2024 March Oak Cliff Advocate

OAK CLIFF M A R C H 2 0 2 4 I A D V O C AT E M A G . C O M

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march 24 contents

OAK CLIFF ADVOCATE VOL.17 NO.3

PROFILE 6 Robert Kent DINING 8 Henry's Majestic FEATURES 12 The Box Office Girl 18 Hiking the El Camino COVER 14 Embracing outdoor education BACKSTORY 22 Restoring dignity to graves

In addition to a full bar, Henry's Majestic offers a "puptail" menu for furry friends taking advantage of the restaurant's dogfriendly patio. Read more on page 8. Photography by Lauren Allen.

D I ST R I B U T I O N / A D V E RT I S I N G 2 1 4 . 5 6 0 . 4 2 1 2 ADVERTISING CONSULTANTS Frank McClendon 214.560.4215 / fmcclendon@advocatemag.com Michele Paulda 214.724.5633 / mpaulda@advocatemag.com Catherine Pate 214.560.4201 / cpate@advocatemag.com Linda Kenney lkenney@advocatemag.com Brandon Rodriguez 972-754-3942 / brodriguez@advocatemag.com Classified Manager: Prio Berger 214.292.0493 / pberger@advocatemag.com Marketing Director: Sally Wamre 214.686.3593 / swamre@advocatemag.com Development Director: Alessandra Quintero 786.838.5891 / aquintero@advocatemag.com Digital Marketing & Analytics: Autumn Grisby agrisby@advocatemag.com

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E D I TO R I A L Publisher/Editor-in-Chief: Jehadu Abshiro jabshiro@advocatemag.com E D I TO R S : Alyssa High ahigh@advocatemag.com Emma Ruby eruby@advocatemag.com Kelsey Shoemaker kshoemaker@advocatemag.com Lillian Juarez ljuarez@advocatemag.com Editorial Assistant: Simon Pruitt spruitt@advocatemag.com Digital Editor: Christian Welch cwelch@advocatemag.com Senior Art Director: Jynnette Neal jneal@advocatemag.com Art Director/Photographer: Lauren Allen lallen@advocatemag.com Contributors: Patti Vinson, Carol Toler, Sam Gillespie Contributing photographers: Kathy Tran, Emil Lippe, Hunter Lacey, Yuvie Styles, Shelby Tauber, Sylvia Elzafon, Lo Kuehmeier, Victoria Gomez, Julia Cartwright Chief Revenue Officer: Rick Wamre 214.560.4212 / rwamre@advocatemag.com Advocate (c) 2024 is published monthly in print and daily online by Advocate Media - Dallas Inc., a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation based in Dallas and first published in 1991. Contents of this print magazine may not be reproduced. Advertisers and advertising agencies assume liability for the content of all advertisements and sponsorships printed, and therefore assume responsibility for any and all claims against the Advocate. The Publisher reserves the right to accept or reject ay editorial, advertising or sponsorship material in print or online. Opinions set forth in Advocate publications are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the Publisher’s viewpoint. More than 180,000 people read Advocate publications in print each month; Advocate online publications receive more than 4 million pageviews monthly. Advertising rates and guidelines are available upon request. Advocate print and online publications are available free of charge throughout our neighborhoods, one print copy per reader. For information about supporting our non-profit mission of providing local news to neighborhood readers, please call 214-560-4212 or email rwamre@advocatemag.com.

ABOUT THE COVER A retail parking garage on Singleton Boulevard. Photography by Lauren Allen.

SPONSORED CONTENT

Photography courtesy of Bishop+Ivy

A HAPPY CLIENT IS GOOD FOR BUSINESS This women-led residential and commercial design firm focuses on its clients’ dreams to make them a reality.

ak Cliff renovations and new builds are happening at warp speed, and the #1 stylist in-the-know neighbors are flocking to is Bishop + Ivy Design Studio. Bishop + Ivy owner and principal designer is Stephané Boston; completing the management team is principal architect Arianna Schall, RA, LEED AP BD+C, Well AP. The two have paired on plenty of residential, commercial, retail, multi-family, industrial and corporate construction projects, and they’re passionate about the results for each client. Bishop + Ivy Design Studio serves a wide spectrum of clients: families, singles, single parents, aging-in-place neighbors, people working at home — anyone looking for luxury in a space they want to become all theirs. “We receive many referrals from clients, general contractors and other relationships that are built on mutual respect for our ability to execute projects while being realistic about budget considerations,” Boston says. “We put aside any ego and focus on best solutions for our clients’ budget, space and constraints. We follow the Golden Rule,” Boston says. As with any project, materials delays or backorders can happen, but Bishop + Ivy runs on full transparency, continually discussing timelines and options with clients. No surprises, Boston says. “We present realistic lead times and are clear about what our vendors can and cannot do from a time perspective.” Bishop + Ivy Design Studio’s credo is that their team goes beyond creativity. Boston says she values the customer-service experience and the company’s great reputation. “When clients take the time to invest, we turn their projects into jewels of the community,” Boston says.

“WE HAVE FUN AT WHATEVER WE DO. HECK, EVEN IF WE WERE GIVEN A CHICKEN COOP WE WOULD MAKE IT THE ‘CHIC’-EST COOP OUT THERE.” Bedrooms? Check. Bathrooms? Check. Total project refresh? Double check. Boston says she loves a challenge and doesn’t like being put in a box design-wise. “We have fun at whatever we do. Heck, even if we were given a chicken coop we would make it the ‘chic’-est coop out there,” Boston says with an easy laugh. Kick off your design dreams today and call Stephané Boston, founder and principal designer of Bishop + Ivy Design Studio. 214-494-1515 or visit Bishopivystudio.com.

p ro f i l e

rowing up in Lake Highlands as an avid member of Boy Scout Troop 890, Robert Kent’s childhood was immersed in the outdoors. “I got to go spend some really wonderful formative experiences in the outdoors both in high adventure backpacking treks through Rocky Mountain National Park and more local things like our annual triathlon along White Rock Green Belt,” Kent says. “After five or six years in a row training for that, it instilled in me a deeper appreciation for the outdoors.” So much so, he says, that Kent went to college and aimed to get a job in international development with an environmental focus, hoping to help build sustainable economies in developing nations. “Life has different paths that take you in different directions,” he says. Graduating during the 2008 Great Recession landed him a chance to dive back into the outdoors. “I ended up taking six months to backpack the Appalachian Trail end-to-end, which is about 2,100 miles from Maine to Georgia,” Kent says. “That’s just one of those formative experiences outdoors that really developed a deep appreciation and passion for our connection to nature and how important it is for everyone to be able to experience nature close to home.” Kent returned to Dallas and landed a job at the North Texas Commission as their environmental program director. “Within about six months of being back in Dallas, I realized that this was exactly where I needed to be,” Kent says. “I didn’t need to travel halfway around the world. There’s plenty of opportunity to do it right here in Dallas, in our own backyard.” Three years after accepting the job with the North Texas Commission, Trust for Public Land was preparing to open their Dallas office and Kent put himself up for the job. Trust for Public Land is a national nonprofit organization that works with local parks and recreation departments to purchase land to create parks and ensure that everyone lives within a 10-minute walk of a park or trail. Kent was first hired to reopen TPL’s Dallas office and reestablish the nonprofit’s presence in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. From there, he was promoted to the Texas State Director. His role at TPL has changed over the years. Historically, Kent says, the nonprofit has been about land acquisition — buying land, setting it aside for conservation purposes and working with public agencies like the Dallas Parks and Recreation Department or the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. “In the last half of our history, we’ve also had a focus on really urban parks and not only buying the land, but also doing design and development work,” Kent says. “From that, we’ve developed a really strong planning practice.” Trust for Public Land established a project called Smart Growth for Dallas, a data mapping platform that examines factors like urban heat islands, health disparities, equity indicators, soil types and flood zones to determine where parks are most needed and possible locations for said parks.

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“When you have a park close to home and you make an investment in some type of green infrastructure, whether it’s a park or a trail or trees, that can have positive benefits for the environment, public health and communities,” Kent says. Two notable projects that the group has worked on is the South Oak Cliff Renaissance Park, a 1.8 acre neighborhood park across from South Oak Cliff High School and the Five Mile Creek Greenbelt. “ ( S o u t h O a k C l i ff Re n a i ss a n c e Pa rk i s ) a re a l ly co o l project where the neighborhood and the school had this vacant piece of land across from the high school that had been used as a place to dump tires and as a place where people were camping out or kids were skipping school. The grass was overgrown up to your shoulders. Every day when the bell rang, kids were walking from the school across this overgrown, dirty, littered, vacant field to go home,” Kent says. “ The park was designed in partnership with the high school and with the nearby residents and neighbors, so ever y feature in that park is reflective of some need that the community identified." South Oak Cliff Renaissance Park opened in November of 2021, now a “well-loved, central piece of that community.” Five Mile Creek Greenbelt, on the other hand, has been a long time in the making and still has a bit of work to go. The 17-mile trail aims to connect much of Oak Cliff and Southern Dallas along the already existing watershed. “Oak Cliff has got the most pretty land in Dallas, and that’s because it is the northmost edge of the Balcones Escarpment (the eastern boundary of the Texas Hill Country that gives Oak Cliff its hills and cliff-like structures),” Kent says. “When you’re driving through the area, these big hills and valleys have these commanding views over Downtown Dallas, which is surprising considering at this point you’re a good eight to 10 miles south of Downtown.” Plans for the project started as early as the 1940 s, and Kent hopes to realize that nearly 80-year-old dream. “Within the community around Five Mile Creek, there’s a great hunger for this type of amenity,” Kent says. “Dallas is undergoing a trail-building renaissance. It’s wonderful … The Five Mile Creek Trail is going to be that connection that will finally connect Oak Cliff to the rest of the city.” Kent aims to break ground on the project in 2025. In the meantime, the nonprofit is focused on raising money and starting the design process so that the trail could be open by 2030. “Growing up in Lake Highlands, being a part of scouting had a huge impact on me and I was really privileged to be able to have White Rock Creek Trail in my backyard, literally,” Kent says. “ That’s one of the reasons why I am so passionate about this work on Five Mile Creek, because it is so beautiful and has the potential to be such an important asset for our city that will benefit so many communities if we can just get it done.”

A TRAIL-BUILDING RENAISSANCE

Trust for Public Land's Texas director talks Oak Cliff projects Story by ALYSSA HIGH Photography by VICTORIA GOMEZ

MARCH 2024 oakcliff.advocatemag.com

fo o d

BAND OF MISFITS Once an Uptown staple, Henry’s Majestic has found a landing place in West Dallas Story by EMMA RUBY Photography by LAUREN ALLEN

Braised pork tacos are served with blue corn tortillas and topped with slaw.

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Italian meets Japanese with the calamari appetizer, which is served with a side of ponzu sauce.

WHAT DO YOU DO with two acres of land, a stuffed moose head and an infamous brunch menu in a town where brunch is king? You resurrect an Uptown staple that suffered a building buyout and bulldoze fate. At least, that’s what Andrew Popp did. Owner of Henry’s Majestic, Popp was born into the restaurant industry. Or, more technically, he was born into the family that founded B read Winners Café & Bakery and Quarter Bar. From 2014 until late 2022, Henry’s Majestic was a go-to for Uptown brunchers and Happy Hour goers. From the time the restaurant’s closure was announced, Popp maintained it would not be the end. “Henry's 2.0 was kind of my baby,” Popp says. “One of my main goals was to find a way to reopen.” When he stumbled upon the two-acre compound in West Dallas that used to house Chicken Scratch and the Foundry, he “fell in love.” “About 90%” of the original menu made its way to the new kitchen. There’s something for everyone. Italian, Mexican, American and Asian cuisines meet and

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meld across the menu. When it comes to appetizers alone, Korean BBQ duck wings are offered next to hatch chili crab dip, offered next to hummus and naan, offered next to carnitas dumplings. Popp’s spouse, Feliza Macias, operates as the Chef de cuisine and took the time between 1.0’s closing and 2.0’s opening to slightly tweak some of the restaurant’s most famous dishes. “She's added her little take on a few things, like the evolution of the birria ramen, in terms of its flavor. And then she added aguachile on the menu,” Popp says. Depending on the time of day and week, Henry’s has three menus — brunch, lunch and dinner — which tend to slightly vary. But the aguachile made it onto all three. Similar in style and flavor to ceviche, the halibut aguachile is tossed in chili water rather than marinated in lime juice. Blue corn tortillas offer crunch. The birria ramen and marrow-spiked burger are some of the most popular dishes, but the braised pork tacos are worth just as much acclaim. The hot chicken

sandwich is so large it is best attacked with a fork and knife. And of course, the chicken and waffles. Alex Fletcher created the original bar menu for Henry’s, and when he heard about the restaurant’s reopening it was an “enticing” offer. “Henry's was one of my first restaurant openings, and I had a lot of fun memories from it,” Fletcher says. “That being said, I didn't exactly know what I was doing when opening the first Henry’s. It was kind of a ‘Let's see how this goes.’ So now that we got to come back and reopen Henry's we've made some mindful adjustments.” Those adjustments include promoting low-waste recipes, and carrying sustainable wine brands. Popp and Fletcher wanted Henry’s 2.0 to be as dog friendly as possible. So, Fletcher invented a “puptail” list using ingredients such as bananas and peanut butter in abundance. (For what it’s worth, Fletcher himself does not have a dog that inspired the menu. He does, however, have a pet prairie dog. That is another story.) Even a dog park on the property is in

play. There is certainly room for it. The patio seats up to 400. “Dallas loves a great patio,” Popp says, and al fresco dining is an appropriate option almost year-round. “When you walk in, I want people to be amazed,” he says. “It's just a huge patio with our rustic kind of charm, and you're able to kind of see, ‘Okay, where's the spot I want to sit at?’ And there should be some place for everybody.” It wasn’ t just the menus and Fletcher that traveled to the new location. Much of the decor, including, of course, the moose head mounted over the mantel, was meticulously packed away when the first Henry’s closed and moved to West Dallas. Popp hoped to tap into the nostalgia of dedicated Henry’s fans by making sure the space still feels like Henry’s. But, honoring what the space has been in the neighborhood is important too. Live music is a weekend must. Karaoke is a new experiment. And food trucks — the space can fit as many as six — will offer another wave of dining options. The programming has turned Henry’s from “the weekend brunch spot” into an all day, every day venue, Fletcher says. Art on the walls of the interior dining space is all made by local artists and for sale. Popp hopes to sponsor an ever-changing mural installation as well. Eventually, they hope to open a speakeasy similar to Atwater Alley, the speakeasy that was attached to 1.0. Fletcher says he has been surprised to see how many of Henry’s die-hard fans who once lived in Uptown have made their way to living in West Dallas and Oak Cliff. It’s made the reopening all the more “positive and welcoming.” “It's always been kind of a band of misfits,” Fletcher says. “So we've been able to recreate that and it's really special to see the clientele and employees just all kind of jive and gel.” Henry's Majestic, 2303 Pittman St., 469.893.9400, henrysmajestic.com

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ianca Vega does what all movie theater employees do. She sells popcorn, pours soda and scans tickets. “People may not know my name,” she says. “But people know me as the Box Office Girl.” The name is something of a persona for Vega. She goes by it on social media and chronicles her life at the cinema. Born and raised in Oak Cliff, Vega was building up content for the Box Office Girl before she even thought of it. The 35-yearold has spent her life at the movies, working at Angelika Film Center and Violet Crown Cinema before settling in at the Texas Theatre, where she’s worked for 11 years. In February 2021, she created her own eight-page movie news zine made of printer paper called the Marquee Times. The issues featured upcoming news about the Texas Theatre, along with photos and stories from her life at the movies. “I just wanted to make it for myself,” Vega says. “What would I want to see? What would I want to read about?” She’s currently working on the 24th issue of the Marquee Times. Outside the Texas Theatre, it can be found at other Oak Cliff retailers like The Wild Detectives and Top 10 Records. The Marquee Times wasn’t just for her. Vega recalls theater patrons voicing their disappointment if there wasn’t a new issue ready for them. “Anytime that I would skip a month,” she says. “It was so mind-boggling.” She used her platform to create Cinema con Nosotros, a curated Spanish film screening series taking place at the Texas Theatre that translates to “cinema for us”. “I always want to be able to see myself represented on the big screen,” she says. “I want to create something for folks like myself, like people of color, to see themselves on screen.” The four-part series, which occurred during Hispanic Heritage Month in September 2022, showed iconic Spanish films Y Tu Mama Tambien, El Laberinto Del Fauno, Mi Familia and El Norte. Cinema con Nosotros continues to host one-off screening nights at the theater, the most recent falling on Jan. 21. “Film has done so much for me,” Vega says. “And the theater itself has just improved my life greatly.”

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INTO THE WILD

A nonprofit started by an Oak Cliff neighbor is embracing an accessible approach to outdoor education Story by EMMA RUBY

Photography courtesy of Roam Wild.

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Adam Flores is an active outdoorsman, leading teenage students on canoeing, rock climbing and hiking adventures across four states each spring and summer.

ADAM FLORES was a middle schooler in Minneapolis when his mom announced she’d signed him up for a 10day YMCA wilderness camp. “I said ‘No, I’m not going,’ and I didn’t talk to her for like a week,” Flores says. “She dropped me off at the bus stop anyway. I was pissed.” But when the 10 days were up, Flores returned home with just one question. “When can I go back?” Now, almost 30 years later, Flores lives in Oak Cliff, works for Dallas ISD, and spends his springs and summers giving North Texas teens the same exposure to the outdoors that he says impacted him for the better. The founder of the nonprofit organization Roam Wild, Flores leads groups of students aged 12 to 18 on trips to Mineral Wells State Park, Arkansas, Oklahoma and New Mexico. Trips last anywhere from a day to 10, and the groups embark on river rafting, hiking, rock climbing and canoeing excursions. Since their first trip in 2021, Roam Wild has led 151 students on expeditions, and Flores says 15-20% of students return for a second trip. “We are realizing more and more kids are enjoying this, especially kids who have not had this experience,” Flores says. From the early days of his career in education — he started out working in a “Hippie Dippie” Colorado school that took an outdoors-heavy approach to learning — Flores knew he wanted to

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work with traditionally underserved students. When he came to Dallas in 2014, he tried to “figure out what he wanted to do as a member of the Dallas community,” and realized there was a need for outdoor education for many Dallas students. To remain accessible for any student, Roam Wild requires a small registration fee for each trip, and operates on a “pay what you can” tuition scale. With groups like Bridge Lacrosse and Uplift Luna Preparatory, who partner with Roam Wild and cover the group’s costs, some families never even see a tuition invoice. David Higbee, executive director of Bridge Lacrosse, said he’d been looking for an organization like Roam Wild to partner with “for years.” An organization that aims to “close the opportunity gap” for students interested in playing lacrosse, Higbee says the majority of his young athletes do not have any wilderness or outdoor experience prior to a Roam Wild trip. “A lot of our kids who come from Southern Dallas, you know, that's their sole environment they've had a lot of interaction with,” Higbee says. “Adam does a really good job of making these areas and the space very digestible and very accessible to them.” Bridge Lacrosse has partnered with Roam Wild for seven trips so far. Six were rock climbing day trips to Mineral Wells, which Higbee chaperoned. On a Mineral Wells trip, the students

meet Flores and his team early in the morning to load up gear and drive to the state park nearly 80 miles west of Dallas. The group has a quick team-building session before jumping into two to three hours of intensive rock climbing. After a lunch break, more team building activities and a hike, swim or canoe opportunity, everyone piles back into the vans to return home. For some parents, especially those who didn’t grow up attending a camp and haven’t sent away their children before, even a day trip can bring nerves. Fifteen-year-old Alexis Salgado learned about the Roam Wild trips through his school, Uplift Luna, and has now been on trips to three states and Mineral Wells. But when he first asked to join, his mother, Claudia Salgado, hesitated. “I was really, really nervous. I let him go because he was so interested. It was the first time he’d ever asked to do something like this,” Claudia says. “When he came back, he was so excited. He was so happy. I could see in his behavior, he was more confident.” Four trips later — three of which were multiple nights backpacking through state parks hours from home — Claudia says the impact she has seen in Alexis has been entirely positive. Where he was shy before, he is now sure of himself. She says watching her son's independence and responsibility grow after each trip has been an unexpected reward. It’s something Flores has believed in since he went through it himself.

Outdoor education has social, emotional, physical and intellectual benefits, studies show. Flores points to Roam Wild challenges such as rock climbing as major growth opportunities for young adults. Outside of public speaking, a fear of heights is one of the most common fears people have, he says. “(We’re) showing you can do hard things,” Flores says. “You can overcome difficult challenges.” Alexis’ stories are a series of “I had never done that before.” His first time visiting New Mexico, Arkansas and Oklahoma. His first time whitewater rafting. His first time catching and cooking a fish. His first time hiking all day and setting up camp. During his first time rock climbing, learning to trust himself, his equipment and the person belaying him was key to overcoming his nerves. “It was really scary at first, especially some of the other courses because we’d started on the easier ones,” Alexis says. “Whenever I got on the harder ones, it looked taller and harder to climb. And it was scary, but it was so fun.” His “funniest” story ever is the time he was in Arkansas and got stuck in a thunderstorm after canoeing “all day” to camp. He remembers standing in the unexpected pouring rain, laughing and enjoying the sensation of being washed clean. The organization has given him a new role model, too. “I am very surprised how (Adam) can stay calm in most situations, especially like on the bigger trips,” Alexis says. “He's really funny. He’s able to lighten the mood whenever the atmosphere seems heavy.” In 2024, Flores expects to lead 135 kids into the wild. Programming should increase by 20% each year, he says, with the goal of serving 400 young adults a year. Every now and then, Flores says he arrives to a trip’s morning loadup and can pick out the kid whose mom told them they were coming. And, just like he once did, they arrive home saying “that wasn’t so bad.” “That’s all I can ask for,” he says.

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S PA N I S H S O L E S Two women are embracing spirituality, physicality and friendship on the El Camino

Lydia Torrez and Estela Valdez raised $40,000 hiking the El Camino during spring break in 2021. The funds were used to build a prayer garden at St. Cecila Catholic School.

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Story by EMMA RUBY Photography by VICTORIA GOMEZ

or 100 kilometers they walked. They did not have a map; instead they followed scalloped seashells — smaller than their palms and stuck in buildings and fences at random intervals — as a guide. Sometimes they talked, sometimes they were silent. Each day, they prayed. And when Lydia Torrez and Estela Valdez reached Santiago de Compostela, the burial site of St. James the apostle in Galicia, Spain, they knew they’d been permanently marked by their pilgrimage. “Everything looked more alive. Everything looked more vivid. But the reality is, were the greens really brighter, or was it the lens that I was looking through?” says Torrez, president of the St. Cecilia School. “I think I was the one who had been transformed.” Torrez and Valdez’s friendship grew from working together at St. Cecilia, where Valdez is the principal. In 2021, the women hiked 100 kilometers — averaging 13 miles a day — of the El Camino de Santiago in Spain during spring break as a fundraiser for the school. They will return this March, once again trekking 100 kilometers of the pilgrimage traveled by hundreds of thousands of Christians a year. This time, Torrez and Valdez are leading a group of 18 North Texas women on the hike, which will begin in Vigo, Spain and take seven days to complete. Torrez says she is returning to the Camino after feeling “moved by the Spirit.” “It's just something that you have to feel. This past summer, we both agreed that we were going to do it again,” Torrez says. “That sense of prayer that we experienced on El Camino, we brought it back home, and that was the whole idea. It was just an exciting time. When I tell you we prepared, I mean, we prepared for months.” The women are in their 50s and 60s, and Valdez runs marathons. She has been able to strategize the women's training schedules leading up to each hike. Valdez says a training plan is as much physical as it is mental. She is preparing each woman who registered for this year’s hike to “feel their body” and walk rigorous but doable distances day after day. “Once you mentally prepare for it, I feel like everybody can do it,” Valdez says. Valdez is also leading workshops about how to pack, what kinds of shoes to wear and how to maintain nutrients while embarking on an extremely physical journey. That preparation was key to the women’s success on their first trip, they say. Early spring is not a busy time of year for the Camino, and the groups they did encounter on their first journey were often young students or recent

graduates. Those groups generally outpaced Torrez and Valdez, who would then find them “later along the way” burnt out and sporting “humongous blisters.” “Somebody had to come pick them up. We had paced ourselves, we had prepared ourselves, we had done our homework, you know. We knew how to take care of our feet,” Torrez says. “You can call that wisdom, if you want … We knew this was going to be a journey that needed us to be as ready as we can be, while not knowing what the road held for us.” While the El Camino totals thousands of kilometers over its various paths — which stretch into France and Portugal — hikers are required to travel the final 100 kilometers to the Santiago de Compostela cathedral to receive a pilgrim certificate. On their first journey, the women began on the French side of Galicia, where all paths lead. Their walk took them through forests, farmland, rivers, mountains and ancient Roman ruins. And, they weathered thunderstorms, snowflakes and days so hot they were stripping off their jackets and socks. They slept on farms and in small hostels full of other pilgrims making the same march. “We saw it all,” says Torrez. In 2021, they carried prayer requests from friends, students and members of the St. Cecilia community. Torrez and Valdez prayed over each request every day of their journey and then presented the prayers to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. Each day, the women posted videos of their experience to Facebook and Instagram so donors and students could follow along. Some people donated money directly to the school in honor of the women’s pilgrimage, while others sponsored $10 or $25 for each kilometer walked. In the end, Torrez and Valdez raised $40,000 that went towards building a prayer garden in the school courtyard. The garden is a way of bringing the spiritual experience of the Camino back to the school, Torrez says. This year, they aim to raise $70,000 to benefit student programming, student tuition assistance, teacher supplies and teacher professional development. And while they have a better expectation of what the path might hold than they did in 2021, they know there will still be opportunities to learn and grow in their faith and their friendship along the way. “I think the biggest takeaway was figuring out that you're not alone … You have to look for these signs on the walls and on the streets, a seashell the size of your palm, so if you miss it you are lost,” Valdez says. “I was never afraid. I never felt lost. That makes me realize, there's a God, and he’s guiding us.”

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EDUCATION GUIDE

We worked with Bart during one of the hottest housing markets in recent history. Bart stuck with us through several offer cycles, and each new house he found was better than the last. His background in architecture and construction is a huge plus. He always has a flashlight in the car and is ready to crawl down below a house. You won’t be disappointed with his skills and work ethic. Thanks Bart for everything! -Maggie M.

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BACK STORY

By EMMA RUBY Photography by LO KUEHMEIER

Restoring history Va n J o h n so n i s b r i n g i n g d i g n i ty to l o n g fo rgo t te n g raves i tes Cemeteries are a "surprising hotspot of biodiversity," and Johnson plans to bring his knowledge of habitat restoration and pollinator gardens to the Western Heights Cemetery in the coming months. Volunteering for the West Dallas cemetery has allowed Johnson to combine his love of gardening with his interest in history and geneaology, which he says he inherited from his mother.

22 oakcliff.advocatemag.com MARCH 2024

David B. H. Stewart wa s t h e n a m e o n the lichen-stained gravestone. Years of weather had softened the etchings in the block, and a small lamb resting atop the marker signified a chil d laid beneath it. Or, rather, had once laid beneath it. When Stevens Park Village neighbor Van Johnson came across the gravestone, it had been tossed into a friend’s yard. The friend collected antiques and had purchased the contents of a hoarder’s house. The stone had come with it. “Part of the deal is you have to take everything,” Johnson says. “I said, ‘Someday I'm gonna find out where that goes and get that back where it belongs.” Johnson spent 35 years as a banker and “dreams in Excel sheets.” But his gentle demeanor juxtaposes the 1’s and 0’s and lends itself to his love of gardening. When the Western Heights Cemetery on Fort Worth Avenue received a grant for habitat development, volunteers called up Johnson, “the plant guy.” Working at Western Heights, he realized how many stones are missing from the cemetery. Volunteers use the 1992 Dallas Genealogical Society survey to track the historic stones. In some instances, Johnson has uncovered grave markers that have been buried for at least 32 years and were not included in the survey. And in other cases, the survey is used to show where a headstone no longer stands. “So the next time I was at (my friend's) house I realized ‘Oh, well, that may be one of the tombstones we’re missing,” Johnson says. The Stewart headstone was not included in the survey, so he turned

to www.findagrave.com. A database tracking over 238 million memorials across the world, the website is used by historians, those curious about their genealogy and cemetery enthusiasts to browse cemeteries and grave records. When Johnson searched for a David B. H. Stewart, he was stunned by the first result: a photo of a gravestone’s base that had been uploaded in 2014 and perfectly matched the marker in his possession. He realized the stone belonged to the McAdams Cemetery, only seven miles south of Western Heights in Wynnewood. The child, David, died at nine months old in 1893. Parents Elizebeth and Marcus Stewart are also buried in McAdams Cemetery. An older sister, Mary Stewart Powers, died in 1972 and is buried just east of Wolf Creek. “When I contacted (McAdams Cemetery) they were like ‘Oh my god, I've been looking for that for years,’” Johnson says. Johnson is leaving the handling a n d resto ra t i o n of t h e S tewa r t

gravestone in the hands of McAdams Cemetery, but solving the mystery of the broken stone has fueled an enthusiasm for cemeteries that he inherited from his mother. “My mother, when she was younger, liked to drive around old b a c kc o u n t r y ro a d s looking for abandoned farmhouses and c e m e t e r i e s . S h e ’s been driving me to cemeteries since I was a kid,” Johnson says. “It’s a lifelong hobby that I am now able to devote more time to.” Johnson runs three d i f fe re n t Fa ce b o o k pages dedicated to the Western Heights Cemeter y. Each focuses on one of his p a s s i o n s : H i s t o r y, nature and art. “The history people want to talk about the history and the nature people want to talk about habitat restoration,” he says. Eventually, he hopes to memorize the names, dates of birth and death, and stories behind every tombstone in the cemetery. He’s willing to “give a tour whenever someone wants one,” to share everything he already knows about gravestones. The type of stone, the artwork engraved, the difference between a cenotaph and a tombstone, all of it has meaning that is constantly swirling through Johnson’s head. And while it “isn’t too common,” to come across a headstone via antique collection, Johnson says continuing to track down and restore graves that have gone missing — or may just be buried — is a priority for the Western Heights Cemetery. “We're going to be very methodical about looking for more stones,” Johnson says. “If I see people who are walking around for a while or they'll ask me directions, I'll tell them about the stones and say ‘For what it's worth, I’ll give you a tour of the whole thing.’” MARCH 2024 oakcliff.advocatemag.com

An End to End Real Estate Experience Price and availability subject to change. Information deemed reliable, but not guaranteed.

1130clinton.daveperrymiller.com

PENDING

203clinton.daveperrymiller.com

1130 N Clinton Avenue

510 Monssen Drive

203 N Clinton Avenue

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3 BED | 2 BATH | 2,165 SQ. FT. | $729,000

3 BED | 2.1 BATH | 2,316 SQ. FT. | $725,000

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160812th.daveperrymiller.com

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827 Salmon Drive

1608 W 12th Street

2119 Barberry Drive

2 BED | 1 BATH | 1,359 SQ. FT. | $599,999

3 BED | 3 BATH | 1,974 SQ. FT. | $595,000

2 BED | 1.5 BATH | 2,072 SQ. FT. | $549,000

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610 N Rosemont Avenue

1930 Marydale Drive

2848 Bonnywood Lane

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2 BED | 1 BATH | 1,355 SQ. FT. | $499,000

2 BED | 2 BATH | 2,102 SQ. FT. | $499,000

Emily Ruth Cannon

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