Allen Image October 2014

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Allen Image INSIDE THIS ISSUE

October 2014

Vol. 24, Issue 10

cover story

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BONES IN YOUR BACKYARD Fossil hunters, both professional and amateur, have made finds of significance to the science community.

Of those, probably the most meaningful was that of the Mosasaur. The remnants of this prehistoric beast will hold a place of honor at the Heard Museum.

feature

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FROM GOALKEEPER TO KEEPING ATHLETES HEALTHY Mark Dodd was just a boy who dreamed of playing soccer, and accomplished that at Duke University, the Colorado Foxes, the Dallas Burn and the US National Team.

special sections

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KIDS KORNER Nature Preserves & Gardens

24 business seen

Merle Norman Cosmetic Studio

Furniture Buy Consignment

Triumph Roofing

33 CALENDAR 50 PET PAGE

Pepper & Bruno

42 18

50

20 6

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INSIDE THIS ISSUE civic forum

library

travel

10

Allen’s Community Theatre 20142015 season

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30

11

Judas Priest returns

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Heritage Ranch Golf Tournament

Working smoke alarms save lives

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Kiwanis Charity Golf Tournament

National Night Out

Nose Work with Mickey

October Films

17 Ocarina Festival

Mexico 2000 Ballet Folklórico

education

Boot Scootin’ Pet Benefit 2014 11th Annual CCMGA Bulb & Perennial Mart

22 Runway ready interiors 26

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16 publisher/editor Barbara Peavy

office administrator Carrie McCormick

26 contributing writers Nicole Bywater Deborah Dove Holly Harvey Tom Keener

advertising sales Sue Hardesty Liz DeBoe

cover photo Larry Fleming

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Attention to detail

17

8

Travel back in time

16 Chilean Folklife

Civil War comes to life

14

Tuskegee Airman

Jeff Mues Dawn Bluemel Oldfield Peggy Helmick-Richardson Simon Valentine

Allen Image © 2014 by Moonlight Graphics. All rights reserved. Allen Image is published by Moonlight Graphics and individually mailed free of charge to the residents of the Allen area.

Subscriptions are available to residents outside the delivery area at a rate of $2.50 per issue—$30 per year.

Subscription and editorial correspondence should be sent to: Allen Image, P.O. Box 132, Allen, TX 75013, 972.727.4569, fax 972.396.0807 or visit our website at www.allenimage.com.

civic forum

Allen’s Community Theatre 20142015 season Allen’s Community Theatre proudly announces our second season in our black box theatre at 1206 S. Main Street. ACT began as a dream in 2010, performing in local churches and city facilities. In our new home we offer drama classes for ages four through adult, and a full season of shows. Here’s our line-up:

October 10-26 There’s No Place Like Homer written

by Rusty Harding & Marcus Ridner and directed by Leigh Moore. A backwoods tour by a couple from the city becomes hillbilly hell in a hamlet named Homer. Some of the colorful locals seem to recognize the husband, but why do they call him Zorro?

December 5-21 Best Christmas Pageant Ever written

by Barbara Robinson and directed by Charlotte Taylor. A church Christmas pageant collides with the casting of the inventively awful Herdman kids. The hilarious result is unbelievable may­ hem and fun.

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February 6-22

June 12-28

Nothing Serious written by Rich Orloff and directed by Robin Coulonge.

Enjoy this imaginative and hilarious collection of ten 10-minute comedies, going from Antarctica and Disneyland to the Garden of Eden and inside the womb (for adult audiences due to language and adult situations).

April 10-26

Boeing Boeing written by Mark Camoletti and directed by Leslie Austin. A bachelor juggles engage­ ments to three stewardesses. Life gets a little bumpy when a visiting friend and a new Boeing jet disrupt his careful planning. The friend forgets which lies to tell which girl, and catastrophe looms.

Leading Ladies written by Ken Ludwig and directed by Robyn Mead. When two actors are down on their luck, they pose as heirs to a coming fortune, but find out the heirs are nieces, not nephews. Romantic e n t a n g l e­m e n t s abound, and even more nieces arrive to claim the fortune.

The director is again bringing wonderful theatre to Allen. The production is yet to be determined, but will be a great show.

Auditions are announced on our website www.allenscommunitytheatre. net. Season tickets and sampler packs are also available. While you’re there, check out our fall classes. We have classes for everyone from age 4 to 104—you can surely find one that’s just right for you or your kids. v

August 14-30 Summer Children’s Production

by Jeff MUES

Judas Priest Returns In support of Judas Priest’s 17th studio album overall, Redeemer of Souls, released this summer, the metal icons have scheduled a return engagement to Allen Event Center on November 6. The concert comes nearly three years after their 2011 tour stop in Allen, and five years to the day of the venue opening! With special guest Steel Panther you can trust that amps will be turned to 11 as Allen Event Center is rocked the hardest it’s been since at least 2011.

Judas Priest classics including “Breaking the Law,” “Living After Midnight” and “You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’,” are true metal classics, helping to define the genre. Comprised of Rob Halford (vocals), Glenn Tipton (guitar), Richie Faulkner (guitar), Ian Hill (bass) and Scott Travis (drums), Judas Priest cemented its legacy with such gold, platinum and double platinum albums as British Steel, Screaming for Vengeance and Painkiller, which have all proven timeless.

If you missed seeing Judas Priest in Allen three years ago, you missed quite the performance. Scott Smith, who covers music and entertainment for The Fort Smith Times Record, made the trip from Arkansas, calling it a “highdecibel extravaganza” and writing: “Metal mania erupted with multi-colored lasers, spinning lights, a roaring Harley Davidson motorcycle and jet-black leather during Judas Priest’s concert.”

Rock and roll sensory overload for fans of hard rock and heavy metal music, concert-goers were pleased with how it sounded to their ears as well. “The band’s sound was ferocious,” wrote former Dallas Morning News music

critic, Mario Tarradell. “With every machine-gun guitar riff and pounding, rhythmic drumbeat, I was reminded of metal’s true essence.”

Metal’s true essence will be accentuated on the 2014 tour by Steel Panther, a most worthy opening act, unlike any other touring band. This over-the-top group, known for raucous live performances with a bit of comedy mixed in, counts Tony Romo amongst its legions of fans.

The Dallas Cowboys’ quarterback famously hired the band to perform at his wedding and has been known to jump on stage with Steel Panther during previous Dallas shows at venues such as the House of Blues.

But the main attraction—the Mighty Priest—as fans often hail them, is a band you simply have to see live at least once. Bucket list worthy without a doubt! Their presence and influence remains at an all-time high, as evidenced by organizers of the trend-setting Fun Fun Fest, choosing the revered band to headline this year’s version of the trend-setting, multi-day music extravaganza held each November in Austin.

Opportunities to see hard rock royalty don’t come around every day, so get your tickets to see Judas Priest with Steel Panther on November 6 at Allen Event Center. Tickets are on sale now via Ticketmaster.com, charge by phone at 800.745.3000 or at the Allen Event Center box office. For premium level seating and suites, call 972.912.1040. v Jeff Mues is a senior marketing coordinator with the Allen Event Center and Allen Parks and Recreation Department.

Allen Image | October 2014

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Snippets Heritage Ranch Golf Tournament October 11-13, Heritage Ranch in Fairview will host a golf tournament and other events to support the Warrior and Family Support Center (WFSC) at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio. The event is open to all area residents.

The WFSC aids over 600 recuperating soldiers and their families by providing a privately-financed facility for warriors to spend off-duty time in a first class environment and it relies heavily on volunteers and private donations for daily operations.

Saturday, October 11—Flag of Honor Garden. Flags to honor individual veterans and active duty military will be planted on a hillside behind the clubhouse and at 10 a.m., names of each honoree will be read. Anyone may contribute to the WFSC by sending the name of their honoree and donation (payable to WFSC) to Karol Stone, 934 Scenic Ranch Circle, Fairview, TX, 75069.

Monday, October 13—Two golf scrambles at 8 a.m. and 1 p.m.

Individuals or teams of four are welcome to participate at a cost of $100 per person, which includes golf, dinner at 5 p.m., prize money and a $40 donation to the WFSC. Sign up and pay fees after August 1 in the pro-shop at the club. For more information, contact Mary Naehring at 972.886.0125 or marynaehring@me.com.

There is also a silent auction, from 10 a.m.-5 p.m., featuring a wide range of merchandise, restaurant meals and services.

Heritage Ranch Golf and Country Club is located on Stacy Road, one mile east of Country Club Road. For more information or to donate items, call Adrienne Bernhard, 972.363.0082. v

Working smoke alarms save lives During Fire Prevention Week, October 5-11, Allen firefighters and safety advocates will partner with the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) to sound the alarm that working smoke alarms save lives.

When there is a house fire, smoke can spread quickly throughout the entire structure. Having a properly installed smoke alarm can give you and your family time to get out and cut the chance of the ultimate tragedy in half. The NFPA reports that almost two-thirds of home fire deaths resulted from fires in homes with no smoke alarms or no working smoke alarms.

In addition to having working smoke alarms, it is important to have the right number of smoke alarms to make sure your entire house is monitored properly.

Having enough properly located smoke alarms helps maximize the amount of escape time.

For more information on educational opportunities for Fire Prevention Week, contact Linda Greenidge at 214.509.4413 or lgreenidge@cityofallen.org. And make sure to visit www.FirePreventionWeek.org to learn more about smoke alarms and how they can help save lives.

Here are tips from www.FirePreventionWeek.org on what you need to know about smoke alarms: • Install smoke alarms in every bedroom, outside each sleeping area and on every level of your home.

• Test your smoke alarms every month.

• When a smoke alarm sounds, get outside and stay outside.

• Replace all smoke alarms in your home every 10 years. v

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Snippets Kiwanis Charity Golf Tournament The Kiwanis Club of Allen invites you to enjoy a day of golf, dinner and the chance to win $500 at their 19th annual Ron Gentry Memorial Golf Tournament and Golf Ball Drop. The tournament will be held at the Courses at Watters Creek on October 9, registration begins at 11 a.m. with a shotgun start at 1 p.m. The entry fee of $125 includes 18 holes of golf and dinner.

There will be a raffle, a silent auction and the ever-popular poker challenge.

Get your Golf Ball Drop tickets from any Kiwanis member for a chance at $500. Tickets are $10 each, three for $25 or seven for $50. Visit the website and order tickets and a Kiwanis member will deliver them to your place of business (locally) or by mail with receipt of a check.

Players please contact Debbie Stout at dhstout1@tx.rr.com; sponsors may contact Anita Rushing at lanitarushing40@yahoo.com; and for ball drop chances, contact Russ Waite at russw8@tx.rr.com.

Proceeds benefit charities supported by the Allen Kiwanis Foundation.

Please visit our website, allenkiwanis.org for more information. v

National Night Out National Night Out (NNO), held this year on October 7, is a great way to get to know your neighbors. Active participation in NNO can send a very clear message to would-be criminals that your neighborhood is organized and protected.

The Allen Police Department partners with numerous Allen neighborhoods and associations to have officers visit block parties and organized events. Officers share information about recent advancements in operations and new programs available to the community as well as ways to keep our neighborhoods and families safe.

NNO events have been around for more than 30 years and are designed to heighten crime/drug prevention awareness, generate participation in local anticrime programs and strengthen neighborhood spirit and policecommunity partnerships.

To find out if your neighborhood has an event planned or to register your event, contact Sergeant Jon Felty (jfelty@ cityofallen.org) or Officer Chris Hester (chester@ cityofallen.org) of the Community Relations Unit. v

Civil War comes to life…

Observe the 150th anniversary of the “War Between the States” on October 25 and 26 at the Allen Heritage Village, 450 E. St. Mary Drive. Living historians will set up tents and demonstrate Civil War life. Most events are free.

Saturday, October 26—9-noon, a soldier’s life; 10-11 a.m., drills, muskets; 11 a.m.-noon, medical, Civil War food; 1 p.m., skirmish, medical; 2 p.m., mock trial, dress up, muskets/$2 per shot (parents must accompany children); 3 p.m., medical, ladies’ event at Allen Christian Church (dress the Victorian lady, quilts and tea) and Notably North Texas Chorus; 4 p.m., skirmish; 5 p.m., medical, Civil War food; 6:30 p.m., Ken Byler storytelling and Bynum Twin Fiddlers at Allen Christian Church; 7 p.m., Civil War letters followed by Like Minded Friends and Keltic Dead.

Sunday, October 27—11 a.m., soldier’s life; noon, Civil War food; 1 p.m., medical, debate about secession (ACT); 2 p.m., skirmish, muskets; 3 p.m.— medical.

Call 972.727.2772 for more information. v Allen Image | October 2014

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Snippets Boot Scootin’ Pet Benefit 2014 What do cowboy boots, a jailhouse, casino and dogs have in common? They will all be part of the Legacy Humane Society fifth annual Boot Scootin’ Pet Benefit. Join us October 26, 6-11 p.m. at Eddie Deen’s Ranch, 944 S. Lamar St. in Dallas, for Legacy Humane Society’s (formerly CCHS) fifth annual gala. Matthew Middleton and Texas Drive Band, appetizers, drinks and a silent auction will kick off the event.

11th Annual CCMGA 2014 Bulb and Perennial Mart Join the Collin County Master Gardeners Association on October 18, in the stall barn at beautiful Myers Park and Event Center in McKinney to learn more about, and purchase, the best selections of bulbs and perennials for North Texas.

This is a one-day, one-stop shopping opportunity and an introduction to some of the best, hard-to-find heritage bulbs and drought tolerant perennials for North Texas.

CCMGA will be selling some of the beautiful, yet hardy perennials doing so well in the trial gardens at Myers Park; as well as spring, summer and fall-blooming bulbs best suited for our climate and soil extremes. They will also have a wonderful assortment of crinums—the kind of plants great-grandma would have grown. The Texas tough plants being offered will add a splash of color to your garden throughout the year. You may purchase by cash, check or credit card (Visa or Mastercard only).

Casino tables open at 7 p.m. with Texas hold ’em, craps, roulette, black Jack, four-card poker, slot machines and more! Throughout the night you can use your funny money to purchase raffle tickets for the chance to win amazing prizes. All guests may bid on silent auction items with smart phone applications or iPads scattered throughout the venue.

We will take a brief pause to thank sponsors, complete the live auction and present the Justice Award. Texas Humane Legislation Network will present an award to this year’s nominee, the Duck Team Six, for going above and beyond in their work saving animals in the greater DFW area.

All guests must pre-register for the event and seating is limited! Tickets are $85 per person and include beverages, appetizers, BBQ, $1000 in funny money, validated parking, a parting gift and a chance to win one of many wonderful items in the silent and live auction.

Sponsorship opportunities are available. To buy tickets or sponsor the event, visit https://www.501auctions.com/ cchs. Contact Heather Bass for more information heathy11@yahoo.com. 100% of the proceeds go towards building a CCHS adoption facility in 2018. v

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This is an indoor event, so come out, rain or shine, for a day of fun and education. Master Gardeners will be on hand to conduct tours of the trial gardens and answer questions. The event is free and no sales tax.

Schedule of events: 8:30 a.m.—Early Bird Seminar; 9 a.m.—Pick up August pre-sale bulb orders; 9 a.m.-1 p.m.—Bulb and perennial sale and tours of Myers Park Research & Demonstration Gardens Myers Park is located at 7117 County Road 166 in McKinney. To find out more about the 2014 Bulb and Perennial Mart visit the CCMGA website: www.ccmgatx. org, or call 972.548.4219 or 972.548.4232. v

library

Tuskegee Airman

by Tom KEENER

Tuskegee Airman Calvin Spann presents his exciting new book Boundless Sky at the Allen Public Library, 7:30 p.m., Thursday, October 23. Congressman Sam Johnson and General James L. Williams will introduce the speaker.

Under the direction of Col. Benjamin Davis, Jr., the Tuskegee Airmen flew World War II missions over North Africa and Europe in P-39, P-40, P-47 and P-50 aircraft. These men served in either the 99th Fighter Squadron or the 332nd Fighter Group.

Eventually, the 332nd Fighter Group consisted of four fighter squadrons— the 99th, 100th, 301st, and 302nd. The 99th Fighter Squadron received two Presidential Unit Citations for their tactical air support and air combat in Italy in 1943 and 1944, and the 332nd Fighter Group earned a Presidential Unit Citation for their mission escorting bombers to Berlin in March of 1945.

These brave airmen also distinguished themselves by achieving the singular distinction of never losing an escorted bomber to enemy plane fire.

Mr. Spann will discuss his rigorous training at the Tuskegee University

Moton Airfield, aerial campaigns during World War II that included traversing the treacherous Alps, and encountering a newly invented German weapon—jet aircraft.

Congressman Johnson endured seven years as a prisoner of war in Hanoi during the Viet Nam War. Appointed as Commanding General of the 4th Marine Division in 2007, General Williams was previously stationed at Camp Blue Diamond, Ar-Ramadi, Iraq and earlier with Marine Expeditionary Force as Deputy Commanding General in Fallujah, Iraq.

The evening offers an exciting opportunity to hear an eyewitness to World War II. Boy Scout Troop 328 will present the colors to commence the program. After the program, Mr. Spann will be available for questions, photographs and book signing.

This free program is sponsored by Bach to Books and the Adult Services department. The library is located at 300 N. Allen Drive. Call 214.509.4911 v for more information.

Tom Keener is the cultural arts manager with the Allen Public Library.

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The Allen Library presents…

by Tom KEENER

Chilean Folklife

Nose Work with Mickey

Enjoy the finest of Chilean folk dance at 7:30 pm, Friday, October 17 at the Allen Public Library.

Chilean Folklife will share a vast and vibrant repertoire of dances that will take you on a tour of a land of startling contrasts.

The “longest nation” in the Americas, Chile is closest to the Antarctic and con­ t ains the Andes that tower over the landscape. In demonstration of the geographical differences, the dancers will change their colorful attire during the performance breaks to highlight the diverse cultural dynamics of their nation.

Founded in 1992, Chilean Folklife is dedicated to preserving and promoting the folklore and culture of Chile throughout the Americas.

Chilean Folklife has been a regular feature at the State Fair of Texas in Dallas for over 15 years and the Institute of Texan Cultures in San Antonio for over 30 years. The troupe has been featured on Telemundo, the American Spanish language broadcast television network, and at Rice University in Houston. Under the direction of the group’s president Jaime Riveros and choreographer Daniel Olivares, the 30-member Chilean Folklife offers marvelously precise choreography.

This free program is sponsored by Bach to Books. v

Join Mickey Schufman, of What a Great Dog training center, to learn about this fun dog sport where dogs get to be dogs and indulge in one of their great joys in life—sniffing—at 2 p.m., Sunday, November 2, in the Allen Public Library Civic Auditorium. Nose Work is a relatively new dog sport where dogs are trained to find certain odors in four different elements—interiors, exteriors, vehicles and containers. Dogs don’t need any prior training to learn how to do Nose Work, and even those that are missing a limb, an eye or are deaf can play. It’s a great confidence builder for shy or fearful dogs, offers an outlet for older and retired dogs and provides mental stimulation for all dogs.

Mickey will bring some four-legged friends to demonstrate how to get started in this popular dog sport. Free; people of all ages welcome but—no dogs, please. For more information, contact Debbie Vavra at 214.509.4913 or dvavra@cityofallen.org. v

October Films Godzilla! All films begin at 7 p.m. on Tuesdays and are free. Call 214.509.4905.

October 7—Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991), starring Kosuke Toyohara, Anna Nakagawa and Megumi Odaka. Time travelers use Godzilla in their scheme to destroy Japan to prevent the country’s future economic reign.

October 14—Godzilla (1998), starring Matthew Broderick, Jean Reno and Maria Pitillo. An enormous, radioactively mutated lizard runs rampant in Manhattan.

October 21—Godzilla 2000 (2000), starring Hiroshi Abe, Naomi Nishida and Takehiro Murata. Godzilla saves Tokyo from a flying saucer that transforms into the beast Orga.

October 28—Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001), starring Chiharu Niiyama, Ryûdô Uzaki and Masahiro Kobayashi. Three ancient guardian beasts awaken to protect Japan against Godzilla. v

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Ocarina Festival

Once a beloved instrument in Medieval Europe, the popularity of the ocarina declined with the advent of other instruments. Thanks in great part to video games, the ocarina now enjoys a universal appeal. Savor an unforgettable musical experience with some of this country’s best known ocarina artists at 7:30 p.m., Friday, October 10, at the Allen Public Library.

Through her deep appreciation for Koji Kondo’s music from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Allen’s own Cris Gale discovered the ocarina. After winning an international ocarina competition in 2009, Cris made the transition to full time musician. And while her primary instrument is still the ocarina, she also performs on the Native American style flute and tin whistle.

Cris represented the U.S. at two international ocarina festivals—2011 in Budrio Italy, and 2012 in HongSeong, South Korea. In 2013, she completed an Asian tour and in June 2014, Cris co-headlined a Japan-American Friendship concert at Carnegie Hall.

An internationally-known flutist, recording artist and instructor, Cornell Kinderknecht has performed at Carnegie Hall, Meyerson Symphony Center and the AT&T Dallas Cowboys Stadium. He has twice been a finalist for Musician of the Year at the Texas Music Awards, a Great American Song Contest instrumental winner and a nominee in both the Independent Music Awards and Indian Summer Music Awards.

Cornell’s music can be heard in film, soundtracks, advertising and the nationally-aired television series, The Art of Living Gallery. He has debuted works for choir and Native American flute with the Texas Voices. v

Mexico 2000 Ballet Folklórico Delight in the colorful and exciting music and dance traditions south of the border when the Mexico 2000 Ballet Folklórico takes the stage 3 p.m., Sunday, October 12 at the Allen Public Library.

Sporting vibrant traditional outfits, Mexico 2000 Ballet Folklórico presents authentic indigenous and folkloric dance traditions. The result is a lively and passionate rendition of Mexican heritage, both past and present.

The troupe is under the leadership of Alex and Mary Palencia. Alex brings 40 years of experience as a dancer, artistic director and choreographer and over 25 years as a teacher to the stage. With strong dance training, acting, choreography, scenery, props and cultural investigation, Alex created his own dance technique based upon basic steps repetition. He performed with the two biggest Mexican dance companies in Mexico, studied four years with “Compañia Nacional de Danza Folklorica” of Nieves Paniagua and later with “Ballet Folklorico de Mexico” under the direction of Amalia Hernandez.

Mary studied dance in her native state of Sinaloa, Mexico, under the direction of Professor Blanca Ramos Alarcon Barroza.

Performing with several groups in the state of Baja California Norte, she also lived two years in the Chiapas and Oaxaca areas while studying the culture of these beautiful states.

Mary’s passion for preserving her heritage is evident in the hand-stitched and specially crafted costumes that she creates for Mexico 2000 productions, a truly stunning visual experience.

This free program is sponsored by Bach to Books and a grant from the Texas Commission on the Arts. v

The library is located at 300 N. Allen Dr. Call 214.509.4911 for more information.

Tom Keener is the cultural arts manager with the Allen Public Library.

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feature

From goalkeeper to keeping athletes healthy

by Simon VALENTINE

Before he ever won the National Championship for Duke University, before he played goalkeeper for the Colorado Foxes, the Dallas Burn or the US National Team, before he was voted the most valuable player in the American Professional Soccer League or Major League Soccer’s goalkeeper of the year, before he set the MLS record for most saves in a season, Mark Dodd was just a boy who dreamed of playing soccer, kicking a soccer ball around every chance he got.

“God knows how many windows I broke as a kid,”

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he says with a laugh. He adds that by the time he was twelve, he’d actually learned how to replace all the windows he broke.

However, after graduating from Richardson High School, Mark Dodd committed himself to making his dream a reality. After playing soccer for TCU for a year, he decided he wanted more of a challenge and transferred to Duke University in North Carolina, which boasted one of the top soccer teams in the country. When Dodd didn’t get much playing time during his first semester at Duke, he decided to take a leave of absence and try to get some playing time with a European team.

“I wanted to see if I had what it takes,” he says.

He went to France and showed up at the practice facility of Paris Saint-Germaine, one of the top European football clubs at the time.

“It would be like some European kid showing up at the Cowboys training center and wanting to play,” Dodd explains, laughing at the audacity of his younger self.

As luck would have it, the team’s French World Cup goalie was out that day and they let him play, “probably because they wanted to show up the American,” he says wryly. He played well and when he came back the next day, the coach agreed to let him stay on.

Dodd returned to Duke the following fall semester full of confidence and took the starting goalie position, leading Duke to win the NCAA National Championship in soccer that year, the first sports championship Duke had ever won.

After graduating from Duke, he moved back to Dallas, only to find that his hometown had no professional soccer team to speak of other than the Dallas Sidekicks, an indoor soccer team.

“It [indoor soccer] wasn’t my passion,” Dodd says, but when they offered him a contract, he took it.

Exactly one day after signing on with the Dallas Sidekicks, Mark was contacted to play for a new professional team in Colorado—the

Colorado Foxes. The Sidekicks’ coach, Gordon Jago, graciously tore up his contract and Dodd went to play for the Colorado Foxes, who won back-to-back American Professional Soccer League (APSL) championships in 1992 and 1993 and earning Dodd the APSL Most Valuable Player during his first year with the team. Dodd had also garnered attention from the U.S. National Team during his tenure at Duke and was invited to play for the U.S. National Team, which he did concurrently while playing for the Colorado Foxes.

In 1996, Major League Soccer (MLS)—a new professional outdoor soccer league—was formed and the top players in the APSL were contacted and invited to move to the newly formed teams that brought American and international players together. Dodd was signed to play for the Dallas Burn, a new Dallas team, which played its inaugural home opener at the Cotton Bowl to 37,000 fans.

Mark made a name for himself during the four years he played with the Dallas Burn. He was named the first MLS Goalkeeper of the Year, was an All Star Goalkeeper his first two years on the team, set the record (which still stands) for saves in a season (191 of them) in 1997, and won the U.S. Open Cup in 1997, which remains the only championship won by a Dallas soccer franchise.

Tragically, Mark’s mom passed away unexpectedly in a car accident four days before the U.S. Open Cup game.

“I was so gutted and heartbroken, I didn’t even know if I could play,” Dodd remembers.

In the end he did, quietly dedicating the game to her.

Less than a year later, Mark was slated to play on the U.S. National Team’s roster for the 1998 World Cup. Unfortunately, a few weeks before the roster had to be turned in, Dodd dove for a ball in a game, breaking his hand. With the health of his hand uncertain, Dodd ended up being an alternate for the World Cup team.

“That was unfortunate,” Dodd says, but in his typical optimistic way he immediately shifts his focus to the positive aspects of his career.

“I’ve been really fortunate,” he enthuses. “I’ve gotten to play all over the world. I’ve been to more than 40 countries and had amazing experiences.”

Those experiences have included meeting British royalty, a Saudi Arabian prince, and being treated like a celebrity throughout the rest of the world where soccer is, hands down, the most popular sport.

In 2000, Dodd tore ligaments in his right hand during a game and retired from the Dallas Burn soon after. He took several years off, traveling with his wife, Stacie, and two young daughters while letting his body heal. In his eleven-year career, he’d had a total of eleven surgeries.

Although he was offered several coaching jobs, he turned them down, choosing to stay in Allen where he and his family had settled in 1998.

“The life of a professional soccer coach is very unstable,” he says. “I didn’t want that for my kids.”

After retiring from soccer, he designed and subsequently patented a material called isoBLOX, a uniquely formulated thin, hard shell that can subtly flex, absorbing shock and diffusing impact. Because the material was ideal for athletic gear, Dodd soon began licensing isoBLOX to companies such as Under Armor and Wilson to use in shin guards and chest protectors. An airline even used Dodd’s product in its headrests to meet crash test requirements. Although Dodd sold the business in 2013, he kept the rights to a footwear product using the same technology. His new footwear company, ShokBLOX, is currently developing a prototype that will be integrated into footwear and shoe inserts.

Although Mark Dodd has hung up his goalie gloves, he still plays soccer recreationally, although never in the goal box. His daughters, both of whom he coached in soccer through ASA, have chosen different paths, one on a golf scholarship at Wake Forest and the other as a dancer with the Allen High School Tallenettes.

But for Mark, soccer will always hold a special place in his heart.

“I don’t miss being away from my family and I don’t miss the surgeries,” he says, “but I miss the intensity of the big game and the camaraderie with my teammates.”

The boy who had lived and breathed soccer had made his dream come true.

“I wouldn’t trade it for anything,” he says. v Deborah Dove is a freelance writer from Allen.

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kids korner

Family-friendly things to do this fall

By Deborah DOVE

Check out the Cottonwood Art Festival at Cottonwood Park in Richardson on October 4-5. The free art show features museum quality art work in a variety of mediums, local bands and a children’s area where pint-sized Picassos can experience art first hand by creating a sculpture hat from scrap, designing a masterpiece in plaster, adding to an enormous collage, or sculpting clay on a real potter’s wheel. For more information, visit www.cottonwoodartfestival.com.

Take the kids to an Allen Eagle football game to cheer on the reigning state champions and watch the Allen Eagle Escadrille, the biggest band in the country, perform. Visit www.allenisd.org for the schedule.

Visit a pumpkin patch to pick your own pumpkin and enjoy a multitude of family friendly fall activities. Celina’s Big Orange Pumpkin Farm offers a pumpkin patch, hayrides, animals to feed, a maze, roping pen, mini train and lots of photo ops ($8/person).

The Tucker Hill subdivision in McKinney (north of 380 between Custer and Ridge Roads) will open Pumpkinville from October 17-31 with pumpkins to purchase and lots of free activities such as a toddler-sized hay maze and a tractor-pulled hayride. On weekends, there will also be games, activities, music and more. Concessions will be available to purchase.

The Gentle Zoo Pumpkin Patch in Forney has train rides, a giant maze, bounce house, petting zoo, carnival games and pumpkins to purchase ranging from $1-$20. Admission is $5/person and the zoo is open through November 15. For information on these, or to find other nearby pumpkin patches, visit www.pumpkinpatchesandmore.org.

Spend a day at the State Fair of Texas enjoying amazing food, fun rides, free concerts, shows, a nightly parade, architectural structures made of cans and tons of family fun. In addition to the midway (home of the iconic Texas Star Ferris Wheel), kid favorites at the fair include the petting zoo, a variety of shows from racing pigs to trick-performing dogs, kid-powered tractor races, a miniature farm and the Backyard Circus. The Kids Boardwalk, a new area this year, will also offer free interactive activities for kids such as a Ronald McDonald show, pumpkin painting, games, photo ops and more. The fair runs through October 19. For more information, visit www.bigtex.com.

Celebrate the migration of the Monarch butterfly from 10 am-2 pm on October 18 at the Butterfly Flutterby. This free event is held at the Grapevine Botanic Gardens and begins with a butterfly costume parade, followed by butterfly arts and crafts and other activities, with butterfly releases at 10:45, 11:45 and 12:30. For more information, visit www. grapevinetexasusa.com.

Experience Halloween at the Heard on October 18 from 6-10 pm as kids trick-or-treat on the Dinosaurs Live! Exhibit trail, watch a familyfriendly movie under the stars in the amphitheater, stroll through the “haunted forest,” participate in a costume contest and explore the

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“Ghost Town” play house village. Tickets go on sale October 1, but sell out quickly. For more information, visit www.heardmuseum.org.

Camp in the great outdoors at Collin County Adventure Camp’s Family Camp October 17-19. Weekend activities include boating, hiking, arts and crafts, target sports, climbing wall, fishing, a campfire and more.

The cost is $525/cabin and includes 2 nights lodging for up to 14 people, 4 meals and all activities and entertainment. For more information, visit www.ymcadallas.org/locations/collin_county_ adventure_camp/family_camp/.

Stroll through gardens filled with pumpkins, chrysanthemums and fall color at Autumn at the Arboretum. This year the Pumpkin Village returns with Storybook houses, a hay bale maze, Cinderella’s carriage and a pumpkin patch. Mondays and Tuesdays, 10 am-4 pm, moms and kids can enjoy special kid activities such as a petting zoo, nature art, face painting and Kindermusik. The garden also offers trick-or-treating through the gardens with costumed characters and activities from 9 am-5 pm October 25-26. Admission is $15 for adults and $10 for kids.

Parking is an additional $10 and admission to the Children’s Garden is an additional $3/person. Visit www.dallasarboretum.org for more info.

Take a walk on the wild side after hours during Halloween Nights at the Dallas Zoo. On October 23-26 from 5-8 pm, the zoo gates crack open to let costumed kids in to visit candy stations, interact with costumed characters, explore the zoo, plus enjoy animal shows and kids’ activities in the Children’s Zoo. Tickets are $10/person and parking is $5. For more information visit www.dallaszoo.com.

Waddle over to Watters Creek for the Lucky Duck Kid’s Club Halloween Spooktacular on October 26, from 11 am-1 pm featuring craft activities, treats and entertainment.

Don your best costume and head to Sea Life Grapevine Aquarium for Halloween tricks and treats including scary fish facts, photo ops and divers competing to see who can carve the best jack-o-lantern in the shortest amount of time—underwater! While you’re there, explore the aquarium’s exhibits including sharks, jellyfish, seahorses, clownfish, stingrays, sea turtles and an interactive rock pool. Halloween events are October 18-19, 22, 25-26 and 29 at 11 am. Visit www.visitsealife.com for more information and to purchase tickets.

Trick or treat in historic downtown McKinney on October 31 from 4-6 pm at Scare on the Square, where trick or treaters can go from shop to shop for goodies and enjoy a hayride.

Step back in time aboard the Grapevine Vintage Railroad Halloween Treat Train on October 26 at either 1 or 2:45 pm for a round trip, 21-mile train ride aboard a Victorian-style locomotive with costumed staff members handing out candy. Be sure and wear your costume! Tickets are $10-$28 and can be purchased at www.grapevinetexasusa.com/ grapevine-vintage-railroad/.

education

Runway ready

by Holly HARVEY

Transforming into a terrifying zombie with bloody gashes and shredded clothes or an aging octogenarian with cascades of wrinkles dressed in a crisp suit is just another day for students in costuming and makeup classes. Turning makeup and fabric into something theatrical takes more than adding a superfluous swipe of eyeliner or an extra skirt ruffle. For months, students in Collin College’s theatrical costuming and makeup classes research, study and manage materials to create looks that encapsulate their style as artists and designers.

Before threading a needle or dabbing on blush, students learn about the design process and basic elements of design.

“Fashion aesthetic is a global way of communicating and involves elements such as texture and color, the basic elements of design.” said Collin College theater professor Gina Love, who teaches the makeup and costuming classes. “The students get to explore style and design without barriers or boxes. Students learn to visualize characters through costuming and makeup and translate that through a variety of design and technical skills.

They learn how to communicate through sketching, textile selection and silhouette, while pulling ideas from their own life experiences.”

Students learn about the history of fashion and makeup as well. The goal

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Jacob Hughes of the costuming and makeup classes is to create accurate and inspired “looks” for a theatrical production.

Students also have the chance to put their unique spin on a design, such as transforming a typical Victorian-era gown in an edgy leather bodice covered in hundreds of metal studs.

“It’s an intensively collaborative process,” Love said. “Students discuss the script with directors, scenic and lighting designers and other producers.

Through collaborating, we determine what colors and moods communicate visually and ignite a particular feeling in the audience.”

From there, students assist in the design process creating mood boards, which feature images, textures and more to capture inspiration. The

sewing studio and makeup workspace the students use come alive with the hum of sewing machines and the din of wig steam curlers.

“Going in, when you’re designing a look, you pull everything out and start with a plan but everything can change,” say former Collin College student Jacob Hughes, who learned all about patterns and designs in the costuming class. “When you get your hands on the fabric and you’re about to start manipulating it you can be inspired to do something different— it’s a great feeling.”

Skills range from advanced to beginner—Hughes himself learned how to sew through the costuming class.

“Fashion design can be an intimidating craft,” said Love. “But

when you think with the perspective of ‘Look, almost everyone wears clothes,’ it’s less intimidating. The course is accessible to everyone, and we take the time to learn the basics of sewing and patterns.”

For student Mitzi Barajas who aspires to be a fashion designer, the ability to improve her skills while being creative, made the classes attractive.

“I learned so much about how to sew correctly and how to sew different patterns,” Barajas said. “Working with the fabric and makeup is so hands-on and allows me to be creative. The sky is the limit in terms of what I can design and create now.”

Through individualized labs and apprenticeships, students practice their art with hands-on experiences in inno­ vative makeup techniques, as well as sewing and designing costume pieces.

“Some students come in thinking only about exploring grander glamourtype makeup,” said Love. “They’re very surprised when they experiment

with other types of makeup, such as a full rainbow of character and aqua cake body makeup. We also work with prosthetics, mustaches and beards, masking eyebrows and adhering decorative embellishments on the face and body.”

Besides learning how to manip­ ulate fabrics and colors, students learn abstract skills as well. Time manage­ ment is a huge component in designing and creating a look that can translate to a stage. It takes weeks of practice and hours sewing and applying makeup to be ready.

“Things like time management boil down to even simple things such as, ‘How long does it take me to iron this? To finish hemming that?’” Love said. “Students develop the ability to come to the table at deadline with the sketch that can be produced and is on budget. They learn critical thinking and teamwork skills.”

Practice makes perfect, according to Hughes, who spent weeks re­­

searching his designs before finally assembling them.

“You have to practice and be confident in your design,” Hughes said.

“When it comes down to cutting the fabric you really don’t want to make a mistake in the fabric that cost $200.”

After taking makeup and cos­ tuming classes, students can further their passion by taking related arts and drama courses such as figure drawing, sculpture and stagecraft.

“With the classes, it’s sort of like being on the show Project Runway,” Love said. “So many times, the student finds a way to make it work while learning a new skill and interjecting their personality into a design.”

For more information about the Collin College theatre program, visit w w w. c o l l i n . e d u / a c a d e m i c s / programs/theatre.aspx. v Holly Harvey is a public relations writer at Collin College.

Photo: Nick Young, Collin College.

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business seen

by Nicole BYWATER

Merle Norman Cosmetic Studio

Furniture Buy Consignment

Founded in Los Angeles in 1931, Merle Norman Cosmetics is a leading brand of premium skin care, foundations and color cosmetic products sold only at studios such as the one here in Allen. This family-owned and operated company sells cosmetics in six countries and manufactures its products in the United States.

There are several factors that make Merle Norman Cosmetics unique, says owner Linda Ramsey Moore, a former Allen teacher.

“First, all products are available in the studio on a ‘try it before you buy it’ basis. Second, clients can enjoy many free services in a private setting. By appointment or on a walk-in basis, free services include skin assessment, a choice of four 10-15 minute free express facials, foundation checks, express makeovers, ear piercing and makeup instruction.” Special event makeovers such as wedding and prom are also available for a small fee.

“Third,” Linda explains, “we personalize pampering products for our clients with 200 shades in 12 different foundation lines, 10 different skin care lines, wide color choices in blush, eye shadows, lips and seasonal contemporary color collections.”

The Allen Merle Norman Cosmetic Studio is located at 549 W. McDermott Drive on the southeast corner of McDermott and 75. Hours are 10 a.m.-6 p.m.

Monday thru Saturday.

Stop in and let them pamper you. For information or to schedule studio services, call 972.396.1979 or visit www.merlenorman.com. v

Furniture Buy Consignment is the largest furniture consignment company in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area, and its largest location is in McKinney. Shoppers can experience a wide selection of values in name brand, quality furniture, unique designer pieces and decorative accessories at affordable prices.

Furniture Buy Consignment stores offer model home furniture, liquidation merchan­dise and closeout furniture and accessories— all at a substantial savings.

“We have an extremely loyal following of customers—designers and decorators—who visit our stores weekly to shop and see what’s new,” says Managing Partner, Tess Brown. Furniture Buy Consignment sells over 3,000 consignments each month in their six showrooms and is the place to shop for your furniture needs whether you are on a budget or not.

For those looking to sell their furniture, consignment offers a safe and secure solution to do so.

“Many consignments sell within the first few days,” Tess adds. “We lead the industry with our competitive terms and no consignment fees.” You may also opt for a convenient pickup and delivery service, which is available for a nominal fee.

Furniture Buy Consignment is open Monday-Saturday and is conveniently located at 123 S. Central Expressway, on the SE corner of Virginia Parkway and I-75 in McKinney. For more information, please call 972.540.9300 or email photos of your furniture for consignment to mck@ furniturebuyconsignment.com. v

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Triumph Roofing

Many homeowners think that if they don’t have any visible leaks, they don’t have damage to their roof. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. Having your roof checked out by an experienced roofer is the only way to know for sure what shape your roof is in and if it suffered any damage during the most recent hailstorms, says Brad Sanders, owner of Triumph Roofing.

“With hail damage, you can lose those granules that are there to protect your shingles,” he explains.

“You may not see any leaks immediately—but over time, because that protective layer is diminished, the shingles are going to wear out more quickly. Of course, by the time the shingles fail, it can be harder to trace the damage back to any particular storm.”

Triumph Roofing is headquartered in McKinney and factory-certified by GAF, the nation’s largest roofing manufacturer. The company is also a member of the North Texas Roofing Contractor’s Association, the Roofing Contractor’s Association of Texas and the Chamber of Commerce of both Allen and McKinney. Brad has been trained in the insurance adjustment claim procedure and is able to help homeowners navigate this process.

“I’m very hands-on and check in on jobs at every stage,” he explains. “We offer a 10-year labor warranty, which is better than the industry average. Making sure each job is perfectly done is a priority.”

For more information or to schedule a free roof inspection, call 972.332.1766 or visit www. triumphroofing.net. v

MARKET PLACE

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interiors/outdoor spaces

Attention

to

by Dawn Bluemel OLDFIELD Tammy Fox and her husband Joe moved to the quiet Star Creek neighborhood six years ago from a nice, but unremarkable house in Plano. This custom-built home in Allen may not be a great distance from their former east-Plano residence, but they are miles apart in style.

Tammy shares, “Since Joe and I built this house from scratch, we were able to pick everything— flooring, cabinetry, lighting, paint color and landscaping. We had a say in every detail. It was a joint collaboration on the décor. We were really ready for a change.”

Once scared of color, Tammy and Joe learned the easiest way to add style to a room is with paint.

“This house is all about color and decorated so differently from the Plano home. That house was very conservative. Everything was white.

Whenever we thought about painting a wall a different color we’d get so nervous,” Tammy says with a laugh.

Attention to detail in every room offers the architectural and visual shake-up the couple wanted. Corners are rounded, creating a soft finish.

While the walls are mostly neutral golds and earthtones, ample pops of color appear throughout the home. Instead of standard white, unexpected taupe trim and doors throughout the house show how simple color choices transform a space.

Autumn is Tammy’s favorite season, and she says, “When designing this house we envisioned a

“Simplicity is the ultimate form of sophistication.”

Leonardo Da Vinci

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carefree setting, melding functionality with aesthetics and combining contemporary with traditional, for an open, airy feel. We took our cues from Mother Nature, incorporating the red, gold, orange and deep green hues of fall into the dÊcor. The colors are contemporary, bold, but warm.�

The practical floor plan is flooded with natural light, creating a home that is cozy and inviting. The yellowy-orange walls in the kitchen are the color of sunsets, making the kitchen a cheery place to be, rain or shine. The warm wall color ties into the glass details in the tile backsplash and Santa Cecelia granite counter tops. Lighting mounted under the richly stained maple cabinets adds task lights for cooking, as well as ambience. A contemporary chandelier hangs over the kitchen table, its hand-blown orange globes look like a Chihuly sculpture.

The sand-colored suede chairs in the dining room and kitchen island mimic nature’s softer tones, while tying into the rich mahogany color of the inviting couch and chaise lounge in the living room. The mantle of the corner

fireplace has traditional lines, while cinnamon colored tiles add a modern element. Light sculptures flank the entertainment center, and a geometric patterned area rug anchors the space. An alcove transitioning the living room to the outdoor courtyard is a unique feature to the home.

The kitchen, built for entertaining, with loads of smart

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storage, connects seamlessly to the dining room, and opens to the living room and a backyard courtyard, keeping both low key gatherings and big parties flowing. Tammy says, “The large kitchen island is where everyone likes to hang out. It doubles as a prep space and buffet-style serving area for informal meals, especially when hosting parties to

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watch Joe’s beloved New York Yankees play!”

Tammy not only has an eye for color, but a knack for pairing antiques with modern pieces. Glass cabinets in the butler’s pantry showcase heirloom crystal and her Grandmother’s china graces the glass table in the dining room, adding a touch of old to the new vibe of the home.

The dining room walls feature horizontal stripes painted in three different earth-tone colors—toast, beige and cream. Tammy says, “I wanted to do something different in here. The colors and the stripes give the room depth and pizzazz, yet they are subtle enough they don’t compete with the art on the walls. The crown molding and ceiling-to-floor curtains add a little elegance to the room.”

The laundry room is often overlooked when it comes to decorating. But, why shouldn’t you look at something pretty while you’re washing towels? A small square window offers a view of greenery in the front garden, and the sink is the perfect place for bathing Sadie, the couple’s one-year-old Shih Tzu. A cute brick birdhouse made by Tammy’s late father sits on the counter and bright paintings make for a cheery utilitarian space.

Joe works from the house and the home’s design accommodates his two offices. Tammy says, “In the front office we added a built-in book case to showcase Joe’s treasured New York Yankee and Mohammad Ali memorabilia. The wooden trucks on the shelves on Joe’s oval desk were made by my father. We thought the bold colors in the geometric valances and modern art pieces enhance the casual, contemporary feel of the second office.”

The tall doors opening onto the guest room lead to a restful retreat. Tasteful furniture and bright fabrics are stylish enough for the master. The en suite bathroom appears bigger than it is with the use of glass doors and neutral tones. Across the hall, another guest bath gives a hint at Tammy’s playful design style. Tammy laughs, “We wanted to something different to show off the unique, updated tile. These wooden ‘hippie beads’ made a great shower curtain!”

The master bedroom features a spa-like bathroom, with a large soaking tub. Punches of red brighten the room and a big window brings in natural light. A spacious dressing room could put many celebrity closets to shame! The bed­room décor blends new furniture with old family pieces. Roman blinds and rich chocolate curtains adorn a bay window overlooking the garden giving a lovely, cozy feel.

Whatever your style, Tammy advises, “Don’t be afraid to mix traditional with modern. Don’t overdo it, and remember everything doesn’t have to match. You can blend old and new and still pull it off. Have fun with your décor and do what makes you happy.” v Dawn Bluemel Oldfield is a freelance writer.

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travel

Travel Back in Time

by Deborah DOVE

Have you ever wished you could step back in time to a century before cell phones and cars; back to an era of pageantry and jousts, falconry and fairies? For eight weekends, beginning October 11, the Texas Renaissance Festival makes time travel possible.

Celebrating its 40th year, the Texas Renaissance Festival in Plantersville, Texas, about an hour northwest of Houston, is the nation’s largest and most acclaimed interactive Renaissancethemed park, hosting over half a million visitors each year. The authentically recreated British village covers 55 acres and features hundreds of costumed performers, over 200 daily performances, shoppes over­ flowing with arts and crafts, games of skill and plenty of food and beverages, all culminating in the Royal Fireworks held each evening at dusk over the festival’s lake.

Step Back in Time

As you step through the Royal Gates into the authentically recreated

16th century European village, the sights and sounds of the grounds immediately immerse you into another era filled with adventure, merriment and romance. Entertainers, shop­keepers and staff are all dressed in 16th century attire and speak in the tongue of lords, ladies, paupers and wenches, creating a realistic atmos­phere. Hundreds of pine trees dot the landscaped grounds and the turrets and pitched-roof architectural styling of the shoppes and buildings and cobblestoned paths are reminiscent of an earlier, simpler time.

The festival grounds, which are a popular location for weddings, also have numerous beautiful garden areas that are perfect for picture taking or just relaxing. Garden areas include the 4500-square-foot English garden, a Rose garden, a water garden, and the Magic Garden, which has six themed sanctuaries within it representing health, romance, beauty, happiness, wealth, and wisdom.

Shows

There are over 200 free per­ formances daily featuring a cast of thousands, including comedy, music, dancing, magic shows and more. One of the most popular is the “Birds of Prey” show, where hawks, eagles, owls and vultures glide above, in front, in back and through the audience. The “Fire, Whip” show, another crowd favorite, features single and double handed whip cracking demos, plus whip stunts and tricks including balloon popping, candle snuffing, paper cutting, flower snipping, whip dancing, wraps, fire whips and more, with audience interaction. The “Shunyata Fusion Dance” is also a must see, incorporating sword balancing, fire dancing, veil spinning and dancing on top of drums.

And of course no Renaissance Festival is complete without a joust!

The festival grounds also host numerous artists demonstrating the

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trades and craftsmanship of the era.

You’ll find live demonstrations covering everything imaginable relative to the time period—armory, blacksmithing, broom making, candle making, coin minting, glass blowing, paper making and more.

Games

In addition to the amazing live shows, the festival gives visitors a chance to try their hand at games and challenges of skill such as axe or knife throwing, archery and crossbows.

There are also numerous humanpowered rides (it is the 16th century, after all) that are lots of fun, such as the popular flying dragon swing in the Sherwood Forest. While all of the shows are free, many of the rides are an additional charge.

Although a few of the games and shows are PG-13 and not suitable for children (i.e. “Drench the Wench,” a dunking booth where the wench in question goads contestants into

dunking her), there’s a wealth of activities suitable for kids—a petting zoo, elephant and camel rides, pony rides, carriage rides and a fun maze.

Food

For many, the food is the best part of “Ren Fest.” Turkey legs are a must, as is authentic mead—an alcoholic beverage made from fermented honey.

You can also find just about any imaginable fried food as well as typical fair favorites such as corn dogs, funnel cakes and grilled corn and a variety of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks and desserts. In keeping with the Renaissance theme, there’s also a selection of authentic British fare— Scotch eggs, haggis and apple dumplings. If you’re all about the food, consider purchasing tickets to the King’s Feast for $99, which includes festival admission and a seated twohour dinner show with entertainment, food, wine, ale and a commemorative drinking vessel.

Shops

Along the cobblestone path are more than 350 shoppes filled with handmade items and works of art.

Here you can buy everything relative to the time period, including beautiful pottery, candles, blown glass, jewelry, archery bows, swords, ale mugs and even armor and corsets!

If you take the kids, visit All the Kings Jewels for a cool respite where kids can mine their own crystals, or Doodle Tots, which sells children’s costumes, offers storytelling sessions daily at 11:30 and 2:30 and has drawings for free tutus and stuffed animals. There’s also an abundance of magical wares for sale such as elf ears, magic wands and fairy dust.

Themed Weekends

Each weekend features a different theme, with the shows, food, characters, etc., tailored to each theme. The fun begins with bratwurst and polka dancing during “Oktoberfest” October 11-12. Magical faeries, elves and wizards take to the streets during “1001 Dreams” October 18-19, while ghouls, goblins and spooks pay homage to the Queen on “All Hallows Eve” October 25-26.

The “Pirate Adventure” weekend, held November 1-2, is a popular weekend, with visitors attired in pirate garb and a Allen Image | October 2014

31

treasure hunt throughout the village. A “Roman Bacchanal” is held November 8-9, a “Barbarian Invasion” November 15-16 and a “Highland Fling” November 22-23. The festival ends with a “Celtic Christmas” November 28-30, with the village decorated for the Yuletide and seasonal activities such as a candy cane hunt, holiday music and Father Christmas.

To commemorate its 40th anniversary, this year the festival will also host the King Midas Masquerade Ball from 8 p.m.-1 a.m. each Saturday night ($75/ticket) with entertainment, dancing and hors d’oeuvres.

Details

Tickets are $26 for adults and $13 for kids ages 5-12 (ages four and under are free) at the gate. Discounted tickets can be purchased ahead of time at texrenfest.com or by phone at 1.800.458.3435. Parking is free, although preferred parking close to the festival gates is available for $10.

Be sure to bring cash, as some of the vendors don’t accept credit cards.

Although costumes aren’t required

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to enter the Royal Gates, they are encouraged and make attending the festival more fun. After all, how often do adults get to dress up? If that’s not your thing, it’s perfectly fine to wear regular clothes, although regular festival-goers suggest you wear shoes that will go with the costume you’ll inevitably end up buying there. You can also rent costumes at the front.

Primitive camping is available at the festival for $20 per vehicle with festival tickets. Campsites are within

walking distance of the festival and feature two convenience stores, permanent and portable restrooms, trash dumps and space for RVs, tents and campers, as well as nightly bonfires, live music and performances.

Hotels in the nearby city of Magnolia typically offer free shuttle service to the festival for guests.

For more information, visit www. texrenfest.com. v Deborah Dove is a freelance writer from Allen.

calendar Kiwanis members. Proceeds benefit charities supported by Allen Kiwanis.

For more info: allenkiwanis.org.

OCTOBER 31/1 Texas State African Violet Show and Sale, Oct. 31, 2-5 pm, Nov. 1, 9 am-4 pm, Southfork Hotel, 1600 N. Central Expwy., Plano.

For more info: 972.398.3478 or visit lsavc.org.

4-5 Cottonwood Art Festival, Cottonwood Park, Richardson. Free art show features museum-quality art in a variety of mediums, local bands and a children’s craft area.

For more info: www. cottonwoodartfestival.com.

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Dallas Chamber Music Society presents Takacs String Quartet, 8 pm, Caruth Auditorium, Meadows School of the Arts, SMU Campus.

For more info: www.

DallasChamberMusic.org, or by phone at 844-326-7844.

Kiwanis Club Ron Gentry Memorial Golf Tournament, 1 pm shotgun start, Courses at Watters Creek, 7201 Chase Oaks Blvd., Plano. Includes raffle, silent auction and the poker challenge.

Golf Ball Drop tickets available from

10-26 Allen’s Community Theatre presents There’s No Place Like Homer, 1206 S. Main Street. A backwoods tour by a couple from the city becomes hillbilly hell in a hamlet named Homer.

For more info: allenscommunitytheatre. net.

11 Heritage Ranch Flag of Honor Garden, 10 am, Heritage Ranch Country Club, 465 Scenic Ranch Circle, Fairview. Flags to honor veterans and active duty military will be planted on the hillside and names of each honoree will be read.

For more info: heritageranchgolf.com.

Music in Motion, 11 am-9 pm, Heard-Craig Hall, 306 N. Church St., McKinney. Live music, fine art exhibits, demonstrations, winetasting and food vendors.

For more info: musicinmotiontx.com.

13 Heritage Ranch Golf Tournament, 8 am and 1 pm

scrambles, 5 pm, dinner, 465 Scenic Ranch Circle, Fairview. Silent auction, 10 am-5 pm. Benefitting Warrior Family Support Center at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio.

For more info: heritageranchgolf.com.

18 Collin County Master Gardeners Association 11th Annual Bulb and Perennial Mart, 8:30 am, Myers Park and Event Center, McKinney. CCMGA will be selling beautiful, yet hardy, perennials doing well in the trial gardens as well as spring, summer and fall blooming bulbs. Event is free.

For more info: www/ccmga.org or 972.548.4219 or 972.548.4232.

26 Legacy Humane Society Boot Scootin’ Pet Benefit, 6-11 pm, Eddie Deen’s Ranch, 944 S. Lamar St., Dallas. Matthew Middleton and Texas Drive Band, appetizers, drinks and silent auction kick off the event followed by casino tables and BBQ dinner. Proceeds go toward building a CCHS adoption facility in 2018.

For more info: www.501auctions.com/ cchs.

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CITY OF ALLEN Allen Event Center

Tickets on sale now through Ticketmaster (www.ticketmaster.com), charge by phone at 800.745.3000 or at the Allen Event Center box office. For more information, visit www.alleneventcenter.com.

25 Dallas Sidekicks Home Opener 4

Parks and Recreation Events

Community Garage Sale. A variety of treasures at bargain prices at a community-wide garage sale at Joe Farmer Rec Center. Browsing is FREE! Become a vendor— register today and make extra money selling items you were throwing away. Space is 17’ x 10’. Vendors must provide their own tables and chairs.

10 SNAP Dance at Recreation Hall. Special Needs and Adapted Program! Music, a fun theme and snacks. This month is Halloween so wear your costume! Register early, the fee increases to $15 at 5 p.m. the Wednesday prior to each dance. For more information, contact Dana Gillespie at Dgillespie@cityofallen.org or 214.509.4707.

10-12 Pinktoberfest Women’s Ice Hockey Tournament.

Allen Community Ice Rink is hosting this women’s tournament that is comprised of three divisions: Competitive, Recreational and Beginner. The tournament is sanctioned by USA Hockey and is open to women 18 years of age and older.

11 Walk with a Doc, 9:30 am, Allen Station Park. A free, non-profit program for anyone interested. Bring friends and loved ones or come alone and enjoy a walk in the park. Physicians and healthcare professionals provide support & answer questions.

11/25 Saturday Night Rec n Roll, Joe Farmer Rec Center. Fun, safe social program for students 3rd-6th grade. Gym games, dancing, music, dodge ball, pool, table tennis, contests and prizes. Supervision provided, concessions available. ID card (annual $5 fee) is required. Walk up admission $10 at the door!

16 Blacklight Zumba. Wear your favorite neons and get ready to light up the night! Learn Latin-based moves to all your favorite songs in this highintensity cardio party under blacklights. All fitness levels welcome!

18 Mom’s Swap Meet at Joe Farmer Recreation Center.

Browsing is free! Moms are invited to make a little extra money by selling kid’s clothes, knickknacks and other items your family may have outgrown. All proceeds from sales are yours.

18-19 Family Night: Camp-Out and Movie. Come camp out under the stars at Joe Farmer Rec Center and enjoy an evening of fun with camp traditions. After setting up camp, enjoy your own picnic, play in the park and trick or treat from tent to tent. Then join us in the amphitheater for a movie starting at dusk.

24 Dive-In Movie. Grab your swimsuit, towel and join us at the Don Rodenbaugh Natatorium for the Dive-In Movie!

You’ll be entertained by one of the latest and greatest movies! Concessions are available. Noodles and tubes can be rented.

ALLEN PUBLIC LIBRARY Children’s Programs Story Times Baby & Me—For pre-walkers with an adult Thurs., 10:15 am Fun Ones—For 1 year-olds with an adult Mon.,Tues. & Wed., 10:15 am.

Family Together Time—For children 2-6 years and their family Mon., Tues. & Thurs., 11:15 am.

All By Myself—For 4 & 5 year-olds ready to attend independently, Wed., 11:15 am.

Pajama Story Time—For children 2-6 years and their family, Tues. & Thurs., 7 pm.

25 Star Wars Reads Day, 2-4 pm. Celebrate Star Wars you will! Enjoy fun programming for children, tweens and teens. Test your trivia knowledge, play games, make crafts and maybe win prizes! Dressing up is strongly encouraged!

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Adults

Noontime Pageturners, noon, Still Life with Bread Crumbs

by Anna Quindlen. Bring a lunch and a friend and join us for a lively discussion! A relaxed environment where you can share the joy of reading.

Writing Workshop Part I: Develop Your Writing Voice,

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2-4 pm, 2nd Floor Program Room. Crafting and writing a novel presented by local author Jenny Martin. Ages 12+.

Free; register online or call 214.509.4905.

Cash Management Workshop, 2-4 pm, 2nd floor program room. Do you know how to get where you want to be? Are your current cash strategies likely to achieve your goals? The Financial Planning Association (FPA) will hold a special workshop to help you gain the essential knowledge needed to make your money work smarter and harder. The workshop is strictly educational and will be presented by Frannie Gardner with the FPA. 18+. Free.

Register online at allenlibrary.org. Contact Kara Phillips at kphillips@cityofallen.org or 214.509.4905.

Twisted Threads—A Fiber Craft Circle, 6:30 pm, 2nd floor program room. A social group for knitters, crocheters, quilters and other crafts with thread or yarn!

All skill levels welcome! Bring your project.

“Discover a Healthier You”, Quick and Easy Meals, 12-1 pm, 2nd Floor Program Room. Essential Oils, Presented by Donna Vickers. This one-session class provides an overview of how essential oils can help attain a better quality of life and on the long history of oil usage and proper and safe manner to use them. Age 18+.

Registration requested, www.allenlibrary.org, walk-ins welcome as space permits. Contact Debbie Vavra, 214-5094913 dvavra@cityofallen.org.

Trivia Night, 7-8:30 pm, 2nd floor program room. Test your knowledge in literature, history, science and more!

Ages 18+. Limit teams to 4 members. Free; register online at www.allenlibrary.org or call 214-506-4905 or 214-5064913. Contact Emily Plagens at eplagens@cityofallen.org.

Writing Workshop Part II: Get Your Novel Noticed, 2-4 pm, 2nd Floor Program Room. Local author Jenny Martin will discuss the important aspects of writing a novel and getting published. Also, finding an agent, handling offers, submitting to editors, etc. Ages 12+. Free; register online or call 214.509.4905.

DIY @ APL—Beaded Pixel Art,10-11:30 am, 2nd Floor Program Room. Create colorful designs using fusible plastic beads. It’s easy and fun! Ages 16+, free, Call 214.509.4905 to register; walk-ins welcome as space permits.

Ladies Night Out Book Club, 7 pm, 2nd Floor Program Room. Come join us in a discussion of The Aviator’s Wife

by Melanie Benjamin. Registration required. Register online or contact the Reference Desk at 214.509.4905.

Adult Spelling Bee, 7 pm, Civic Auditorium. Weary of winning every Words with Friends game? Can’t conquer your ortographobia (fear of misspelling words)? Then come to cheer on your friends! Ages 18+. Free; register online or call 214.509.4905.

Adult Anime Interest Group—Cosplay Workshop, 6:308:30 pm, 2nd Floor Program Room. A-Z Costuming Community, a student organization from Collin College will be hosting a workshop about cosplaying and other costuming—how to make masks, etc. Age 16+. Free.

Register online at allenlibrary.org, or call 214.509.4913.

Contact Susan Wedding, 214-509-4905 or swedding@ cityofallen.org.

Foodie Reads, 7 pm, 2nd Floor Program Room. Do you like food? Join us to discuss your favorite foodie books.

Several different chocolates are available—come rate your favorites! Food-themed books and fall-themed foods will be given away as prizes! Registration preferred; call 214509-4905 to register.

Getting Started with Genealogy, 2-3:30 pm, 2nd Floor Program Room. Members of the Allen Seniors Genealogy Club will present information on getting started in genealogical research. 16+, registration preferred; call 214509-4905 to register.

Watters Creek

Concerts by the Creek, 7 pm 3 Cover Down 4 Diva G 11 Good N Gone 18 Counterfeit Radio 25 Briefcase Blues

Connemara Conservancy

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Connemara Meadow Preserve Bird Walk at the Connemara Meadow Preserve, 8-11 am, Allen. Bring binoculars and field guides if you have them; learn what to watch for in habits,

characteristics and calls from Gailon and Rodney, with Prairie and Timbers Audubon Society. All ages welcome. We recommend wearing long pants, closedtoed shoes, sunscreen and insect repellent.

26 Open House, 1 pm, Connemara Meadow Preserve. Join us to wander (and wonder) at the meadow hiking the trails, watching flora and fauna. Enter at Wooded Gate on East side of Alma, south of Bethany.

Heard Museum

For more info: www.heardmuseum.org.

4 Zip Line Day, 1-4 pm, travel down the Ropes Course’s zip line at the Heard! Purchase one ticket for each time you go down the zip line. Spots are limited; preregistration/prepayment required.

18 Halloween at the Heard, 6-10 pm, Kids trick-or-treat on the Dinosaurs Live! exhibit trail, watch a family-friendly movie under the stars in the amphitheater, stroll through the “Haunted Forest,” participate in a costume contest (kids 12 & under), and more! Tickets sell out each year, so get yours as soon as possible.

CLUBS & ORGANIZATIONS

City of Allen offers a variety of affordable recreational classes and programs. Register at Joe Farmer Rec Center, 214.509.4750 or Rodenbaugh Natatorium, 214.509.4770.

For more info: www.allenparks.org.

Texas Health Presbyterian, a variety of events.

For more info: www.texashealth.org.

American Cancer Society Road to Recovery needs volunteers to drive cancer patients to appointments. If you have a car and can spare time 9-5, you can help.

For more info: Debbie Moen, 972.712.5711.

Kids Helping Kids, bring new or gently-used toys to Kids Pediatric Dentistry, donate to kids in the area. Receive chance to win prize.

For more info: 972.727.0011 or www.kidspediatricdentistry. com.

MOMS Club of Allen, group for moms and children who live in Allen, Fairview and Lucas. Monthly playgroups, kid field trips and business tours, special events, Mom’s Night Out and more.

For more info: http://momsclubofallentx.weekly.com or momsclubofallentx@gmail.com.

Urban Explorers, laid back, fun, diverse social group with meetups throughout Dallas area.

For more info: www.meetup.com/getoutandabout.

Allen Early Childhood PTA, support for parents & caregivers of kids age 0-5. Each month has fun activities. Play groups, park days, lunch with friends, field trips, Mom’s Night Out, Dads & Kids and other events. Come play with us.

For more info: www.aecpta.com or information@aecpta.com.

Heart Link Women’s Networking group, women only business networking. Monthly meetings—days and locations vary.

For more info: www.75013.theheartlinknetwork.com.

MOMS Club McKinney Central, support group for stay-athome moms. Play groups, daytime activities, Mom’s Night Out, parties, babysitting co-op, etc. Monthly bus. meeting.

For more info: MckinneyMoms@yahoo.com.

Plano Bicycle Association, club rides, social activities, monthly meetings, newsletters.

For more info: Chris Mathews, 972.964.2869 or www. planobicycle.org.

Baylor Health Care System offers support groups, medical information and events.

For more info: www.BaylorHealth.com.

Every Monday-Friday The Shores AA Group, noon, Raceway Profesional Bldg., 200 W. Boyd, Suite C (Adjacent to Dayrise Recovery), Allen. Open AA discussion group. Everyone welcome.

For more info: 469.854.9593.

Divorce Care, 13-week courses—biblical teaching for recovering from divorce.

For more info: Kim Tedford: 214.544.8050 ext. 109, ktedford@ creekwoodumc.org or www.creekwoodumc.org.

Every Monday-Sunday Allen AA meets, 601 S. Greenville. Mon.-Fri., 7 pm; Sat., 9 am; Sun., 7:30 pm.

For more info: Joe, 214.564.9403 & Tina, 214.566.7561.

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Every Monday Ericsson Village Toastmasters Club, 12-1 pm, Ericsson, 6300 Legacy, Plano. Guests welcome.

For more info: Per Treven, 972.583.8273 or per.treven@ericsson. com.

Fit and Funky Fit Club, 7:30 pm, Unlimited Success Martial Arts, 604 W. Bethany #208, Allen. Work out to p90x, Insanity, etc. Free.

For more info: fitandfunky@att.net.

Allen Symphony Chorus rehearsals, 7-9 pm, choir room at First UMC. For more info: Henry@WealthManagementGroupLLC.com Allen Toastmasters’ Club, 6:30 pm, Train Depot, 100 E. Main, Allen. Guests welcome.

For more info: Joe Nave at 214.566.3100.

Preston Persuaders Toastmasters, 7:15 pm, Custer Road United Methodist Church, Rm B2, 6601 Custer Rd, Plano.

For more info: Ed Meissner, 469.323.0538 or Todd Richardson, 214.497.4495 or www.prestonpersuaders.org.

First and Third Monday Singles Mingle 60+, 5:30 pm, Zin Zen Wine & Bistro, 6841 Virginia Pkwy., McKinney. A group for single men and women 60+ living in McKinney and surrounding areas who are active and enjoy meeting new people.

For more info: Bill, 214.544.5835.

Second Monday The MOB (Men of Business), 11:30 am-1 pm, TopGolf USA, Allen for male bonding and networking over lunch. $20 chamber mem; $25 non-mems/general public.

For more info: www.allenfairviewchamber.com.

Collin County Early Childhood PTA, 9:45 am, Parkway Hills Baptist Church, 2700 Dallas Pkwy., Plano. Nursery reservations required.

For more info: Suzanne Judkins, 972.712.3634.

Sons of Confederate Veterans, William H. L. Wells Camp, No. 1588, 7 pm, Tino’s Too Restaurant, 2205 Ave. K, Plano. Speakers, programs, etc. Open to anyone interested.

For more info: Lloyd Campbell, 972.442.5982.

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McKinney Ladies Association (SRLA), 7 pm. Various locations and service projects monthly.

For more info: www.mckinneyladies.org.

Heard Museum Collin County Hobby Beekeepers, 7 pm, Heard Craig Center, McKinney.

For more info: 972.562.5566 or www.northtexasbeekeepers.org.

Veterans of Foreign Wars “Lone Star Post 2150”, 1710 N. Church St, McKinney. Post Members, 6:30 pm; Ladies Auxiliary, 5:45 pm; Men’s Auxiliary, 6:30 pm.

For more info: 972.542.9119, gmlsp2150@gmail.com or visit on web: www.vfwpost2150.org.

American Association of University Women-Plano/ Collin County Branch, 6:45 pm, 2nd Floor Conservatory, Senior Living Center, 6401 Ohio Dr., Plano. Open to anyone with assoc. or bachelors degree interested in helping women.

For more info: Carol, 972.862.3460 or www.aauwplanocollin. org.

Third Monday Plano Amateur Radio Klub, 7 pm, all welcome.

For more info: www.K5PRK.net.

Allen Retired Educators, 10:30 am, Heritage Ranch Country Club, 465 Scenic Ranch Circle, Fairview.

RSVP: Janeen Chattaway@ janeen03j@yahoo.com.

Breast Cancer Support Group for patients, family & friends, noon, N. Central Medical Center, 4500 Medical Center Dr., McKinney.

For more info: Kelly Finley Brown, 972.540.4984.

Collin County Aggie Moms, 7 pm, Texas A&M Ext. Center, Coit between Bush Tollway & Campbell.

For more info: 972.382.3124 or www.collincountymoms. aggienetwork.com.

First Nighter African Violet Society, 7 pm, Stacy Road Pet Hospital, 451 Stacy Road, Fairview. Promotes widespread interest in African violets and the study of their growth habits.

For more info: 972.398.3478 or www.beautifulviolets.org.

NARFE Chapter 559, 2 pm at Golden Corral, 475 S. Central Expressway (75 & Virginia Pkwy), McKinney. All current government employees and retirees are invited.

Fourth Monday Allen Seniors Genealogy Club, 1 pm, Allen Seniors Center. Must be a member of ASRC. For more info: www.asgconline.com or Richard Henry, 972.390.7402.

Plano Photography Club, 7 pm, Grace Presbyterian Church, 4300 W. Park Blvd., Plano. Visitors welcome.

For more info: www.planophotographyclub.com.

Every Tuesday Allen/Fairview Chamber of Commerce Tuesday Morning Live networking breakfast, 7:30 am, 5th Street Pizza, 111 Central Expwy., #102, (Inside Stacy Furniture). $1 member/$10 non-mem. 1st visit free.

For more info: 972.727.5585.

2ChangeU Toastmasters, 7-8:45 pm, Plano Family YMCA, 3300 McDermott Rd., Plano. Visitors welcome.

For more info: www.2changeu.org.

Take Off Pounds Sensibly, 6:15-8 pm, Good Shepherd United Methodist Church, 750 W. Lucas Road, Lucas.

For more info: 1.800.YEA.TOPS or www.tops.org.

Toastmasters Creative Expressions, 11:15 am- 12:30 pm.

Raytheon, McKinney. Guests welcome.

Every Tuesday & Thursday Allen Serenity Al-Anon Family Group, 7 pm, 1st UMC, Wesley House, 601 S Greenville. Offers strength & hope to friends & family of alcoholics.

For more info: 214.363.0461 or www.al-anon.alateen.org.

Volunteer Master Gardeners offer landscaping & gardening advice, 9 am-4 pm. Texas A&M’s Co-op Extension, 825 N. McDonald #150, McKinney.

For more info: 972.548.4232 or 972.424.1460.

First Tuesday Heard Museum Native Plant Society, 7:30 pm, One Nature Place, McKinney.

For more info: 972.562.5566.

First and Third Tuesday Allen Lions Club, 7 pm, Kelly’s at the Village, 190 E. Stacy Rd., #1204, Allen.

For more info: Bob Schwerd, Secretary, 214.402.0982.

Common Threads of Allen, 7 pm, Whole Foods Market Café, Stacy Rd., Fairview. Share needle-work projects, learn new techniques, make friends.

For more info: contact Debi Maige at 214.704.0994 or debik@ verizon.net.

Legacy 4-H Club (Allen and Lucas), 7 pm, Lovejoy High School, Lucas.

For more info: kathrin_esposito@asus.com or 214.616.2460.

Second Tuesday Allen Senior Citizens Luncheon, 11:30 am, St. Jude Catholic Church, 1515 N. Greenville.

For more info: 214.509.4820.

Collin County Archaeology Society, 7 pm, Texas Star Bank, McKinney.

For more info: archaeology@netzero.net.

Allen Democrats, 6:30 pm, Reel Thing Catfish Cafe, 600 E. Main St., Allen.

For more info: Deborah Angell Smith 214.893.3643.

Newcomer Friends of Greater Plano, 9:30 am, SMU in Plano, 5236 Tennyson Parkway. Program: Joy Weaver, President of PROTOCOL Enterprises, Inc., and Just Ask Joy, presents, “How to Play Hardball with Your Soft Skills.” Visitors and guests welcome.

For more info: www.newcomerfriends.org.

McKinney Amateur Radio Club, 7 pm, Spring Creek Bar B Que 1993 North Central Expressway, McKinney.

For more information: 972.814.4190.

Collin County ADD/LD Parent Support Group, 7-9 pm, parlor, 1st UMC, 601 S. Greenville Ave., Allen.

For more info: Shirli Salter, sscaroline@aol.com.

Plano Pacers run at Schimelpfenig Library parking lot, 5024 Custer, in Plano, 7 pm.

For more info: www.planopacers.org.

Blackland Prairie Chapter of Texas Master Naturalists, 7-9 pm, Heard Museum, 1 Nature Place, McKinney. Visitors welcome.

For more info: www.bptmn.org or email info@bptmn.org.

Third Tuesday Daughters of the American Revolution, NSDAR, The General Bernardo de Galvez Chapter meets Aug.-May. For more info:txshawm@sbcglobal.net.

Plano Republican Women’s Club, 11:30 am, Southfork Hotel, 1600 N. Central Expy., Plano.

For more info: www.planorepublicanwomen.com.

Allen-Frisco-Plano Autism Spectrum Parents Group provides support & resources for parents of children with autism & related developmental disabilities. Join online group at http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/ autismparentsupport.

McKinney Area Newcomers’ Club, 9:30 am, Trinity Presbyterian Church, 5871 W. Virginia Pkwy., McKinney.

For more info: www.mckinneynewcomers.com.

Fourth Tuesday Allen/Fairview Chamber of Commerce monthly luncheon, 11:30 am-1 pm. $20 member/$25 guest.

For more info: www.allenfairviewchamber.com.

Heard Museum Prairie & Timbers Audubon Society meets at 7 pm, 1 Nature Place, McKinney.

For more info: 972.562.5566..

Every Wednesday Toastmasters SpeakUp Allen, “Become the Speaker and Leader you can be”, 7 pm, IHOP, 315 Central Expy,Allen.

For more info: Bill Peterson, 972.523.9425.

Allen Sunrise Rotary Club, 7 am, Savour Tasting Room and Social Club, 968 Village Green Dr, Allen..

For more info: 972.673.8221 or www.allensunriserotary.com/ Allen Rotary Club, noon, Courtyard by Marriot, 210 East Stacy Rd. For more info: www.allenrotary.org.

McKinney Chess on the Square, 4-7 pm, Downtown McKinney Performing Arts Center. Open play & lessons.

Promotes creativity, imagination & strategic thinking.

For more info, 214.620.0527 or mckinneychess.org.

First Wednesday Collin County Master Gardeners guided tour of Myers Park, 10 am, 7117 County Rd. 166, McKinney. Res. req.

For more info: 972.548.4232 or go to mgcollin@ag.tamu.edu.

Allen Heritage Guild, 6:30 pm, Allen Heritage Center, 100 E. Main.

For more info: 972.740.8017 or www.allenheritageguild.org.

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Art History Brown Bag Series, 12:30-1:30 pm, HeardCraig Carriage House, 205 W. Hunt St., McKinney.

Lectures presented by Annie Royer. Bring lunch.

For more info: 972.569.6909 or www.headcraig.org.

First and Third Wednesday MOPS of Hope Plano, Hope Community Church, 9:3011:30, 3405 Custer, Ste. 200, Plano.

For more info: 214.762.0037 or www.mopsofhope.com.

Second Wednesday Collin County Genealogical Society, 7 pm, Haggard Library, 2501 Coit Rd, Plano.

For more info: ccgs.programs@gmail.com.

VFW Post 2195, 7:30 pm, Cottonwood Creek Baptist Church, 1015 Hwy. 121, Allen.

For more info: Larry Nordgaard, 972.727.9956 or www. vfw2195.org.

Third Wednesday Greater Collin County Kennel Club, 7 pm, Joe Farmer Rec Center, 1201 E. Bethany, Allen.

For more info: www.greatercollinkc.org.

Every Thursday Allen Kiwanis Club, Noon, Café Del Rio, on 75 just south of McDermott. Visitors welcome.

For more info: www.allenkiwanis.org.

Allen Classic Cars, 7-10 pm, 103-111 N. Central, parking lot of Chipotle & Stacy Furniture.

Sweet Adelines, NoteAbly North Texas Chorus, 7 pm, Grace Evangelical Free Church, 2005 Estates Pkwy, Allen.

Women of Allen & surrounding area invited.

For more info: nntsing4fun@yahoo.com.

Speak Up! Frisco Toastmasters Club, 7-7:30 pm social, 7:30-8:30 meeting. U of D-Frisco campus, 6843 W. Main.

For more info: http://speakupfrisco.freetoasthost.ws.

Bible Study, 9:30–11:30 am, Community North Baptist Church, 2500 Community Avenue, McKinney. Bible study for women and children. Studying Luke. Reg. req.

For more info: katpf@att.nett or mckinneyallen.cbsclass.org.

Weight Watchers, 12:15 and 6 pm, 1st United Methodist Church, 600 S. Greenville Ave., Allen. Enter south entrance, 2nd floor.

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NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness of Collin County), Recovery support for adults living with mental illness. Led by trained individuals. Free, 6:30-8:30 pm, Custer Road UMC, 6601 Custer Rd., Plano.

For more info: 214.509.0085 or www.namicco.org.

First Thursday Allen Garden Club, meets 7 pm, gardening talks by area experts, Allen Heritage Center, 100 E. Main.

For more info: Denise Webre, 972.390.8536 or www. allengardenclub.org.

North Dallas Newcomers, 11 am., social time followed by a luncheon and activity fair. Prestonwood Country Club, 15909 Preston Road, Dallas.

For more info: www.northdallasnewcomers.net.

Second Thursday W.I.S.E. (Women in Support of Enterprise), 11:30 am.

Location varies. Networking & discussion of women’s issues. Fun & informative meeting for women in Allen & surrounding areas. $20 member/$25 guest.

For more info: www.allenchamber.com McKinney Area Republican Co-Ed Club, 7 pm, Collin County GOP Headquarters, 8416 Stacey Rd., #100, McKinney. Location sometimes varies.

For more info: collincountyconservativerepublicans.com.

Lovejoy Preschool PTA. Monthly general meetings at Creekwood UUMC, 261 Country Club Road, Fairview.

Different topic and guest speakers each month. Lunch provided free; babysitting available for nominal fee.

For more info: www.lovejoypa.org, meetup.com/LovejoyPreschool-PTA/.

PSA:NAMI [National Alliance on Mental Illness] of Collin County, 7:30 pm, Custer Road UMC, 6601 Custer Road, Plano. Enter at the SE end, room B2. Peer support group, B6 and Family support group, B1, meet from 6:307:20 pm.

For more info: www.namicco.org.

Second and Fourth Thursday Allen Area Patriots, 7-8:45 pm, Failth Fellowship Church, 415 West Lucas Road, Lucas. Local Tea Party presents speakers, encouraging citizens to participate in the political process.

For more info: www.AllenAreaPatriots.com.

Allen High Noon Lions Club, 5th Street Pizza (inside Stacy Furniture), 111 Central Expwy. S. For more info: Peter Young, 972.849.4952.

Third Thursday Knights of Columbus, 7:30 pm, St. Jude Catholic Church, 1515 N. Greenville, Allen.

For more info: Steve Nagy, 469.569.3357 or www.stjudekofc.org.

Live @ 5 Business After Hours, 5-6:30 pm at various member businesses. Free.

For more info: www.allenfairviewchamber.com.

Allen Quilters’ Guild, 6:30 pm, 1st Presbyterian Church, 605 S Greenville.

For more info: www.allenquilters.org.

Xtra Years of Zest Seniors Luncheon, noon, First United Methodist Church Allen, 601 S. Greenville, Fellowship Hall. Lunch, fellowship, speakers & entertainers.

For more info: griflkl@sbcglobal.net.

Cancer Support Ministry, 7 pm, 1st Baptist Church Allen, 201 E. McDermott, Rm E101.

For more info: James Craver, 972.727.8241.

Collin County Republican Men’s Club, 7 pm, locations vary.

For more info: www.ccrmc.org.

Allen/McKinney Area Mothers of Multiples, new & expectant moms’ forum, 7 pm, First Christian Church, 1800 W. Hunt, McKinney.

For more info: www.amamom.org or 972.260.9330.

Fourth Thursday Voyagers Social Club of McKinney, 10 am, Heard-Craig Hall Gallery, 306 N. Church St., McKinney. Social club open to women in McKinney and surrounding areas.

For more info: voyagersofmckinney@gmail.com.

Every Other Thursday North Texas Referral Group, 11:45 am, Friday’s (121 & Preston).

For more info: www.ntrg.info.

Every Friday Allen Senior Rec Center Dances, 1-3 pm. Ages 50+.

Mem. free/Non-mem. Allen resident $3.

For more info: 214.509.4820.

McKinney Chess Club, 2-5 pm, Senior Center, 1400 South College Street, McKinney.Adults 50+(Free).

For more info: 972.547.7491.

Every Other Friday MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers), non-denominational support group for moms with kids 0-5 years, 9:30-11:45 am, First Baptist Church in Allen. Childcare provided.

For more info: 972.727.8241.

First Friday Italian Lovers of North Dallas (ITALOVERS), 7 pm, Italian Villa, 121 N Greenville Ave, Ste B, Allen. Do you like Italy? Many bilingual Italian-Americans meet here every month to chat in Italian and find new friends.

For more info: email ITALOVERS@tx.rr.com.

First & Third Friday Classic 55+ Game Night, 6:30 pm, First Baptist Church Allen, 201 E. McDermott, Rm E104. Snacks, fellowship and games. Open to community, no res. required.

For more info: 972.727.8241 or Eddie Huckabee at huckgolf@ hotmail.com.

Every Saturday McKinney Chess Club, 10:30 am-1:30 pm, McKinney Public Library, 101 E Hunt St. Any age. Free.

For more info: 972.547.7491.

First Saturday VFW “Lone Star Post 2150” Motorcycle Group 33, 10 am, 1710 N. Church St., McKinney.

For more info: “Driveway John” 971.822.4483, gmlsp2150@ gmail.com or visit www.vfwpost2150.org.

Open Forum, meaningful discussions, 3 pm, Delaney’s Pub, 6150 W. Eldorado Pkwy., McKinney.

For more info: Charlie, 214.585.0004.

Second Saturday Heard Museum Nature Photography Club meeting, 1:30 pm, Heard Museum, 1 Nature Place, McKinney.

For more info: 972.562.5566.

Vrooman’s Regiment, Children of the American Revolution, service organization teaches children to serve their community.

For more info: 972.396.8010.

Department 56 Village Collectors Club meets in the Plano/North Dallas area to share ideas.

For more info: www.bigd56ers.com.

Third Saturday Single Side Up, 7 pm, This Side Up Family Center, 1100 Capital Ave., Plano. Single parent support group. No charge to attend. Low cost child care is available.

For more info: www.singlesideup.org or info@thissideupfamily. org.

Allen Folk Music Society, 7-10 pm, The Blue House, 102 S. Allen Dr. Musicians 15-100. Bring snacks to share.

For more info: www.twiceasfar.com.

Fourth Saturday American Sewing Guild, 10 am-noon, Christ United Methodist Church, 3101 Coit Rd (at Parker), in Plano.

For more info: Jane Johnson, 972.841.6854 or www.planoasg.org.

Last Saturday Plano Pacers run at Bob Woodruff Park on San Gabriel Rd., Plano, 8 am.

For more info: Bob Wilmot, 972.678.2244, or www.planopacers.org.

Every Sunday Fit and Funky Fit Club, 7:30 pm, Unlimited Success Martial Arts, 604 W. Bethany #208, Allen. Work out live to p90x, Insanity, etc. Free.

For more info: fitandfunky@att.net.

First Sunday United Methodist Women’s Reading Group, 2 pm, FUMC, 601 S. Greenville, Parlor. Join us for book discussion and refreshments. Book selections are determined at the January meeting. We encourage women of all faiths to participate.

For more info: http://www.fumcallen.org.

Please keep us informed of any local activities or events of general interest to our readers by fax to the Allen Image at 972.396.0807 or email to contact@allenimage.com.

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For Your Health

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For Your Health

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cover story “This is like treasure hunting, you never know what you’ll find out here,” Saunders said.

Though the tooth was interesting, it wasn’t even close to being his best find. That honor goes to an entire fossilized skull he found a few miles from his home.

Fossil hunting, five-minutes from Central Expressway? Seriously? As serious as a thirty-foot sea monster that ate twenty-foot-sharks for lunch.

Let’s step into our way back machine and head to the Cretaceous Period, when it seemed like everything around here was armed with razor sharp teeth and looking for a snack.

It’s 70-million B.C. An inland ocean splits much of the land mass that becomes Texas. Fort Worth is beachfront property and Allen and surrounding cities are underwater.

A shark lurks near shore, just beneath the ocean’s surface, drawn by birds paddling idly. The adult male shark passes under single floating silhouettes. His attention is drawn to three swimming in a tight formation. Flicks of a massive tail propel it straight up, four-foot-widemouth open and it swallows all three birds whole as it launches itself above the ocean’s brackish waters and comes crashing back down… straight into the maws of a monster called Mosasaur.

Saunders recalls the day he found the big one. “I’d only been hunting twice before, I was walking along, looked down and saw what looked like a crocodile skull, I thought ‘no big deal’.”

He dug it up, went home, perused the Internet and discovered he’d essentially hit the fossil hunter ’s lottery. He’d found a Mosasaur skull.

“It blew my mind,” he said.

“Something like that just doesn’t happen to a new guy.”

The personal trainer could have popped his find on eBay and walked away ten grand richer, but chose to donate the creature to Southern Methodist University for research instead.

“Selling never crossed my mind, I got into this for the science,” he said That kind of altruism impresses fellow paleontologist and anthro­ pologist Darlene Sumerfelt. She’s

very familiar with Mosasaur, having spent a thousand hours working on another, much larger specimen found in the area.

“Mosasaurs weren’t dinosaurs, though they lived at the same time.

They were large, air breathing, marine reptiles that grew up to 50 feet long and weighed up to 15 tons,” she said.

According to Sumerfelt they ate flightless birds, fish (the fifteen-footlong variety), sharks, even other Mosasaurs. If you were in the water, you were on the menu.

“They were powerful swimmers, with a flattened tail that propelled them through the water really quickly,” she said. “They had a second set of teeth in the roof of their mouth that held prey in place and helped move it down the throat. It was an eating machine.” Think about that as you drift off to sleep tonight.

Sumerfelt heads a team of volunteers who are preparing what was once a twenty-five-foot superpredator for display. A fossil hunter found it in a local creek bed and when he realized what he had, he called The Dallas Paleontological Society. They brought in the heavy equip­ ment and went at it. But even using jack­h ammers, drill hammers, chisels and sump-pumps (to deal with flooding), getting “Mosie” out of the ground (yes this apex predator has a nickname), took almost two years.

Sumerfelt doesn’t regret a second of the backache-inducing, knuckle-skinning work. “This is a beautiful creature and we were the first humans to lay eyes on it,” she said with a big grin. “When this thing was in the water, sinking its teeth into a shark, a dinosaur was on land. When we’re John Saunders

working and imagining what every­ thing was like then, what the planet was like, it became addicting.”

Once the piece is finished, it will have place of honor at the Heard Museum in McKinney, a mural depicting the swimming nightmare by world-renowned illustrator Karen Carr painted on the wall behind it.

The Mosasaur violently shakes its head back and forth as its prey twists and turns trying to escape. With one last powerful burst the shark tears free, turns on the Mosasaur and attacks its belly with massive two-inch serrated teeth…

More and more people are getting caught up in this addiction, and it doesn’t always involve power tools and massive recovery teams.

Allenites Brian Vezza and his sons, four-year-old Steven and eight-yearold David, found their first fossils quite by accident.

“We were at a playground, and saw what we thought were stones,” Brian said.

“I looked closer and they were shells!” David enthused.

“We didn’t have to dig,” Brian

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Mike Polcyn added. “We just looked in areas that were eroded, no grass or trees, and saw shells, shark’s teeth, bones, just laying right there.”

The family has picked up specimens on walking trails, found bones in their backyard; even a trip to the store for a dozen eggs became a paleontological experience.

“We were getting groceries and David was looking down at the ground…” Brian said.

“Looking at the ground like I always do, and I saw a small shell, hard as rock, no water in sight anywhere, a fossil! In a flower bed!”

David said. “We’ve found them in every park in Allen.”

The boys keep their growing collection in a plastic box, stashed safely in their room.

But according to Mike Polcyn, a paleontologist with the Huffington Department of Earth Sciences at Southern Methodist University, that box may hold more than interesting conversation pieces. Polcyn travels the globe hunting fossils, discovering world-class pieces, bringing them back for study at SMU. “Avocational paleontologists need to understand how much they can contribute to our knowledge of the history of the world,” he said. “This is one of the few sciences where an amateur with not a penny in his pocket can walk the creeks and discover something significant, meaningful.

They can move science forward.”

He said their finds, even the smallest, could provide missing the

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pieces from other known fossils, filling in the boney blanks that scientists guess about.

The pair of wounded predators engages in vicious battle, inflicting deeper wounds, before they flee from each other into the dark waters.

The Mosasaur doesn’t get far before it dies and sinks deep into the soft silt that covers the seabed…

Fossil formation starts when the animal, in this case the Mosasaur, is buried in sediment. The most common method of preservation is called perimineralization.

Bacteria usually leave only bones and teeth and as more and more sediment piles on the remains, minerals from the ground leech into its cells, replacing organic material. The sediment turns to rock or chalk and the Mosasaur is encased for millions of years, until erosion reveals it to a lucky hunter.

A group of Collin County kids were among those fortunate few when they made an amazing find last year with the help of their biology teacher, Wes Kirpach.

He’d taken his class on a hundredfoot field trip (only a hundred feet from the school’s front door) to a drainage ditch cut through the limestone when the school was built.

They’d scoured it and found shells, shark’s teeth, some small fish skulls; it was a pretty successful afternoon.

“Then one of my students came up with what she thought was a bone and asked ‘is this anything?’” Kirpach said.

It was “something” alright—a

MARKET PLACE

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vertebrae—and when the young lady took Kirpach to the spot she’d found it, he saw six more sticking out of solid rock. Before the school bell rang he was on the phone with Mike Polcyn who confirmed what Kirpach thought.

They’d discovered a Mosasaur. A difficult excavation got underway.

“Much of this area is located on Austin Chalk,” said Kerry, Wes’ wife, also a teacher and paleontologist.

“That chalk contains beautiful, pristine fossils, but it’s like they’re buried in concrete, unless it gets eroded, it’s

hard to find anything. The gorgeous skull we found on campus was in Austin chalk and took four hundred hours of preparation work to dig out of the rock.”

Once a fossil like this is exposed the extraction must be swift. Encased and protected in rock for millions of years, wind, rain and sun, can now reduce it to rubble in no time. To prevent this, when removing a specimen, paleontologists cover ex­ posed bones with a solidifying agent to keep them from flying apart after

seeing the light of day for the first time in millions of years.

According to Darlene Sumerfelt, they’re not always rock hard, very simply put, some mineral traces of the original bone may remain and they’re fragile. The first step in the recovery process uses massive tools more at home in a rock quarry then on a treasure hunt. An area surrounding the find is excavated and the piece is covered with protective plaster, like a cast.

Wes and Kerry Kirpach It’s jackhammered out from the site and taken to a preparation facility, where an army of volunteers gets to work. They chisel, and chip, chisel and chip. And then chisel and chip some more.

When using larger tools becomes dangerous to the prehistoric treasure locked within, preparators (the folks trying to preserve the specimen) use equipment no bigger than a pen.

One piece, an air-powered scribe, breaks rock apart, grain-by-grain with a carbide tip, letting bones emerge over hundreds of hours. But even this tiny hand held device can cause damage.

“I’d be scribing on one end of Mosie and a tooth would crack on the other end, four feet away. The vibration was going through the rock into the bone,” Sumerfelt said.

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Preserving these ancient pieces of history can be frustrating, sometimes feeling like a battle against time, elements and small budgets. But the preservationists say there’s another threat out there that’s just as bad.

“I’ll check out eBay sometimes to see what fossils are being sold just to depress myself,” SMU’s Polcyn joked.

“One of the issues we deal with is those who work in the commercial fossil trade.”

A quick look on the auction site confirmed what he said, everything from nine-inch Tyrannosaurus Rex teeth to tiny creatures frozen in time in ancient resin, all available for a price.

These sales aren’t limited to the world’s biggest online auction site; high-end auction houses do the same thing, big bones for big bucks. Though most people wouldn’t consider this a problem, Polcyn disagreed. “Fossils are taken from science and along with them, the broader knowledge that can be brought to the world. They end up on someone’s bookshelf, becoming a centerpiece they impress their friends with.”

That’s kind of odd to hear as Polcyn opens and closes drawers packed with dozens of specimens, bones that look like rocks, bones that look like pebbles, bones that look like left overchicken dinner.

How is keeping a fossil on a

bookshelf any different than stashing it in a cabinet where even fewer people get to ooh and ahh over it?

“We study them, write papers on them and they become part of the scientific record, that’s the difference,” he said. “We make sure fossils we publish on are preserved in perpetuity.

A hundred years from now someone will be able to come back and test what I said about this fossil.”

That’s interesting, but what’s the importance of this research, learning more about something that hasn’t

roamed the planet in tens of millions of years?

“By knowing how animals responded to certain natural phe­ nomenon then, we can learn how to deal with problems that are facing us now,” Polcyn said.

Those problems range from climate change to what he called “threats to biodiversity.” In other words, we can see what wiped out nearly 80 percent of all species 65-million-years ago and hope to avoid the same dismal end. (But, this is just a

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guess, if another five-mile-wide asteroid blasts the planet, no amount of research is going to help.)

While Polcyn stressed the knowledge lost to commercial fossil sales is huge, he also said donations from folks like John Saunders have made major scientific advances. So, if you’re interested in making that kind of difference and want to become an avocational paleontologist, the experts have some tips.

“Educate yourselves about creeks and open spaces near you and

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explore,” Wes Kerpach said. “Find a spot not covered by Bermuda grass, or a forest, a place where erosion removed the topsoil and left open exposure, look for dirt with rocks in it.”

You’ll be crawling around the ground so wear comfortable clothes with patches on the knees or bring kneepads. Bring plastic zip bags for your finds, and a sturdy backpack to carry everything. If searching an area with Austin chalk, don’t forget a hammer, chisel and eye protection.

Most importantly, know what

you’re looking for, research the creatures that used to live here, see what they looked like then and now.

“Once you find one, you’ll recognize them everywhere,” Kerry Kerpach said.

She and Wes know what they’re talking about. They were poking around near a strip mall with a pizza joint, when one of the pizzeria’s employees strolled over and asked why they were on their hands and knees in the dirt.

“We told him ‘we’re looking for fossils’ and showed him some cool sharks teeth we’d found,” Wes said.

“He was on his break, so he kicked around with us for five or ten minutes, leaned over and picked up a two inch shark tooth, one of the prettiest I’ve seen my entire life.” The Kirpachs were floored.

“He asked, ‘you looking for some­ thing like this one?’ All I could say was ‘uh, yeah.’”

The pizza maker felt bad and later sent them a pizza to ease their pain, but apparently didn’t feel bad enough to give them the tooth.

Though that was a less than stellar day, the husband and wife paleonto­ logical team have made their share of amazing finds, from Megalodon teeth (think great white shark on steroids) in Florida to a world class find in Dublin, Texas.

“We were looking for dinosaur bones and found these two little crocodile skulls, each two and a half inches long. They ended up being adult skulls, so they weren’t very large,” Wes said.

What they stumbled upon was a previously unknown species, one that was eventually named after them, Wannchampsa kirpachi.

“It was pretty exciting,” they said.

And as cool as that sounds, believe it or not, anyone can do it. Kerry said kids have an edge.

“They’re so much more perceptive,” she said. “But they need to get out there and play in the dirt, explore, get away from video games, movies and TV.” Back at the Vezza’s house, budding paleontologist David Vezza agreed.

“Just get outside, there’s like a

David, Steven and Brian Vezza

whole different world,” he said. “In the house, things don’t change, but if you get out and look around, you’ll be surprised!”

For David and his younger brother Steven, it’s about the thrill of finding a dinosaur bone, for their dad it’s a little different.

“This is about spending some quality time with my boys, research­ ing dinosaurs and very ancient sea creatures, then

going out and maybe finding fossils,” Brian Vezza said.

“We get to make great memories and if we happen to find a couple cool fossils just past our front yard, then it doesn’t get better than that!”

Well, things could get better. What if they find one of those elusive species hidden in an Austin chalk tomb, something that sets the paleontological world abuzz? Maybe they could call it Vezzasauri Valentineus. Has a ring to it, don’t you think?

If you want to learn more about fossils and fossil hunting in the Collin County area, contact the Dallas Paleontological Society at www. dallaspaleo.org. v Simon Valentine is a freelance writer from Allen.

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pet page

“Pepper & Bruno” Sweet Pepper and her long-time companion Bruno were taken to a shelter after their elderly owner had to be placed in a nursing home.

Bruno and Pepper are a bonded pair and will need to be adopted together. They are both absolute sweethearts.

Pepper is 10-11 years old and is house and crate trained. She has beautiful, soulful eyes that tell you her story. Pepper does great with other doggies and, given her laid back disposition, would do best in a home with older kiddos.

Bruno is 9-10 years old and weighs about 17 pounds. He has soulful chestnut eyes and loves to take leisurely strolls and explore the yard, but his favorite thing to do is cuddle.

Both Pepper and Bruno are heartworm negative, up-to-date on vaccinations, microchipped and have had dental work done.

If you have been searching for wonderful old souls with a lot of love to give, please fill out an adoption application at http:/www. collincountyhumanesociety.org/adoptionapplication.html.

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