ADVANCING TREATMENTS, INCREASING HOPE FOR THOSE DIAGNOSED WITH CANCER
BAYLOR SCOTT & WHITE MEDICAL CENTER – PLANO OFFERS A COLLABORATIVE APPROACH TO CANCER TREATMENT
A global effort to pinpoint causes and develop treatments for cancer in the past few decades has revolutionized care. Research is bringing hope and a better quality of life for patients affected by cancer.
That important work, including the evaluation of some of the latest cancer treatment options, is happening right here in North Texas, offering patients access to advanced care close to home.
Philip Kovoor, MD, has been helping patients navigate cancer diagnoses for 18 years. He currently serves as medical director of cancer care at Baylor Scott & White Medical Center – Plano, where he leads a team bringing innovative cancer treatment options to patients.
“For many years, most patients in our area had to travel to Houston or even other regions to participate in clinical trials— adding commuting and logistical challenges to a health journey that already takes a toll both physically and emotionally,” said Dr. Kovoor. “Now, for those diagnosed with cancer, there are more options than ever before, and oftentimes people have the option to receive advanced treatment closer to home.”
Expanding Access to Innovative Cancer Care
Clinical trials are focused on studying how effective new treatments are. At Baylor Scott & White – Plano, clinical trials for cancer now available are potential treatments for dozens of different types of cancer, includ-
ing breast cancer, skin cancer, colon cancer, bone cancer and bile duct cancer, just to name a few. By participating in clinical trials, patients often have access to potential treatments that are not yet widely available.
“Treatments we have available today are the result of decades of study in the care of cancer,” Dr. Kovoor says. “Major medical breakthroughs are only possible through continued research, and we pair that desire to advance with a commitment to applying what medical science already knows about cancer to our patients today. Our goal is to improve lives today and tomorrow.”
A collaborative approach is also important, Dr. Kovoor says. Baylor Scott & White – Plano hosts regular gatherings for its medical professionals of various disciplines to discuss patients’ cases. “Hearing a variety of perspectives allows clinicians to consider all factors as they make recommendations for a particular patient,” he says.
The team at Baylor Scott & White shares a driving passion to provide personalized health and wellness through exemplary care, education and research. “We apply this knowledge to our number-one priority: each person we care for at Baylor Scott & White – Plano. It is an honor to walk with them on their journey.”
For more information, visit https://www.bswhealth.com/locations/plano-hospital/cancer-care
***Physicians provide clinical services as members of the medical staff at one of Baylor Scott & White Health’s subsidiary, community or affiliated medical centers and do not provide clinical services as employees or agents of Baylor Scott & White Health or those medical centers.
Philip Kovoor, MD
Dear readers,
When I moved here to work with Plano Magazine years ago, I was baffled by the way that Plano felt like a major city and a small town at the same time. Everyone knows everyone. Everyone goes to everything.
There’s a burgeoning arts community within a downtown space centered around redeveloping a historic, transit-oriented neighborhood. There’s shiny, new shopping-oriented developments along the West side. It’s the conglomeration of all of these “bests” that makes our city so special.
PLANOMAGAZINE.COM | editor@planomagazine.com sales@planomagazine.com | 214.560.4212
PRESIDENT Jehadu Abshiro | EDITOR Alyssa High
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Austin Wood | Simon Pruitt
DESIGNERS Jynnette Neal | Lauren Allen
OPERATIONS MANAGER Alessandra Quintero
SALES Michele Paulda |Frank McClendon | Linda Kenney
Thank you for your readership and for voting in this year’s Best Of competition! Voting for best shopping will open on August 5 and close on September 2. And you can nominate your favorites in every category for 2025 by emailing alessandra@ planomagazine.com.
And last but not least, we want to hear from you on how to make Plano Magazine more reflective of our community! Please join us on July 9 at 6 p.m. at Serendipity Labs in West Plano for a Q&A with me, raffles and to meet our summer interns.
— Alyssa High, Editor
CHECKING IN
Mark Israelson talks five years as City Manager
story Alyssa High | photography Lauren Allen
When Mark Israelson started working for the City of Plano, the population was about 50,000 less, the developments that are synonymous with the city itself weren’t yet built and the surrounding cities were about 15% of the size they are now.
Over the last 25 years, Israelson has collected many titles in the organization: senior budget analyst, assistant to the city manager, director of customer and utility services, assistant city manager, deputy city manager, senior deputy city manager and finally city manager, where he recently celebrated five years in the position.
“I’m very fortunate I walked into a situation where the City of Plano has had a long history of great leaders. That’s at the staff level with city managers like Tom Muehlenbeck, Bruce Glasscock and great elected leaders from mayors like Harry LaRosiliere, Pat Evans and Phil Dyer and the numerous council members,” Israelson says. “They really set the tone for what the organization is and how we have customer service. And it’s been my job to help progress that in my tenure here.”
Since you’ve spent 25 years with the City of Plano, how have you seen Plano grow over the years?
It’s interesting. With the growth of cities, it’s almost like every decade you have a different city that you are dealing with. When I got here in the ‘90s, we were still going through some of our growth zones. And then in the 2000s, things slowed down a bit but we started seeing a little bit of a transformation of where the community saw itself. And then in the 2010s, we had another phase of development with things like Legacy West and Toyota and Liberty Mutual. Now, we’re kind of finishing the development phase of things with projects like Haggard Farm on the west side of town, and we’re doing redevelopment simultaneously. We’re doing Collin Creek Mall and the Willow Bend Mall.
You were appointed city manager in 2019, shortly before the pandemic started. How did that affect your time in the position?
We had to learn on the fly. There wasn’t a great playbook or blueprint to work from. The last pandemic that people really referred back to was like Spanish Flu, and that was 100 years ago, so we really had to learn a lot in that time.
Coming out of COVID, we recognized that there’s a lot of changes that have happened in business and in the community. A lot of what’s made Plano successful is the relationships. It’s community leaders and civic-minded citizens working together in close relationship, knowing one another and then working through issues. When you’re forced to separate, it stalls some of those relationships, and it makes it a little bit harder. After COVID, we’ve spent the last couple of years focusing on those relationships and
reestablishing open lines of communication and trying to make sure that the community knows that those relationships really matter to us.
What is our focus going forward for the City of Plano?
A lot of what we’re trying to do is stay consistent with the values that made us successful in the first place. So it is valuing things like the education of the community and the school system, and we’re very strong partners with the ISD. The leadership that we’ve had in the organization and in the community that started decades ago; people had this vision for what we wanted in the value of having great open space, great trails, great nature preserves and the ability to walk to a park within 10 minutes of any home in Plano. They set these goals, and they said: “Let’s actually work to achieve them. Let’s just not make sure that it’s something that’s written on a wall, but let’s actually make this tangible and actually drive to it.”
So part of our goal right now is to continue on with that, making sure that these things stay at that same level of quality and that they don’t decline. That’s been a large portion of our commitment.
You see all the orange cones around. You see all the construction. And part of that is because we’re sitting there looking at our infrastructure, and whether its water lines underneath the roads or whether it’s the roads themselves, all that infrastructure has reached that 30 and 40-year mark. What happens after 30 or 40 years is that a lot of it has reached the end of its useful life. It takes more maintenance, more intervention in order to bring it up to where it needs to be and the quality that Plano expects. We’re having to intervene, and we’re having to be more assertive about the way that we’re approaching it.
With enrollment numbers in the school district decreasing and the median age of Planoites increasing, where do you see the development focus turning to?
We’re seeing people retire here and retire in those homes that they raised their families in and stay here. But we’re also seeing that same desire for families who want to raise their kids here, and they want that great school system. We’re seeing the desire come from both ends.
The challenge right now is affordable housing, but we’re working hard on our end to make sure we’re doing what we can in policies and projects to address those things. We recognize that, first and foremost, we’re a suburban community. That’s what we grew up as, and that’s what we are. So continuing with that character is something we will continue with.
This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.
BEST BAR/PUB FOOD
WINNER - 32 DEGREES ROOFTOP BAR
2ND - HOLY GRAIL PUB
3RD - COCO BEACH
BEST BBQ JOINT
WINNER - LOCKHART SMOKEHOUSE
2ND - BURNT BBQ & TACOS
3RD - WINNERS BBQ
BEST BEER SELECTION
WINNER - KATY TRAIL ICE HOUSE OUTPOST
2ND - UNION BEAR BREWING CO.
3RD - BJ’S RESTAURANT & BREWHOUSE
BEST BRUNCH
WINNER - WHISKEY CAKE
2ND - BREAD WINNERS CAFE & BAKERY
3RD - BENEDICT’S RESTAURANT
BEST BURGERS
WINNER - KENNY’S BURGER JOINT
2ND - TWISTED ROOT BURGER
3RD - COUNTRY BURGER
3RD - YE OLE BUTCHER SHOP
3RD - RODEO GOAT ICE HOUSE
BEST COFFEE SHOP
WINNER - 1418 COFFEEHOUSE
WINNER - 151 COFFEE
3RD - BLACK RIFLE COFFEE
BEST HEALTHY EATING
WINNER - SEASONS 52
2ND - TRUE FOOD KITCHEN
3RD - BELLAGREEN
BEST INDIAN FOOD
WINNER - KUMAR’S
2ND - MALGUDI GARDEN
3RD - EVEREST INDIAN HIMALAYAN RESTAURANT AND BAR
BEST MARGARITAS
WINNER - MEXICAN BAR COMPANY
2ND - MI COCINA
3RD - CHUY’S
BEST MARKET FOR FOODIES
WINNER - CENTRAL MARKET
2ND - TRADER JOES
3RD - EATZI’S MARKET & BAKERY
BEST MEXICAN FOOD
WINNER - MEXICAN BAR COMPANY
2ND - MI COCINA
3RD - CHUY’S
BEST PATIO FOR DAY DRINKING
WINNER - KATY TRAIL ICE HOUSE OUTPOST
2ND - URBAN CRUST (ROOFTOP)
3RD - BAVETTE GRILL
BEST PIZZA
WINNER - URBAN CRUST
2ND - KENNY’S EAST COAST PIZZA
3RD - TAVERNA ROSSA
BEST PLACE FOR A COLD TREAT
WINNER - HENRY’S ICE CREAM
2ND - FAT STRAWS BUBBLE TEA & MOCHI DONUTS
3RD - EL SUPER ELOTE
BEST PLACE FOR CARNIVORES
WINNER - KNIFE
2ND - BOB’S STEAK & CHOP HOUSE
3RD - FOGO DE CHAO
BEST PLACE TO DRINK TOO MANY TRENDY COCKTAILS
WINNER - MEXICAN SUGAR
2ND - EBB & FLOW
3RD - WHISKEY CAKE
BEST PLACE TO GRAB A QUICK SNACK
WINNER - EATZI’S MARKET & BAKERY
2ND - CRAVE POPCORN
3RD - HOJA BUBBLE TEA & ASIAN STREET FOOD
BEST PLACE TO SATISFY YOUR SWEET TOOTH
WINNER - BETTER THAN SEX
2ND - SPRINKLES
3RD - SWEET HUT BAKERY & CAFE
3RD - SUGAR RAY’S BAKE SHOP
BEST QUESO
WINNER - TORCHY’S TACOS
2ND - MI DIA FROM SCRATCH
3RD - CHUY’S
BEST RESTAURANT FOR A DATE
WINNER - HAYWIRE
2ND - SIXTY VINES
3RD - URBAN CRUST
BEST SANDWICHES
WINNER - MR. G’S DELI
2ND - MCALISTER’S DELI
3RD - BREAD WINNERS CAFE & BAKERY
BEST SEAFOOD
WINNER - NEW ORLEANS CRAB SHACK
2ND - EDDIE V’S PRIME SEAFOOD
3RD - ANAYA’S SEAFOOD SCRATCH KITCHEN
BEST SOUTHERN/HOMESTYLE COOKING
WINNER - WHISTLE BRITCHES
2ND - NORMA’S CAFE
3RD - POOR RICHARD’S CAFE
BEST SUSHI
WINNER - EBESU
2ND - RA SUSHI
3RD - UNI SUSHI
BEST WINE LIST
WINNER - BOB’S STEAK & CHOP HOUSE
2ND - SIXTY VINES
3RD - FLEMING’S PRIME
STEAKHOUSE & WINE BAR
To nominate your favorites of any category for next
alessandra@planomagazine.com
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The Best IN DINING
CHECK OUT OUR BEST OF WINNERS ACROSS MULTIPLE DINING CATEGORIES
story Austin Wood
Best Market for Foodies
Central Market | 320 Coit Road
Prime grade beef, fine imported wines, Calabrian chili peppers, Prince Edward Island
Mussels and more make Central Market an essential starting point for the discerning foodie’s next home-cooked culinary adventure. With variety and quality found in its aisles in equal quantities, you’d be hard-pressed to find a recipe Central Market can’t help you realize.
Best Healthy Eating
Seasons 52 | 7300 Lonestar Drive Unit C300
For those looking for seasonal, low-carb and lowcalorie meals packed with flavor, Seasons 52 might be the answer. Offering avocado toast, Ahi tuna tartare, sesame-grilled salmon salads, bite-sized sweet treats and more, the freshness-first restaurant chain wants customers to leave satisfied with the quality and nutrition of its plates.
Best Place to Satisfy Your Sweet Tooth
Better Than Sex – A Dessert Restaurant | 1010 E 15th St.
Who says you can’t eat dessert first? At Better Than Sex, you won’t find a vegetable, chicken breast or piece of fish anywhere on the premises. Instead, the restaurant offers a dynamic line of racily-named sugary creations like the Peanut Butter Perversion Pie, Missionary Apple Crisp and Blueberry Birthday Suit Dessert Sandwich. The restaurant also offers a full bar menu to compliment your erotic treat.
Best Brunch
Whiskey Cake | 3601 Dallas Parkway
Whether you’re in the mood for a mimosa, bloody mary or just a hearty breakfast with a plain cup o’ Joe, Whiskey Cake has it all. Serving classic breakfast beverages, candied bacon, eggs Benedict, Wagyu hash and carrot cake pancakes, Whiskey Cake’s brunch offering doesn’t leave much to be desired.
Best Place to Grab a Cold Treat
Henry’s Homemade Ice Cream | 3100 Independence Parkway, Unit 215
With summer wearing on, this might be one of, if not the most, important spots on this list. Serving all-time favorites such as chocolate, mint chocolate chip, cookie dough and of course, vanilla, Henry’s also has a wide array of sundaes, splits and seasonal ice creams available.
Best Coffee Shop
1418 Coffee | 1418 K Ave.
Perfect for meeting a friend, studying, getting some work done or just grabbing a latte, 1418 Coffee offers an assortment of traditional brewed favorites and house specialties like The Purple Haze or The Sgt. Pepper. 1418 also offers sandwiches, breakfast items and pastries to accompany your beverage.
Best Bar/Pub Food
Holy Grail Pub | 8240 Preston Road #150
Guided, not defined, by an ethos of traditional pub fare, Holy Grail’s menu is an eclectic mix of established pub favorites and Texan flavors. Bangers and mash, shepherd’s pie and fish and chips coexist seamlessly with brisket melts, a ghost pepper chili bowl and fish tacos in this intimately-lit pub.
Best Indian Food
Kumar’s | 3303 N Central Expressway
Sticking to the traditional basics of Southern Indian cuisine, Kumar’s specializes in recreating the region’s beloved dishes like biryani, ghee roasts and dosai using time-honored methods. Familiar northern options like chicken tikka masala, tandoor and vindaloo are also available.
Best Burgers
Kenny’s Burger Joint | 5809 Preston Road Unit 588
Made over a wood-fired grill, Kenny’s keeps it simple with burger joint favorites like the Jucy Lucy and a Royale with cheese. Customers can choose from onion rings; tater tots; sweet potato, regular or parmesan truffle fries; or bacon-wrapped jalapenos to accompany their burger.
Best Mexican Food
Mexican Bar Company | 6121 W Park Blvd.
The category is Best Mexican food – not Tex-Mex. Mexican Bar Company serves traditional, true Mexican cuisine, with regional favorites like pollo a la brasas, fresh-made corn street tacos, tampiquena and a dizzying lineup of assorted ceviches. The restaurant also has an impressive selection of fine tequilas and house cocktails.
Best Place for Carnivores
Knife | 6161 W Park Blvd.
John Tesar’s second Knife location, offers all of the flair, consistency and surprising affordability which propelled the first Knife location into the DFW culinary stratosphere. Whether you’re looking for $13 sloppy joe sliders, a $25 10-ounce sirloin coulotte or a 240-day dryaged ribeye for $240, Knife has something for carnivores dining at every price point.
Best Seafood
New Orleans Crab Shack | 901 W Spring Creek Parkway
Crawfish season may be over, but you can still find amazing shrimp; Snow, Dungeness and King Crab; clam and mussel boils at this local staple. Oysters on the half shell and Cajun favorites like gumbo and Po’boys are available year-round.
Best Sandwiches
Mr. G’s Deli | 1453 Coit Road
Is there a sandwich Mr. G’s doesn’t have? Shockingly well-priced, the local deli offers a whopping selection of seven different reubens and three club sandwiches, in addition to burgers, pastrami melts, hoagies, cheesesteaks and gyros. Don’t worry, if the sandwich you crave wasn’t listed, there’s more than a decent chance Mr. G’s has it.
Best BBQ Joint
Lockhart Smokehouse | 1026 E 15th St.
One of three DFW locations, Lockhart Smokehouse in Downtown Plano has all the quintessential, smoked-to-perfection proteins one could ask for. From its “Texas Vegan” selection of smoked chicken, to the ribs and pork chops, finger-licking quality abounds. But let’s be honest, this is Texas – beef is still king – and Lockhart’s brisket proves nobody does it better than the Lone Star State.
Best Pizza
Urban Crust | 1006 E 15th St.
Swanky, polished and smooth, Urban Crust offers a wide array of signature pizzas, in addition to build-your-own options. Their delectable pies are available for takeout, dine-in or can be enjoyed on Urban Crust’s rooftop bar, 32 degrees.
Best Place to Drink Too Many Trendy Cocktails
Mexican Sugar | 7501 Lone Star Drive
If you’re going to have one too many, why not make it the most over-the-top, ornately decorated cocktail you can find? With Mexican Sugar, you won’t have to look too far, with tequila infusions for two at $44, a Mex-spresso martini with Astral Reposado and margarita flights all available. It’s easy to be as confused on what you’re getting as how you’re getting home.
Best Queso
Torchy’s Tacos | 1855 Dallas Parkway Ste 600
Named for its regionally famous line of tacos like the trailer park, Republican and Democrat, those who’ve visited Torchy’s a few times know what the real star of the show is. Torchy’s signature green chile queso blend is one of the Best in Texas — chain or not — and can be upgraded with chorizo.
Best Sushi
EBESU | 1007 E 15th St.
James Beard-nominated Executive Chef Koji Yoshida’s EBESU checks all the boxes for an iconic Sushi experience. Rarer cuts like Toro, or fatty tuna, Hamachi Toro and Madai speckle an impressive offering of nigiri, sashimi and sushi rolls. For those looking for a more Omakase-style experience, Yoshida also offers two pre-fixe menus for $60 and $99+ tax, respectively.
Best Margaritas
Mexican Bar Company | 6121 W Park Blvd.
Making its second appearance on the list, Mexican Bar Company’s quality in authentic Mexican Cuisine is also apparent in its margarita menu. While there are plenty of options, you can save your waiter a trip and order a 16 ounce frozen margarita.
Register Now
Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Contemporary, Lyrical
Ages 3 and up Adult Classes Available
JULY PRINCESS
DANCE CAMP JULY 15-18
gottadanceplano.com 3131 Custer Rd #195 972.769.0017
from A to Z PLANO
Story
ALYSSA HIGH
A is for
arts
Plano has an underrated fine arts scene with North Texas Performing Arts Academy, the Plano Symphony Orchestra, the ArtCentre of Plano and many other art institutions and theater troupes.
D is for Downtown
Downtown Plano started as a trade center for nearby farmsteads. Now, the Downtown area serves as Plano’s civic and historic core, where transit-oriented developments pervade.
B is for Bob Woodruff Park
Bob Woodruff Park is named after a former park director, city manager and PISD teacher and coach. The park is also home to the recently-fallen quadricentennial bur oak.
C is for Chace Crawford
Chace Crawford, known for acting in The Boys and Gossip Girl, and his sister Candace Romo, a former sports journalist who is married to former Dallas Cowboy Tony Romo, lived in Plano for grade school before moving on to private schools and universities. Photography courtesy of Amazon Studios
E is for education
Even back when Plano was founded, education was a high priority and the school district became known for attracting teachers with its high salary. Now, Plano ISD is one of the top performing districts in the state.
G is for C. H. Greenblatt
C. H. Greenblatt, a Plano native, began his illustrative career when he started a comic in the sixth grade called Ziggler. He later went on to work on and voice characters in Spongebob Squarepants and Chowder, among other shows.
H is for the Haggards
The Haggards are one of the original families in Plano, and their legacy can be seen in the eponymous elementary school, library and farms.
F is for festival
Plano International Festival. Plano Balloon Festival. AsiaFest. Texas Forever Fest. Plano Food and Wine Festival.
I is for Interurban Railway Museum
The museum features a real traincar from when Plano was founded around the railway, creating the Downtown Plano we love today.
J is for John Paul II High School
The private school in Plano that frequently makes headlines for its athletics, with alumni often on NCAA finals rosters.
K
and
K is for K Avenue
O is for Oak Point Park
Oak Point Park and Nature
Preserve is connected to Bob Woodruff through biking trails, making the green space a larger uninterrupted park space than Central Park in New York City.
P is for PepsiCo
PepsiCo is one of several corporations with national headquarters in Plano. These headquarters’ taxes and employees are a large contributor to Plano’s award-winning school districts and parks.
L is for Legacy Hall
Because when you can’t decide what to eat, nearly 20 restaurants put into an upscale food hall experience just hits different at Legacy West’s Legacy Hall.
M is for mule
In the 19th century, Plano was dubbed the “Mule Capital of the World,” with large mules bred in Plano and transported via train.
N is for neighbors
Plano is home to over 289,000 neighbors and is the most populated North Texas suburb, following principal cities Dallas, Fort Worth and Arlington.
Q is for quality of life
Plano’s development and comprehensive plans focus largely on quality of life with policies surrounding social services, parks and recreation, active living and citizen well-being, libraries and education.
Avenue
15th Street makeup Plano’s downtown area with staples like 1418 Coffee and several of the Urban concept restaurants.
R is for rank at the top
Plano consistently ranks in the top of the nation for its park system, family-friendliness, recession-durability, business diversification and retirement living.
S is for sister cities
Plano’s sister cities are Hsinchu, Taiwan and San Pedro Garza Garcia, Mexico.
U is for University of Plano
The University of Plano was a private, coeducational, nondenominational institution from 1964-1977. Now, the only college in the city is Collin College, a junior college offering two and four year degrees with a prominent location in Plano.
V is for the Visit Plano
Visit Plano is run by an award-winning group of people who are passionate about promoting Plano and bringing talent into our city.
Z is for zipline
Going to Go Ape Zipline & Adventure Park feels like a vacation away from the suburbs. The treetop venue, located in Oak Point Park, features dozens of obstacles and ziplines up to 423 feet long and 28 feet high.
T is for Texas Pool
The Texas Pool is a historical landmark, run by a nonprofit, where you can swim in a pool shaped like our state.
W is for wildcats
Not only is Plano Senior’s mascot the wildcats, but our very own live bobcats can be seen in many parts of Plano, especially near parks.
X is for EXcellence
Plano adopted the tagline City of EXcellence in 2013, aiming to reflect the commitment to quality of life and delivery of services, City of Plano officials say.
Y is for Yevgeny Marchenko
Yevgeny Marchenko and Valeri Liukin — World Sports Acrobatic and Olympic champions, respectively —cofounded WOGA in Plano, one of the largest and most successful gymnastics gyms in the world.
Opening hearts
STOREHOUSE VOLUNTEER PUBLISHES BOOK
story Krista Fleming
The book took a few years to write. It was a long process of interview after interview, going back to double, triple and quadruple check every fact. She would share the stories from The Storehouse — the place she volunteered at for years — and let them make a difference. These were real, meaningful stories, and Nancy Kurkowski was determined to get each one right.
The book took over a decade to write. Its setting was built from the ground up, and Kurkowski was there to watch it happen. She volunteered for years, the book just an idea in the back of her mind as she learned every familiar face that came through the nonprofit’s doors. Her book, We Are Your Neighbors: Stories from The Storehouse , wouldn’t have been possible without the years she spent there first, she says.
The book took her life to write. It came from her mindset of helping where and when she could — a mindset that kept her coming back to help The Storehouse, whether she just watched her child get married or was diagnosed with breast cancer. Whatever she faced, Kurkowski did so with the desire to give back, she says, and she has 116 pages to prove it.
With the book now available, Kurkowski can say with pride: every second was worth it.
The Storehouse Community Center is a nonprofit organization located at St. Andrew Methodist Church that consists of four programs: Seven Loaves Food Pantry, Joseph’s Coat Clothing Closet, Project Hope Neighbor Care and The Academy Education Program. The programs come together to help fulfill The Storehouse’s purpose — to “feed, clothe and care as neighbors in one community.”
“Everyone [who comes to] The Storehouse is just like me,” Kurkowski says. “They are fellow children of God and God loves them just as much as us. That culture has always been engraved in The Storehouse, and it’s what I tried to engrave in this book.”
Storehouse volunteers bring food to neighbor’s cars several times a week to reduce food insecurity. Photography
Lauren Allen
Right: portraits courtesy We Are Your Neighbors
After being reached out to in early 2009, Kurkowski joined a handful of people with a common goal: create a food pantry to help Collin County residents due to the 2008 global financial recession. The first day The Storehouse opened, the pantry served one family. Now, it serves thousands.
“The people we were seeing were people that never thought they’d be in a food pantry,” Kurkowski says. “These were people who had steady jobs, but were really impacted by the crisis. We were positioned to be in the right place at the right time, which let The Storehouse grow as much as it did.”
Kurkowski continued to volunteer for The Storehouse until the end of 2014, when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She spent the majority of 2015 undergoing chemotherapy and surgery, then recovering. Kurkowski says the diagnosis strengthened her relationship with God and her peers.
“I realized the friendships [and] support that I had, because so many people came out of the woodwork,” Kurkowski says. “When we just go through life, we forget how much we depend on our friends, but God showed that to me.”
After recovering, Kurkowski was hesitant to go back to her old role, because she had been gone for a year. She was a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) volunteer for the next few years, where she helped make sure foster children were in good homes.
“[God] drew close to me because I was open to him,” Kurkowski says. “He reminded me that there is something greater in life than just doing your own thing. We’re here for a purpose.”
During her time away, Kurkowski kept up with The Storehouse. When told about a potential vision for the next steps of organization, she began to volunteer there again in late 2022. As she met more and more “neighbors,” the people The Storehouse serves, she came back to an idea she’d always had in the back of her mind — telling their stories.
“I wanted to open some eyes and hearts with this book,” Kurkowski says.
Kurkowski asked frequent volunteers and visitors for stories they may know, then set to work on crafting her book. She interviewed each subject multiple times, then let them read the stories to make sure they were comfortable with the book being published.
Mary Mary moved from Oak Cliff to Plano to put her children in Plano ISD. A single mom, she worked multiple jobs in health care and with the district before being hired at Project Hope, a full-circle moment from when she’d use the Seven Loaves and Joseph’s Coat programs when money was tight.
“It was very important to me that the stories were empowering to the neighbors, that they come across as heroes in their own stories, because they are heroes,” Kurkowski says. “The Storehouse isn’t doing the rescuing; we’re giving our neighbors the resources and letting them rescue themselves.”
In mid-April, the book was published. During The Storehouse’s 15th anniversary on May 16, We Are Your Neighbors was officially unveiled and passed out to stakeholders and community members. Now, the book is available on Amazon for $10 as a paperback and 99 cents as an e-book.
“The point isn’t to make money,” Kurkowski says. “The point is to open people’s hearts. The point is to share the value of getting to genuinely know someone who’s different, who’s a child of God that just happened to be born into different circumstances.”
Arnold Arnold grew up in poverty in Lancaster and worked his way up to an over-adecade-long HVAC career. That is, until a workplace injury and subsequent cancer diagnosis made keeping a job that demanding impossible. With Seven Loaves pantry and an anonymous donation that covered his medical bills, Arnold was able to get back on his feet and watch his daughters kill it with Plano West basketball.
RAPATTONI RULES
Downtown Plano’s barbershop wants to be come a citywide fixtur e
Michael Rapattoni started cutting hair at 40. Now he owns his own barbershop in Downtown Plano.
story Simon Pruitt
photography Austin Marc Graf
“WHEN I WAS A KID I wanted to cut hair,” Michael Rapattoni says. “I grew up in a really tough neighborhood in South Philadelphia. I didn’t want to go to beauty school.”
The 55-year-old Philadelphia transplant owns Rapattoni’s Barbershop in the heart of Downtown Plano. He enrolled in beauty school at 40, chasing a childhood dream after a career in sales.
“At 40, I didn’t care,” he says. “I wasn’t that guy anymore.”
He got his first job as a barber in Philadelphia, before moving to Los Angeles and then settling in Plano with a job at Finley’s Barbershop.
“We had the same clientele on Thursday nights for some reason,” Rapattoni recalls. “It was like the bald fades, they would come in once a week. The manager was gone, we’d say whatever we wanted.”
Through those Thursday nights, Rapattoni noticed the power of community that could be made in an environment like a barbershop.
“We even branded it as ‘Finley’s After Dark,’” he jokes. “It was the same people coming in with the same jokes, they’re leaving with these big smiles. Why wouldn’t this just be a thing?”
With Rapattoni’s Barbershop, he tried to do just that. He opened the spot in August 2020 with his exact vision in mind: create a barbershop that feels like a hangout.
“I knew I understood the business because I was a business consultant,” Rapattoni says. “The relationship part of it, I might have actually been intimidated by that.”
Rapattoni brought over some of the clients he cut for at Finley’s, but the prospect of building up a whole new customer base was daunting. He wanted to make sure his vision stayed exact.
After 15 years in the hair-cutting business, he’s beginning to see the fruits of his labor.
“You start cutting a 22-year-old’s hair,” Rapattoni says. “Then you’re at his wedding at 30 making sure his hair is right to walk down the aisle.”
Going on the fourth year of his own shop, Rapattoni says he’d love to see the shop expand to more locations, so long as the soul remains the same.
“It’s a bunch of dudes hanging on a street corner,” he says. “We just so happen to be cutting hair.”
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TURNING HISTORY INTO ART
Local artists turn a more than 400-year-old tree into art pieces
If a tree falls in the woods and no one hears it, does it still make a sound? I’m not sure about the science on that, but Plano’s Quadricentennial Bur Oak, located in Bob Woodruff Park and believed to be more than 400 years old, fell after the stormy weather last October. Whether or not it made a sound, parks employees and Planoites felt its loss.
Plano Parks and Recreation posted about the loss of the tree on October 27, 2023. According to the department, the tree’s scientific name is Quercus macrocar-
pa, and it stood 90 feet high and had a circumference of 15 1/2 feet. As arborists believe the tree to be more than 400 years old, many felt the weight of the historic events the tree has lived through. Older than dirt doesn’t quite cut it.
The tree likely predated the first English settlers arriving at Plymouth Rock. The signing of the Declaration of Independence. Sliced bread. Five out of the six flags over Texas. Yeah, you read that right. When this tree was just a sapling, Plano
story Alyssa High photography courtesy of Plano Parks & Rec
The Quadricentennial
Bur Oak in 1979. photography courtesy of Plano Parks & Rec
was a contested area between Indigenous tribes, the Spaniards and the French.
“We’ve been maintaining this tree for probably 25 years or more, so it’s kind of like an old friend to me,” Steve Houser, an arborilogical services expert says in a video from the City of Plano. “This is the oldest tree in North Texas. It’s not just any tree. If the tree could talk and tell you stories at that age, it saw Indians gathering underneath it and traveling throughout the area.”
Plano Parks & Recreation officials announced the falling of the tree on Facebook with a warning to avoid the area due to unsafe conditions and a “farewell old friend” to the altitudinous arbor.
“We got a large amount of rain in a short period of time and with the preexisting conditions of the tree having the crack that we worked on a few years ago and some of the rot that was in the tree, that amount of rain forced the tree to fall down,” says Marc Beaudoing, a Plano urban forester.
Despite reduction pruning, fertilizer injections and insecticide injections, the tree has been leaning more and more over the last 10-20 years, Beaudoing says.
“It’s not like any other tree that I’ve been in. When you climb out on the ends and you’re out there and the wind is kind of rocking you back and forth, it’s like this ancient old lady is kind of rocking you back and forth in her hands and in her arms and it’s very relaxing, very rewarding,” Houser says. “You start to sense the personality of the trees when you’ve spent a lot of time climbing them, moving throughout their limbs and things of that nature, so it’s my absolute favorite tree of all time. It’s a tremendous loss for the field of arboriculture, for anybody that really cares and loves these old trees. From a historical perspective, it’s a tremendous loss.”
The video brought dozens of community members together to talk about memories they’ve had under the tree. Former Boy Scouts who trekked the
area. Moms who picnicked or went on walks in the area with their now-grown children.
“As a middle schooler at Armstrong Middle school, our coaches and teachers would take us for a campout there called “Gathering at the Gray Oak.” We would walk from Armstrong and sleep under the stars at night. It was beautiful and magical and the best of times. We learned so much about one another,” Planoite and Facebook user Cheryl True Kool commented on the video.
While many Planoites called for various uses of the tree’s wood, parks and recreation representatives say most of the tree is rotted and unusable for lumber. The unusable parts will be recycled, while smaller branches and foliage will be processed and spread around the area where the old tree once stood to benefit the soil and encourage young things to grow.
“Notwithstanding the large amount of rot, we still hope to repurpose some of the healthy wood into commemorative wood pieces,” a parks and recreation representative says. “For safety purposes, the area will be fenced off until the area is safe. We ask the public to stay clear of the area until this initial work has been completed.”
The tree was later cut into 5-foot sections ranging from four to 50 feet in diameter. North Texas artists and woodworkers applied online in March for a chance to take one of the pieces and turn it into art work. Those selected will be able to sell, donate and/or keep the finished product.
“We would like to thank our community partners for assisting us in putting this call for artists together and look forward to repurposing this tree’s legacy into beautiful works of art with the help of local artisans and woodworkers,” says urban forester Marc Beaudoing.
While which artists have been accepted to use the wood from the tree have not yet been publically announced, we can all look forward to seeing how our neighbors commemmorate the historic hardwood.
