2012 March Oak Cliff

WARRIORS ROAD

Bicycle commuters face an uphill battle >> page 16

“Thank you for everything. My teeth look amazing. I absolutely love my new smile!”

-Cassandra K. (Oak Cliff)

ON

Photo by Danny Fulgencio BELOW: Cyclist Scott Yockel commutes by bike to Denton every weekday. Photo by CanTürkyilmaz

Fields oF dreams

Spring Training fever hits me this time every year

Talking about loving baseball with someone who doesn’t is like telling a Victoria’s Secret model you love her — both will look at you as if you’re an idiot, and you’ll probably be slapped by at least one.

But my inability to present the idea properly doesn’t change the sentiment: There’s just something about baseball that gets to me, particularly these days when Spring Training is underway.

Maybe you know that before ballplayers start their major league season in April, they spend 45 days in Florida or Arizona working to get in shape. But if you’ve ever been to Spring Training, you know the truth: It’s a distant cousin to the “work” most of us do every day, since the real beauty of baseball is that it unfolds slowly and on no particular timetable.

If the weather cooperates, the Spring Training sun is bright and the grass is green at the multitude of ballparks dotting the metropolitan area. It’s a rare spring day you can’t catch a couple of games, and on a good day you can probably watch three, starting around lunch, winding through the afternoon and ending up after dinner.

For a business in which everyone is rich (even the least of the bunch commands about a million dollars annually, while the best earns more than $20 million a year), they’re all accessible in Spring Training — the high-dollar guys and the youngsters just starting out — an arm’s length or two away, squinting into the sun while, generally good-naturedly, signing the bats and caps and programs thrust their way.

They’re just kids, most of them, and some look downright goofy up close, with

the “Dutch Oven” (aka Texas Ranger Derek Holland) leading the laugh train with his unruly hair and dopey mustache. He could be me, way back when, sans the baseball talent and bank account, of course.

In the spring, the possibilities for the upcoming season seem so bright, much as they were so many years ago for all of us. Anything can happen during a baseball season, and even though baseball mirrors life in that the thoroughbreds generally wind up crossing the finish line first, from time to time a longshot unexpectedly makes a run for it and surprises even the most seasoned observers.

As my wife is loathe to admit, I’d watch a baseball game every day if I could. To her credit, she gamely tried to catch “the fever” over the years, but it hasn’t worked

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out. She sees it as a kind of sickness, I think, although she doesn’t describe it as such to others; after all, she has her own image to protect, too.

Someday, maybe I’ll find a job that pays most of the bills and lets me daily sit in the stands or, in my dreams, on the field or in the dugout or in the bullpen.

I know that probably won’t happen. But I can’t help thinking about it every spring before the season starts and before the games begin and before reality regains the upper hand, pulling me back home from Spring Training and making me hope for another go-round next year.

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Someday, maybe i’ll find a job that pays most of the bills and lets me daily sit in the stands or, in my dreams, on the field or in the dugout or in the bullpen.

What do you think?

Your perspective is part of our neighborhood conversation all month long, on topics such as bike culture, development and crime along with fun stuff like history and dining. For instance:

“I would be happy to see bike lanes on the bridge. ... On occasion, we have cycled the northbound Jefferson Viaduct, but it is overly dangerous because of the drivers. Now that I use the bridges for both cycling and driving, I have become very aware of who is on the road alongside myself.”

—Rare Progeny on “Bike lane plans working for Jefferson Viaduct,” Feb. 6

“Red Bryan’s Smokehouse was a perfect ‘after-the-movie’ date destination for Oak Cliff teenagers.I can remember ordering many a barbecue sandwich and chocolate shake while seated in a cowhide covered booth. Remember the mini-juke boxes in the booths?!”

—Frances Phillips on our February 2012 issue’s “The king of Oak Cliff barbecue”

“Indeed, Greiner is the diamond of North Oak Cliff. As a school we outrank all other middle schools of DISD, and usually run away with first place in any competition.I teach international dance at Greiner.Most of my students go on to the best high schools of DISD.”

—Daniel Alvarado on “Greiner Middle School forming advisory board,” Jan. 31

Join the conversation at oakcliff.advocatemag.com/blog and oakcliff.advocatemag.com/magazine

Q&A: Melanie Ferguson

The Margaret HuntHill Bridge, which opens in March, is a $115 million work of art from world-renowned architect Santiago Calatrava. Like it or not, the bridge is sure to become a symbol for Dallas. The Trinity Trust is a nonprofit whose mission is to raise funds for the Trinity River project, imagined as a $2.2 billion effort to improve the TrinityRiver corridor, including two Calatrava bridges (only one of which is becoming a reality), two lakes, a central island, a whitewater course, amphitheaters, ballfields, hikeand-bike trails and the Trinity RiverAudubon Center. Oak Cliff resident Melanie Ferguson is director of outreach and development for the Trinity Trust. She grew up in Richardson and after college, lived in Los Angeles, where she worked in community relations for the Getty Museum for almost 11 years. She returned to Dallas about two years ago after being offered a job at the Trinity Trust, and she is an energetic, optimistic booster for capitalizing on the 20 miles of green space that is the Trinity River corridor.

Danny Fulgencio

How does it feel to return to Dallas?

I think it’s an incredibly dynamic time to be in Dallas for reasons too numerous to count. There seems to be a synergy with a connection to nature, and it’s also no secret what’s happening in the Dallas Arts District — the deck park, the Perot museum — that corridor leads to the bridge and into West Dallas. The bridge is something in and of itself, but to me, it’s a demarcation of what’s beneath it. This is a time to think about the natural beauty of our city. And I think Oak Cliff is the center of the universe. I’ll probably get in trouble if you print that, but it is a creative vortex, that’s for sure.

What do you mean when you say the Calatrava bridge is “a demarcation of what’s beneath it”?

The bridge is not only a thing of beauty and great architecture and engineering, but it’s also a compass that draws us back to this river space. For 100 years, we’ve thought about [the Trinity River] as a drainage ditch, or a gray utility area, and it’s actually a green amenity. And the difference between those things is the attention we give it. My hope is that, as we have this significant demarcation icon with its feet planted in the river, Dallas, and especially those neighborhoods that live right up close to the levees, will realize what’s in our midst.

What, in your opinion, is so exciting about the Trinity River greenbelt?

We have three times as much space as Central Park right next to downtown Dallas. Whether you’re from Oklahoma or Japan or Helsinki, people feel that Central Park is theirs. It’s this public space that kind of belongs to the world. It may be hubristic to say this, but we are kind of hubristic in Dallas, that it will become this place that belongs to everyone, everywhere. You can play soccer or have a picnic or hike 16 miles through the Great Trinity Forest. I think I could be working on this project for the rest of my life, but that’s a good start.

‘Rio Samba’

‘Easy Does It’ ‘Dick Clark’

So it could change the culture of the city and how others see us. Also, this is 20 miles of outdoor classroom, or it could be. How do we plan for engaging kids and young people with the Great Trinity Forest? The way to engage kids’ minds with math and science is to take a really good look at a creek bed or get them really close to a horse, and then they can see how that relates to what’s in the text book. Their thinking begins to shift because of what they’ve seen outside the classroom. Kids develop better if they have time outside.

Tell us more about the Great Trinity Forest.

The Great Trinity Forest is almost 7,000 acres. It’s accessible now through the Grover C. Keeton Golf Course. It’s a big part of what we’re focusing fundraising on now. There need to be more trails to make it accessible, and another nonprofit, Groundwork Dallas, is working on that. Hopefully they will be able to connect a trail from the DART station near Fair Park to make it

more accessible for folks. The projection is that twice as many people will live in North Texas by 2050 than we have now. We’re going to need green space, and the good thing is we have it. I think it’s going to be one of the things that drives people to Dallas. I hope we someday have new blues songs about the Trinity forest. There’s a sense that Dallas makes its own great music, and that we have this great pool of talent. But my secret hope is that the artists in our midst are engaging in conversations about what it means to be a great city. You can tell a great city by the talented people who choose to stay.

How can we use the Trinity River green space now?

The Trinity River Audubon Center is the gem of the forest right now. That’s five or 10 minutes from Oak Cliff. And then, I like to get in a canoe and be on the river itself. Charles Allen [of Trinity River Expeditions] offers canoe trips, and so does the Audubon center. The Trinity Wind Festival, at Crow Park, is May 12, and that’s a

good opportunity for people to experience what’s between the levees.

Besides the bridge opening, what are you looking forward to this year?

As soon as the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge opens, the Continental Bridge will close and become a pedestrian bridge. With a little bit of patience, in a year and half or so, that will be a new destination. Oak Cliff is famous for its love of bicycles. That’ll be a destination point where people can have picnics, and there’ll be a fountain, and it’ll be the best place to gaze at the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge. We’re also looking for ways to engage with temporary trails. You can’t do a lot within the corridor that won’t just float away. Whatever is built within the levee system has to be pretty secure. But we’re working with Jason Roberts [of Bike Friendly Oak Cliff], the Dallas OffRoad Bike Association, council members [Scott] Griggs and [Angela] Hunt, and Groundwork Dallas to see if there’s a way to connect Bishop Arts with the Katy Trail. We’re still working on that. —Rachel Stone

Union Terminal Park

as told to Keri Mitchell by Sally rodriguez, Dallas Park and recreation Department’s historian. Photo is courtesy of the Dallas Municipal archives and curated by rodriguez. She authored the book “White rock Lake,” available at area bookstores and through arcadiapublishing.com.

1955

I didn’t even know this park existed until about a year ago. I was doing research for Crawford Park in Pleasant Grove. There’s a maintenance facility there, and the [Texas] Office of Environmental Quality needed to know how old it was, so I went and looked. This building [in bottom righthand corner of the photo] was a concession stand, restrooms and storage. That building was moved to Crawford Park, and the file mentioned “moved from Union Terminal Park,” so I had to go figure out what that was.

We bought Union Terminal Park in 1945 as a west entrance to Union Station. You know the underground tunnel that goes from Union Station to the Hyatt Regency, under the railroad tracks? I just thought that was built with the Hyatt, but no. If you lived in Oak Cliff, rather than going all the way around, you could park here and enter Union Station. This is now Riverfront (used to be Industrial) at the bottom of the photo. And where Reunion comes into Riverfront? You can see it right there. So this is where the Hyatt sits today.

We only owned Union Terminal Park for about 10 years, and it was purchased in 1955 when I-30 came through. The city doesn’t move its buildings very often, but when the land was purchased by what is now TxDOT, this building was only a year old. We are still using that building today at Crawford Park. We have offices with staff in it. Read moRe about Sally Rodriguez and her aerial photo findings at oakcliff.advocatemag.com. Look for aerial photos of Kiest, Kidd Springs and Lake Cliff parks in future issues.

Out & About

March 2012

March 2-4 Bridge-o-Rama

In celebration of the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge opening, neighbors are invited to Bridge-o-Rama, a weekend-long festival with 40-plus events. On Saturday the Parade of Giants leads oversized, hand-carried puppets of historical figures such as Sarah Cockrell and Bonnie and Clyde down Singleton Boulevard and across the bridge. During Sunday’s Urban Emergence lecture at Methodist hospital’s Hitt Auditorum, architects and urban planners discuss what the bridge means to the future of Oak Cliff and West Dallas. Visit the website for details of all events. Locations vary, bridgeorama.com, free

THROUGH MARCH 3

Michael Henderson

Texas artist Michael Henderson studied painting and drawing at UNT and has shown his videos, video installations, digital prints, drawings and paintings across the country.

Mighty Fine Arts, 419 N. Tyler, 214.942.5241, mfagallery.com, free

THROUGH MARCH 5

Focus on the Bridge

Beginning with a 6:30-7:30 p.m. opening reception on March 1, the Haley-Henman Gallery presents a special exhibit celebrating the opening of the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge. It features photographs from David Clanton, Cecelia Feld, Bob Johnson, Michael Lyon and Alan Robertson.

Haley-Henman Gallery, 2335 Hardwick, 214.749.1277, haleyhenman.com, free

MARCH 2

Wine to Water

Share the Love Foundation and Oak Cliff neighbors present this second-annual

wine-tasting benefit. Proceeds will fund a water well drilling expedition to Central America. The event allows guests the opportunity to sample wines, cheeses, breads and chocolates while enjoying a silent auction and live entertainment. 7-10 p.m.

Oak Cliff Cultural Center, 223 W. Jefferson, 214.467.7625, winetowateroc.com, $20

MARCH 2, 9, 16, 23, 30

Friday live music series

This month, the Belmont Hotel hosts a relaxed live music series that showcases the music of Chris Johnson, Gaston Light, Bill Longhorse and John Pedigo. 901 Fort Worth, 214.393.2300, belmontdallas.com, free

MARCH 13

Tuesday Night Trash: ‘Father’s Day’

Texas Theatre presents “Father’s Day” as a part of its free series of awesomely terrible B Movies. Show begins at 9 p.m. This film is rated R.

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

March 3-April 15

Gerardo R.: Un Dia a la Vez

Start Gallery Dallas presents the first solo show of Oak Cliff-based artist Gerardo R. With an opening reception on March 3 from 5:30-8 p.m., the exhibit features largescale paintings and drawings depicting the impact of the ongoing drug war in Mexico. 1004 W. Page, 469.337.8055, startgallerydallas.com, free

CocaCola Mexicana, 2011 by GerardoR. Photo byVeronika Tkachuk

MARCH 24

Paula Cole

Grammy award-winning singersongwriter Paula Cole comes to The Kessler stage to perform hits from her 17-year career, which includes six albums. Cole was the first woman to receive a Best Producer Grammy nomination. Doors open at 7 p.m. The Kessler, 1230 W. Davis, 214.272.8346, thekessler.org, $20-$25

MARCH 24

Historic neighborhood tour

From 9 a.m.-2 p.m., the Dallas Historical Society offers a tour through some of the city’s most historic neighborhoods, including Oak Cliff. Participants will learn how and by whom these areas were established. The tour departs from the Hall of State in Fair Park and includes lunch.

Hall of State, 3939 Grand, 214.421.4500, dallashistory.org, $50/non members, $35/members

MARCH 31

It’s My Park Day

From 8 a.m.-noon, the Dallas Park and Recreation Department invites residents to gather at local parks for a day of beautification. Here’s how it works: Choose your project, register as a volunteer by calling the park and rec department, and get ready to work. Deadline to register is March 19. Volunteers will be clearing litter and debris, removing graffiti, weeding, mulching and planting, and cleaning up creeks and shorelines.

214.670.8400, itsmyparkdaydallas. eventbrite.com, free

Do you have missing teeth? Do you have loose dentures? Do you have difficulty chewing food due to loose, painful teeth or multiple missing teeth?

Delicious Sandwiches

Owner

Dawkins

Chris Zielke says, “it’s like a Brooklyn deli and a local produce shop with a coffee shop feel,” but you won’t get it until you walk into the newly opened Bolsa Mercado. It has a sense of community and Texas warmth, exactly the vibe that Zielke and his business partner Jessica Jeffers wanted to create. “We pick the best local and organic products to stock our shelves,” Zielke says. “There’s also a wish list that customers can add to if they can’t find their favorite products.” With a focus on small farms and local food, just about anything is available to make your own gourmet feast, but it’s hard to pass up the tasty graband-go menu options such as the house-smoked turkey sandwich layered with avocado spread, sharp cheddar, pepper relish, bacon and arugula. Another favorite is the wild boar and goat cheese kolache, an unusual yet distinctly Texan treat. —Breajna

Smoked turkey sandwich. Photo by Mark Davis

BOlSa MerCaDO

634 W. Davis

972.942.0451

bolsadallas.com

Price range: $9-$14

ambiance: coffee shoP and grocery

hours: 11 a.m.-10 P.m. mon-Thu and sun

11 a.m.-11 P.m. fri-saT

TiP: chef jeff harris and crew make Their own cured meaTs.

| more sandwich spots |

1 Spiral Diner

This vegan menu doesn’t skimp on the sandwiches, which are stuffed with good-for-you ingredients. Try the hummus wrap with baked sweet potato, broccoli, cucumber, avocado, greens and spicy pecans.

1101 n. Beckley

214.948.4747

spiraldiner.com

2 Oddfellows

This breakfast hotspot also has indulgent lunch items such as the fried green tomato sandwich with bacon, sprouts, avocado and mayo on a ciabatta bun. They do a mean sloppy Joe, too.

316 w. seventh

214.944.5958

oddfellowsdallas.com

3 Café Brazil

c hoosing from the never-ending sandwich menu can be daunting, but you can’t go wrong with the chicken salad sandwich served on a large hoagie bun. You’ll have another meal left over.

611 n. Bishop, suite 101

214.946.7927

cafebrazil.com

Eat LocaL sign up for our dining news email at advocatemag.com/newsletter.

Cafe Maya

Lunch

Mondays:

wine 102

Duchman Family vermentino ($12) Texas

Wine drinkers are creatures of habit. We tend to drink the same wines and shop in the same places for those wines, which, frankly, doesn’t do much to expand our wine horizons. This is an especial problem for beginning wine drinkers, whose lack of experience is compounded by the intimidation factor — wine can be a scary thing for newcomers, who are overwhelmed with labels, names, terms and the like.

So, four easy things anyone can do to boost their wine savvy:

One of the things that people always laugh at when I talk about wine is the idea that they can learn more by drinking more. For example, if you like pinot noir, why not try a different kind than what you usually drink? One choice is the Mandolin pinot (about $12), which has less fruit than similarly priced wines, but a little more earthiness.

It’s amazing how this will change your perspective, especially if you buy wine only in grocery stores. Wine retailers are more likely to carry something such as the red and white from France’s Chateau Bonnet (about $10) solid, dependable and tasty wines that don’t have cute labels or marketing budgets.

And even those you don’t. No one, including the so-called experts, remembers the name of every wine they drink. That way, the next time you shop for wine, you know what to look for, and avoid. You don’t have to do it often. But every once in a while, if you don’t like sweet wine or red wine or whatever, taste one. Given that your palate will change over time as you gain more experience, there’s also a chance you’ll appreciate wine you didn’t like before. Regional wine fits here: Texas’ Duchman Family Winery vermentino (about $12). It’s a white wine that is bright and fresh, with some lemon-lime fruit.

JEFF SIEGEL’S WEEKLY WINE REVIEWS appear in our Eat Local dining newsletter. Sign up at advocatemag.com/newsletter.

Ask the wine guy

—Jeff Siegel

I liked a wine a lot, but when I went back to the store to buy more, there wasn’t any. Why is that?

ause wine, unlike other consumer ds, isn’t always replaceable. You can ays make another bottle of ketchup, but e a wine is gone, it’s gone. This isn’t lly a problem with most grocery store es, but it can be for wine that is sold tly in wine retailers.

ASK THE WINE GUY

Jeff Siegel

with your wine Oven ‘grilled’ country-style ribs

Ribs have an air of mystery around them: They look weird, and they seem like they should be difficult to cook. And countrystyle ribs, which have less bone and are shaped differently, seem even more confusing. But they’re actually quite straightforward; serve with red wine like the Bonnet or the Mandolin.

Grocery List

2-3 lbs country-style ribs

1 Tbsp spice rub for pork

Directions

Dallas Blooms

‘It’s A Work of Art’

MARCH 3 - APRIL 8

1 to 1 1/2 c best quality barbecue sauce salt and pepper to taste

1. Rub the ribs with the spice rub and let marinate for at least an hour. Overnight is best.

2. Salt and pepper the ribs, and put in a roasting pan in a preheated 375-degree oven for 30 minutes. Turn several times, and carefully drain the fat and liquid that accumulates in the bottom of the pan.

3. Preheat a broiler while the ribs are in the oven. Baste the ribs with the barbecue sauce and cook for 5 or 10 minutes per side, turning two or three times and basting when you turn. Watch carefully so the sauce doesn’t burn (which sauces with a lot of sugar will do more easily). After the oven, finish ribs in the broiler.

4. Serve with more sauce on the side. Serves four, takes about an hour

www.dallasarboretum.org

Enjoy over 500,000 spring blooming bulbs. Featuring Small Houses of Great Artists Exhibit, Mar. 3 - Dec. 31, and Artscape, a fine art show and sale in the garden, Mar. 16 - 18. Discount tickets available at Tom Thumb stores.

The Dallas Arboretum is a non-profit organization that is supported, in part, by funds from the Dallas Park & Recreation Department.

be local be local

used for small horizontal

used for small vertical and social media

STAY IN THE KNOW

Know that “Dallas” was filming in the Bishop Arts District.

street smarts

Making a path for cyclists could bring our neighborhoods closer together

THEHIPSTER

Name: Max Rasor

Age: 23

Occupation: Mechanic at Oak Cliff Bicycle Co. and sales associate at Urban Outfitters

Neighborhood: Winnetka Heights

Bike: Leader 725 steel track frame with a carbon fork

Rasor doesn’t have a car, so he rides his bike or takes DART everywhere he goes. A graduate of Booker T. Washington High School for the Visual and Performing Arts, he started working on bikes when he was 18. Soon, he amassed a hefty bike collection. Besides the red, white and blue fixedgear he rides every day (“It matches all of my clothing and most of my hats,” he says), he owns five other bikes, plus enough parts to build two or three more. One of the five is exclusively for bike polo, which Rasor plays with a group at Norbuck Park every Tuesday and Thursday. Rasor sports a punk-rock haircut and, sometimes, a handlebar moustache. We warned him we were planning to label him a “hipster,” because he’s young and trendy. “That’s fine,” he says. “I’ll take that.”

Anew saying in Oak Cliff goes that when people buy or rent places in our neighborhood for the first time, they are required to purchase a bicycle within the first 90 days of residency.

Everywhere you look in Oak Cliff, there’s two-wheeled transit. We’re the home of Bike Friendly Oak Cliff, the advocacy group that has spawned similar organizations in other Dallas neighborhoods. Thanks to BFOC and the many pedal pushers in our neighborhood, Oak Cliff is the bicyclingest place in all of Dallas.

COMMENT

What do you think?

STORYBYRACHELSTONE / PHOTOSBY CAN TÜRKYILMAZAND DANNY FULGENCIO

But perhaps that isn’t saying much, since Dallas is considered one of the most dangerous places for cyclists. The editors of Bicycling Magazine in 2009 named Dallas the worst city in the Unites States for bicycling. They call us a sprawling, car-centric city with enormous arterial roads jammed with impatient hostile drivers in huge vehicles.

A recent comprehensive study by the Alliance for Biking and Walking ranked Dallas 49 out of 51 major cities for its percentage of residents who cycle to work. We rank 40 out of 51 when it comes to safety for cyclists, based on documented accidents and fatalities.

The same study, however, notes that Dallas’ plan to construct more than 1,000 bike-lane miles over the next 10 years is among the most ambitious in the nation.

One problem, though: The Dallas Bike Plan is not explicitly funded in the 2012-13 city budget, and it is expected to cost about $16 million to implement over 10 years.

The plan aims to improve driver and cyclist safety, advance public health and fitness, and clean up the air. It’s also about changing the culture of our city to one in which drivers don’t fantasize about running down cyclists for holding them up a few minutes on the road.

Oak Cliff cyclists are familiar with the hostilities of motorists. Take Dallas Torres, the 32-year-old bike builder who was injured on the Jefferson Viaduct in January. Torres suffered three broken vertebrae in his neck after a distracted driver hit him from behind. It was a terrible accident, but it wasn’t singular. Close calls and openly hostile drivers are common, Torres says.

“Cars get too close,” he says. “You don’t have to scare me. You’re in a car. You’re going to win every time.”

Torres says he wants to move out of Dallas to a more bikeable city. But others have hope for a bike-friendly Dallas.

City council member Delia Jasso says she became convinced our neighborhood could become bike and pedestrian friendly after the first Better Block project on Tyler Street in 2010.

“I was born and raised in Dallas, so I was not a bicycle rider,” Jasso says. “I

The Rev. Ernest McAfee rides from his home in Richardson to his church at 10th and Llewellyn in Oak Cliff as often as four times a week. The 73-year-old is also a bike racer.

The commuTer

Name: Scott Yockel

Age: 34

Occupation: Manager of high performance computing at The University of North Texas

Neighborhood: L.O. Daniel

Bike: Giant Defy 2 with fenders, a rack and two waterproof panniers

Scott Yockel’s workday begins long before he arrives at his office in Denton. It typically starts once he’s on the first of two trains he rides every workday. “I answer emails, or I have time to read on the train,” he says. “I also get my exercise to and from work, so I don’t have to go to the gym.” Yockel rides his bike a little over five miles from Oak Cliff to Downtown, where he hops onto the Green Line. Then he transfers to the new Denton County Transit Authority A Train into downtown Denton, where he rides his bike two miles to the UNT campus. Altogether, it’s about 15 miles on the bike and an hour and 45 minutes each way. Why not just drive to Denton? “Driving is kind of annoying,” Yockel says. “It puts you in a bad mood. There are times, especially on Fridays, when it could take two hours to drive from Denton to Oak Cliff.” Yockel and his wife moved to Dallas from Chicago a few years ago, and he decided he didn’t want to return to commuting by car. For one thing, he has a Ph.D. in chemistry, and he’s calculated how much pollution that would contribute. Plus, riding a bike is more fun, he says. Commuting without a car in Dallas has its drawbacks, however. If he misses the second train, for example, he’s missed it for the day. Yockel has been forced to work from home a few times when that happened. Also, he won’t ride his bike in a downpour, not so much because he doesn’t like rain, but because it’s too dangerous. Once, in the rain, he hit a car in Denton, going about 10 miles per hour, when it pulled out in front of him. He wasn’t injured, and the motorist gave him a ride home, but Yockel doesn’t like to ride in the rain any more. The most dangerous part of his route, he says, is crossing the Jefferson Viaduct, where the speed limit is 45 miles per hour. He stays in the left-hand lane all the way from Zang to the Green Line stop on Market. “They still whiz by at 50 miles per hour, but I find it to be safest in the left lane,” he says.

ride like The pros

Cycling Savvy DFW offers a three-part course at Northway Church, teaching the principles of riding in traffic. It begins with a classroom discussion followed by bicycle training in the parking lot. Finally, cyclists put their skills to the test on a tour of the city.

The program started in Orlando, and the curriculum comes from the Florida Bicycle Association. Instructors Richard Wharton, Waco Moore and Eliot Landrum show students how to cycle safely on any road in Dallas without using sidewalks or hugging the right curb. “You lead the dance,” Wharton says. “A driver is a driver whether it’s on two wheels or four.”

The next programs are March 2-3 and April 27-28. The cost is $75. For more information, visit cyclingsavvy.org and click on the Dallas chapter.

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THE CHIC CYCLISTS

Names: Tracy and Amanda Popken

Ages: 27 and 30

Neighborhoods: Bishop Arts and Kessler Plaza

Occupations: Fashion designer/shop owner and economic development researcher Bikes: A pair of Pinnacle bikes their dad bought at a garage sale many years ago Website: dallascyclestyle.com

You’ve seen them, these Popken sisters of Oak Cliff, riding their similar bikes in adorable day dresses and knee-high boots.

Tracy Popken is the fashion designer who owns Salvage House Boutique. And Amanda is the founder of Dallas Cycle Style, which aims to encourage cycling through fashion and espousing the type of bicycle lifestyle enjoyed in stylish European cities, such as Copenhagen. If you see these lovely Popken sisters riding around Oak Cliff, you might notice something is missing. Neither frequently wears a helmet. Amanda says she doesn’t like the way a helmet feels on her head. She doesn’t like lugging the bulky thing around. And she thinks of it as sort of a protest: “Why should I have to be the one to take this safety measure against cars? They should be watching out for me.” She is onto something. There are studies indicating that attractive women riding bikes in dresses and heels are less likely to be the victims of distracted motorists. “I pretty much ride in skirts and heels as my safety component,” she says. “Not that that’s going to help me if I get hit by a car, but this little bit of

difference makes me more noticeable on the road.” She is quick to say she does not advocate riding without a helmet. And after two Oak Cliff residents were injured in separate accidents in which wearing helmets saved their lives, Amanda’s eyes opened a little wider. In fact, she wrote a blog post on her website, formerly known as Dallas Cycle Chic, advocating helmets. The Copenhagen-based owner of the Cycle Chic brand, with whom she was affiliated, is against wearing helmets. The theory is that helmets give the perception that riding a bike is not safe and therefore discourage riding. When he read Amanda’s post about helmets, he told her she had to stop advocating helmets or change the name of her group. So now it’s Dallas Cycle Style. “I should wear a helmet more often,” she says.

Amanda and Tracy have a lot in store this spring. Among other things, they are planning a bicycle flash mob, where hundreds of cyclists suddenly descend on, say, the West Village. Amanda is busy researching cute helmets for a blog post. “There are at least half a dozen cute helmet brands out there,” she says.

was always very car-centric until the Better Block.”

The event, which created a bike lane on Tyler, along with other amenities such as sidewalk café seating and planters, showed her that those things could have a calming effect on traffic. Since then, she has backed bicycle infrastructure, and she now rides her bike more often in the neighborhood.

“It seems like the city is taking it more seriously,” says Jason Roberts of Bike Friendly Oak Cliff, who is the mastermind behind Better Block.

“For so long, it was like, ‘Why are all these other cities building bike infrastructure, and we are losing? Why are we not leading the pack when all the cities around us are making progress?’ ”

The overall goal of the Dallas Bikeway System Master Plan, approved by the Dallas City Council last summer, is to create a comprehensive bike system, increase commuter and utilitarian bike trips across the city, raise awareness and education about bicycle safety, and eventually create complete streets, which make room for cars, bikes, pedestrians and public transportation.

Dallas currently has almost 400 miles of bike routes, mostly in the city’s center, but no bike lanes. The Dallas Bike plan aims to remedy that. It calls for increasing the number of shared-lane markings, bike lanes and paved shoulders to make

ROAD RULES

the city more bike-able. The city has a good trail system that is improving, and the plan calls for continuing that work.

The bike plan is about more than just changing traffic patterns, says the city’s project coordinator, Max Kalhammer.

There’s the environment: “Part of the reason we got the funding to do the plan update is because North Texas Council of Governments had air quality funds available,” Kalhammer says. “Reduced emissions would have a positive impact on the region, not just the city.”

Then, there is public health: “Riding a bike to work every day as a transportation choice helps you stay in shape and be healthy and lead a healthy lifestyle, and most people who take active transportation to work are 70 percent less likely to have a heart attack because they’re [exercising] for 40 minutes a day,” he says.

Riding a bike is the most flexible way to commute without a car in Dallas, says Jonathan Braddick of Bike Friendly Oak Cliff. Braddick says he can get Downtown from his home in Kings Highway on a bike much faster than he can get there on a bus. Plus, buses don’t run frequently enough to be convenient, and for destinations other than Downtown, there are few cross-town routes.

There are times when Braddick can’t ride his bike, though. He travels to Austin for business about once a month, and while it would take only about 35 minutes to ride

SAFETY

ETIQUETTE FOR CYCLISTS

ETIQUETTE FOR MOTORISTS

Sources:

Richard Wharton runs the Cycling Center of Dallas at the JCC and is a vocal critic of the Bike Plan.

The roadie

Name: Jim Dolan

Age: 60

Occupation: Psychotherapist

Neighborhood: Kessler Park

Bike: Cannondale CAAD9 with Shimano Dura Ace components

Dolan started racing bikes in the early ’80s, after a running injury. Triathlons were becoming popular, so he trained for one as a way to stay fit. “I met a group of bike racers and realized that I really hated triathlons, but I really loved racing bikes,” he says. Later, he was injured in a race, and he gave up cycling for a while to focus on work and family. In the meantime, he became a master swimmer, and two years ago, decided he’d had enough pool time. So he saddled up again. Dolan completed about 35 races last year. “I like the intensity of it. I like the speed. When I’m in the middle of a pack of riders going 25 miles per hour in a criterium, peeling through the same turn, I just love that,” he says. “I feel more alive than just about any other time. You’re just right in the moment; you can’t be anywhere else.” Now Dolan trains twice a week with Richard Wharton at the Cycling Center of Dallas. They are “painful, very difficult” sessions performed indoors on bike trainers. Plus, he rides between 50 and 80 miles every weekend.

a bike from Oak Cliff to Love Field, there is no convenient route, and he would rather not haul his luggage on the bike. Love Field is only about nine miles from home, but by DART, it takes two buses, two trains and longer than two hours to get there.

“I’ve committed myself to this,” Braddick says of living without a car (although his wife has one). “It’s sometimes a lonely world out there.”

The Rev. Ernie McAfee rides his bike from his home in Richardson to his church, Christ Episcopal, on West 10th at Llewellyn.

The trip takes the 73-year-old about an hour and a half each way, and he says it gives him a good workout and time to think about his day.

A few times, he has been involved in serious accidents. Once, on the Jefferson Viaduct, a taxi sideswiped him, and he got away with a skinned elbow and some

road rash. Another time, in Richardson, a car hit him from behind. His bike was wrecked, but he wasn’t injured.

Worse injuries have come, he says, from slipping on mud on trails, and once, when a dog ran out in front of him on a training ride. He wrecked doing about 25 miles per hour and broke his hip.

Overall, though, he says he feels safe riding a bike in Dallas.

“I think I’m safer that way than driving down North Central Expressway every day,” he says. “I’m certainly happier.”

A small group of self-styled “vehicular cyclists,” such as Richard Wharton, reject the whole idea of the bike plan, arguing it sets back the integration efforts of cyclists like him.

Laying down a new infrastructure, Wharton says, would basically rewrite the rules of the road that have been established for more than a century — that bicycles are vehicles and should be treated as such via integration, not segregation.

“I’m not against the Bike Plan. I’m against the placement of education at the bottom of the list. [Education is] cheap, it’s efficient and it’s quick.”

Wharton says there’s something empowering about riding a bike on a busy thoroughfare during rush hour. You’re pumping along as two-ton vehicles approach from behind, slow down and pass. You own your lane. You’re confident, and you understand your rights as a cyclist. Wharton, owner of the Cycling Center of Dallas, demonstrates that bicycles can share the road harmoniously with cars — no bike lanes needed.

Thrilling though it may be, most people won’t do it, says Zac Lytle of Bike Friendly Oak Cliff.

“That’s fine if you’re a guy who wears spandex and can go 30 miles per hour down the road,” Lytle says.

He says it would be great if more people took vehicular cycling courses, but realistically, most people don’t want to. That’s too much like taking a defensive driving course, he says. Bike Friendly Oak Cliff works to teach cyclists safety and the rules of the road through group rides and other efforts.

Kalhammer says the Dallas Bike Plan’s education component should come in the

The Townies

Names: Luis and Sylvia Salcedo

Ages: 61 and 60

Occupation: Owners of Salcedo Group Inc., a civil engineering firm

Neighborhood: Bishop Arts

Bikes: Walmart; each one cost about $100

The Salcedos have owned a business in Oak Cliff since 2002, but they just moved here in September. Before that, they lived in Mansfield and commuted every day, a three-hour round-trip drive. Now they ride their bikes less than a mile to work in the Oak Cliff Bank Tower from their house in the Bishop Arts District. “We try to ride as much as we can,” Sylvia Salcedo says. “It gives you some fresh air, and it puts you in a good mindset before work.” Besides that, they’re not whizzing past everything. From a bike, they can look the neighborhood in the eye. “We say ‘hi’ to people in the street,” Luis says. “We see what’s happening in the neighborhood.” They also ride to church at St. Cecilia, and they sometimes pick up groceries at Fiesta and carry them home in their baskets. They’ve ridden across the bridge to Downtown a few times on group rides with Bike Friendly Oak Cliff. And once, they rode across and back by themselves. Recently, they took the DART rail to Mockingbird Station. “Next we want to figure out how to get on the Katy Trail,” Sylvia says. “That’s our next adventure.”

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The mounTain bike rider

Name: Jonathan Roach

Age: 31

Occupation: Manufacturing engineer

Neighborhood: Near Spiral Diner

Bike: Santa Cruz Chameleon Hardtail, plus a cyclocross bike, a neighborhood cargo bike and a dirt bike

Jonathan Roach started riding BMX bikes in kindergarten, and unlike most of us, he never stopped riding bikes. When he was 21, he took a job as a bike messenger in downtown Dallas, and that’s when he bought his first mountain bike. The BMX wasn’t practical for delivery, but a mountain bike could still jump curbs like a dirt bike. And Dallas is a pretty sweet location for mountain biking. “We have probably 10 good trails within an hour’s drive, and some are within riding distance,” Roach says. His favorites are Boulder Park, near Dallas Executive Airport, and Big Cedar Wilderness Trails, west of Duncanville. The closest is Oak Cliff Nature Preserve, and that’s where Roach had the George W. Bush experience. The former president is an avid mountain biker, and most riders know they could run into him eventually. Roach fell in with Bush, his secret-service team and pals one day in October 2009. “I happened to see him out there, and I did the right thing and caught on with them and rode in that group,” he says. “It was pretty crazy.” Roach says riding a mountain bike can make anyone a better cyclist. It helps with handling, reacting to obstacles and strength. “No matter what kind of cycling you may do, it improves your skills,” he says. “It’s going to make you an all around safer rider.”

form of public service announcements and getting involved with children in schools.

“Honestly, I think once the momentum of the bicycle culture starts, it’s going to happen organically,” he says. “Once people start seeing the bike lanes and how they operate, motorists will get used to it.”

So what is happening with this bike plan, anyway?

Even though the plan is not implicitly funded, most city leaders say the plan will be implemented along with routine street repairs. As crews repair roads, they will add bicycle infrastructure as they go.

The Fort Worth Avenue Development Group recently raised $25,000 to create two miles of bike lanes on the avenue. The city also plans to create a two-way bike lane on the Jefferson Via-

duct, plus lighting and a concrete barrier, that will cost $85,000. A funding source for this has not yet been found.

Bike lanes are expensive, in part, because the city doesn’t own any equipment for striping lanes, so the trucks must be rented. But the city and county are working on an agreement to use Dallas County equipment for bikelane striping.

“We’re exploring ways to reduce those costs,” says city council member Scott Griggs, who lives in Stevens Park.

Griggs says he would like to see bike infrastructure funding included in the city’s upcoming bond package proposal as well.

Kalhammer is busy writing federal grant applications that would help pay for the bike plan. One would allow the city to hire a fundraiser for efforts to raise private funds for bike lanes, he says.

Unfortunately, none of that will come soon enough for Dallas Torres.

FREE LESSONS

Richardson Bike Mart offers free bicycling safety workshops. Visit bikemart.com.

After a distracted driver doing at least 40 miles per hour crashed into him, Torres is shuffling around the house, watching TV and taking naps. It will take six months for his neck fractures to heal. He says he feels in his heart that the city will never take bike safety seriously, though they talk it up.

“I’m not asking for 600 miles of bike lanes, like Portland,” Torres says. “But just signage would make a huge difference. It baffles me that we can’t come up with $100,000 to just put up signs saying ‘share the road.’ ”

He also questions why the city doesn’t take a stronger stand against unsafe driving. There is no city ordinance banning texting while driving, for example.

“How much does it cost to make that law?” he asks.

BUSINESS BUZZ

The lowdown on what’s up with neighborhood businesses

Send business news tips to LIVELOCAL@ADVOCATEMAG.COM

The Spillers Group opens Uptown nanobrewery

The Spillers Group, which owns Eno’s and is a partner in Oddfellows, has opened UnionBear, a nanobrewery in Uptown. The Union Bear menu features seasonal fare by executive chef Jon Kleifgen, including black truffle salami and mushroom pizza, mini short rib sliders and Texas shrimp po’ boy. With 40 taps, the beer selection is touted as “supremely high level without being expensive and pretentious.” One highlight: the top level, 360-degree indoor/outdoor bar that opens to the West Village patio.

Greenling organic grocery service expands to Dallas

Greenling web-based organic grocery delivery company recently launched operations in the Dallas area.The company, which started in Austin and also serves San Antonio, has a new warehouse in Allen. Greenling sells local and organic produce, bread, meat and dairy, as well as “sustainably produced” groceries and sundry items and delivers to homes and offices.

Salvation Army Thrift Store will not re-open

Last summer, a DART bus crashed through the Salvation Army Thrift Store on West Jefferson at Polk. Luckily, no one was hurt in that accident, as it happened at about 6 a.m. on a Saturday.

Salvation Army has decided not to reopen the West Jefferson store; the 6,650-square-foot building is for sale. It is listed, as is, for $550,000. C.J. Dunn Commercial already is negotiating with a potential buyer, says Patrick Patey, a Salvation Army spokesman for the Dallas area. Salvation Army decided to make the thrift store on Village Fair its “anchor” in Oak Cliff. “That was our smallest store,” Patey says. “So it was a good time to go ahead and let the other one be the anchor store in Oak Cliff.”

community

The Texas Historical Commission approved markers for two sites in Oak Cliff. One will be placed at 10th and Patton, near the site where Lee Harvey Oswald shot and killed officer J.D. Tippit after the Kennedy assassination. Another will be placed two and a half blocks away at the site of the original Adamson High School. That will protect the building, constructed in 1914, from being demolished or inappropriately remodeled, as Dallas ISD had considered in 2009. The new Adamson High School is under construction and is expected to open in the fall.

Union Bear WEST VILLAGE 3699 MCKINNEY AVE. 214.245.5330 UNIONBEAR.COM

Greenling 469.656.7913 GREENLING.COM

Methodist Dallas Medical Center 1441N.BECKLEY 214.947.8181

The Foundry 2303 PITTMAN 214.739.1112 CS-TF.COM

Ten Bells Tavern TENBELLSTAVERN.COM

The Dallas Zoo and the Children’s Aquarium at Fair Park are seeking volunteers. Applicants must be 18 or older and provide references, along with proof of a negative tuberculosis test. For more information, contact amy. glover@dallaszoo.com or 469.554.7450.

development

Construction has begun at West Davis and Rosemont, where Wood Partners is planning Alta West, a 207-unit apartment complex. It is expected to open by April 2013.

A $3.2 million street improvement project on Bishop Avenue will result in bike lanes, fewer lanes for cars, better sidewalks, more lighting, tree plantings and benches. It is expected to be completed in April. Construction started on the project, which stretches from Colorado to Jefferson, this past summer, and it is being funded through a bond program. Crews replaced 50-year-old sewage and sanitation pipes beneath the street, which was the most expensive part of the project.

education

OAKCLIFF.ADVOCATEMAG.COM/BIZ

More business bits

The Texas Hospital Association has named Methodist Health System a winner of its 2011 Excellence in Community Service Award. The award is in response to Methodist’s Life Shines Bright Pregnancy Program, which focuses on reducing the number of pre-term births in the Oak Cliff area. The Foundry, a new beer garden from the co-owners of Smoke and bar Belmont, is now open on Fort Worth Avenue. This super-casual spot features live music on the weekends. Next door, ChickenScratch, a family-friendly, homestyle-cooking concept from the same owners, has plans to open this month. Ten Bells Tavern will soon open in the Bishop Arts District. Named after a London pub, Ten Bells Tavern will serve up a Bristish-influenced menu and beers and ciders.

Parents at Greiner Middle School are forming an advisory committee to help with fundraising, grants, publicity and securing public performances for Greiner Arts Academy, which Dallas ISD nearly closed last year. The academy’s budget includes teacher salaries and nothing else. For more information, contact Rebecca Ordinario at 214.418.9043 or rordinario@me.com.

Target recently donated $100,000 to Molina High School to help fund a coffee bar in the school library. A courtyard also will be added to the school’s entrance, for performance art, outdoor teaching and socializing. Both projects are expected to be completed in August, costing $50,000. Molina teachers will submit proposals on how to spend the remainder of the grant.

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Art smart

Emmanuel Ramirez, a seventh-grade student at Greiner Middle School’s Exploratory Arts Academy, won the grand prize in the Trinity River Art contest, celebrating the opening of the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge. Ramirez, his family and his art teacher Joanna Henry will be honored at a reception this month.

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Share prime, front-row Texas Rangers baseball tickets (available in sets of 10 or 20 games) during the 2012 season. Prices start at $95 per ticket (sets of 2 or 4 tickets per game available). Seats are behind the plate and next to both the first- and third-base dugouts. Other great seats available starting at $55 per ticket; seats also available in the Cuervo Club. Entire season available except for opening day; participants randomly draw numbers to determine draft order so the selection process is fair for everyone. E-mail rwamre@advocatemag.com or call 214-560-4212 for more information.

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At leAst it wAs only shAttered glAss this time.

Shannon Ramirez had been through this before, but at least the crime was on a bit smaller scale this time. As she sat in her home, her evening was disturbed by shattered glass. Someone had thrown a water bottle through her window and glass littered her floor.

“It was shocking,” she says. “I was like, ‘What the hell?’ ”

Along with her sister and mother, Ramirez went outside and saw several young people fleeing down the street. Police arrived, but had no luck finding the culprits.

While the shattered window is quite an expensive hassle to have repaired, Ramirez has been through much worse.

Four years ago, a car slammed so hard into her brother’s car parked in the front of the home that it ran the car into her home, causing exterior damage. Ramirez was asleep at the time, but woke up quickly. The suspects appeared to be on drugs and were arrested after at first trying to run away. She tries to look on the bright side after that experience.

“At least it was only a bottle this time,” she says.

The Victim: Shannon r amirez

The Crime: Criminal mischief

Date: Sunday, Jan. 15

Time: 6:58 p.m.

Location: 2300 block of Gladstone

trol Division says responding officers searched the area, but did not find the suspects.

“As far as vandalism — there are some instances in the area, but much of it revolves around other offenses like burglaries where the suspect attempted to gain entry, damaging the property, but failed to get inside,” he says. “As far as what occurred in this particular offense, there have not been many offenses reported of this type.”

Residents who witness such crimes are asked to get as thorough a description of the suspects as possible including size, dress, race and other identifying aspects.

The blood alcohol level of a drunken driver who caused a fiery crash Feb. 7 on West Kiest; Cynthia Brady, 60, was four and a half times the legal limit when she exited from Interstate 35 and hit the vehicle of Francisco Ramirez, who sustained second-degree burns on 14 percent of his body.

800

Block of West Seventh where an assault occurred Feb. 1 after a driver slammed on his brakes to avoid a small white dog in the road; he got out of the car to check on the dog when its owner approached and punched the driver in the lip, saying “You better watch yourself!”

Number of ceramic plates thrown and shattered during a physical altercation between two parties Feb. 5 at El Tacaso restaurant at Westmoreland and Fort Worth Avenue

Source: Dallas Police Department

Dallas Police Lt. Gil Garza of the Southwest Pa-

Sean Chaffin is a freelance writer and editor of pokertraditions.com.

If you have been a recent crime victim, email crime@advocatemag.com.

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DALLAS’ FIRST MILLIONAIRE

She (that’s right, it was a woman) lived on our side of the Trinity

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

The spectacular Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge officially opens this month. But it isn’t the first Dallas bridge located on this property. Well, at least almost on this property.

In 1855, Alex Cockrell built and operated the first Dallas bridge over the Trinity River. Before the wooden structure collapsed in 1858, the Cockrell bridge contributed to a significant number of pioneer families’ migration to the interior of our state and to the development of the entire North Texas area below the Trinity. Cockrell’s land purchase (where Commerce Street meets the Trinity) was the remainder of the Dallas townsite Cockrell purchased from John Neely Bryan — the “Father of Dallas.” The acquisition includ-

properties and eventually owned the land that now anchors Dallas Baptist University and the DFW National Cemetery. Owning such an impressive property mass in this portion of the county, Cockrell was among the county powers-that-be who made the decision to route the new Dallas-to-Fort Worth road directly through the heart of his holdings. Gone long ago, White House Ranch (the large home he constructed for his family) was built on the DFW cemetery property. Then a new ranch house and quarters were built in the 1880s, which were later occupied, until 1940, as the operations center for a dairy business. This Potter’s House now sits on the site.

Tax Tip dori REAL ESTATE JUST GOT PERSONAL OMGSOLD!

Most 1892 speculation reflects Sarah Cockrell as owning onefourth of downtown Dallas, with her holdings so extensive that her will had to be published in a 24page pamphlet! Not a bad résumé for an Oak Cliff gal who once slept in a tent at Mountain Creek.

ed Bryan’s sub-standard Trinity River ferry concession — an extremely awkward and inefficient method of fording the Trinity, but the only available option of the day. Among other ventures, Cockrell successfully involved himself in lumber mills, a brickyard, ranching operations and in the burgeoning railroad industry.

Sarah Horton (from the Eagle Ford area) married Cockrell in 1847. Originally, they lived in a tent at what was called “Cockrell Farm,” on the rolling terrain that lies east of what is now Mountain Creek Lake. Cockrell continued to purchase adjoining

After her husband’s 1858 death at the hands of a Dallas sheriff, Sarah opened the St. Nicholas Hotel and managed it herself before it burned the following year. She then opened the Dallas Hotel, which later morphed into the St. Charles. Forming S. A. Cockrell & Company, Sarah Cockrell went on to own and operate flour mills and other businesses, later joining the real estate community by leasing, managing, owning, buying and selling properties and buildings — not only in Dallas County but also around the state.

An iron bridge constructed by her Dallas Bridge Company wasn’t built until 1871, due mostly to the lack of building supplies — a result of the recently concluded American Civil War. Located on the same spot as the earlier wooden structure, Sarah Cockrell operated the toll bridge for 10 years before selling it to the City of Dallas.

Along with her sons, she continued her business endeavors and wound up as the matriarch of one of Dallas’ premier entrepreneurial families. The Dallas Morning News’s 1892 obituary stated that her funeral procession and floral tributes were

among the largest ever seen in Dallas, and that the city council and city administrators attended the service as a body. Most 1892 speculation reflects her as owning one-fourth of downtown Dallas, with her holdings so extensive that her will had to be published in a 24-page pamphlet! Not a bad résumé for an Oak Cliff gal who once slept in a tent at Mountain Creek.

Most Dallasites believe all the rich folk live north of the Trinity, but we lay claim to a title of which many aren’t aware. Depending on whom you ask or read, Sarah Horton Cockrell is mentioned as probably Dallas’ first millionaire, beating out all the men and anyone else in the county. She’s also touted to be, if not the first, one of the first millionaires in Texas. And considering she was a millionaire in 19th century financial terms, the old girl surely had a big stash of cash!

Move over, Ebby, Mary Kay, Ross and Mark (Cuban)! Sarah Cockrell just may be the original “big dog” in the Dallas millionaire race.

This makes me wonder what she’d think of the new Calatrava bridge, built so close to the Cockrell’s first bridges? One thing I’ll bet: If it was hers, when you drove across, you’d probably need some change. No freebies here. Sarah’d be chargin’ a toll.

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Gayla Brooks Kokel 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. Kokel 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 gkokel@advocatemag.com.

Major repairs put Manuel’s heart and mind at ease.

When he began experiencing an abnormal heartbeat, Manuel instinctively turned to Methodist Dallas Medical Center, where he underwent a successful open heart procedure to x the problem. So when unexplained headaches started during his recovery, the 50-year-old mechanic was relieved that experts in neurosurgery were also available. Using sophisticated imaging and minimally invasive surgery, physicians identi ed and removed a brain tumor through his nose without making a single incision. Today, Manuel is back to work under the hood. More importantly, he’s back on the road again.

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