2013 January Oak Cliff

People. Energy. Community.

Thinking, breathing, living Oak Cliff everyday

Nine ‘Cliff Dwellers’ collectively represent over 110 years of residency in The Cliff. We are proud to be a part of a thriving community with energy, soul and passion unique to our area. We collectively live in six of the many distinctive Oak Cliff neighborhoods, and would love for you to choose an OC neighbor to help with your next real estate purchase or sale.

Brian Davis, Brian Bleeker, Steve Habgood, Kathy Hewitt, Becky Connatser, Mike Bates, Melissa O’Brien, Ged Dipprey. Not pictured: Paul Womack.

A few reasons we live, work and play in Oak Cliff.

There is a unique chemistry here. Great things are happening every day and innovative projects are bringing people to our area.”

Melissa O’Brien DAVE PERRY-MILLER AGENT OAK CLIFF RESIDENT

Pet hall of fame

After my wife’s conversion, ours includes cats

When I first met my wife, she wasn’t a “cat person.” She grew up in a family with dogs, and they were her “go to” pets.

When I grew up, we had a farm overflowing with animals — cats, a dog, cattle and chickens, along with the occasional horse and pig.

My wife’s dogs had the run of her house. They were part of the family, and she talks about the ones that were standouts — Big Dog, CB, Elvis — as she describes their escapades during the long small-town Texas summers.

Animals on our farm, though, were there for a purpose rather than entertainment. The cattle were there to provide food or breed, with their calves sold each year to help pay our bills. The chickens produced eggs to eat, the pigs typically wound up in our freezer, and we always kept one cow to provide our milk each day. The horses were my sisters’ youth agriculture projects, the cats lived in the barn and chased down mice and rats, and the dog was the intruder alarm system.

Anyway, when we married, my wife politicked constantly for a dog. But dogs need lots of attention, and since we both worked outside the home, that wasn’t possible. So I suggested instead that we get a cat, because they sleep most of the day anyway. And so we did.

Our first cat was friendly and loving, but it developed a serious problem that led to a week’s stay at an emergency vet facility. The cat recovered after a long and expensive stay, and when it came home, it loved us just the same.

But it hated — and I do mean hated — everyone else. Which was fine because we didn’t have a lot of visitors back then anyway.

Its eventual replacement has a place in my wife’s pet hall of fame: Spike trailed my wife throughout the house as first one son, and then another, was born and grew. It was common to see all four of them (my wife, two tiny sons and the cat) clambered together in a rocking chair, watching Winnie the Pooh at two in the morning when one son was sick and the other couldn’t sleep.

That cat wanted to be in the middle of everything; he was “Nana Kitty,” the self-appointed third parent. We rescued it from the SPCA primarily because when our almost 2-year-old saw the cat, he accidentally picked it up with an under-the-neck chokehold, and the cat just hung there like a rag doll, enjoying the attention.

Spike lived with us 13 years, until his little body finally gave out.

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RACHEL STONE

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B RITTANY N UNN

Now, as I write this column, our two cats (both rescued from local shelters, one after a car accident claimed its front left leg when it was 12 weeks old) are curled up next to my wife. They’re purring and occasionally stirring a bit just to make sure they’re not missing anything.

My wife is now a cat person. She claims she can look at the cats’ faces and tell what they’re thinking.

I look at their faces, and all I see are two round eyes staring back. I’m sure there’s something going on back there, but I choose not to worry about it.

If they’re hungry or thirsty, they let us know. And they’re no longer animals or even pets. Instead, they’re always hanging around with us, just like family.

Because that’s what they are.

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That cat wanted to be in the middle of everything; he was “nana Kitty,” the self-appointed third parent.

High dollar hope for Jefferson Boulevard

“Most of our efforts will be on activating the storefronts and what’s happening there on the sidewalk. … We want to embrace and cater to the Hispanic demographic that exists there. … It’s not going to happen all at once. It took Bishop Arts quite some time. It’s going to happen organically.”

—JimLake Jr. on an $8 million plan to renovate Jefferson Tower and retail spaces in the 300 block of Jefferson Boulevard, excerpted from oakcliff.advocatemag.com

Find additional Jefferson Boulevard news on page 11.

The wait for Sylvan Thirty construction is finally over — almost

Cox Farms Market and other tenants could open as soon as fall 2013, according to an announcement from Sylvan Thirty. Developer Brent Jackson has put up construction fences around the site, between I-30 and Fort Worth Avenue off Sylvan, and the city is expected to issue a building permit in mid-January. “After that, we can start cleaning and preparing the site for construction,” an announcement states. Construction originally was supposed to start this past May, but permitting apparently was delayed by bureaucratic hang-ups. Here is the schedule Jackson released in December:

grocery tenant, Cox Farms Market, in summer 2013.

ness in fall 2013.

beginning of 2014.

Launch

community | events | food

Ramblin’ man

Jacob Metcalf lives in a Volkswagen van that’s parked in the backyard of a friend’s house in Winnetka Heights. This van has no air conditioning, no heater. It’s not especially comfortable. But it serves a purpose. Metcalf is in training, he says. His musician father told him years ago that if he wanted to pursue a career in music, he had to be prepared to sleep on the floor of a bus. His dad didn’t realize he would take that advice so sincerely, Metcalf says. “I think he was a little surprised by that,” he says. Metcalf, who is a member of two local folk bands, has traveled extensively to foreign countries. And now he wants to see as much of the United States as he can. That’s part of what he’s training for. “I want to be able to tell people in other countries where they should go in the states,” he says. Aside from the roughing-it-life training, Metcalf is working on his first solo album, which he hopes will be released this coming summer.

see Jacob Metcalf on page 8

Photo by Danny Fulgencio

Continued from page 6

The album has been a long time coming. “Almost everything begins at this log I’ve been keeping for 10 years,” he says. Take, for example, the six-month trip by bus through Mexico to Panama, including the weeks he spent camping with friends and playing cards every night. The time he was robbed and held captive south of the border. The semester he spent in Greece, when he traveled to Turkey, Egypt and Germany. The 15-day trip to India, when he had a fever of 105 and had to take a two-hour tuk-tuk ride to see a country doctor. All of that is in Metcalf’s journals, along with the mundane, the joyful, the heartbreaking, the everyday stories of people he meets. “I guess I never really sit down to write a song,” he says. “I’ll see a twist of words that I really like. Sometimes I play surgeon, and I suture passages together.” Other times, he is an abstractionist, making parts of his own stories simpler. When not playing shows with the Fox and the Bird or Dallas Family Band, Metcalf works as a private music teacher and as a baker at Emporium Pies. He doesn’t have a phone, although he uses Google voice. And he doesn’t have a car, favoring a second-hand Trek road bike. He is therefore less distracted than most people his age. It is a surprise to look up, after fiddling with an app on one’s iPhone, and find Metcalf smiling patiently, intently. He likes to study other performers, from folk singers and indie rockers to rappers, such as Kanye West. He wants to get down to the essence of what makes an amazing performance.

He tries to book shows intermittently because he figures if his performances are more rare, audiences will be more curious. And he doesn’t like to perform sets that are longer than about an hour. “I always like to leave people wanting more,” he says. Metcalf performs at the Kessler Theater Dec. 30. He tours West Texas with the Fox and the Bird in January. —Rachel Stone

TYRA E. QUESENBERRY Licensed Massage Therapist

January

Art Scavenger Hunt 10 am – 2 pm

Children’s Art Activity

10 am – 12 noon

Art in Action Sculpture Demo

10 am – 12:30 pm

Family Tours

Hourly from 10:15 am – 12:15 pm

Yoga in the Garden 11:30 am

Presented by YogaSport (weather permitting)

Creative Writing with The Writer’s Garret 12 pm

Storytime with Dallas Public Library 12:30 pm

NasherKids Live! 1 pm

Creative Dramatics Workshop with Dallas Children’s Theater

NasherKids Meal at Nasher Cafe

11 am – 2 pm

NasherSculptureCenter.org

Jacob Metcalf, surrounded by instruments in Winnetka Heights. He is working on his first solo album. Photo by Danny Fulgencio

what gives?

Small ways that you can make a big difference for nonprofits

Tutor a child … through Trinity River Mission, a West Dallas-based nonprofit, whose aim is to stop the escalating number of minority students who drop out of school. Trinity River Mission needs volunteers for afterschool tutoring programs for students in third-12th grades. They also need mentors, “reading buddies” and other volunteers. Fill out an online application at trinityrivermission.org or call 214.744.6774.

Pull on your wellies … and help keep the Trinity River Audubon Center pristine. The center holds a “habitat restoration day” every second Saturday, from 9 a.m.-noon. The next ones are Jan. 11 and Feb. 8. Volunteers help to clear and expand existing trails, remove invasive species and restore prairie and wetland habitats. Many other volunteer opportunities are available at the center as well. 6500 Great Trinity Forest Way, 214.398.8722, trinityriver.audubon.org.

Strap on your sneakers … and start training for the Dash for the Beads 5k race, which is on Saturday, Feb. 9. Registration costs $30 before Jan. 30. After that, it goes up to $35. A one-mile run costs $20 for adults and $15 for children. Registration includes a T-shirt, post-race beer from Rahr brewery, kids’ activities and a costume contest. Proceeds benefit Fido Oak Cliff, which aims to build a dog park in our neighborhood. Dashforthebeads.org, 214.509.7555.

KNOW OF WAYS that neighbors can spend time, attend an event, or purchase or donate something to benefit a neighborhood nonprofit? Email your suggestion to launch@advocatemag.com.

Out & About

January 2013

Jan. 11

Neil Hamburger and Tim Heidecker

Get ready for a night full of laughs. The Parade of Flesh brings funnyman Neil Hamburger and comedian Tim Heidecker to the theater from 7-10 p.m. The Kenny “K-Strass” Strasser Yo-Yo Extravaganza (how’s that for a name?) and DJ Douggpound also perform. Tickets are available online. The Texas Theatre, 231 W. Jefferson, 214.948.1546, thetexastheatre.com, $16 in advance, $20 at the door

DEC. 31

New Year’s Eve

Sarah Jaffe kicks off the new year with a 9 p.m. performance.

The Kessler Theater, 1230 W. Davis, 214.272.8346, thekessler.org, $22.50$37.50

JAN. 8

Education round table

Parents exploring school options for their kids can attend this discussion of schools around the neighborhood at 7 p.m. Teachers and administrators will give brief overviews of their schools, and parents can ask them questions.

Oddfellows, 316 W. Seventh, 214.944.5958, free

JAN. 12-20

MFA reopening

The Mighty Fine Arts gallery reopens Jan. 12, a few doors down from its previous spot, with artists Jennifer and Matthew Guest’s “Doing Wrong Right.” The gallery is open noon-5 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays or by appointment.

Mighty Fine Arts, 409 N. Tyler, 214.942.5241, mfagallery.com, free

JAN. 15, 18

Lucinda Williams

At 7 p.m. both nights, doors open for Grammy-winning artist Lucinda Williams. Tickets, available online, are going fast. The Kessler Theater, 1230 W. Davis, 214.272.8346, thekessler.org, $25 standing

JAN. 17

NFL legend speaks

Everson Walls, formerly of the Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants, talks during TeCo Theatrical Productions’ speaker series at 7 p.m. about his book, “A Gift for Ron,” and organization, the Gift for Life Foundation, created after Walls donated a kidney to a friend and Cowboys teammate. The foundation works to educate minority communities on chronic kidney disease prevention. Bishop Arts Theatre Center, 215 S. Tyler, 214.948.0716, tecotheater.org, $15

Jan. 23

‘Art with a View’

Bruce Lee Webb’s work is on display in the lounge for six weeks. A 6-9 p.m. reception with the artist features happy hour prices at Bar Belmont. Belmont Hotel, 901 Fort Worth, 866.870.8010, belmontdallas. com, free

BUSINESS BUZZ

The lowdown on what’s up with neighborhood businesses

Send business news tips to LIVELOCAL@ADVOCATEMAG.COM

Oak

Cliff Soup Co. launches

Neighborhood resident Dina LightMcNeely has launched a soup-delivery service, Oak Cliff Soup Co. It works like this: Every Monday, she publishes a menu on her website, ocsoup.com. Typically, there is one vegetarian, one vegan and one other option. Orders are due by Wednesday, and delivery or pickup is Friday or Saturday, respectively. The soups cost $15 each and come in a 32-ounce mason jar, plus a $1 deposit on the jar. “It’s kind of like the milk man,” Light-McNeely says. “If you send it back to us, we don’t charge you the dollar again.” LightMcNeely says she “cooked her way through undergrad and grad school,” and friends have been urging to sell her delicious homemade soups for years, she says. She finally went for it after she was laid off from her job in marketing, after an 18-year career.

Las Ramblas inspires Jefferson makeover

City Councilwoman Delia Jasso is working with City Design Studio in preliminary plans to create an open-air market and pedestrian thoroughfare on Jefferson Boulevard. The plan is inspired by Las Ramblas in Barcelona. The plan calls for taking Jefferson down to two lanes of car traffic, widening the median, removing curbs and adding concrete pavers. They’re also working on a safer, pedestrian friendly connection from Jefferson to Davis on Bishop. That work would be paid for with $1.47 million in bond borrowing approved in the November election. The Las Ramblas plan could be bolstered by Jim Lake Jr.’s plan to buy the Jefferson Tower office building and connecting retail in the 300 block of West Jefferson with

More business bits

plans to renovate it. The city approved a $1.5 million economic development grant for the project, for which it will be eligible once the developer has spent $6 million on renovations.

Safety Glass to move after 72 years in Bishop Arts

Brian Dimock, the third-generation owner of his family’s business, says he is moving Safety Glass Co. out of the Bishop Arts District. Dimock’s grandfather opened the business in 1940, and Dimock says he needs more space. He plans to reopen in a warehouse space at Sylvan and Seale in January or February, once the city issues him a certificate of occupancy. After that, he plans to lease out the 2,600-square-foot space at 316 W. Davis. Next door, Sarah Lombardi plans to open two restaurants. One is Oak Cliff Mercantile, in the building known by the same name. A “coming soon” sign for OC Mercantile describes it as an “eatery, taproom and commons.” In the former El Padrino taco stand, Lombardi is planning Dog House, serving hot dogs and frozen custard.

more business buzz every week on

GET IN CONTACT

Oak Cliff Soup Co. 214.267.8362

OCSOUP.COM

Safety Glass 316 W. DAVIS 214.941.0321

SAFETYGLASSCO.COM

Oak Cliff Mercantile 330 W. DAVIS

FACEBOOK.COM/ OAKCLIFFMERCANTILE

Lockhart Smokehouse 400 W. DAVIS 214.944.5521

LOCKHARTSMOKEHOUSE.COM

Mighty Fine Arts 409A N. TYLER

214.942.5241

MFAGALLERY.COM

Alta West Davis 1836 W. DAVIS 855.858.6008

ALTAWESTDAVIS.COM

Hattie’s 418 N. BISHOP 214.942.7400

HATTIES.COM

Dude, Sweet Chocolate 408 W. EIGHTH 214.943.5943

DUDESWEETCHOCOLATE.COM

1 Lockhart Smokehouse pit master Will Fleishman last month appeared on the season premiere of “BBQ Pitmasters,” a competitive cooking show on Destination America. 2 Mighty Fine Arts is moving a few doors down, to 409A N. Tyler. The gallery will reopen Jan. 12 with “Doing Wrong Right,” featuring new work by Jennifer and Matthew Guest. 3 Alta West Davis, the 200-unit luxury apartment complex adjacent to Winnetka Heights, opened in December. The Wood Partners property features a workout room with TechnoGym equipment, an in-house bike shop, a lounge-like community room and high-end finish outs. 5 Hattie’s restaurant celebrated 10 years in business in the Bishop Arts District last month. 5 Dude, Sweet Chocolate is expanding. Owner Katherine Clapner has opened a second location in the trendy West Seventh Street area of Fort Worth. She also opened a temporary holiday pop-up shop in Preston Center Plaza, which could become permanent depending on sales, Clapner says.

OAKCLIFF.ADVOCATEMAG.COM/BIZ

Jefferson Boulevard is in for a major transformation. Photo by Can Türkyilmaz

Our friends from across the river love driving to Oak Cliff for the delights of our culinary renaissance. But locals know the favorite breakfast spot in Bishop Arts is this no-frills Mexican diner. Juan and Reina Gonzalez opened El Jordan 17 years ago, and while Bishop Arts changes constantly, little has changed inside this breakfast-and-lunch café next door to Hattie’s. Few menu items are priced over $8. Breakfast plates such as migas and huevos rancheros are served with refried beans and fried potatoes. Posole and caldo de res make warm and flavorful lunches on cold January days. —rachel stone

El Jordan Café

416 N. Bishop 214.941.4451

AmbiAnce: cAfe

Price rAnge: $1.50-$9

Hours: mondAy-fridAy, 8 A.m.-3 P.m.

did you know?

JuAn gonzAlez nAmed His restAurAnt After tHe biblicAl river As An excuse to sHAre tHe gosPel wHen diners Ask About tHe nAme.

left: migas with potatoes and refried beans inset: french toast with bacon and eggs over easy opposite page: caldo de res Photos by elliott muñoz

THREE MORE SPOTS FOR LOCALS ONLY

Restaurant El Padrino

We miss the old taco stand on West Davis at Bishop, but there is another El Padrino. The original opened 20 years ago on Jefferson, and the tiny café still offers all your old El Padrino favorites, plus coffee.

408 W. Jefferson

214.943.3993

Taquería El Si Hay

This taco spot received a recent mention in Texas Monthly, but we’re still claiming it for the ’hood. The tacos are worth waiting in line for, but remember, it’s cash only.

601 W. Davis

214.941.4042

El Tizoncito

Since it opened in our neighborhood in 2009, this Mexico City-style taquería has expanded to Far North Dallas and LemmonAvenue, but we still don’t understand how it hasn’t taken over the world yet.

3404 W. Illinois

214.330.6153

eltizoncitous.com

Château Font-Mars Picpoul ($10) France

In 2004, shortly after the Advocate’s annual Cheap Wine extravaganza and $10 Wine Hall of Fame made its first appearance, I wondered about the future of cheap wine: “The news for those of us who worry about inexpensive wine has not been good. ...”

Turns out I worried way too much.

This year, for the 11th annual Hall of Fame, I added eight wines, and could have put in twice that many. Wine producers, for whatever reason, seem to have decided that the future of the business rests with well-made, affordable wine. Who can argue with that?

The new wines: the Ipsum and Zestos Spanish whites, brought into the United States by Patrick Mata’s Ole Imports, perhaps the best Spanish wine importer in the world; Australia’s Yalumba Y Series, and especially the shiraz/ viogner, riesling and rosé, which may be the beginning of a revolution in Aussie wine; a French pinot noir, Luc Pirlet Pinot Noir les Barriques Reserve; a California syrah from Mandolin; and Château Font-Mars Picpoul, a French white wine. Five wines dropped out from last year, most because they’re no longer available in the Dallas area.

The holdovers in the Hall of Fame include Notorius, a white wine from Sicily, which represents the couple of dozen Sicilian wines that I have enjoyed over the past four years; the $10 wines from California’s Bogle Vineyards, and especially the old vine zinfandel and petite sirah; and the Yellow+Blue 1-liter boxed wines, and especially the torrontes from Argentina.

Also, Dry Creek Fume Blanc, a stellar sauvignon blanc from California; La Fiera Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, a classic Italian red made with the montepulciano grape; and the Santa Julia+ Argentine torrontes and malbec.

Finally, two Spanish sparkling wines, or cavas Cristalino and Segura Viudas; and the countless Gascon wines, white blends from southwestern France, that have become available in the United States over the past year, such as Domaine Tariquet, Domaine Artigaux, Domaine de Pouy, Domaine D’Arton, and Domaine Duffour.—Jeff Siegel

1966 Cliburn Gold Medalist

JEFF SIEGEL’S WEEKLY WINE REVIEWS appear every Wednesday on oakcliff.advocatemag.com

with your wine

Sloppy Joes

This old standby was made for a cold January evening and some great $10 wine, like the La Fiera.

GROCERY LIST

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 onion, finely diced

1 bell pepper, finely diced

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 celery rib, finely diced

1/3 tsp dried thyme

DIRECTIONS

Salt and black pepper to taste

1 1/4 pounds ground beef chuck or sirloin

1/2 c ketchup

1/2 c beer

3 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

Hot pepper sauce to taste

1. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add vegetables and seasoning, and sauté 10 minutes, until onions are clear but not browned.

2. Add ground beef and cook, breaking up any lumps, just until browned, 3 to 4 minutes.

3. Add liquids, bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 15 or 20 minutes until thickened.

Serves 6, takes 30-40 minutes (adapted from Joy of Cooking)

Ask the wine guy

How many calories in a glass of wine?

About 100 in a five-ounce glass, which is the same as an eight-ounce light beer or a flour tortilla.

—Jeff Siegel

DO OAK CLIFF LIKEA TOURIST

Appreciating the unique, fun and beautiful things our neighborhood has to offer

We trust our readers are familiar with neighborhood institutions such as Aunt Stelle’s, El Ranchito, Lake Cliff Park, Belmont Hotel and, of course, our luxurious new friend Margaret Hunt Hill, the bridge. If not, welcome! We’re so glad to have you in the neighborhood. This story is dedicated to the esoteric set, you who ask for the cold salsa at Gonzalez and know the combination to the pool’s gate at a certain hotel. We challenge you, our neighbors, to be tourists in your own backyard. Start by tackling this list of Oak Cliff musts.

TOP TEN RECORDS

338. W. Jefferson, 214.942.7595

Back in the ’50s and ’60s, music lovers could dig through LPs and 45s in more than half a dozen shops in Oak Cliff. Only Top Ten Records still stands, a relic of analog times. Former owner Dub Stark used to say that police officer J.D. Tippit used the phone at the end of the counter just before he was shot and killed by Lee Harvey Oswald following the Kennedy assassination. Most JFK assassination experts doubt that story. But Lee Harvey Oswald apparently did buy a ticket at Top Ten Records to Dick Clark’s show at Dallas Memorial Auditorium, Nov. 22, 1963. Stark also said that Tippit and Oswald assassin Jack Ruby were regular customers. Mike Polk has owned Top Ten since about 1965. He remembers customers’ names, and has a lot of stories to tell.

ALSO SEE: TheOakCliffCulturalCenter

223 W. Jefferson, 214.670.3777, dallasculture.org

The Texas Theatre and Top Ten Records are two historical spots on Jefferson, but the Oak Cliff Cultural Center is the new guy on the block. The center relocated to Jefferson about two years ago, and it regularly offers art exhibits and performances, plus dance and music lessons for children.

HOUSTONSTREET VIADUCT

This 100-year-old bridge is closing soon for construction. The Oak Cliff streetcar will be coming across the bridge sometime in 2014. So enjoy this bit of Dallas history before it is changed. Take a sunrise walk across the bridge. Or be even more adventurous and ride a bike across the Jefferson Street Viaduct and then back across the Houston Street bridge. We suggest wearing a helmet and having a barbecue lunch at Pecan Lodge in the Dallas Farmers Market.

ALSO SEE:

The Downtown view from Stevens Park Golf Course Colorado at Plymouth

Early in the morning, the mist rises off the perfect grass, and the sun comes over the Dallas skyline. It’s one of our neighborhood’s most beautiful vistas, and it’s adjacent to the Second Christian Science Church, an architectural treasure.

THE PEACOCKS OF BECKLEY CLUBESTATES

Beckley and North Shore

No one is sure how the peacocks got there, but there are a lot of them. Take a bike ride across Zang and into this charming little ’hood to peep the peacocks. There are lots of other fowl too, including chickens, turkeys and ducks.

ALSO SEE:

The ducks of Kidd Springs Park

Tyler and Canty

These are urban ducks. They do not suffer non-bread-havers. Bring them crumbs, and they will be your pets.

CHARCO BROILER

413 W. Jefferson, 214.942.6806 charcodallas.com

You know the steer, but when was the last time you actually ate there? At Charco Broiler, a steak lunch with salad, baked potato, Texas toast and iced tea costs less than $12. The cafeteria-style restaurant also offers several burgers and sandwiches, with fries and a drink, for under $5.

ALSO SEE:

The vampiro bloody mary at Mesa

118 W. Jefferson, 214.941.4246, mesadallas.com

This bloody mary will melt your face off. It contains ghost peppers. If you can finish it in less than 30 minutes, it’s free.

Half-price taco Tuesdays at Café Maya

1001 W. Jefferson, 214.948.9900, cafemayadallas.com

Every taco is $1.50 or less on Tuesdays at Café Maya. Try the crispy pork carnitas tacos, which come with a drop of guacamole. Ask for the habanero salsa.

THE TRINITYRIVER AUDUBON CENTER

6500 Great Trinity Forest Way, 214.398.8722 trinityriver.audubon.org

This urban wildlife sanctuary is about a 20-minute drive away. It offers birding, hiking, nature classes and Citizen Science, a program in which the public is invited to help professional scientists monitor the changes in biodiversity at the center. Adult admission costs $6. Senior admission costs $4, and children ages 3-12 are admitted for $3.

ALSO SEE: Trinity River Expeditions

214.941.1757, canoedallas.com

Once you cross the trash raft, the Trinity River has a lot to offer in the way of natural exploration. Oak Cliff resident Charles Allen offers monthly canoe trips on the Trinity River. Guided tours cost $50 per person, and renting a canoe for a self-guided trip costs $60.

Santa Fe Trestle Trail

1837 E. Eighth

This is one of the easiest ways to enjoy the Trinity River. Ride a bike or park your car at the DART rail station and explore the trails. A trestle crosses the river and winds up near an industrial area of South Dallas. It’s worth crossing for the views of Downtown and the Trinity greenbelt.

Twelve Hills Nature Center

Mary Cliff at Kyle, twelvehills.org

Just a few years ago, this little nature center was the site of a crime-ridden apartment complex. Now it is a privately owned park that’s open to the public. The 5-acre center features a short hiking trail and is home to a host of native plants and wildlife.

THE KESSLER THEATER

1230W. Davis, 214.272.8346 thekessler.com

You’ve heard of the Kessler. You drive by it. But too many people say they haven’t seen a show there yet. Is it because you’ve never heard of the band that’s playing? Go see it anyway. All of the Kessler’s concerts are lovingly curated by Jeff Liles, whom the Dallas Observer named “Best Forrest Gump.” Just trust him.

ALSOSEE:

The Texas Theatre

231 W. Jefferson, 214.948.1546, thetexastheatre.com

It’s so much more than just a movie theater. There are dance parties, barart nights, lectures, bands, comedians, art exhibits, record-club nights. And also, movies — first-run blockbusters, repertoire films, classic films shown on 35-mm prints. The Texas has it all.

Bishop Arts Theater

215 S. Tyler, 214.948.0716, tecotheater.org

This tiny theater is one of the only places to see plays in Oak Cliff, and they’re often written and produced by local playwrights. The TeCo theater company also brings jazz performances, produces an annual new play competition and offers a theater-arts summer camp.

LAGRANGE SNOW CONES

400W. Commerce

Our neighborhood’s iconic snow cone stand, Aunt Stelle’s, is an annual ritual. We’ll wait in line for half an hour, dripping sweat, just for that fine, fine sugary ice. But old Aunt Stelle is not the only game in town. LaGrange Snow Cones opened in a trailer adjacent to the Chicken Scratch, on Commerce at Pittman, this past summer. The stand offers shaved ice with a kick — they will add a free shot of booze to any snow cone. Try the $30,000 millionaire, which contains grape syrup and mango rum.

ALSOSEE: Cool and Hot

930A E. Eighth, 214.944.5330

It’s a taquería/snow-cone stand, with a drive-through, inside a former gas station. The menu of snow-cone flavors is long and colorful and includes sugary delights named spongebob and pimp juice.

Rainbow Snow 5330 Singleton

This little snow-cone shack is a bit outside the neighborhood, but totally worth it for snow cones topped with fruit or even diced pickles.

Clyde Barrow’s grave western Heights Cemetery

1617 Fort worth ave.

Pour one out for Clyde and his brother, Buck, at Western Hills Cemetery. It’s traditional to leave them coins and maybe a little whiskey. The outlaws’ parents also are buried nearby.

also see:

Crown Hill Memorial Park, 9700 Webb Chapel Road

Bonnie and Clyde were never married, and they weren’t buried in the same cemetery. In fact, she was still married to her first husband at the time of her death at 23. Her headstone at this northwest Dallas cemetery reads, “As the flowers are all made sweeter by the sunshine and the dew, so the old world is made brighter by the lives of folks like you.”

Laurel Land Memorial Park, 6000 South R.L. Thornton Freeway

Blues musician Stevie Ray Vaughan is buried at Laurel Land, but he’s not the only late musician there. Adamson High School alum B.W. Stevenson, who had several hits on the country charts in the ’70s, including “My Maria,” also is buried at Laurel Land. And so is Artie Glenn, who was known for writing the country song “Crying in the Chapel.”

THe J.d. TippiT HisToriCal marker

Tenth and patton

This is the site where several witnesses saw Lee Harvey Oswald gun down Dallas Police officer J.D. Tippit less than an hour after the JFK assassination. Thanks to the Old Oak Cliff Conservation League, the Dallas school district and the Texas Historical Commission, our neighborhood now has an official tribute to Tippit. His widow, Marie, was on hand to dedicate the marker this past November.

also see:

Other JFK assassination-related sites

The rooming house at 1026 N. Beckley is where Oswald lived at the time of the assassination. The Circle Inn at 221 S. Ewing is where Jack Ruby lived at the time he killed Oswald on live television. The house at 214 W. Neely is where Oswald was photographed holding a rifle on the front porch; the photo appeared on the cover of Life magazine. The former Texaco station on E. Jefferson is where police found Oswald’s jacket.

Working together

Co-working is growing in popularity, and our neighborhood is in on the trend

Story by rachel Stone | Photo by Can Türkyilmaz

Working from home sounds great. Cooking a hot breakfast, staying in your pajamas all day, running a load of laundry at lunchtime. But too many hours in sweatpants with little adult interaction can be less than motivating and even a little sad.

Attorney Jennifer Bryan liked working from home, but she found it difficult to focus on work once her children arrived home from school around 3 p.m. each day.

“I needed my own space,” she says.

Bryan is one of a growing number of people worldwide who opts for co-working. She rents a space for her practice, JB Law, at The Hive, a co-working space on Fort Worth Avenue, which opened about a year ago. A new co-working space in our neighborhood, the Kessler Co-op, is expected to open next month.

There are about 1,800 co-working spaces worldwide, according to deskmag.com, which keeps track of trends and statistics in co-working. And the number of co-working spaces worldwide doubled in the year ending August 2012, the website reports. Deskmag.com counted 684 co-working spaces in the United States.

Kessler Theater owner Edwin Cabaniss says that when a call-center tenant moved out of a 2,500-square-foot space on the West Davis side of his building, he tried to think of what the best use of that space would be.

A co-working space is like a cross between a Wi-Fi coffee shop and an executive suite, he says. It’s more professional than a coffee shop, and it’s less formal and more affordable than a Downtown executive suite, he says.

Andrew Howard lives directly behind The Hive. It was his idea to transform the under-used building on Fort Worth Avenue into a co-working space. Photo by Can Türkyilmaz

I’m not marketing this to the businessman from Scottsdale that needs a place to land in Dallas.

Oak Cliff is home to a lot of creative professionals who have found themselves working as independent contractors since the recession, Cabaniss says. He expects the Kessler Co-op to appeal to professionals who already live in the neighborhood.

“I’m not marketing this to the businessman from Scottsdale that needs a place to land in Dallas,” he says. “It’s for someone who is working from home now and wants to be part of a creative community.”

The Kessler Co-op, which is part of the original movie theater, will offer super highspeed Internet, conference rooms, mailing

William R. Wilson Attorney at Law

addresses, cable TV, printers and scanners, and “all the things you need to function as a business,” Cabaniss says.

While the Kessler was under construction, Cabaniss worked from home himself.

“Working from home makes it hard to turn work off” at the end of the day, he says.

Tenants of The Hive say co-working is not just about having a place to work; it’s about community.

Monkey Tag, an upstart marketing firm, was among the first to lease a space at The Hive last year. The firm’s owners, Anthony Bearden and Gary Pedroza, don’t live in Oak Cliff, but they were drawn to our neighborhood’s creative environment.

“There are so many businesses that are just getting off the ground here, and we wanted to be a part of that,” Bearden says.

They already had a couple of big clients, Samsung and a commercial real estate firm, but they’ve added a few upstarts, such as Spokes pedicabs, through their connections at The Hive.

“There’s a different mindset and another vibe,” Bearden says. “We want to engage with people on a friendly level and do business over a beer.”

The Hive building is directly behind Andrew Howard’s house. When real estate developer Monte Anderson bought the building, Howard came to him with the coworking idea.

“I wanted an office because we had just started the Better Block, and we were kind of roaming around,” he says.

The idea was an immediate hit. All of The Hive’s six office spaces, plus an Airstream trailer finished out as office space, were leased in the first week it opened.

The Hive also provides space for com-

There are so many businesses that are just getting off the ground here, and we wanted to be a part of that.

There are often many ways to avoid or resolve a dispute without costly litigation.

munity meetings. The Fort Worth Avenue Development Group and the Kings Highway Neighborhood Association hold their monthly meetings there, for example.

The Kessler Co-op also will provide space for community meetings, Cabaniss says.

“When we opened the Kessler, we planned for it to be a community meeting place,” he says.

And it still is. But it isn’t always possible to accommodate everyone who wants to meet there. Neighborhood groups will be able to meet after office hours in the Kessler Co-op,

It’s an awesome little place and a great location for not much money.

and they can bring their own wine and beer. That’s not possible inside the theater, which has a liquor license, Cabaniss says.

The Kessler also is planning networking mixers and occasional guest speakers. Back at The Hive, Howard is working on plans to expand. Demand is so high for co-working space there that he would like to open a second location closer to the Bishop Arts District.

“It’s a good place to be creative,” says Bearden of Monkey Tag, which rents the Airstream at The Hive. “We don’t really need more than this. It’s an awesome little place and a great location for not much money.”

THEHIVE

2139 Fort Worth Ave., 972.283.1111, oakcliffhive.com

Rates: A front office is now available for $600 a month, which includes electricity, Internet, coffee, printing, scanning, fax, coffee and beer. The drop-in rate is $25 a day with a 10 percent discount from Bike Friendly Oak Cliff if you ride a bike to work.

THE KESSLER CO-OP

1230 W. Davis, 214.272.8346

Rates: $300 a month for a permanent desk; $200 a month for access to the workspaces with no permanent desk; rates haven’t been set for permanent offices or drop-ins. Rent at the Kessler includes utilities, office services and other amenities.

LAKEHILL PREPARATORY SCHOOL

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

community

The Dallas County District Attorney’s office is creating an animal abuse unit thanks to a fundraising campaign from Safer Dallas Better Dallas. This year, almost 3,000 cases of animal abuse have been reported, but only the worst cases are investigated. The nonprofit has committed to raising $200,000 to pay for a full-time prosecutor and an investigator in the first year. County Commissioner Elba Garcia made the collaboration with Safer Dallas Better Dallas possible, and County Commissioner Maureen Dickey and her husband, Roland, donated $40,000 to the campaign.

ST. JOHN’S EPISCOPAL

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

Dallas ISD, the Old Oak Cliff Conservation League and the Texas Historical Commission unveiled a memorial in November to slain Dallas Police officer J.D. Tippit, who was shot to death by Lee Harvey Oswald at Tenth and Patton streets following the JFK assassination.

nonprofits

Kings Highway resident Jenni Stolarski created a nonprofit, ReTree Oak Cliff, with the goal of planting 4,000 trees in our neighborhood by 2016. The Texas Trees Foundation donates the trees and provides a forester to determine where best to plant them. But Stolarski is raising money for the trees to be planted. ReTree Oak Cliff planted 300 trees in Kings Highway last month thanks in part to a $2,500 grant from the Old Oak Cliff Conservation League.

Go Oak Cliff raised $500 for sixth-grade students at Rosemont Elementary through the chili cook-off at Cliff Fest in November. The students are planning a trip to Washington, D.C., to attend President Obama’s inauguration this month.

people

Jewelry designer Ariel Saldivar, an Oak Cliff native, visited the set of “The Price is Right” last month. Her jewelry line, Olivia K, will be featured as one of the single-bid items in the “come on down” segment of the show on Jan. 30.

FD Luxe named several of our neighbors in its “new creative class” of 13 people to watch in 2013. They included artist Nicole Cullum Horn, artist Kyle Hobratschk, chef Omar Flores of Driftwood and Will Rhoten, aka DJ Sober.

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.

Cheering section

Young Life West Dallas members were among the youth groups and nonprofits that cheered on runners in the West Dallas Loop of the MetroPCS Dallas Marathon last month. Pictured, from left to right, are Corlisa Hockless, Kayla Hendrix, Brooke Ferguson, Anita Odom and Shirlisa Irving.

Music and sunshine

Members of La Rondalla, the free guitar program at the Oak Cliff Cultural Center, performed at Cliff Fest in November. Oak Cliff-based musicians Dennis Gonzalez, Aaron Gonzalez, Stefan Gonzalez, Kenny Withrow and Greg Prickett are the students’ teachers.

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The Thief puT The pedal To The me Tal.

The 1993 Cadillac sat in front of Dorothy Ferguson’s house with a “for sale” sign on it. It was an older model, but in nice condition. And with only 69,000 miles on it, she thought it would be a nice buy for someone. Her asking price was $3,000.

The Victim: Dorothy Ferguson

The Crime: unauthorized use of a motor vehicle; car theft

Date: Friday, Nov. 30

Time: 11:40 a.m.

Location: 1700 block of Illinois

Soon after putting the car up for sale, a man came by and asked to check it out. He looked inside and asked if he could look at the title. Ferguson let him read over it while he inspected the interior. The man then asked if she would let him start the engine and remove the steering wheel lock so he could check the power steering.

As soon as she disconnected the device, the supposed buyer hit the gas and took off. Luckily, Ferguson wasn’t hurt, but her car was gone.

Things then grew stranger.

The thief apparently had driven to her house with another friend. The friend called police himself after witnessing the theft, saying he had no idea what his friend had planned. He told police his friend was in the car at a nearby wrecking yard. And that’s just where police found him — ready to sell the car for $250 cash, Ferguson says. Police even gave her a ride to the junkyard to pick up her Cadillac.

“He was real slick, he knew what he was doing,” she says of the thief. “The police got it back right quick. They couldn’t have been any nicer to me. I was so stupid, but real lucky.”

Maj. Edwin Ruiz-Diaz of the Southwest Patrol Division says when selling a vehicle, the seller should take as many safety precautions as possible.

“Meeting a buyer in a public place is advisable, as well as having someone with you at the time of the meeting,” he says. “The seller should also get as much information about the buyer as possible. Safety first.”

Although not a common occurrence, Ruiz-Diaz says, this type of offense is not unheard of, and Dallas Police as well as police departments nationwide also target businesses and individuals that buy stolen vehicles in cases like these.

Sean Chaffin is a freelance writer and author of “Raising the Stakes”, obtainable at raisingthestakesbook.com. If you have been a recent crime victim, email crime@advocatemag.com.

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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.

$5,000

amount a bank robber demanded in a note he gave a teller at the Bank of Texas on Zang at 12th 11 a.m.

on Nov. 28 is when the crime occurred; the robber, who is 5-foot-6, weighs 200 pounds and has a pencil-thin mustache and chin hair, got away with $5,265

972.559.5000

call the FBI Dallas Field Office with tips

Source: Dallas Police Department

She made the newS

Dorothy Fagg reported on everything from community gossip to the paranormal

Comment. Visit oakcliff.advocatemag.com/backstory to tell us what you think.

In her generation, few females could call themselves true “career women.” But Oak Cliff’s Dorothy Porter Fagg certainly blazed that trail.

Born in 1920, Fagg earned both a bachelor’s and master’s degree from East Texas State University, and while in college, was an editor of various student publications. Her writing career began in 1954 when Ray Zauber, publisher of the Oak Cliff Tribune, asked Fagg to write a column for his newspaper. She agreed and tagged the new column “Party Line,” a biweekly community tidbits report.

Then in 1961 the Dallas Times Herald invited her to join its staff, and within a year Fagg was promoted to the position of home furnishings editor for the

paper’s “Living” section.

But writing sweet, domestic text for Dallas’ female readers wasn’t her only beat. According to her daughter, Marilyn Pyeatt, “because of [Fagg’s] interest in and acceptance of paranormal phenomena, she also was assigned to do interviews and write stories related to that. So she was known by the unbelieving — and anyone else who wanted to tease her at the paper — as the “nut editor.”

“For any story about something a bit outside the norm, like a psychic visiting Dallas, they would say, ‘Give it to Dorothy!’ ”

Fagg interviewed Vincent Price, Jeanne Dixon, Peter Hurkos and many others. “She also interviewed and was good friends with Ann Jensen, who lived over on Canterbury Court and was a really gifted psychic who did tests for the ESP program at Duke,” Pyeatt adds. “They would send Ann sealed boxes, and she would write down a list of what she sensed was inside and send the box back unopened.”

Family life was just as important to Fagg as her career. She had moved to Dallas with her husband, Max, in 1943. Prior to working for newspapers, she taught at James Bowie Elementary in Oak Cliff and later worked for the Farm Security Administration before having her daughters, Marilyn and Karen, who both graduated from Sunset. The family lived on Twelfth Street, but moved

to Stevens Park when their former residence was razed for construction of I-35 East.

Fagg’s devotion to both her family and her job were perhaps never a greater a tug-of-war than the day of the Kennedy assassination. Fagg, like most Dallas newspaper reporters, was at her Times Herald office when she received the news. Understanding the emotional effect that the events of the day would have on her daughters, Fagg’s desire was to return to her home, to be with her girls.

But the reporter was required to remain at her desk, as all the Dallas media remained focused on covering every aspect of the assassination, printing rushed, special editions of the papers in an attempt to satisfy the public’s thirst for information and to document every detail. The paper wanted to be ready to print continual, up-to-date reports on the flurry of activities playing out in Dallas that day. None of their employees were allowed to leave for more than a short period of time.

In 1982, after 21 years at the Times Herald, Fagg retired.

She was known by the unbelieving — and anyone else who wanted to tease her at the paper as the “nut editor.”

Gayla Brooks can date her neighborhood heritage back to 1918, when her father was born in what was then called Eagle Ford. She was born at Methodist Hospital and graduated from Kimball High School. Brooks is one of three co-authors of the recently published book, “Images of America: Oak Cliff”, and writes a monthly history column for the Oak Cliff Advocate Send her feedback and ideas to gbrooks@advocatemag.com.

Dorothy Fagg with movie star Vincent Price, whom she interviewed for one of her “outside the norm” stories. Photo by Bob Jackson

From Fagg’s Dallas Times Herald obituary, Vivian Castleberry, her editor at the Herald, described Fagg as “an excellent, dependable reporter.” “She was always there for all of us,” Castleberry stated. “When anything happened, she was the one who helped pick up the pieces. Not only was she a good reporter, but she was a good person.”

Among her numerous journalism honors, Fagg was a three-time winner of the Dorothy Dawe trophy for outstanding reporting in home furnishing, and was a member of the furniture industry’s Writers Hall of Fame. She received the John W. Runyon Achievement Award, two Reed & Barton Awards, and several Dallas Market Center Editorial Awards. The Greater Dallas Retail Furniture Association honored her as well.

In addition to her career accomplish-

ments, she was a member of the Oak Cliff Woman’s Club, past president of the Dallas Pen Women, a founder of both the Heirloom Study and the Oak Cliff Newcomers clubs, and was honored with an outstanding alumni award by East Texas State University. Named as “Oak Cliff Woman of the Month” by South Oak Cliff State Bank, she was also a member of the Oak Cliff Society of Fine Arts and a frequent creative arts judge at the State Fair of Texas. Fagg remained a loyal member and elder of the former Trinity Presbyterian Church on Zang and Eighth, where her January 2004 funeral service was held.

Being a fan of Turner Classic Movies, I always picture Dorothy much like the character Hildy Johnson, played by Rosalind Russell, in the 1940 screwball comedy “His Girl Friday.” Talking on multiple phones simultaneously and dodging a small army of male reporters flying in and out of the press office — all the while hiding a runaway fugitive inside the office’s roll-top desk and feverously typing a news story — Hildy could handle it all with class!

Dorothy Fagg was such a gal, ready to tackle whatever came across her desk or into her office, and care for her family. An Oak Cliff woman ahead of her time.

Above: Dorothy Fagg receives an award. Standing beside her is Vivian Castleberry, Fagg’s Dallas Times Herald editor. Photo by Andy Hanson. Left: Dorothy Fagg as a young woman