2013 April Oak Cliff

Showcasing stellar home design in our neighborhood

InsIde story

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A gentleman and a legend Tom Allen Melton’s service to Oak Cliff left a legacy.

only in oak cliff

Models walk the runway at the end of The pin Show in February. The annual event, founded by Julie McCullough of Oak Cliff, showcases independent fashion designers whose clothes are made entirely in their local economies. This year’s show, in Trinity Groves, featured some 20 designers. Photo by Ethan Healy

Wheels of misfortune

Are a few fender benders a sign of a jinxed Jetta?

I’m not a person who believes much in luck. Yes, oddball stuff happens that’s hard to explain, and some people just seem to live under a lucky star, if you know what I mean.

But we generally make our own luck, I’ve told my sons, so what happens to us likely isn’t happenstance most of the time.

But that’s talking about luck in life. What about luck in terms of a car? Is it possible to have an unlucky car?

My wife insists my current car is unlucky, and I’m starting to wonder.

My black VW Jetta is a monster at the pump, with its clean diesel engine delivering more than 30 mpg in city driving and topping 45 mpg on the highway.

It rides pretty well for a small car, and its self-identified “leatherette” (aka vinyl) seats repel whatever hits them, so the interior remains showroom-clean, particularly since I force my wife to ditch her ubiquitous soda before entering.

The Jetta also has plenty of trunk room, so if I summoned the energy to tackle some big project, it wouldn’t be the car’s fault when I didn’t finish the job.

So when I wonder about the car’s “luck” factor, I’m talking about its magnetic attraction to the front bumpers of other cars.

Shortly after I bought the car four years ago, while preparing to turn right at a light, I found myself being assisted by the pickup truck behind me. No personal injuries, luckily, but my rear bumper took a beating.

That repair lasted about six months, until I was rear-ended again at another stoplight, also while in the right turn lane.

The car repair people patched the plastic so it once again looked new. And again, luckily, there were no injuries, except for my pride: My wife began suggesting that somehow my driving was responsible for the trouble. I figured she was just circling back on the soda issue.

But still, what about the car and its luck, or lack thereof? Two bumper whacks, along with myriad paint nicks from the doors of negligent neighboring parkers, made me wonder, out loud, whether I should be looking for an alternative.

Before I could do anything, though, my wife and I were returning from San Antonio along a particularly scary two-lane stretch of I-35 north of Waco, where it’s difficult to keep much distance between other cars because of incessant speeding and tailgating.

Sure enough, a few cars ahead I saw an instantaneous collection of rear stop lights amid a cloud of burning rubber as two lanes jammed with vehicles braked suddenly. I pounded the Jetta’s brakes and steered first right and then left in my lane to avoid the car in front of mine.

We came to a stop without incident, followed quickly by a “pow” as the BMW behind us came to a stop.

Once again, my rear bumper was smacked, and this time the body shop won’t be able to repair it.

So is the car unlucky? Or is the car neutral and the bumper lucky, considering I didn’t wind up with actionable whiplash in any of the three accidents?

I guess we’ll find out, since that bumper is headed to the great plastic recycling bin in the sky.

Maybe the Jetta is lucky — it has taken its licks even as everyone involved has walked away without a scratch.

At the end of the day, isn’t that the luckiest thing of all?

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The council race dilemma

Makes me angry every time I think about it [“In Oak Cliff City Council race, everyone loses,” Advocate daily news blog, March 4].

—Debra Witter

Yeah, they did that to us on purpose.

—Kelly Tomlinson

New homes in Kings Highway

Nice to see this type of zoning correction take place [“Austin-based developer plans 32 new homes in Kings Highway,” Advocate daily news blog, Feb. 22]. Apartment developments belong along centers of activity like Davis, Jefferson and Fort Worth Ave. —downtownworker

Thank goodness there won’t be more apartments. —antoinetty

That’s good news compared to the awful plans put forth by INCAP a few years back.

—Guest

Corroding gas lines

We had a leak in the main line that runs underneath our parkway along the north side of Colorado just west of Winnetka [“Miles of cast-iron gas lines are corroding near our homes,” Advocate daily news blog, Feb. 19]. I noticed the smell when dragging the garbage and recycling bins to the curb last month and called ATMOS immediately. They came out and put some sort of enclosure on the main.

—leonard Ellis I walk my dog daily, and about four months ago I called in leaking gas on the northeast side of Colorado at North Clinton; you could smell it as you walked along the sidewalk. They came out immediately and dug it up the same day, but it makes you wonder how many other leaks are there along Colorado.

—Tuckspub

Warm Season transplants and seeds in stock!

Launch

community | events | food

Surviving the A-bomb

Kessler fallout shelter is a Cold War throwback

The dentist who built Don Sanders’ Kessler Park home in 1955 spared no expense when it came to keeping his family safe. He installed an early burglar alarm and had a custom gun rack built into the linen closet. When it came to surviving the bomb, homeowner J.G. Mullhollan went top-of-the-line. He blasted a hole in his rocky backyard and installed a grade-one shelter, the very best. The shelter is still intact, about 12 feet by 6 feet, constructed of solid concrete and insulated using molten lead. “It’s designed for three people to survive for seven days,” says Sanders, who bought the house in August 2012. Preserved underground since 1961 are three canvas bunks, clothing hooks, two pantry cabinets, a water tank, an aluminum garbage can and a chemical toilet. There are even uncapped glass jugs filled with some kind of chemical, unevaporated after all these years, for the emergency commode. The shelter is equipped with two blast doors and crank-operated air intake and ventilation systems. Sanders says several of his neighbors have fallout shelters too, but none is on par with the dentist’s. The Eisenhower administration encouraged the public to prepare for nuclear attacks, and Americans were paranoid after the wholesale death and destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The propaganda reel “Living in a Fallout Shelter,” easy to find on YouTube, portrays life in a public fallout shelter versus a home shelter. In a public shelter, you would get a 700-calorie biscuit, maybe some fruit and one quart of drinking water per day, according to the video. Back at the home shelter, the reel’s Abomb victims are partying with canned hams, fruit juice and two quarts of water per day. “This had to be very expensive to build,” Sanders says. Sanders, who owns a marketing company, is a longtime collector of atomic-era artifacts. Hanging from his dining-room wall is the restored three-speed Columbia bicycle his parents bought him in ’61, when he was 10. By the front door is a mint-condition fiberglass “big boy” from Kip’s. On a shelf is the metal lunch box he used as a child, featuring Roy Rogers’ horse Trigger. There is the hound-dog stuffed animal his mother received at an Elvis concert and toy tractors, actually Caterpillar farm-equipment samples his salesman dad used as visual aids when calling on farmers. Did Sanders buy the house because of the shelter? Well, it is a really pretty house on an interesting block, he says. But yes, he admits, the fallout shelter’s time-warp intrigue drove the sale home. Ironically, his real estate agent, Susan Melnick, refused to climb down into the shelter when she showed him the house. And even though the two have become friends since, Melnick still refuses to go down there. Sanders says most of his neighbors knew about the shelter, and they all wanted to see it after he moved in, an easy icebreaker for the new guy on the block. “I’ve taken about 400 people down here,” he says. —Rachel Stone

Danny Fulgencio

What gives?

Small ways that you can make a big difference for nonprofits

Plant trees…

…in the Summit Lawn Neighborhood. Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings, the Oak Cliff Chamber of Commerce, Re-Tree Oak Cliff, the Texas Tree Foundation and TXU Energy are planting 100 trees near Kiest Park, and they need volunteers. Meet for breakfast at 8 a.m. Saturday, April 6 at the park, 3080 S. Hampton. Transportation will be provided to Summit Lawn, where volunteers will plant trees in homeowners’ yards. Find more information and RSVP at southerndallstreeplanting.eventbrite.com.

Assist a teacher…

…at Oil and Cotton, 837 W. Seventh. This for-profit art school and shop offers day camps for kids in the spring and summer. Their small staff needs volunteers to help teachers with preparation, teaching and clean up. Campers range from 4-18 years old. Email oilandcotton@gmail.com or call 214.942.0474.

Kiss a mutt…

…at Oak Cliff Earth Day (see page 12). The Pooch Smooch is new to our neighborhood’s Earth Day celebration this year. Pay $1 for a little puppy love, and proceeds go to the nonprofit Spay Neuter Assistance Program, snap123.org.

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

April 2013

April 21

Oak Cliff Earth Day

The seventh-annual Earth Day celebration in our neighborhood returns to Lake Cliff Park from noon-5 p.m. Buy locally grown plants. Have a snack from a food truck. Listen to live music. Adopt a pet or have your pet microchipped. Children can work on a quilt project with Oil and Cotton or explore a petting zoo. And experts will give advice on preventing West Nile virus, composting, caring for trees, conserving water and other topics. Parking is permitted in Lot 10 at Methodist hospital, in the 1400 block of North Beckley. Buses will shuttle attendees to and from the parking lot.

Lake Cliff Park, Zang and Colorado, free

April 4-5

Hayes Carll

Texas singer-songwriter Hayes Carll brings a little bit of honky tonk to the Kessler with back-to-back shows this month.

1230 W. Davis, thekessler.org, 214.272.8346, $22.50-$33.75

April 5

Do-Si-Dough

The Rosemont Early Childhood PTA hosts its annual fundraiser at Four Corners Brewing Co. this year, from 7 p.m.midnight. Do-Si-Dough for Rosemont is a square dance, and there will be a mechanical bull, plus silent and live auctions. Tickets include dinner and open bar.

Four Corners 423 Singleton, recpta.org/auction, $40

April 18

Architecture lecture

The Oak Cliff Society of Fine Arts continues its spring salon series with architect Marcel Quimby. Quimby lives in Winnetka Heights and is a principal at Quimby McCoy Preservation Architecture. Her topic is “current issues and trends in preservation.” Turner House, 401 N. Rosemont, turnerhouse.org, 214.946.1670, $20; $15 for society members

mcclendon

Launch Ev

April 20

DADA bike swarm

Bike Friendly Oak Cliff will lead a bike tour of Dallas Art Dealers Association galleries as part of the DADA Spring Gallery Walk. The ride will be paced for all ages and fitness levels.

The tour meets at 1:30 p.m. at the Oak Cliff Cultural Center, 223 W. Jefferson, 214.914.1099, dallasartdealers.org

April 27

Prom squared

Find yourself an old-school tux or a tulle dress and tiara and party like it’s 1989 at Promise House’s second-annual tacky prom fundraiser. The R&B big band Larry g(EE) performs, the dress code is flexible, and Bolsa is catering. Oak Cliff-based Promise House is a nonprofit dedicated to helping homeless, runaway and at-risk teens.

The Kessler Theater, 1230 W. Davis, promisehouse.org, 214.941.8578, $35

April 6

Happy birthday, Dallas Zoo

The Dallas Zoo celebrates its 125th anniversary with a daylong celebration. The zoo was founded in 1888 and was the first zoo in Texas. 650 S. R.L. Thornton, dallaszoo.com, 469.554.7500, free with zoo admission

WhenMeri Dahlke and Michael Hickey started planning to open a bar, they had no intention of making it a restaurant. “I didn’t want to do food; I just wanted a bar,” Dahlke says. But gaining city and state approval to open a bar is much easier if it has a kitchen. “We know that food is important to people here,” she says. “So if we were going to do food, we weren’t going to cut corners.” They hired a friend, chef Carlos Mancera, to create the menu. The owners had very little input into it, and their trust in Mancera has paid off. The pub, which opened in June 2012, has received very good reviews from food critics. The tavern’s hot wings even made the Robb Report, “the definitive authority on connoisseurship for ultra-affluent consumers.” The menu is small and simple: fish and chips, a burger, wings, sandwiches and cheese boards, plus Mancera’s daily specials. Dahlke, who modeled the Ten Bells concept on her favorite watering hole, Lee Harvey’s, grew up in Wisconsin, where her uncle owned a country tavern. A staple of such taverns is pickled eggs. When she asked Mancera to make pickled eggs for the bar, he balked initially, so Dahlke said she would make them herself. But then one day Mancera got creative and surprised her with pickled-egg concoctions including jalapeño and curry. They’ve proven to be popular bar snacks, Mancera says.

—Rachel Stone

Ten Bells Tavern

232 W. Seventh 214.943.2677

tenbellstavern.com

AMbiAncE: PUb

PRicE RAngE: $9-$14

HoURS: MonDAY-FRiDAY, 3 P.M.-2 A.M. SATURDAY AnD SUnDAY, 11 A.M.-2 A.M.

DiD YoU know?

TEn bELLS REcEnTLY HoSTED cHEF JUSTin HoLT’S AFTER-MiDnigHT RAMEn PoP-UP SHoPS.

Top: the ruben sandwich with fries Left: fish and chips photos by Elliott Muñoz

1 Eno’s pizza, beer, locally sourced ingredients and a good wine list, all at the center of action in the Bishop Arts District. 407 n. Bishop 214.943.9200 enospizza.com

2 Bolsa

This is the place Dallasites are most likely to mention if they want to seem in the know about Oak Cliff. Bolsa has great cocktails and a creative menu. it’s the place to see and be seen once patio weather arrives. 614 w. Davis 214.367.9367 bolsadallas.com

3 BarBelmont

Have a fancy cocktail and nibbles from the Smoke kitchen while enjoying the best view of the Dallas skyline. 901 Fort worth ave. 214.393.2300 belmontdallas. com

House-made red plum jelly at Bolsa. Photo by Danny Fulgencio

Alternative blanc

Dry Creek Dry Chenin Blanc ($10)

I recently found a newspaper article about wine from 1977, which noted that wine was so confusing that most people just gave up trying to figure it out and always drank the same thing. Which helps explain the American fascination with chardonnay, which has been the most popular white wine for as long as I have been writing about it.

This is not a knock on chardonnay; it accounts for some of the world’s best wine, and I drink a lot of it myself. But it’s not the only white wine that’s versatile, goes well with food, and is widely available. The next time you want to drink the same old thing, consider these alternatives:

• Dry Creek Dry Chenin Blanc ($10): If chenin blanc is known in the U.S., it’s as an indifferently made sweet wine. The Dry Creek, on the other hand, is well made and not sweet. Look for lots of white fruit aromas, a little lemon peel fruit, and a sort of slate-like, fruit-pit finish.

• Château Magence Blanc ($9): This French white blend includes semillon, a grape used in Bordeaux to blend in white wines but little used in the U.S. This wine is crisp and lemony, with an interesting, almost salty flavor in the back.

• Yalumba Riesling ($10): Australia hasn’t always been known for massive, manly red wines. It was once famous for riesling, and the Yalumba shows why. Look for pleasant petrol aromas, some lime zest, not much sweetness, and an almost spicy finish.

—Jeff Siegel

Jeff Siegel WRiTeS abouT Wine and neighborhood dining news every Friday on oakcliff.advocatemag.com

Ask the wine guy

I found an old bottle of wine in the house. How can I tell how much it’s worth?

The easy answer is that it’s probably not worth anything. Being old doesn’t make a wine valuable; rather, it needs to be a high-end wine that benefits from aging, and those are rare. Also, it should have been stored properly, away from from heat and light. If it meets those conditions, you can check on a site like wine-searcher.com.

ASK The Wine Guy taste@advocatemag.com

with your wine

Lentil soup

—Jeff Siegel

Lentils are the easiest dried beans to use – they usually cook in 30 minutes or less and don’t require soaking before use. You can use any lentil here, but the French du puy lentils are the best and worth the extra cost. Add some Tabasco, and this will pair with the chenin blanc or riesling.

Please proofread carefully: pay attention to spelling, grammar, phone numbers and design.

Color proofs: because of the difference in equipment and conditions between the color proofing and the pressroom operations, a reasonable variation in color between color proofs and the completed job shall constitute an acceptable delivery.

Grocery List

1 cup lentils

6 cups stock or water

1 onion, diced

2 carrots, peeled and diced

1 stalk celery, diced salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Put everything in a soup pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until the lentils are tender, 20 to 30 minutes.

Serves 4, Takes 30-45 minutes

Spring

operated. Serving

Not your Trophy Club Tuscan

Highland Park transplants find Italianate Zen in the ’hood

Opposite page: The fireplace on Mike and Becky Casey’s patio is the center of their home life.

Story by Rachel Stone | Photos by Danny Fulgencio

not your trophy club tuscan

“The people who lived here before us had such vision. All we did was move in.”

Mike and Becky casey raised their three children in a 1929 highland Park Mansion. a few years ago, they found themselves empty nesters amid 6,500 square feet of 80-year-old house. they say they were tired of checking the sump pump in their basement every time it rained and otherwise maintaining the beautiful but aging home. Besides, they wanted to find a new perspective, a next chapter. “We weren’t ready for high-rise living,” Becky says. “We’re still young.” so after 36 years in the hP, the caseys replanted here in oc

after putting contracts on two oak cliff houses that sold quickly to other buyers, the caseys found their 2,600-square-foot tuscan-style home in east kessler. “We were so disappointed, and then we found this house, which is way better than the others. it’s perfect for us,” Becky says. its previous owners, todd Fiscus and rob dailey, put it on the market one day in June 2011, and the caseys snapped it up. they put in a contract the same day.

“We feel very lucky,” Becky says.

the home’s l-shaped floor plan faces a veranda with comfy chairs around the fireplace, a dining table and a daybed. a fountain in the shady courtyard sets a tone for the home’s energy. its informality enhances its elegance.

Jim Martinez and Jim Fissel built the house in 1994 on land they bought from the adjacent neighbor. theirs was the first home ever built on that lot.

“the people who lived here before us had such vision,” Becky says. “all we did was move in.”

the term “tuscan architecture” can evoke eye rolls because of overuse to tacky extreme all over suburban texas. But this is not that. there is no terrazzo tile or any kind of fake fresco. the simple white stucco façade arrows up to a red tile roof. tiered gardens in front feature dogwood trees and mostly white-blooming plants. interior archways are impeccably designed.

“We just marvel at it,” Mike says. “the

Opposite page: The home’s previous owners had this headboard custom made for the master bedroom. The Caseys liked it so much, they bought it.

Chaya Associate Artistic

Graf Mack.

Photo by Andrew Eccles Battle Artistic Director

not your trophy club tuscan

Clockwise from top: An exterior shot of the Casey home, a fireplace in the living room and the view from the master bathroom.

way they worked with the natural light, the way it catches the sunlight. It doesn’t look like a new home in an old neighborhood.”

Becky traveled to Italy and the Far East in her 30-plus years with her family’s fashion company, Harold’s Stores Inc. Much of the home’s décor is based on things she picked up on those trips. The Caseys sold some of their furniture from the Highland Park house in an estate sale. Some furniture went to their vacation home in East Texas.

“We really had to edit,” Mike says.

One piece of furniture they kept is the Harold’s boardroom table, which serves perfectly as their dining-room table. Becky had considered selling it before they found their East Kessler house. Now this relic of her family’s 50-year history in retail is a part of their everyday life.

The Caseys bought the previous owners’ custom headboard, which is upholstered in orangey red velvet.

“We never really thought of ourselves as red-velvet headboard kind of people,” Becky says. “But it works so well in this room.”

The home’s carved-wood doors and windows are “probably Mexican,” Becky says. “But everyone always says Moroccan.”

The best part about their home, as the Caseys and so many of us say, is the neighborhood. A few weeks after they moved in, the East Kessler Neighborhood Association had a party a few doors down. About 120 people came and went throughout the night old, young, singles, families, gay, straight. The diversity impressed them, and they had a great time getting to know their neighbors.

“We walked home that night and said, ‘We’re really in the right place,’ ” Mike recalls.

Mike is chairman of Grand Bank of Texas, which has a branch at Zang and Colorado, and he says living in the neighborhood allows him to support small businesses and develop personal relationships with customers. The Caseys had hung out in Bishop Arts plenty, as Parkies will, but they say that after moving here, the sense of community touched them.

“I never realized how much pride people have in their neighborhood here,” Mike says. “They have a real commitment to their community.”

And there’s always something fun to do. They say their Highland Park friends are always eager to visit.

An urban oasis

Born from the ashes of crime-ridden apartments, the Twelve Hills Nature Center is a reclaimed refuge amid developed Oak Cliff

Story by lauri Valerio | Photos by Can Türkyilmaz

Traces of demolished apartments remain — scattered pieces of broken concrete, wire and pipe hidden among grasses and weeds. Yet this plot of land in north Oak Cliff isn’t an overgrown ruin but a carefully planned and maintained urban nature preserve, the Twelve Hills Nature Center. The Oak Cliff concrete jungle is an inextricable part of Twelve Hills, an oasis striving to reclaim the native blackland prairie that once covered the city.

Twelve Hills, located north of Davis and south of the Stevens Park Golf Course, has been a nature center for only a few years, but the land it inhabits could tell stories of disputes, deterioration and destruction from decades past.

The apartments

Not much of note happened on the land before the late 1950s, when a complex of 12 apartment buildings — some adorned with chandeliers and carpet — were built on roughly 20 acres and came to be called the Twelve Hills apartments.

“It was a nice community. There were always children out,” says Jarrell Carter, who grew up in the apartments from 1961-1969. “There

was a swimming pool in the center of every apartment complex. It was sort of a meeting place. After work, after dinner, people would sit around the swimming pool and talk.”

Some of the land was undeveloped and Carter would frequent a limestone outcropping known as “the rocks.”

“It was really easy to go down, dig around and find fossils and shells. It wasn’t a nature preserve, but it was nature right in your hand,” Carter says.

Times changed. During the 1970s, fires, theft and crime became more frequent at the apartments. By the ’80s, Twelve Hills had deteriorated and neighbors were calling for its demolition. Only 35 people lived in the 500 units by 1989. Eventually, the buildings were vacated, windows were broken, walls and roofs collapsed and the decaying complex attracted even more crime.

A series of Dallas Morning News articles in the late ’80s and early ’90s exposed holes in a City of Dallas plan to renovate derelict apartments with federal funds. Twelve Hills was the centerpiece of the plan. After reports that investors would benefit from renovations

Twelve Hills Nature Center board president Marcie Haley sits at the center’s entrance. Creating the center was a community effort that took over 10 years to accomplish.

Something like Twelve Hills is very special and has a path and a story to tell.

more than the low-income families who would move in, the city backtracked and began exploring demolition costs. The initial estimate of a $280,000 cost to taxpayers skyrocketed to more than $1.2 million when the buildings were found to be seeped in asbestos.

Finally in 1992, the apartments were torn down and the debate began over what to do with the land, which the city had taken over because of the landowners’ failure to pay taxes.

“This land and how it is used will be critical to the neighborhoods around it,” Bob Stimson, who at the time was a Dallas city councilman, told the Dallas Morning News in 1996. “As the city goes after more and more property for back taxes, especially deteriorating apartment complexes, this will continue to come up.”

An oasis

At a 1999 neighborhood meeting concerning the land, Bebe Gomez of St. Cecilia Catholic School stood up and said that talks of a gated, high-end housing development would do nothing to help the community, that walls and gates would only divide it. This was before Dallas ISD took over part of the land and before entrepreneur Matt Holley bought the rest. The community had been debating different options, including residential development on all 20 acres.

After the meeting, Jennifer Touchet and several neighbors moved by Gomez’s words discussed creating a nature preserve that could serve the neighborhood as well as the entire Oak Cliff community.

“In our original vision, we talked about how we would love to be a model for other distressed communities and what they could do with tracts of land,” Touchet says.

The site for her represented hope and redemption, she says.

“It wasn’t just the land. We were about a vision and values and trying to bring something, bring a different set of values to the neighborhood,” Touchet says. “When the apartments were there, they were really bad. There were fires and drug dealings. A lot of people, especially older people, wanted some healing to happen in the neighborhood, and I think that’s what we did.”

Touchet and a group of individuals passionate about the cause asked an urban biologist to visit the property, look at the plants and wildlife, and advise whether it was worth

Hello, neighbor!

preserving. It was, the urban biologist told them.

So for four years, the group worked with landscape architects, talked with city councilmen, gathered 900 signatures on a petition supporting the preserve and secured a nonprofit status for the Twelve Hills Nature Center. They also succeeded in rezoning five acres of the land to be used only for green space.

The group had something different than a park in mind: an environmental education area.

“There are a lot of kids living in apartments nearby that don’t have yards and don’t get to go to nature centers,” Touchet says, pointing to the one or two environmental education field trips DISD students may take during the course of grade school. “This was their only access to nature that they’d ever have. We thought it was really important to teach people about stewardship.”

The group focused on re-naturalizing the land, returning it to the native blackland prairie grasses that blanketed Twelve Hills before it was covered in concrete. The point is to maintain wildlife diversity, according to Marcie Haley, the current Twelve Hills Nature Center board president. Over time, insects develop the ability to digest certain plant chemicals. As those plants are taken

away, even if new ones are introduced, insects are left with less food, meaning birds are left with less food, meaning reptiles are left with less food, and so on down the food chain.

In undeveloped spaces, nature does a pretty good job of keeping invasive plants from taking over, Haley says. In a place like Twelve Hills, which is surrounded by development, people have to step in and take care of the land.

“Prairies were always kept that way, and trees were kept that way and kept out of prairies by fire and buffalo herds running across the land,” Haley says. “Those things don’t exist anymore, but there are other natural mechanisms that would keep a native plant in check.”

Sharing the land

After the land stood vacant for a decade, in 2003 Dallas ISD began construction of Rosemont Elementary School Primary campus on about 10 acres. The original Rosemont, what is now its upper campus, is across the street and St. Cecilia Catholic School is down the road, making Twelve Hills an outdoor classroom to anyone who drops by when the center is open — sunup to sundown.

Around 2005, the other 10 acres went to the highest bidder, former Oak Cliff resident Matt Holley. Because half of the land already

was designated green space, and because Holley had discussed the nature preserve with Touchet and supported the effort, he sold 5.4 acres to the Twelve Hills group at a reduced price since the fledgling nonprofit couldn’t afford to pay full price for it. On the remaining land, Holley built a mid-century modern inspired gated community called Kessler Woods.

“Even during the downturn, a lot of great stuff continued to happen in Oak Cliff, and it speaks to the energy in the community,” Holley says.

The landscaping plan for the homes, which have since sold for between $450,000 and $1.5 million, was to blend harmoniously with the Twelve Hills Nature Center and the surrounding hills.

Holley and Rosemont Primary architects met to see if there was a way to “create synergy” so that the buildings complemented both each other and the land. Today, both the students and neighbors enjoy that synergy. Though Holley says not many Kessler Woods residents have children, they often run or walk through Twelve Hills. Rosemont classes visit the preserve whenever they want, though the biggest event of the year happens in the spring.

Around May, every class at Rosemont Primary from pre-kindergarten through fourth grade embarks on an hour-long nature walk through Twelve Hills with adult volunteers and fellow students trained as nature leaders. Flowers are blooming, and butterflies, bees and other insects are flying around. As students take in the excitement and ask questions, they are also learning environmental stewardship.

“Students have gone home and taught their families about the plants in their yard,” Haley says. “They take the knowledge with them. We hope that — and we think they probably will — take the desire to take care of the land with them also.”

Roots

The city buzz quiets as you walk past the stone entrance into a fairytale-like flurry of monarch butterflies. A creek trickles past the western corner of the center. Twelve Hills offers a much-needed breath of fresh air and that “restorative, calming effect that nature bestows,” Haley says. In children and adults alike, it nurtures a sense of “wonder and imagination.”

“Something like Twelve Hills is very spe-

“It

has always made a big difference in our sales when we advertised in the Advocate.”

— ChrIs Brumley, Brumley Gardens

Movies Parties Food Music Drinks

cial and has a path and a story to tell,” Tina Aguilar says.

Stories and places are fundamental to the core humanities class Aguilar teaches at El Centro College. Several times a year, Aguilar takes students of various ages and life experiences to visit the Twelve Hills Nature Center and discuss “sense of place,” which Aguilar defines as “those fragments that we have to live everyday.”

“Sense of place really is an understanding of how you situate in a particular place. It can be a particular city, it can be at home, it can be in your work environment,” Aguilar says. “It taps into our identity and our place, and connects us to the community.”

Aguilar chose to incorporate Twelve Hills into the class because of its history within the rich and vibrant Oak Cliff community and because it is a “sanctuary” amid a concrete city. When she takes her students there, she says, some of them are deeply moved when they step into a space many of them didn’t know existed.

But like Twelve Hills, the class isn’t just about great thoughts and ideas but also taking action. Aguilar gives students funding resources and lists potential contacts, and asks them to go through the process of creating an organization and applying for city funding. Some students have continued working on projects after the class ended.

“I ask them to think about those in-between spaces,” Aguilar says. “I get them to think about, what if you have this empty space? What could you put there, create, that is something that’s sacred for the community? How do you give that place a heartbeat? What is the voice of that place?”

Like Aguilar’s students, the volunteers working with Twelve Hills are reclaiming a piece of land and envisioning what could be in those “in-between spaces.” The land has experienced transition from wilderness to apartment communities, from a high-crime spot to ruins, and from desolation to a reimagining of what existed before settlement.

“This idea of taking back or regenerating, going back to what once was in the landscape, is very powerful,” Aguilar says. “The idea that you’re going to maintain and have advocacy for a site like Twelve Hills allows growth. It allows the minds involved, the people involved, to really see how they’re going to bestow that to future generations.”

BISHOP ARTS THEATRE CENTER

straight teeth you’ve always wanted – without braces

the goods

business buzz

The lowdown on what’s up with neighborhood

Send business news tips to livelocal@advocatemaG.com

Culinary “American Idol”

The “restaurant incubator” at Trinity Groves is taking flight with Kitchen LTO, a space that will change chefs and concepts about every three months. Restaurateur Casie Caldwell, who founded Greenz Salads, created LTO, and that stands for “limited-time offer.” A panel of investors and restaurateurs has chosen finalists for the first round of LTO. Much like a TV talent contest, the public gets to choose the winning chef and concept through online voting through April. The first version of LTO is expected to open as early as May. Phil Romano, who came up with the idea for a restaurant incubator at Trinity Groves, calls LTO the “incubator within the incubator.” Mark Brezinski has described the overall concept as the “restaurant American Idol” because it’s a chance for unknowns to suddenly hit the big time (or fall flat, presumably) on a high-profile stage. Cheers for creativity!

Luck of the groves

Another new restaurant has been announced for Trinity Groves, and its name also is an acronym. LUCK stands for Local Urban Craft Kitchen The concept is inspired by craft beer. “It offers a comfortable, upscale ambiance replete with outdoor seating and great downtown skyline view,” according to its website. The menu will include smoked meats, sandwiches, salads and desserts. Texas wines and local craft beers will be the highlights of the bar. The restaurant is owned by Jeff Dietzman, Daniel Pittman and Ned Steele, and they plan to open this summer.

Developer planning $300,000-$400,000 homes in Kings Highway

An Austin-based developer is planning 32 new homes in the Kings Highway Conservation District. PSW Real Estate wants to build two-story homes with detached garages on 2,500-square-foot lots at Mary Cliff and Kings Highway. The tract is the former site of apartments, where now-defunct developer Incap had won zoning approval for townhomes before losing that property and three others in Oak Cliff to foreclosure in 2010. The next developer is asking for a zoning change from multifamily to single family, a switch from the way a developer typically would go, City Councilman Scott Griggs noted in a February meeting. The current zoning allows for three-story structures and 60 units, about twice the density. PSW takes “a holistic approach to the design of our communities” and builds with environmentally conscious elements, including solar panels and foam insulation, according to its website. — rachel Stone

30 word on body text is absolute limit on text. we will not count address, etc. oc 1/3 3 items

more business bits

1 El Padrino taquería

businesses

Home on bisHop

check out our new affordable luxury finds for spring! mention this ad and the tax is on us! 502 n. bishop 214.434.1421 homeonbishop.com

paintinG

witH a twist

express your inner artist! instructors lead attendees in creating paintings with a featured piece of art, bring nothing more than your imagination, wine or beverage. perfect for private parties as well. 5202 lovers ln. 214.350.9911 paintingwithatwist.com

brumley Gardens

has found a new location in Pleasant Grove. The original El Padrino restaurant remains open on Jefferson, and a new concept from Sarah Lombardi will replace the former taco stand. 2 The owner of Donuts N Coffee/Yogurberry is expanding into the taco game. A sign for Goji Teriyaki Steak and Tacos went up recently in the same shopping center. 3 Zoli’s NY Pizza is taking the former BEE: Best Enchiladas Ever space on West Davis near Zang. It is a New York-style pizza-by-the-slice concept from Il Cane Rosso owner Jay Jerrier.

add movement to your garden with our whimsical garden art using kinetic energy. Various shapes & sizes. won’t last long! brumley Gardens - lake Highlands: 10540 church rd. 214.343.4900 & bishop arts: 700 w. davis 214.942.0794 brumleygardens.com.

LakehiLL PreParatory SchooL

Leading to Success. 2720 hillside Dr., Dallas 75214 / 214.826.2931, lakehillprep. org Kindergarten through Grade 12 - Lakehill Preparatory School takes the word preparatory in its name very seriously. Throughout a student’s academic career, Lakehill builds an educational program that achieves its goal of enabling graduates to attend the finest, most rigorous universities of choice. Lakehill combines a robust, college-preparatory curriculum with opportunities for personal growth, individual enrichment, and community involvement. From kindergarten through high school, every Lakehill student is encouraged to strive, challenged to succeed, and inspired to excel.

St. john’S ePiScoPaL SchooL

848 harter rd., Dallas 75218 / 214.328.9131 / stjohnsschool.org Founded in 1953, St. John’s is an independent, co-educational day school for Pre-K through Grade 8. With a tradition for academic excellence, St. John’s programs include a challenging curriculum in a Christian environment along with instruction in the visual and performing arts, Spanish, German, French, and opportunities for athletics and community service. St. John’s goal for its students is to develop a love for learning, service to others, and leadership grounded in love, humility, and wisdom. Accredited by ISAS, SAES, and the Texas Education Agency.

people

Chef Tim Byres of Smoke and Chicken Scratch speaks at the Foodways Texas symposium April 4-6. “Our Barbecue, Ourselves” focuses on the history of smoked meat in Texas. foodwaystexas.com

Restaurateur Nick Badovinus of Oak Cliff is a semi-finalist for a James Beard Foundation Award. Badovinus, who owns Off-Site Kitchen and Neighborhood Services, was nominated for Outstanding Restaurateur. The James Beard awards are among the highest honors in the culinary world. Winners will be announced in May.

the arts

The Belmont Hotel and the Dallas Contemporary commissioned Brooklyn native J.M. Rizzi, who lives in Dallas and signs his work JMR, to paint a mural on Sylvan at Fort Worth Avenue. The mural is adjacent to panels Shepard Fairey painted last year.

athletics

Senior athletes from Adamson High School accepted athletic scholarships on national signing day in February. Draven Taylor signed to New Mexico University for football. Christian Perez signed to Ranger College for cross country. Bryceson James signed to Texas College for football. Keith Bryant signed to Cisco College for football. Rolando Flores signed to Texas College for football. Luis Acosta signed to Ranger College for cross country. And Enrique Estrada signed to Ranger College for cross country.

Want more? Sign up for the weekly newsletter and know what’s happening in our neighborhood. Visit advocatemag.com/newsletter/oc to sign up.

Classes/TuToring/ lessons

JEWELRY Making Parties at Art Gallery. BYOB & creativity. All else included! jewelrymakingparty.com or 1-855-254-6625

employmenT

AIRLINE CAREERS Begin Here. Become an Aviation Maintenance Tech. FAA Approved. Training. Financial Aid, if qualified. Housing available. Job placement assistance. AIM 866-453-6204

CREATE INCOME From The Internet. One On One Coaching & Group Support. www.MonthlyResidual.net

Business opporTuniTies

I’M LOOKING FOR A PART-TIME ASSISTANT

Must be a Go Getter. Computer Wiz. Call BJ Ellis 214-226-9875

serviCes for you

CONFUSED? FRUSTRATED? Let A Seasoned Pro Be The Interface Between You & That Pesky Computer. Hardware & Software Installation, Troubleshooting, Training. $60/hr. 1 hr min. Dan 214-660-3733 or stykidan@sbcglobal.net

Local art, local architecture

Oak Cliff-based artist Kim Cadmus

Owens opened a show with Allison V. Smith at the Gallery at UTA last month. The exhibit features Owens’ paintings of architectural subjects, many of them in our neighborhood, along with Smith’s “quirky, rural Texas vignettes.” The show runs through March 30.

professional serviCes

HOLLOWAY BENEFIT CONCEPTS Benefit strategy For Area Businesses. www.hollowaybenefitconcepts.com 214-329-0097

Website Design

Flash Demos

Graphic Design

RibbitMultimedia .com 214.560.4207

peT serviCes

Metro Paws Animal Hospital is NOW OPEN! 1021 Ft. Worth Ave. (next door to the Belmont Hotel) 214.939.1600 Visit our website for a coupon dallasmetropaws.com

May DEaDLINE aprIL 10 TO aDVErTISE CaLL 214.560.4203 fOr ONLINE INfO VISIT aDVOCaTEMag.COM/aDVErTISE

peT serviCes

In-Home Professional Care Customized to maintain your pet’s routine In-Home Pet Visits & Daily Walks

“Best of Dallas” D Magazine Serving the Dallas area since 1994 Bonded & Insured www.societypetsitter.com 214-821-3900

Buy/sell/Trade

MAvS/DALLAS STARS TICKETS Neighborhood group needs partners for great Dallas Mavs/Dallas Stars seats — tickets are priced at our cost; 2 seats for each game. Mavs seats are in Platinum Level Section 204, front row; Stars seats are Section 123, Row B (second row from the glass). E-mail rwamre@advocatemag.com or call 214-560-4212. We have great Rangers seats available, too!

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

esTaTe/garage sales

ESTATE SALES & LIQUIDATION SERvICES

Moving, Retirement, Downsizing. One Piece or a Houseful. David Turner. 214-908-7688. dave2estates@aol.com

real esTaTe

RRM PROPERTY SOLUTIONS Investor Friendly 214-315-0532 www.rrmpropertysolutions.com

Chris Arrant

aC & Heat

AIR CONDITIONING & HEATING Repair, Service, Replacement. Honest & Affordable. JB Maintenance. 214-404-1457 LIC# TACLB 17612E

NORTHAVEN AIR & HEAT Affordable Quality. Jim. 972-365-1570. TACLA46391E

BLUE RIBBON Heating & Air Conditioning 214-823-8888

214.526.8533

Installation & Repair QuigleyAC.com

#TACLA23686E

CarpeNtry & remodeliNg

ATLANTIS DESIGN-BUILD, LLC

Complete Remodeling. 40 Yrs Exp. Additions. 1 & 2 Story. Kitchens, Baths.

Small Jobs To Entire House. Renovation & Design. Full Time Supervision. Licensed/Insured. Free Estimates. 281-761-4648

CarpeNtry & remodeliNg

BLAKE CONSTRUCTION CONCEPTS, LLC

Complete Remodeling, Kitchens, Baths, Additions. Hardie Siding & Replacement Windows. Radiant Barrier, Insulation. Bonded & Insured. www.blake-construction.com 214-563-5035

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

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

HANDY DAN “The Handyman” To Do’s Done Right! www.handy-dan.com 214-252-1628

PREVIEW CONSTRUCTION INC.

James Hardie Cement Siding. Energy Star Windows. Kitchens-Baths-Additions & More. 214-348-3836. See Photo Gallery at: www.previewconstruction.com

RENOVATE DALLAS renovatedallas.net 214-403-7247

eleCtriCal ServiCeS

LAKEWOOD ELECTRICAL Local. Insured. Lic. #227509 Call Rylan 214-434-8735

MORIN ELECTRIC New/Remodel.Com/Res. Panel Changes/Full Services. All Phases. All Service Work. 469-230-7438. TECL2293

FeNCiNg & deCkS

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

4 QUALITY FENCING Call Mike 214-507-9322

Specializing in Wood, New or Repair.

CREATIVE METAL SOLUTIONS LLC

Automatic Gates, Fence, Stairs, Stair/Balcony Railings, Wine Cellar Gates. 214-325-4985

HouSe paiNtiNg

BLAKE CONSTRUCTION CONCEPTS, LLC

Complete Painting Interior/Exterior, Stain Etc.

Custom Finishes, Custom Texture, Custom Trim www.blake-construction.com

Fully Bonded & Insured. 214-563-5035

iNterior deSigN

CUSTOM DRAPERY Window Treatments, Blinds,Shades,Upholstery. Designer Workroom. 15% seniors & New Homeowners. Linda 214-212-8058 dblinda86@msn.com

FURNITURE PAINTING Tired of old Kitchen or Bathroom Cabinets. Let us make them over in a hot new paint treatment. Jamie or Kay 214-773-7221

kitCHeN/BatH/ tile/grout

CleaNiNg ServiCeS

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

CLEANING BY LT

General House Cleaning Linda 214-566-7743

WINDOW MAN WINDOW CLEANING.COM

Residential Specialists. BBB. 214-718-3134

ComputerS & eleCtroNiCS

IQUEUE MEDIA COMPANY 214-478-8644 TV Installation, Computer Repair, Security.

CoNCrete/ maSoNry/paviNg

CONCRETE REPAIRS/REPOURS

Demo existing. Driveways/Patio/Walks

Pattern/Color available 972-672-5359 (32 yrs.)

eleCtriCal ServiCeS

4 U ELECTRICAL SERVICE, LLC

We will be there 4 U. 972-877-4183

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

ANTHONY’S ELECTRIC Master Electrician. TECL24948 anthonyselectricofdallas.com

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

COWBOY FENCE & IRON CO.

214.692.1991

EST. 1991 #1 SPECIALIZING IN Wood Fences &Auto Gates

cowboyfenceandiron.com

FlooriNg & CarpetiNg

STAINED & SCORED CONCRETE FLOORS

New/Remodel. Res/Com. Int/Ext. Refin. 15 Yrs. TheConcreteStudio.com 214-321-1575

WORLEY TILE & FLOORING Custom Marble Install. 214-779-3842

glaSS, WiNdoWS & doorS

• frameless and framed shower doors & enclosures

premium quality custom

shower doors & enclosures

214-530-5483

showerdoordallas.com

HaNdymaN ServiCeS

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

BO HANDYMAN Specializing In Historic Home

Renovations & Pro Remodels. Custom Carpentry, Doors, Kitchens, Baths & more. 214-437-9730

HANDY DAN “The Handyman” To Do’s Done Right. www.handy-dan.com 214-252-1628

Your Home Repair Specialists

Drywall Doors

Senior Safety Carpentry

ALL SURFACE REFINISHING 214-631-8719. Tub/Tile/Refinishing. allsurfacerefinishing.com

BLAKE CONSTRUCTION CONCEPTS LLC

Complete Kitchen And Bath Remodels Tile, Granite, Marble, Travertine, Slate Bonded And Insured. 214-563-5035 www.blake-construction.com

HANDY DAN “The Handyman” Remodels Done Right. handy-dan.com 214-252-1628

laWNS, gardeNS & treeS

ADVANCED TREE SERVICE

Quality Tree Trimming & Removal. 214-455-2095

BRUMLEY GARDENS Visit us on Facebook Landscape Maintenance, Installation & Design 214-343-4900 www.brumleygardens.com

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

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

TEN55 DESIGN Landscape Design ten55design.com, 214-208-4366

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

Small & Odd Jobs And More! 972-308-6035

HandymanMatters.com/dallas

Bonded & Insured. Locally owned & operated.

laWNS, gardeNS & treeS

Castro’s Tree Service

Jeff Castro

214-337-7097

214-725-1171

jridefree@aol.com

Tree Shaping, Cutting and Removal

JD’s Tree Service

RESPONSIBLE TREE CARE FOR THE ENVIRONMENT

Firewood/Cooking Wood

Locally harvested wood!

Full service trimming & planting of native trees.

214.946.7138

loCkSmitHS & SeCurity

CHIEF SECURITY & SAFE Expert & Quality

Locksmith & Safe Service. 10% Off. 214-827-7535

moviNg

ALL-TEX MOVERS Free Estimates. 11Yr. BBB Member. www.all-texmovers.com 214-869-6566

peSt CoNtrol

A BETTER EARTH PEST CONTROL

Keeping the environment, kids, pets in mind. Organic products avail. 972-564-2495

plumBiNg

ANDREWS PLUMBING • 214-354-8521

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

Sewers • Drains • Bonded 24 Hours/7 Days

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

REPAIRS, Fixtures, General Plumbing, Senior Discounts. Campbell Plumbing. 214-321-5943

214.560.4203

poolS

LEAFCHASER’S POOL SERVICE

Parts and Service. Chemicals and Repairs.

Jonathan Mossman FREE ESTIMATES 214-729-3311

rooFiNg & gutterS

NATIONWIDE ROOFING,FENCING,GUTTERS

BBB member. 214-882-8719

S&H IMPROVEMENTS 972-231-4273

Hand-nailed Roofing In Dallas Since 1984

Lifetime Transferable Labor Warranty

Allstate Homecraft Roofing

• Roofing & Remodel • Additions • Licensed/Insured

Over 1,000 Satisfied Customers in the Lakewood, Lake Highlands, Preston Hollow, Park Cities Areas

214-824-0767 allstatehomecraft.com

SkyligHtS

Installing Since 1995

Replacement, Repair & New Installation

Glass – Acrylic – Tubular Skylights

972-263-6033

www.skylightsolutions.com

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

True Crime

She

da Shed

in — Someone broke in.

Michele Broughton was picking up her kids from preschool just as she would any other day. It’s a nice daycare/preschool, she says, and her kids like the facility. She parked the car, locked it, and ran inside. After checking out her kids, she came back to a most unexpected scene. Glass littered the inside of her car where someone had smashed in the driver’s side window.

“I went in maybe five minutes,” Broughton says of that day.

Her purse and cell phone were stolen. However, Broughton says she doesn’t carry much cash, so it wasn’t a major loss financially. About the same time, another car in the parking lot was broken into, and Broughton says she has since heard of more of this type of break-in at schools and daycares in the news.

The event has given her a bit of a creepy feeling, but she is trying to stay positive,

The Victim: Michele Broughton

The Crime: Burglary of a motor vehicle

Date: Wednesday, Feb. 27

Time: 5:50 p.m. a nd 5:55 p.m. Location: 2700 block of South Hampton

realizing that things could have been worse had she had more valuables in the car.

“We bounce back as quickly as we can,” she says.

Major Edwin Ruiz-Diaz of the Southwest Patrol Division says this is a common method of car burglary. Although these offenses usually occur when a car has been left at a location for some period of time, it is not uncommon for a thief to simply wait for the right opportunity to

come along.

“It can take less than a minute for a suspect to break into a car. We recommend that residents keep all valuables out of sight whenever possible to discourage thieves. We also suggest making sure the vehicle is locked and in a well-illuminated area at night. There is no guarantee these measures will keep residents from being a victim; however, actions such as the ones described can make a vehicle a less appealing target.”

A life of lAw, order And love

Allen Melton left a legacy of civic and community service

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

A teenage Tom Allen Melton (Allen) moved from Sulphur Springs to Dallas with his family and immediately fit in at Oak Cliff High School, where he was a member of The Oak staff and the “Go-to-College” and baccalaureate committees. Then, at SMU, he became one of the founders of the Blue Key Honor Society for college students displaying all-around excellence in scholarship, leadership and service — formed at SMU for the law students. He served as president of the YMCA and secretary-treasurer of the law students, and was a member of the Board of Control of Religious Activities. He joined the Cosmopolitan Club and was a member of Phi Delta Gamma and Alpha Delta Phi, graduating with a pre-law degree and then earning a law degree, also from SMU.

During this time, on one of his trips to the old Carnegie Library at Jefferson and Marsalis, Melton noticed a pretty librarian named Erma Caddel and soon invited her to Oak Cliff Methodist Church, his church, right across the street. They married there Jan. 30, 1934, and lived the remainder of their lives in Oak Cliff.

In 1932 Melton was elected justice of the peace for southwest Dallas County, including Oak Cliff, and served from 1933 to 1936. He then became an assistant DA for Dallas County, temporary judge for County

of the little boys were named “Allen” by their new, grateful parents.

Court No. 1 and Dallas Corporation Court and, in 1935, was cited by the city’s Junior Chamber of Commerce as the “Outstanding Young Man of Dallas.”

Melton practiced civil law for more than 55 years in Dallas County, where one of his most enjoyable duties was assisting hundreds of families in adopting children. Many

One of the charter founders of Goodwill Industries of Dallas, Inc., Melton served as president from 1952 to 1955. He was president of the West Dallas Service Center, World Fellowship Council, Dallas Breakfast Club and National Association of Private Schools. He held membership in the YMCA National Board of Directors and Oak Cliff YMCA board of directors and was an officer of the Dallas Bar Association, Oak Cliff Chamber of Commerce and the Kiwanis Club of Oak Cliff. He served on the Board of the Dallas County School District for many years and was a precinct chairman for the Kessler area. Texas governors Allan Shivers and Price Daniel appointed him to serve as legal counsel to the State Board of Morticians; he also received the Owen George Trophy as the outstanding member of the Oak Cliff Chamber of Commerce.

Melton served as chairman of the W.H. Adamson Scholarship Foundation for more than 20 years, helping to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for the trust, personally and through his legal practice, and helping to provide college scholarships for needy Adamson and other Oak Cliff students, one of the awards offered by the foundation being “The Allen Melton Scholarship.” A photograph of Melton hangs in the hall of Adamson — a tribute to his endeavors on behalf of the scholarship foundation, and in 2004 he was inducted into the Adamson “Hall of Honor.”

Melton’s son, Bill, did some following in his father’s footsteps, being elected Dallas County Treasurer for six consecutive terms and, like his father, being highly involved in the Oak Cliff Lions Club and Oak Cliff Chamber of Commerce, and serving in leadership positions in both high school and college. However the younger Melton graduated from Sunset and UT-Austin.

When asked if Melton Sr. had any qualms about Bill attending different schools than

Clockwise from top left: melton as a young attorney; melton as a justice of the peace; portrait of erma melton; a plaque honoring melton at Adamson High School; portrait of melton as a community leader.

One of Melton’s most enjoyable duties was assisting hundreds of families in adopting children. Many of the little boys were named “Allen” by their new, grateful parents.

his alma maters, the younger Melton answered, “No. Some remorse when I went to UT instead of SMU. But later, when I became a UT cheerleader, he sang ‘The Eyes of Texas’ with the best of ’em.”

“He was happy again,” smiled Bill, “when I became the PA announcer for SMU Mustang football in 1975.”

Melton Sr. and his family, which also included a daughter, Martha, were members of Oak Cliff Methodist Church, where he served as chairman of the official board and chairman of the Pastor-Parish Relations Committee, and taught the Melton Sunday school class for some 59 years. At his death in 1991, at age 83, Melton was the last surviving life member and founder of Goodwill Industries of Dallas.

“His long tenure to church and community activities is testimony to his love for the community,” Bill Melton lovingly says about his father. “The same was true with his family. Each and every person had a special place in his heart, and, of course, he spoiled his grandchildren.”

According to Bill, his father “enjoyed vacationing in Estes Park, Colo., attending SMU football games and sitting in the front porch swing, puffing on his favorite cigar, while contemplating the ways of the world.”

Numerous Oak Cliff and Dallas County folk still benefit from the decades of Allen Melton’s personal investment in his city and community. He was a true gentleman. An Oak Cliff legend.

Your stories

Longtime Cliffites recount memories and reconnect on oakcliff.advocatemag. com/backstory Last month Brooks sparked conversation with the mysterious origins of Beckley Club Estates.

Beckley Club is indeed a charming part of Oak Cliff. On any given day, you can find peacocks by the dozen roaming the neighborhood, chickens, and a very friendly owl that sings me to sleep.

—Michael Shaddox

My husband and I have been Beckley Club Estates dwellers for 22 years and celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary this week. We moved in as renters in 1991 4 years before buying the property — and never left. A truly great place to live, and I was thrilled to read your story and more of the history. Currently, the talk of BCE is peacocks ... on roofs, in the creek, in the street, as baby chicks. They multiply around here, and everyone gets a kick out of posting photos on our BCE Facebook page.

—Alicia Quintans

Perfect story for such a neat area — “Billy Goat Hill” would be a good description for several of those streets!

—Patsy

Sumney

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.