbing issues. plumberiffic69@gmail.com

Sewers • Drains • Bonded 24 Hours/7 Days

*Joe Faz 214-794-7566 - Se Habla Español*

ARRIAGA PLUMBING: General Plumbing

Since the 80’s. Insured. Lic# M- 20754 214-321-0589, 214-738-7116, CC’s accepted.

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

CLASSIFIEDS.ADVOCATEMAG.COM

SHOWCASE YOUR SPACE

972-985-1700

2830 W. 15th St. Plano, TX 75075 www.DaylightRangers.com

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

On the afternoon of June 20, Alejandro Arzola of Oak Cliff was driving along Northwest Highway toward the Interstate 635 onramp when he crashed and rolled his blue Dodge Ram truck in an apparent single-car accident.

Afterward, he called his girlfriend and told her he’d been in an accident. He was OK, he told her, and he asked her to pick him up. According to 32-year-old Arzola’s family, the girlfriend did not have a car and could not reach him. He’d have to find another way home.

When Dallas Police officers arrived at the scene, they found the wrecked truck but no Arzola. At first, everyone assumed he’d found another ride, but hours and days went by and no one heard from him. Arzola’s family is still searching for answers.

“It is not like him to disappear, and for over a month, it is just not something he would do,” sister Yadira Arzola says. He has two children, ages 13 and 5, and the eldest is worried to tears some days, she says.

“We are trying to stick together and support the kids,” she says, “but it this really hard, and confusing.”

Arzola says her brother drinks alcohol occasionally but has no known history of substance abuse or mental problems. She says she “has no idea” if he was drinking the day he disappeared.

She says she thinks he might have been shaken or shocked following the accident. During that last phone call, when his girlfriend asked where he was, he seemed initially confused, Arzola says.

He grew up in Dallas, in Oak Cliff mostly. The close-knit family has always lived around the central and northeast Dallas region, so he should be familiar with the area, she says.

Anyone with information is asked to call Dallas police at 214.671.4268.

—Christina Hughes Babb

CRIME NUMBERS |

-year-old Talal Ali Chammout, an Uber driver accused of raping a woman who was his passenger, in her home near Stevens Park

fraudulent limo driver’s license “slipped through the cracks” at Uber; Chammout is a felon who should not have been authorized to drive for the company, a city spokeswoman said

years, approximately, that Chammout served in federal prison on weapons charges

illegal firearms seized from his home in 2006, including three AK-47s and five Beretta pistols

bond on which Chammout is being held; he is charged with aggravated sexual assault

CHRYSANTHEMUM DAYS

In

the world of homecoming mums, Joyce Florist was king

Homecoming is a tradition that stretches back to Texas college football in the early 1900s.

The iconic homecoming mums came around many decades later, probably in the 1940s. It was a gift of a fresh chrysanthemum corsage given by a boy to his homecoming date. The origin of the tradition is unclear, but by the 1950s, homecoming mums were embedded in Texas culture.

A September 1953 story in the Dallas Morning News told ladies how to “take the lovely flower with you all day in the

form of a corsage,” along with a tutorial. “The ribbon in school or team colors will add school spirit to the homecoming football game,” the story advised.

In Oak Cliff, from the 1950s through the 1970s, there was one florist known for making festive homecoming mums.

Joyce Florist has been operating on South Hampton for about 70 years.

The business started out in Elmwood as the Cart Shop and moved to its current location, a former Dairy Mart, in the late 1950s.

The shop changed names after Bob

Joyce bought it in the ’60s.

Sunset High School alumnus Richard Malmos worked as a delivery driver for Joyce from 1974-75 (he remembers celebrating after asking for and receiving a raise to $2.50 an hour).

“Bob Joyce was like a character out of a movie,” Malmos says. “He was an old-school Texan.”

He remembers Joyce as standing about 6-foot-4 and some 300 pounds, a chain smoker with a heavy Texas accent. Joyce drove a big pick-up truck and bought a brand-new one every few

The 1964 Sunset High School Bisonettes show homecoming spirit with mums: Photo from the Sundial yearbook, courtesy of the Sunset High School Alumni Association

years, Malmos says.

“He was a hardcore guy to work for because he expected a lot out of everyone,” Malmos says. “But it was a fun job. How bad could it be? You’re delivering flowers to people.”

Malmos, now a voice actor in Los Angeles, had a signature line when recipients answered the door: “Delivery from Joyce Florist.”

Vivian Yates Skinner, a Carter High School alumna, remembers how thrilling it was to receive a box from Joyce on homecoming.

“It was delivered in a white cardboard box with a silver Joyce label,” she recalls.

Nowadays, mums can be big enough to cover the entire front of a person’s body. They can cost as much as $300 each and sometimes come with three huge silk flowers, teddy bears, candy, bells, whistles and even lights.

But in the ’60s, those homecoming sweethearts lucky enough to receive a mum from Joyce would find in the box a fresh chrysanthemum, “which smelled heavenly,” Skinner says. It would have a few long ribbons with your name written with glue and glitter, plus a little cowbell or two, Skinner says.

Teresa Chamberlain-Branch, a graduate of Carter High School, remembers wearing her mum to church on the Sunday after homecoming. Girls would put masking tape on their mums’ cowbells so they wouldn’t make noise in church, “and we left a trail of glitter behind us,” she says.

Chamberlain-Branch went to work for

Joyce for a few years in the late ’70s. At that time, the florist had a team of professional floral designers, so at first, they mostly gave her menial tasks, such as cleaning floors or dethorning roses.

But when homecoming season came around, none of the floral designers liked making mums, so they let her do as many as she wanted. And she found she liked it.

“It was a lot of glue and a lot of glitter,” she says. “I’ve just always thought it was fun.”

After that, they let her work on floral arrangements and she went on to make a career of it, even owning a small floral shop in Central Texas for a few years. Since her days at Joyce, she’s always made mums as a florist as well as for her own sons’ homecoming dates. They still used fresh chrysanthemums in the ’70s, she says, and she thinks silk flowers became the norm in the ’80s.

A former employee of Joyce, Gloria Garcia, bought the shop in 1997 with her daughter Jolisa Castillo, and even though mums have become something of a cottage industry in Texas, homecoming is still a busy time for Joyce.

Garcia’s granddaughter Alyssa Gray now manages the shop and makes about 30-45 mums every fall, she says.

Gray’s own homecoming mum is in the shop’s display.

There’s no more messy glitter; they now use decals to spell the wearer’s name on the ribbons. But there are other hazards.

“Thank you teachers for the investment you make in our children every day!

Oak Cliff has a bright future thanks to you!

Have a successful 2015-2016 school year!”

· Ged Dipprey ·

Each Transactions Matters, Thank You Oak Cliff!

Recent Oak Cliff Solds 638 TENNA LOMA CT. 610 N. WINDOMERE AVE 914 N. EDGEFIELD AVE 906 N. EDGEFIELD AVE 1915 W. 10th ST. Buyers Rep 101 N. MONTCLAIR AVE 940 N. MONTCLAIR AVE 1635 TAFT ST. 715 N. HAMPTON RD

“I always get so many burns from the hot glue,” Gray says.

—Rachel Stone

Sunset cheerleaders at the 1965 homecoming game against Adamson: Photo from the Sundial yearbook, courtesy of the Sunset High School Alumni Association

An Ebby Halliday Company