Park Cities People March 2024

OUR REMARKABLE WOMEN EDITION

Get inspired this month by stories of remarkable women making a difference in our community. They’ve contributed in the classroom, on the track, in the business world, and in houses of worship. Our group includes a researcher searching for ways to prevent and cure the most well-known cognitive disorder and a mother who was galvanized by her own son’s struggles with traumatic brain injury to enrich the lives of disabled adults.

Quite the group of trailblazers. They were selected by People Newspapers staff. You’ll find their stories marked with the Remarkable Women logo. As you read about these women, look for the green box next to their stories. Inside, you’ll find information about who has inspired each of them.

We’re honoring these community leaders in celebration of Women’s History Month. Let’s continue to recognize women’s achievements as mothers, innovators, civic leaders, family members, and friends throughout this month and year.

HPISD expands preschool

Last August, more than 250 names were on the waitlist for HPISD’s preschool program. Now, thanks to an expansion that will add between three and five classes in the 2024-25 school year, there are open spots.

“It’s a real team effort to grow this program,” HPISD’s early learning coordinator Cynthia Marlow Gould said. “Everyone in this district wants this program to succeed for these little ones because they are our future.”

HPISD’s preschool program has blended classes, which combine typically developing and special education students. University Park Elementary’s classrooms also include ESL students.

Each classroom has one teacher with three certifications — in early childhood, ESL, and special education — and two instructional assistants. Classes have a maximum of 22 students.

The program sets preschoolers up for academic success in kindergarten, but that’s not all its students learn, Marlow said.

“Both the special education students and the general education students benefit from being together,” she explained. “They learn how to work with different kinds of people. They learn how to communicate in different ways. It’s almost like they’re part of their own little team,

and they learn how to work together.”

The program is free to eligible special education and ESL students. Other families are charged an annual tuition of $9,500. The program’s hours are the same as the elementary school day.

Potential preschoolers must have turned 3 by Sept. 1 and live within HPISD. Email Cynthia Marlow Gould at marlowc@hpisd.org to learn more about the program and apply.

LitFest’s keynote address

Break out your books and get ready for the 29th annual Highland Park Literary Festival, also known as LitFest.

Award-winning author Kristin Harmel will address the public as LitFest’s keynote speaker at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 22, at Highland Park High School. Harmel is the bestselling author of The Forest of Vanishing Stars, The Book of Lost Names, The Winemaker’s Wife, and a dozen other novels that have been translated into more than 30 languages and sold worldwide.

The preschool program aims to set students up for success in kindergarten. COURTESY HPISD

SARAH HODGES

As

Crime Reports Jan. 8-Feb. 4

Jan. 8

A burglar stole a Prada bag worth $4,500, 10 credit/debit cards, $250, $800 worth of recreational/sports equipment, and $950 worth of miscellaneous items before 7:46 a.m. from a woman’s home in the 3400 block of Villanova Avenue

Jan. 9

A potentially dry-skinned shoplifter stole $1,289.79 worth of Neutrogena and Maybelline makeup, including multiple Neutrogena Hydro Boost products, before 12:54 p.m. from CVS in the 6700 block of Preston Road

Jan. 10

Reported at 12:54 p.m: A stylish swindler shoplifted a Country Girly sweatshirt, a Dani sweater, and two Free People tops from Adeline in the 4400 block of Lovers Lane

Jan. 12

More than $1,000 worth of property was taken prior to 8:44 p.m. from a Land Rover Range Rover left unlocked in  The Plaza at Preston Center

Jan. 13

How much loot did a thief take before 8:54 a.m. from a Dodge Ram 1500 left unlocked in the 3200 block of Rosedale Avenue? An AllSaints purse, $2,000, a DJI Drone, Apple AirPods Pro, and a SIG Sauer P365 pistol.

Jan. 15

The occupants of a red Hyundai Elantra took “hit-and-run” literally at about 10:22 p.m. and fled on foot after their vehicle collided with another car at the intersection of Byron Avenue and Harvard Avenue. A perimeter was set, and Dallas PD Air 1 was called to assist, but the vehicle’s occupants were not found.

Jan. 17

The careless driver of a white pick-up truck kept going after colliding with a blue Volkswagen Tiguan at 2:11 p.m. at the intersection of Douglas Avenue and Bordeaux Avenue

Jan. 18

Officers had double trouble between

2:45 a.m. and 3:26 a.m. in the 4600 block of Edmondson Avenue when a resident reported another stolen vehicle while the officers were investigating a stolen red Hyundai Elantra.

Jan. 19

Discovered at 6:30 p.m.: A thief stole 23 items from a 2023 Range Rover Defender in  The Plaza at Preston Center, including 11 credit and debit cards, four bags, a MacBook Pro, a reMarkable tablet, and negotiable instruments worth $5,000.

Jan. 20

Oral hygiene was very important to a shoplifter who stole $149.93 in merchandise, including $55.49 worth of Crest toothpaste and $46.29 of other Crest tooth care products, at 11:50 p.m. from a store in the 3000 block of Mockingbird Lane

Jan. 22

A pedaling pilferer stole a TREK Precaliber 24 bicycle from a porch in the  3000 block of Bryn Mawr Drive before 8 a.m.

Jan. 23

A fraudster may have needed some extra heat. A man in the  3600 block of Dartmouth Avenue reported at 8:18 a.m. that his credit took a hit because of $881 in utility charges he did not make.

Jan. 24

Reported at 1:27 p.m.: A fraudster rang up $2,373.97 in charges with T-Mobile after opening an account in the name of a woman in the 3600 block of Normandy Avenue

Jan. 25

A crook stole a purse, $100 in gift cards, $300 cash, a driver’s license, and a Capital One debit card from an unlocked Chevy Colorado before 6:40 p.m. in the 3100 block of Stanford Avenue

Jan. 26

Sometime prior to 2 p.m., a thief stole $130,500 worth of jewelry from a white suitcase inside a Cadillac Escalade in the 3400 block of Caruth Boulevard

Jan. 27

Reported at 11:40 a.m.: A joyrider stole a Land Rover and SIG Sauer pistol from

the 2800 block of Westminster Avenue

Jan. 28

Reported at 1:08 p.m.: A thief entered a GMC Sierra in the  3100 block of Purdue Street and stole a Taurus Judge firearm, Apple AirPods Pro, $600 worth of tools, $400 worth of Ray-Ban and Streamlight products, and a Yeti.

Jan. 29

A thief with expensive tastes and perhaps a guilty conscience took, and then returned, $498 worth of gold jewelry from a store in the  6700 block of Snider Plaza sometime before 12:51 p.m.

Jan. 30

A thief smashed in the passenger door of a Chevy Suburban parked in the 3400 block of Armstrong Parkway before 10:20 a.m. and stole a Michael Kors purse, a $400 Louis Vuitton wallet, a $40,000 wedding ring, a driver’s license, and visa and debit cards.

Jan. 31

A fraudster used a woman’s banking information to steal $1,008 before 5:03 p.m. The crime occurred in cyberspace, but it was reported in the  2700 block of Hanover Street

Feb. 1

Would-be thieves fled from CVS in the  6700 block of Preston Road at 8:16 p.m. without taking anything of value.

Feb. 2

Reported at 11:03 a.m.: Forgers used fake cash to pay for items from a grocery store in the 6600 block of Snider Plaza

Feb. 3

A thief may have headed for the slopes with the $290 in Scarpa, Black Diamond, and other recreational equipment reported stolen at 3:17 p.m. from an unlocked Lexus GX 460 in the  2900 block of Milton Avenue

Feb. 4

Reported at 4:04 p.m.: A terrible parker hit a Lexus in Highland Park Village while attempting to pull into the space next to it, then fled without leaving information.

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Geriatrics Specialist Seeks Alzheimer’s Research Breakthroughs Dr. Diana Kerwin

By Claire Collins Special Contributor

Dr. Diana Kerwin has led the team at Kerwin Medical Center since 2018, focusing on clinical studies and research regarding the prevention of and cure for the most well-known cognitive disorder: Alzheimer’s disease.

The Chicago native earned her bachelor’s degree at Boston College and attended medical school at Northwestern University. She completed her residency at Northwestern and worked as an assistant professor in geriatrics and a faculty member at the university’s Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer’s Disease Center before moving to Dallas in 2013.

“With recent breakthroughs around new medication to treat early Alzheimer’s, a tidal wave of development is coming.”

Diana Kerwin

Kerwin’s professional career spans more than 20 years, but as a child, she saw her mom

work as a nurse in a long-term care facility.

“(My mom) thinks it’s why I do what I do today,” Kerwin said. “I do think going to work with her instilled a sense of compassion in me at an early age.”

Growing up, Kerwin and her brother would go with their mom to work on Christmases.

“I’d take my new doll and show them off to the patients,” Kerwin said. “I remember how much they enjoyed that.”

Kerwin says patients can expect an “extremely patient-focused experience” at Kerwin Medical Center.

“Patients who choose to participate in clinical trials are extremely altruistic because they recognize this may not be of benefit to them at all, but it might save their children or grand-

children,” Kerwin said. “There is a burden placed on these patients and their caregivers to participate, so let’s improve quality of life. I really enjoy that aspect, and our staff is really attuned to that goal.”

Kerwin oversees the center’s research and development and says she and her team constantly evaluate potential clinical trials. Some of the daily study visits Kerwin leads include evaluating participants for entry into clinical trials and reviewing MRIs and amyloid PET scans to confirm Alzheimer’s diagnoses.

The center also has an on-site research pharmacy that prepares study drugs or compounds investigational drugs for administration, which can be oral, injectible, or IV. The on-site laboratory collects and processes patient blood samples to compile data.

INSPIRED BY

Dr. Mary McDermott is a remarkable woman in Kerwin’s life, as she was one of her mentors at Northwestern.

“She was phenomenal; she was a full professor, had young kids, ran marathons, had all the research grants,” Kerwin said. “At that time, I had a young child. I was in awe of her. I have carried her commitment to mentoring staff and students throughout my entire career and into the center.”

From start to finish, Kerwin develops, implements, and evaluates the efficacy and safety of drugs that could one day end Alzheimer’s.

In 2018, Kerwin also founded the Dementia Studies Foundation, a nonprofit committed to removing barriers to clinical trial participation and increasing the diversity of participants.

She says while access to treatment and clinical trials has primarily gone to traditionally privileged groups, the foundation works with community partners and faith-based groups to raise awareness about brain health and Alzheimer’s development.

Additionally, the center has an internship program with UT Dallas and is working with Dallas ISD to develop an internship program for high school students interested in its work.

“A diagnosis of Alzheimer’s today is not the same as 10 or even five years ago,” Kerwin said. “With recent breakthroughs around new medication to treat early Alzheimer’s, a tidal wave of development is coming. We don’t know the answers yet, but we could in as little as six to 12 months.”

Community

FORMER NEWS ANCHOR SERVES PARKS, NONPROFITS

Calvert Collins-Bratton

By Maria Lawson maria.lawson@peoplenewspapers.com

Calvert Collins-Bratton is passionate about improving life in Dallas through her professional and volunteer work.

She recently started a new full-time position as chief relationship officer at Communities Foundation of Texas (CFT).

In this role, she’s responsible for working with her team to bring in gifts and funds that the organization’s philanthropy team then distributes to nonprofits supported by the foundation.

“In my personal and professional life, I want to help make Dallas and North Texas a thriving community for all.”

Calvert CollinsBratton

“I had seen the impact that CFT has had on our city for a long time,” Collins-Bratton said, describing what brought her to her new role. “Almost … no organization has had the

kind of impact over its duration that Communities Foundation has. It’s really the gold standard for philanthropy.”

The seventh-generation Texan’s career has also included working as vice president of strategic events and relationships for the Methodist Health System Foundation and as a news reporter/anchor in Omaha, in Las Vegas, and for FOX 4 here in Dallas.

She also is in her last term on the Dallas Park and Recreation Board, which she was appointed to in 2017 by then-Councilwoman Jennifer Staubach Gates. Collins-Bratton was board president when ground broke in 2021 on the new Northaven Trail bridge over U.S. 75, which celebrated its grand opening in December.

“Having young children, certainly I was a user of our parks and partnerships, and I saw the value that parks provided not only from a quality of life standpoint but also from an infrastructure standpoint to the city,” Collins-Bratton said.

She says the parks are valuable for recreation, wellness, infrastructure, and commerce.

Her family lives off the Northaven Trail, and her children use it to walk to Good Shepherd Episcopal School: “In my lifetime, I would have never thought that would be possible in an urban environment like Dallas.”

Collins-Bratton also serves on the

boards of Resource Center, the SMU Simmons School of Education and Human Development, Hunger Busters, and Christ’s Family Clinic.

Growing up, her dad taught that their family helps people without asking questions.

“I come from a family of philanthropists, and they have always cared,” Collins-Bratton said. “They’ve wanted to do something.”

She plans to pass that along.

“I want (my children) to learn that they need to have a zest for life, and they need to care about the city that they live in, wherever they live,” Collins-Bratton said.

The legacy Collins-Bratton hopes to leave the city: “She gave a damn, and she encouraged others to do the same, whatever that looks like.”

“In my personal and professional life, I

INSPIRED BY

A remarkable woman in Collins-Bratton’s life is her grandmother and namesake, Calvert K. Collins.

“She was the first woman elected to the Dallas City Council in 1957 and was dedicated to representing all of Dallas for the betterment of citizens,” she said. “She did not intend to be a trailblazer, but her quiet leadership and steadfast pragmatism was a model for civil success. I am grateful for her love, wisdom, and thoughtfulness.”

want to help make Dallas and North Texas a thriving community for all, so if I can contribute, whether that’s through philanthropy, through parks, health, advocacy for underserved communities, then that is what I want my legacy to be,” she said.

Parish Junior Inspired by Visit to Juanita Craft Civil Rights House

The Crossroads Academy Teen Board visited the Juanita Craft Civil Rights House last fall.

The museum, located in Craft’s former home, honors the civil rights leader’s life and accomplishments.

Craft, who started 182 Dallas chapters of the NAACP, befriended Eleanor Roosevelt while working as a bell maid at the Adolphus Hotel and worked with her to remove a postcard of Allen Brooks’ lynching. She also started a Youth Council for young African American men and women, treating them like adults and encouraging them to help their community.

So why had I never heard of her before? Following my visit with the Crossroads Academy Teen Board, I spoke with Patricia Perez, a frequent volunteer at the museum and former member of Craft’s Youth Council, to learn more about the Dallas civil rights pioneer and her legacy.

Craft faced many challenges, both in her childhood and later in

life. When she was 16, her mother was denied treatment for tuberculosis at a hospital. Despite Craft going to the hospital every day and requesting help again and again, her mother died in 1918.

In response to African Americans moving into the neighborhood, people bombed 10 houses surrounding Craft’s on Warren Avenue. When Craft became a major civil rights leader, rising above the

skepticism of men and the hatred of her White neighbors, the government started to surveil her and tap her house.

One of Craft’s core principles was, “If it’s wrong, you do something — you talk about it,” Perez said.

Despite the challenges and potential dangers she encountered, Craft continued to fight against discrimination in Dallas and encouraged youth to do the same. With

teenagers like Perez, Craft protested the fact that African American people were only allowed to go to the fair one day a year, contributing to the fair’s desegregation. They also raised money for the NAACP, cleaned up litter, and more.

At the height of her activism, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. met with Craft at her South Dallas house, where the museum is today.

“She made us feel powerful, in

WANT TO HELP?

Visit portal.cftexas.org/ oacjuanitacrafthousemuseum to learn more and support the museum.

an era when we were made to feel powerless,” Perez said.

Ultimately, Craft believed in justice, persistence, and, more than anything, that all people are humans, and all humans are equal. In an increasingly convoluted world, it’s more critical than ever to hold on to that principle.

Candace Thompson, the museum committee’s community outreach manager, stated that the museum and board sustain Craft’s legacy “through robust programming, fundraising, and building up new leaders in the community.”

Meredith Walker, a junior at Parish Episcopal School, urges those looking to support the Dallas community while having a steady source of service hours to join her on the Crossroads Academy Teen Board. Those interested can contact kristi@cornerstonecrossroads.com or reach Meredith directly at meredith.wal37@gmail.com.

MEREDITH WALKER

FROM LEFT: Charlie Bernstein, Brooks Loukas, Britt Rumpler, Will Loukas, Jack Benavides, Benjamin Martin, Patricia Perez, Meredith Walker, and Lilli Cunningham. COURTESY MEREDITH WALKER

‘Park Cities People’ Applauds

• Andy Speir , a Highland Park High School math teacher since 2018. He was one of 15 educators to receive the 2023 UIL Sponsor Excellence Award, which includes $1,000. Speir has led his calculator applications, mathematics, and number sense teams to nine individual state championships and seven team state championships. The HPHS Math team won state in 2019, 2021, and 2022; the Number Sense team did so in 2019 and 2021.

Legendary R ESULTS

KYLE

SANDERS

TREY BOUNDS 214-883-4600

MARY ALICE GARRISON 214-543-7075

• Erin Duvall , a Highland Park mother of four, entrepreneur, and singer-songwriter who on Feb. 9 released her latest album. One by One, the full-length album, explores life’s unpredictable transformations, portraying each imperfection one by one. Duvall also planned to host One Night: Twice the Heart and Twice the Love, benefiting the Genesis Women’s Shelter, on Feb. 13, the day after this newspaper went to press.

CARLA JOHNSON 405-229-6976

972-896-5432

ROBIN BROCK WEBSTER 214-543-8963

MORIAH LOVETT MCRAE 501-563-0234

MOLLY MASSEY 214-263-8216

SELLING AND LISTING Urban Luxury

• Norma and Don Stone, the benefactors who have paid for every new piece – at least 22 of them – commissioned for the Dallas Symphony Orchestra for roughly two decades. Last year, Brian Reinhart reported in our sister publication, D Magazine , how the retirees living near Turtle Creek “don’t ask for, or get, any control over the composers and works chosen.”

• John D. Steinmetz, the Vista Bank president and CEO, who was named to the Cotton Bowl Athletic Association (CBAA) Committee. His twoyear term began Feb. 1. He is also a board member of the Dallas Citizens Council, a member of the Young Professionals Organization (YPO) Dallas and Aspen chapters, and a board member of the Dallas Museum of Arts.

– Compiled by Willliam Taylor

COURTESY HPISD JASON LOWRIE

COURTESY TACA

COURTESY VITA BANK

High Risk, High Reward: Former Teen Model Ruhl Now A Movie Producer Park Cities native’s upstart company has two projects set to premiere at SXSW in March

By Todd Jorgenson People Newspapers

Sometimes you have to take risks to fulfill your creative ambitions, such as when Emily Ruhl used her college fund to finance a movie.

The Park Cities native had very little experience when she wrote and directed the short film Blue Moon, for which she won acclaim on the festival circuit in 2021.

“All of those stressful days and nights are completely worth it.”

Emily Ruhl

However, Ruhl has since validated the wager that transitioned her career from a full-time model to founder of a production company with several independent projects in the works.

“The transition into film,

along with the founding of my company, all happened during COVID,” Ruhl said. “We all had a lot of time to think about what we wanted to do. I had a bright idea. In that process, I realized I wanted to keep doing this over and over again.”

She’s based in Los Angeles now, but Ruhl will return to Texas in March as executive

producer — through her company, Public School Pictures — of two films being showcased at the prestigious SXSW Film & TV Festival in Austin.

The feature We Strangers is a haunting drama about race and caste systems in America, while the short comedy The Last Brunch explores the universal experience in a post-COVID world.

“Making movies is large-scale gambling, but fun and creative. To have that stamp of approval solidifies that brand that we’re trying to cultivate,” Ruhl said. “We’re going in the right direction. All of those stressful days and nights are completely worth it.”

She still visits Dallas frequently to see family, and has roots here dating back several

generations. So the SXSW experience will be special.

Ruhl, 27, started as a child model in the Park Cities before moving to Tokyo for about a year at age 13. She returned to attend Highland Park High School, then left to immerse herself in the New York modeling scene while earning her diploma through an online program.

Ruhl has been featured in some high-profile fashion and cosmetic campaigns. She expanded into acting with a small role in the 2017 feature Newness, which starred Nicholas Hoult ( Renfield ).

As she builds connections in the industry, Ruhl is becoming a champion for diverse voices and perspectives in the projects she chooses.

She’s already begun an expansion into television and podcasting, has launched her own fashion line, and hopes to mentor aspiring young filmmakers. Ruhl said modeling is still on the table, too, if the right opportunity arises.

“It will always be part of me and my career,” Ruhl said. “It’s wonderful to be able to express all these different parts of who you are. It definitely keeps life exciting.”

Taylor Misiak and Bridge Stuart star in The Last Brunch, executive produced by Emily Ruhl, which will premiere at SXSW in March. COURTESY PHOTOS

STILL SCOTS: KERSHAW, YOUNG REMINISCE ABOUT HP YEARS

Dodgers pitcher, Rangers executive fundraise for baseball program

By Todd Jorgenson People Newspapers

Clayton Kershaw’s three Cy Young Awards and reputation as one of the most feared pitchers of baseball’s modern era might never have happened without the foundation he gained at Highland Park High School.

“Baseball has taken us a lot of different places, but there’s no place like Highland Park.”

Chris Young

The same holds for Chris Young, who still carries some of the values instilled while playing for the Scots during his tenure as general manager of the Texas Rangers, leading the organization to its first World Series title in 2023.

Both HP legends conveyed those sentiments during a Jan. 31 ceremony at SMU’s Armstrong Fieldhouse. The occasion recognized

both pitchers for the upcoming retirement of their jersey numbers at Scotland Yard this spring — Kershaw’s No. 23 and Young’s No. 25 — and doubled as a fundraiser for the school’s baseball program, with an eye toward overdue facility upgrades.

“To get your number retired

from Highland Park High School is pretty special,” Kershaw said. “It’s a tremendous honor.”

The lefthander has pitched for the Los Angeles Dodgers for 16 seasons, winning the National League MVP award in 2014 and a World Series in 2020. But this week, he reminisced about

growing up in the Park Cities, where he met his wife, Ellen, and where they still reside with their four children during the offseason.

“The biggest thing my mom ever did was keep me in this school system. I will forever be thankful for that because of the lasting relationships and the

community,” Kershaw said. “Now I want my kids to be a part of it.”

Kershaw, 35, is expected to return to the Dodgers later this season after recuperating from recent shoulder surgery.

Young retired in 2017 after pitching for parts of 13 seasons with five MLB teams, becoming a World Series champion with the Kansas City Royals in 2015. Eight years later, he earned his second ring in just his third year as a front-office executive with the Rangers.

“The Rangers this year embodied a lot of the values and characteristics that I got to experience in high school and held true throughout my playing career,” Young said. “I have so many memories with teammates and friends.”

Young was a standout on HP’s Class 4A state championship team in 1998 and later was a two-sport athlete at Princeton University. He still lives in the Park Cities, and all three of his children attend HPISD schools.

“At the time, I didn’t realize how much this community would shape my life,” Young said. “Baseball has taken us a lot of different places, but there’s no place like Highland Park.”

Travelin’ Men: Expansive New Football District Will Take Scots on a Tour of Texas UIL places HP in new league alongside Joshua, Lufkin, while other sports stay closer to home

By Todd Jorgenson People Newspapers

The Highland Park football team will have to fuel up the bus for the next two years, thanks to the UIL’s new Class 5A realignment.

After dropping down from Class 6A, the Scots will now be in a geographically diverse District 7-5A Div. I, which spans almost 200 miles from east to west after the release of biennial district pairings in February.

The new opponents in the eight-team league will include Burleson Centennial, Cleburne, Joshua, Midlothian, Red Oak, Tyler, and Lufkin. None of those schools are in Dallas County.

The grouping could still shift depending on the result of a UIL appeal by Lufkin, which should be resolved in late February. If the appeal is successful — which is rare — the league would have seven teams and require each of them to add another nondistrict opponent.

The appeal means HP can’t finalize its full 2024 and 2025 schedules, although they will play a challenging nondistrict slate that includes Rockwall-Heath, Lovejoy, and neighborhood rival Jesuit Dallas.

Regardless, it will be a dramatic change from the past two seasons, when HP has competed in Class 6A alongside several foes closer to home.

However, with the Scots falling below the 6A cutoff line this time, they will return to the classification where they have made consistently deep playoff runs, including three consecutive state titles between 2016 and 2018.

The pairings are different for HP in

other team sports including basketball, volleyball, baseball, and softball, where the Scots will be part of an eight-team District 12-5A with Carrollton Creekview, Carrollton Newman Smith, Carrollton R.L. Turner, Frisco Lone Star, Frisco Reedy, Frisco Wakeland, and The Colony.

Football is the only sport in which classifications are divided into separate divisions, thus the difference. Realignment for other sports with lower statewide

ROAD TRIPPING

Highland Park will need to travel a significant distance to face each of its District 7-5A Div. I foes during the next two seasons. Here’s a breakdown.

* — Subject to UIL appeal

participation — including soccer, tennis, wrestling, and swimming — will be released this spring.

The Scots do not have much recent history on the gridiron against any of their new district foes except for Tyler, which was aligned alongside HP at the 5A Div. I level in 2020 and 2021.

The Scots have competed as one of the smallest schools at the 6A level for the past two years, including the current school year. But HP has never been in the state’s largest classification for consecutive alignment cycles, which will be the case again.

Ex-Highland Park standout pitchers Clayton Kershaw and Chris Young will have their jerseys retired this spring at Scotland Yard. CHRIS MCGATHEY

Highland Park will travel more than 100 miles round-trip for more than half of its road games in its new football district. CHRIS MCGATHEY

Professional Runner Trains Local Youths Through SpeedKIDZ Dawn Grunnagle

By Sarah Hodges sarah.hodges@peoplenewspapers.com

When Dawn Grunnagle got her first job at a yogurt shop, her goal was to earn $125 to replace her imitation Keds with a pair of Nike Air Max. But she had forgotten about taxes, and when she got her paycheck after two weeks of work, it wasn’t enough.

“It’s ironic,” she said, “because I ended up being sponsored by Nike how many years later.”

Today, Grunnagle’s running resume includes three Olympic Trials qualifying times — the most recent in 2020 at the Berlin Marathon when she was 42 — and two gold medals at the 2019 USA Masters National Championships in Torun, Poland.

But Grunnagle is proudest of the work she’s done with young athletes as the founder of SpeedKIDZ, where she aims to bring out the best in each athlete and teach proper running form and technique. SpeedKIDZ has been training in Germany Park since 2011, when Grunnagle began the

program with five athletes.

Grunnagle now has 30 to 40 boys and girls in SpeedKIDZ, her program for younger kids,

and the same number in APEX TC, which is geared toward high schoolers. Her athletes have gone on to run for schools around the

INSPIRED BY

Two remarkable women in Grunnagle’s life are her big sister from Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Linda Goebel, and her high school cross country and track coach, Terri Gilles.

“She showed me what it means to truly give to someone that could never give back to you,” she said of Goebel.

“Mrs. Gilles was the first coach who ever believed in me and showed me if I pave the way to my goals, anything is possible no matter where you come from,” she continued, referring to her high school coach.

country, including Yale, Texas Tech, UT, MIT, and Indiana University.

“One of the things I always tell the SpeedKIDZ is, ‘I want you to come every day and I just want you to be better than last time you were here,’” Grunnagle said. “So maybe that means that you do one extra interval, or maybe that means that you show more encouragement to your teammate. Maybe that means that you work on your mental toughness. … We’re building the overall athlete and not just runners.”

Grunnagle’s athletes also make contributions in the community. SpeedKIDZ projects have included raising more than $10,000 for The Cure Starts Now Foundation, which supports pediatric cancer research,

HP Seniors Preparing to Become College Athletes in Various Sports Scots from football, lacrosse,

By Todd Jorgenson People Newspapers

Parker Thompson couldn’t have asked for a much better ending to his high school football career, even if the beginning and middle were a rollercoaster ride.

The Highland Park quarterback finalized his commitment to play college football at the Air Force Academy on Feb. 7 after committing to the Falcons last summer — before he had even played a varsity snap.

Thompson was among more than a dozen HP seniors recognized during a ceremony on Feb. 7 to commemorate National Signing Day.

After missing most of his sophomore season at HP with an injury, he sat on the bench during his junior year at Southlake Carroll. Still, Air Force coaches offered Thompson a roster spot over the summer before he elected to return to the Scots as a senior, knowing that he was unlikely to be the starter.

“It forced me to work harder,” Thompson said. “It felt natural finishing with the guys I grew up with,”Thompson said. “It felt like home.”

The dual-threat quarterback wound up playing multiple roles during the year, including several games as a receiver. During a win over Irving, he accounted for touchdowns throwing, rushing, and receiving.

When starter Warren Peck suffered a season-ending head injury in late October, it opened an opportunity for Thompson — who engineered two playoff victories, a first in program history at the Class 6A level.

“He’s a do-it-all player,” said HP quarterbacks coach Cody Cory. “He waited for his

and creating more than 200 personalized activity books for dialysis and chemotherapy patients at Children’s Medical Center Dallas.

Giving back is important to Grunnagle, who grew up as one of six children in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Her father was a factory worker, and her mother took on multiple cleaning jobs to help support the family. As a child, Grunnagle, who is 5’1’’, played “scrappy basketball” with her five brothers.

Grunnagle, the first in her family to go to college, came to Texas on a full athletic scholarship at Texas Tech. She taught at Merriman Park Elementary and Good Shepherd Episcopal School before deciding in 2011 to focus on running.

Recently, Grunnagle has put helping her pigtailed 1-year-old, Levi, toddle down the track ahead of working on her speed. However, her future ambitions include writing a children’s book series, creating a nonprofit for children’s health and fitness, hosting a SpeedKIDZ mile race, and competing in the 2024 World Masters Athletics Championships in Gothensburg, Sweden.

“If you have the right people in your life and the right motivation and determination to do something, you can do it,” she said. “I always take to heart that I am a role model to young girls.”

various other programs honored on Signing Day

moment, and whatever we asked him to do, he did it.”

Four of Thompson’s teammates also are headed to college, including offensive linemen Case Pickelman (Georgetown) and Wyatt Swaner (Sewanee), running back Wilson Axley (Washington and Lee), and receiver Steel Tobin (TCU, preferred walk-on).

Missing the first four games of his senior season forced Pickelman to pivot before finding the right fit with the Hoyas.

“The injury happened, and my recruiting pretty much stopped,” he said. “High-academic colleges started reaching out. I knew I wanted to value academics.”

Distance runner Kayla Dickerson, a standout in cross country and track and field for the Lady Scots, signed with Georgia. A former sprinter, Dickerson said she hadn’t run more than a mile before her freshman year when some teammates convinced her to try cross country.

“I like the mind games and mental

toughness it takes to be a distance runner,” Dickerson said. “I fell in love with it. Now, it’s all I want to do.”

Five lacrosse signees include twin brothers Donovan Riley (Lafayette) and Cameron Riley (Rollins), along with John Allen (Ohio Wesleyan), Cooper Tilden (Williams), and Hudson Jones (Sewanee).

Other athletes honored were softball catcher Audrey Schedler (Colby College), golfer Will Blankenship (Carnegie Mellon), and sailor Lola Kohl (Tulane).

Highland Park seniors recognized during a National Signing Day ceremony on Feb. 7 include, from left: Cooper Tilden (Williams College), Will Blankenship (Carnegie Mellon), Wyatt Swaner (Sewanee), Audrey Schedler (Colby College), John Allen (Ohio Wesleyan), Donovan Riley (Lafayette), Kayla Dickerson (Georgia), Case Pickelman (Georgetown), Lola Kohl (Tulane), Wilson Axley (Washington and Lee), Cameron Riley (Rollins), Parker Thompson (Air Force), Steel Tobin (TCU), and Hudson Jones (Sewanee). MELISSA MACATEE

GEORGE RICO VASQUEZ

Home & Business

GARDENUITY BRINGS HORTICULTURE TO CUSTOMERS

Donna Letier and Julie Eggers

By Maria Lawson maria.lawson@peoplenewspapers.com

Donna Letier and Julie Eggers are the co-founders of Gardenuity, a brand focused on making gardens and garden experiences accessible to anyone.

“When we see my youngest daughter, who’s in a wheelchair, … roll her wheelchair out to the patio and pick a tomato, it actually is a reminder of what real joy looks like, and we wanted people … to be able to reap the benefits that come from the act of gardening,” Letier said.

The pair — Letier from the Park Cities and Eggers from Preston Hollow — have been friends for almost 20 years and were set on becoming co-entrepreneurs. They played around with a few ideas before landing on Gardenuity about five years ago.

“That’s what I think differentiates us. Our team really really cares.”

Julie Eggers

The name comes from a compound of garden and intuity.

“We recognized that it was an opportunity to update the ‘how’ and the success rate when people try to grow things,” Letier said.

The pair also wanted to bring people closer to the benefits that come from gardening.

“(We’re) bringing technology together

Real Talk: Nicole McAdams Groth

with horticultural sciences, creating an opportunity in the marketplace to define and create a new category,” Letier said. “It’s not new that gardening is good for you; we’re just making it accessible.”

Their offerings, described as an “invitation to try gardening,” include outdoor patio gardens, indoor desktops, and soon-to-come microgreens. Letier says each item comes with an opportunity for the consumer to be part of the experience.

Gardenuity’s three pillars of business:

food is medicine, mental health, and the health of the planet.

“Every one of our products has to fit into one of those categories and deliver on those promises,” Letier said.

One of the company’s offerings is weather alerts that are automatically sent to customers to know how to best care for their Gardenuity plants depending on their location’s climate.

“From our ‘grow pro’ support to our team who’s packing the boxes to our team

Nicole McAdams Groth identifies herself as a wife, a mom of three, an artist, and an interior designer.

“I grew up in Little Rock, Arkansas, and graduated from the University of Arkansas Fayetteville,” she said. “Shortly after, I came to Dallas to attend SMU and studied studio art with an emphasis in painting.”

How long have you been in interior design, and what led you to this career?

I’ve been doing interior design for almost nine years. Lindley was our interior designer first, and then, to my surprise, she offered me a job. I have loved working alongside Lindley as a close friend and a boss (she’ll hate me for saying this!). While at SMU, I studied color theory, which has really influenced my use of color in my design.

Now that you’ve been a design professional for a while if you could go back in time and give yourself any advice, what would it be?

The advice I would give myself would be not to be afraid, to take a leap of faith, and

INSPIRED BY

Eggers shared that two remarkable women in her life are her business partner, Letier, and her daughter Amanda.

Letier also noted Eggers as a remarkable woman in her life, along with three others: Arianna Huffington, who Letier said always finds time to mentor others while building businesses, and her two daughters, Madison and Jillian.

members who are answering the phone, they care,” Eggers said. “That’s what I think differentiates us. Our team really really cares.”

Letier comes from a retail background, and Eggers’ employment history is in corporate systems.

“We recognized that it was an opportunity to update the ‘how’ and the success rate when people try to grow things.”

Donna Letier

Seventy percent of Gardenuity’s business comes from corporate clients and wellness platforms, and the rest is through e-commerce and their retail showroom in the Design District. Some of their largest markets are in San Francisco, New York, Boston, Virginia, and Florida.

The team also puts on digital programs to bring in international consumers and virtual workshops with corporate partners to bring the wellness benefits of gardening into their workforce.

“I love the idea of growing something, no pun intended, that’s good for people and the planet and that feels good to share,” Letier said.

let God guide the process.

What is the best thing about being an interior designer?

I love our clients, and so many turn out to be friends when the project is over. All the women in our firm have worked together for a long time, and we really have become like a family.

What is your outlook on the Dallas market?

Our business was so busy during the pandemic and the years after because people really focused on their homes, and it’s definitely gone back to a normal pace now. Our clients subscribe less to trends and gravitate toward traditional design and warmer finishes.

Give us a fun fact about yourself.

I have a slight pillow problem — I am constantly switching out our decorative pillows, much to my husband’s dismay!

– Compiled by Maria Lawson

Nicole McAdams Groth of Lindley Arthur Interiors. COURTESY PHOTO

FROM LEFT: Donna Letier and Julie Eggers. COURTESY GARDENUITY

LOVE WHERE YOU LIVE

The Danuser Rado Group is devoted to creating exceptional real estate experiences for our clients. Specializing in properties throughout the Park Cities, Preston Hollow, and the surrounding areas, we have collectively closed over $141 million in 2023 and more than $380 million in transaction volume in the last four years!

In 2023, 50% of our transactions were in the Park Cities. And almost 33% of our transactions last year were off-market, underscoring the importance of having the right real estate team by your side. Looking to buy or sell? Give us a call — we’d love to help you love where you live!

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Residents Give Input on Planned Highland Park Village Dior Café

By Sarah Hodges sarah.hodges@peoplenewspapers.com

Real estate services firm Masterplan reviewed efforts to resolve the parking crunch around Highland Park Village on Jan. 30 and asked residents to support a zoning request that would permit the opening of a 41-seat Christian Dior Café.

“There is currently only one Dior Cafe in the country located at the Miami Design District. This would mark the second location in the U.S.”

‘

also asked residents for their input on horse-drawn carriages in Highland Park Village.

“There’s a lot of horse people out there like my daughter and I that don’t care for it for the animals,” meeting attendee Kathleen Bradford said.

The Christian Dior store will take over the space formerly occupied by Ralph Lauren at the corner of Mockingbird Lane and Preston Road, Cothrum explained after the meeting. The 41-seat accessory cafe will open inside Christian Dior in the fall, and the space currently occupied by Starbucks will be converted to fashion retail.

Victoria Snee

The opening of the café would be offset by the closing of Highland Park Village’s Starbucks and would have the net result of less overall activity and more available parking, Masterplan president Dallas Cothrum said.

Highland Park Village has already

increased its parking capacity by adding spaces, as well as through a deal with the Moody Family YMCA and two shuttle services, he told about half a dozen residents during the Jan. 30 meeting. He said the shopping center is negotiating with Highland Park ISD for additional parking outside of school hours at Bradfield Elementary.

Cothrum said Masterplan is using cameras with license plate reading technology to enforce parking restrictions on Livingston Avenue, and parking fines for employees around Highland Park Village have increased by 440% since 2022.

Cothrum said that the Dior Café

will be open 46 fewer hours per week than Starbucks and will have 46 fewer seats, effectively freeing up more parking spaces in the Village.

“I’ve heard you guys really clearly,” he said. “Fewer restaurants, more parking.”

Resident Paul Schoonover suggested the Village hire off duty police officers to enforce resident-only parking on Livingston, or post signs that say shoppers cannot park in the neighborhoods. He said the shopping center has made progress with reducing employee parking on his street, but shoppers and diners still ignore the restrictions.

“I think you’ve made some

progress, and I give you credit for that,” he said. “But you’re ignoring the fact that a lot of these people aren’t employees. They are people that do not want to try to get into the Village itself to park their car. They take the path of least resistance.”

He called on the Village to commit to not increasing the number of restaurants, and to not replace those that shut their doors.

“I’m in favor of reducing the demand at this center,” Schoonover said.

Cothrum said that he would bring residents’ suggestions to Highland Park Village ownership.

During the meeting, Cothrum

Another community meeting is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 20, at the Moody Family YMCA, 6000 Preston Road. The application to rezone the future Christian Dior space is scheduled to go before the zoning commission on Wednesday, Feb. 28.

“We are very excited about a new Dior flagship store opening later this fall at Highland Park Village which will include women’s, men’s, and home collections,” Highland Park Village chief marketing officer Victoria Snee said. “There is currently only one Dior Café in the country located at the Miami Design District. This would mark the second location in the U.S.”

The Planning and Zoning Commission is expected to consider the rezoning of the future Dior space on Feb. 28. SARAH HODGES

Comings and Goings

NOW OPEN

JingHe Japanese Restaurant

Mockingbird Station

The restaurant, which brings a blend of traditional Izakaya-inspired cuisine within its modern interior, opened Jan. 6. The menu include grilled items, sashimi, cold and hot appetizers, noodles, desserts, and an extensive Sake list.

Domino’s

5040 Lemmon Ave.

The pizza chain’s new franchise, which is locally owned, is hiring daytime, evening, and weekend delivery drivers.

COMING

SESSION Pilates

Preston Royal Village

The reformer Pilates studio, which opened its first location in the Knox/Henderson area in 2016 and expanded to Lakewood the following year, will open its newest location this spring.

Starbucks

Hillcrest & McFarlin

The coffee company recently signed a lease to take over the former McCartney’s space.

MOVING

American Girl

The Shops at Park Lane

The brand will open its new, 14,720-squarefoot store on March 2. American Girl’s previous Dallas retail location opened at the Galleria in 2007.

— Compiled by Maria Lawson

SESSION Pilates COURTESY PHOTOS

Domino’s

JingHe Japanese Restaurant

American Girl Starbucks

Juli Harrison’s Market Insight

2024 is off to a great start! 50% of contracts for my clients have been offmarket private sales, and with more inventory hitting the market, I am optimistic for a great spring season.

Juli Harrison 214.207.1001 juli.harrison@alliebeth.com

Tim Schutze | 214.507.6699 tim.schutze@alliebeth.com

4548 Arcady - SOLD Represented Buyer

$1,995,000

4 Bed / 3 Bath / 2,878 Sq. Ft.

Susan Shannon | 214.796.8744 susan.shannon@alliebeth.com

5122 Purdue Avenue - SOLD $2,495,000 4 Bed / 4.2 Bath / 5,565 Sq. Ft.

Freshen Your Home for Spring (and Beyond) with These Designer Tips

Spring is the perfect time to declutter, tackle home improvement projects, and breathe new life into your rooms with seasonal colors and accessories.

By starting the process now, you have the rest of the year to enjoy the fruits of your hard work. Here are some of my tips for getting your home ready for spring.

Decluttering is a no-cost way to give your home a fresh start. Now is also the time to rotate your heavy linens and winter clothing into storage. Wash your windows, too, so you can take full advantage of the spring sunshine.

Many Texas homeowners worry about leaks this time of year. If you’re one of them, consider getting leak detectors. They’re a quick way to solve a problem before it happens. Place detectors underneath sinks and water heaters and behind toilets and washing machines.

If you don’t want to renovate but still think your home could use a facelift, consider repainting your front door or interior walls. A new paint color will instantly change the energy of a space. Don’t forget about your fifth wall — your ceiling. Painting the ceiling a different color or adding wallpaper has become a

trend in recent years. You can prepare your bedroom for the season by swapping out your comforter with a thinner coverlet. Replace dark sheets with ones in lighter colors (like crisp white) with bordering or monogramming, depending on the style of the room. Bedding with botanical prints would complete the theme.

Small design elements such as hand towels, lampshades, accent pillows, and blankets can be easily switched out for items in seasonally appropriate colors, like pastel yellow, pink, orange, or green. And nothing says “spring” like fresh flowers or Easter-themed accessories. Flowers associated with the spring season include

daffodils, tulips, and hyacinths. Freshening your home for spring can be as simple as swapping out decorative pillows or cleaning your closet. But if you’ve got bigger plans — like renovating your house or changing the entire color scheme — consider tapping into an interior designer’s expertise. I love helping transform dark or dated spaces into

classically beautiful homes that look gorgeous in any season.

Margaret Chambers, a registered interior designer (RID) and American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) member, leads Chambers Interiors and Associates. Her colleague Caitlin Crowley helped edit this column. Visit chambersinteriors.com/blog for more design advice.

MARGARET CHAMBERS

CLOCKWISE: Filter in more spring sunshine by replacing dark drapes and shades with light and sheer curtains. Crisp white bedding with bordering and monogramming is a popular look. This bedroom feels like spring all year round with beautiful linens plus pink on the lampshade and wallpaper. MICHAEL HUNTER, WITH DESIGN BY MARGARET CHAMBERS The garden theme for this table setting featuring china with hand-painted botanical and butterfly motifs is perfect for spring. JEAN ALLSOPP, WITH DESIGN BY MARGARET CHAMBERS

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Nestled

porch

Schools

AWARD-WINNING PIANISTS INSPIRE THEIR STUDENTS AT SMU

Hyae-jin Hwang

By Sarah Hodges sarah.hodges@peoplenewspapers.com

She’s won the top prizes at national and international piano competitions, but for this music educator at SMU, nothing is more exciting and rewarding than being in the classroom with her students.

Hyae-jin Hwang, lecturer in piano pedagogy and the director of SMU’s piano preparatory department, was born and raised in South Korea, where she found joy in singing with her music-loving family.

She chose piano as an instrument because her family had an old upright.

“I started just for fun, not knowing that piano would become my lifelong devotion and commitment,” she said.

Hwang first came to the United States to study music in high school as an exchange student. She returned to South Korea for a year before traveling back to the United States to study with Michael Baron at Florida Gulf Coast University. After graduation, Hwang continued to the University of Michigan to study piano pedagogy and performance, where she trained with her mentor Joanne Smith and earned master’s and doctoral degrees.

While a student, Hwang won top prizes at the Los Angeles Liszt International Competition and Music Teachers National Association Competitions. She performed in the Royal Palace of Caserta, Italy, with the Ars

Catharine Lysinger

By Sarah Hodges sarah.hodges@peoplenewspapers.com

As a 9-year-old growing up in Preston Hollow, Catharine Lysinger remembers performing on a piano in the basement at SMU’s Meadows School of the Arts. Years later, the room where she performed became one of her first offices.

“Coming back here and being hired and working here was just really an amazing full circle for me,” she said. “I never in my wild est dreams would have thought I’d get to teach here.”

Flores Symphony, and in Carnegie Hall as a winner of the American Protégé International Piano and Strings Competition. Hwang also made a recording of William Horne’s Bagatelles for Alto Saxophone and Piano, which was released after a long delay in 2021.

Hwang has focused her energies since graduation on the education of young musicians.

“Once I started studying pedagogy at the University of Michigan, I started to see this

SARAH HODGES

whole new world of teaching, the art of teaching,” she said. “I immediately felt the connection with children. … Ever since then, my heart is always set on working with children.”

At SMU, Hwang works with gifted young teachers pursuing their master’s degrees, graduate and undergraduate students, and grade-schoolers in the piano preparatory program, who she endeavors to teach more than how to become better musicians.

INSPIRED BY

Two remarkable women in Hwang’s life are Joanne Smith, a professor emerita of piano and piano pedagogy from the University of Michigan who died in 2021, and her mother.

“(Smith) demonstrated what a true teacher was like and changed so many people’s lives throughout her life, including mine. I just will never forget her mentorship, leadership and encouragement that led me to where I am now.”

She says of her mother, “She’s just amazingly humble, selfless, loving, and a very thoughtful person.”

“We ask them to demonstrate a sense of time manage skills and discipline, perseverance, and responsibility, which are very important life lessons to learn,” she said. “(Performing publicly) requires a lot of preparation and self-knowledge and mind control.”

Hwang explained that she’s prouder of her students and their achievements than of her own. The list of her students’ accolades includes top prizes at the Carmel Klavier International Competition, Dallas Piano Solo Competition, University of Texas Arlington Fall Piano Contest, Youth Piano Duo Competition, Charleston International Music Competition, Settenote Online Piano International Competition, and American Protégé International Piano and String Competition.

“I miss performing,” Hwang said. “I miss my audience. However, it’s just such a huge joy to work with my students. My long-term goal is to be remembered as a teacher who really cared and helped my students, just like how I remember my own teachers.”

“You can do it all, and your children will be OK.”

Catharine Lysinger SARAH HODGES

Now in her 20th year at SMU, Lysinger is a professor of practice at the Meadows School. Her colleagues at the Texas Music Teachers Association named her pre-collegiate teacher of the year in 2014, and she was nominated for the SMU Provost’s Teaching Recognition Award in both 2013 and 2017 in recognition of her commitment

Lysinger is grateful for the performance opportunities that have come with her position at SMU. Highlights are the Brancaleoni Festival in Italy, where she was on the inaugural faculty and has taught since 2016, as well as masterclasses and a recital at the Tianjin Conservatory and East China Normal University in Shanghai, China.

for her piano performances, including first prizes in the Music Teachers National Association National Young Artist Competition and the Wideman International Piano Competition. She credits those wins largely to instruction she received from her mentor, University of Houston professor Nancy Weems.

INSPIRED BY

Two remarkable women in Lysinger’s life are her mother, Mary Ellen Degnan, and Nancy Weems, a piano professor at the University of Houston.

“My mother … was a real leader in Dallas for a long time,” Lysinger said. “She did a ton of civic work in those years when she was also raising four kids.”

“Nancy was my professor through my master’s and my doctorate, and she’s a huge inspiration to me,” she said of Weems. “Not only is she a beautiful pianist, but just a super effective teacher. She totally changed my life, because she had way more vision for the possibilities of me than I did.”

“(Without her guidance,) I didn’t have the vision to even enter it or prepare for something like that or how to refine that performance,” Lysinger said.

Lysinger reimagined the education of young pianists in the piano preparatory department at SMU when she came to the university in 2004. She “reversed everything,” so students who had moved as a group through material were freed to learn at their own pace.

Many of Lysinger’s graduates have built studios, and some families have stayed in the program for as long as a decade.

But the achievements Lysinger is proudest of are those of her own children, Abby and Zach, both of whom plan to pursue careers in music.

“You can do it all, and your children will be OK,” she said.

Mom Grows Connecting Point of Park Cities To Help Adults Like Her Son

JoAnn Ryan

By Josh Hickman Special Contributor

In 2005, JoAnn Ryan’s youngest son, Ryan Albers, incurred a traumatic brain injury during a ski trip at the age of 17. Students in Texas can attend public school through the age of 21 if they are disabled or have cognitive differences. When Albers aged out of the Highland Park High School transition class, Ryan went looking for a new program for her son — and was surprised to not find anything.

“It’s been pretty incredible how

INSPIRED BY

Ryan notes Janet Salazar as a remarkable woman in her life. Salazar serves on the Connecting Point of Park Cities board, has a child with special needs, and is described as the nonprofit’s “secret weapon.”

“She has such a deep compassion and a deep love of people that you just know it when you meet her,” Ryan said. “I’ve watched her and her husband grow through their son’s challenges, and they just have a way of loving through it all and keep their own positive spirit, which isn’t easy.”

“We’ll probably age along with that and learn how to handle the next stage of life,” Ryan said, noting that her son is now 35 and plans to continue participating.

participating,” Ryan said. “We try to make every day purposeful and meaningful in these lives because it’s a very easily forgotten population. They have a lot to give and a lot for us to learn from.”

Connecting Point of Park Cities is located at University Park United Methodist Church and partners with Hyer Elementary and businesses in Preston Center. Celebrity athletes such as Clayton Kershaw, Roger Staubach, Jason Garrett, and Michael Young have also worked

There are about 50 enrolled in the Monday through Friday program, which takes place from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. The age range is generally 21 to late 40s.

The nonprofit hosts a large fundraiser each April known as Hope Fest. The team partners with the Harwood Group, which has given them a venue for the last four years.

This April will mark their third Hope Fest held at Happiest Hour. Funds raised contribute to operating costs for the nonprofit and its enrollment.

“Our fees are very low, and we wouldn’t make that a barrier,” Ryan said, describing tuition costs. “If you receive funds from the state, as my son does, then we wouldn’t charge in addition to that fee.”

Ryan says she got a late entry to the special needs experience in Highland Park and has learned through her journey.

“It’s been pretty incredible how welcomed Ryan has been in settings that I was very cautious about,” she said. “It’s been a good learning curve for me.”

THE RIGHT SCHOOL CAN MAKE A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE.

COURTESY

PHOTOS

JOYFUL LEARNING CREATES

CONFIDENT

CURIOUS

CAPABLE CHILDREN

Ursuline Academy, Dallas’ Oldest School, Celebrates 150 Years of Sisterhood

By Sarah Hodges sarah.hodges@peoplenewspapers.com

In the winter of 1874, six nuns from Galveston with $146 between them arrived in the frontier town of Dallas to establish a school. Their first building was a frozen, empty cottage, but they managed to open its doors to seven students just five days later.

Today, Ursuline Academy is Dallas’ oldest continuously operating school. The schoolhouse established by the Sisters of the Order of St. Ursula has transformed into a campus that spans almost 28 acres and educates more than 880 young women in grades 9-12.

Ursuline celebrated its 150th birthday on Feb. 2 with party hats, songs, several birthday cakes, games, including family feud between the classes, and a fashion show that showcased the evolution of its uniforms from long, black dresses and bonnets to today’s button-downs, plaid skirts, and Ursuline sweatshirts.

revealed the contents of a time capsule which students placed inside a large, sealed PVC pipe and buried 50 years ago near a small apple tree outside the primary classrooms.

Inside was an elementary school yearbook and handbook, student reports on the Beatles, who had recently broken up, and the energy crisis, and uniform clothing, including a romper that was worn during PE classes and signed by 1974’s seventh graders.

“We’ve never wavered from the ultimate goal, which is the fullest possible development of these young women, development that leads to action, and action especially suffused with the spirit and presence of Jesus Christ.”

Gretchen Kane

The school has experienced revolutionary change, moves and expansions in the past 150 years, including the relocation to its current campus at the corner of Walnut Hill Lane and Inwood Road, which the sisters went into debt to purchase. But students and faculty said that Ursuline’s core values have never shifted from those the nuns brought with them to the frontier.

“We’ve never wavered from the ultimate goal, which is the fullest possible development of these young women, development that leads to action, and action especially suffused with the spirit and presence of Jesus Christ,” Ursuline president Gretchen Kane said. “That’s who we are. That’s who the nuns have always been since they came from Galveston 150 years ago.”

“The outfits might change, but in the end our legacy is still the same,” sophomore Tula Charalambopoulos said. “We still want to serve. We still want to just be there for all of our sisters. It’s just lovely.”

Ursuline’s sesquicentennial festivities began during a Founders Day broadcast when school head librarian and archivist Renee Chevallier

“There are some items that do need a little more explanation,” Chevallier told students, holding up a Greater Dallas telephone directory and disposable camera flash cube. She also showed students audio cassettes provided by first and fifth graders, remarking “we’ll need a cassette player to play those.”  She unsealed a letter written to today’s students by 1974 elementary school principal Betty Bourgeois, who was present at the broadcast.

“We are glad your life is given you and are honored that you are spending some of that life at Ursuline. It is a place we know and love, a place where the Lord lives among us,” the letter read.

Ursuline students placed their own items into a time capsule to be unsealed in another 50 years. The students chose to add a Stanley water bottle, worn saddle shoes, a uniform, schedules, a copy of The Dallas Morning News, lanyards, an edition of Ursuline’s school newspaper The Bear Facts, blazer pins, and Taylor Swift posters and bracelets.

In addition to the Feb. 2 festivities, Ursuline invited the community to join in its celebration during a sesquicentennial Mass on Jan. 27. The Dallas skyline was lit red and blue that evening to kick off the school’s Founders Week.

Student body president Victoria Arce, a senior, said she plans to return to Ursuline in another 50 years, when it will celebrate its bicentennial.

“It’s been really impactful to go to a school that has such a rich history,” she said. “It’s been such a beautiful experience to get to be a part of this.”

Students and faculty wrote UA150 on Ursuline’s soccer field. Students celebrate 150 years of Ursuline Academy. BRANDON WADE AND STRONG A/V PRODUCTIONS

Highland Park Students on a Mission To Provide Books for Africa

ENTEBBE, Uganda – I took a deep breath as the car approached the home. This would be the first time I stood face-to-face with a project meant to change 33 kids’ lives forever.

It had been weeks since my Highland Park High School club, Books For Africa (BFA), sent more than 1,000 books to the community library I now stood in front of, and just a few steps ahead stood the school principal.

Esther, the headmaster, guided me into a sitting room, and as we settled in, I began explaining my passion project.

BFA is committed to strengthening education throughout Africa by donating children’s books across the continent and working to empower young minds and improve educational opportunities.

I shared with Esther the commitment of more than 130 student BFA members, who are dedicated to collecting as many books as possible for underfunded communities across the continent.

Following our initial donation of 1,000 books, we partnered with Half Price Books to acquire more.

After I finished my story, I asked Esther for hers, to which she laughed, smiled a little wider, and began.

Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, her parents were building a home in Entebbe. During their visits, Esther and her sister encountered local children, eventually estab-

lishing a bond by offering them candy each time they visited.

After discovering that many of these children lacked access to education due to financial constraints, Esther and her sister took it upon themselves to read to them each time they’d stop by.

The makeshift garage library they created evolved into the Whispers of Love Community Library, eventually transforming into a school for 33 students aged 3 to 13.

After hearing her inspiring story, I followed Esther to meet the children, who paid close attention as she explained BFA’s contribution to their library.

They enjoyed showcasing all they had learned by counting to 10 for me, singing, and, in the end, embracing me tightly as I prepared to leave.

As we drove away, I saw in the rearview mirror not just the fleeting library but the realization that within that library, hundreds

“I shared with Esther the commitment of over 130 student BFA members, who are dedicated to collecting as many books as possible for underfunded communities across the continent.”

WANT TO HELP?

BFA next plans to send 3,000 books to three other schools across Africa but needs roughly $2,000 for shipping. Visit booksforafrica.co to learn more.

of children after those 33 would be given new opportunities to achieve their dreams.

Isabel Toole, a sophomore at Highland Park High School, founded Books For Africa (BFA), a club focused on the educational gap across Africa and donating books in countries across the continent.

JOIN US FOR THE INAUGURAL

WOUNDED WARRIOR

SAL GONZALEZ

ISABEL TOOLE

Book donations secured by Highland Park High School students went to the Whispers of Love Community Library, which evolved to provide schooling for 33 students ages 3 to 13 in Entebbe, Uganda. COURTESY ISABEL TOOLE

MOVIEMAKER BECOMES CAMP OPERATOR

Keith Randal Duncan aims to teach children life skills with film

By William Taylor william.taylor@peoplenewspapers.com

Camp operator Keith Randal Duncan recalls his father pausing him one Saturday as the then teen was leaving in a Star Wars uniform with blasters.

“He was like, ‘I can’t get you up for school at 7 a.m. during the week. What are you up to at 7 a.m. today?’”

“I’m making a movie,” answered the self-described weirdo, geek, nerd, who would go on to spend four-plus decades in the film and video industry.

“We started this thing out looking for those weirdos like us who had normal parents but wanted one week with not normal people.”

Keith Randal Duncan

“I love you, Keith, but I don’t understand you,” his father added, earning a “Ditto, Dad.”

Today, Duncan leads The Movie Institute, a North Texas nonprofit he founded with his wife, Martha, in 2000 to provide area youngsters opportunities in filmmaking.

“We started this thing out looking for those weirdos like us, who had normal parents but wanted one week with not normal people,” he told members of the Rotary Club of Park Cities during a meeting in the second half of 2023. “I thought, ‘What did I not have when I was a crazy movie kid in the ’70s with my Super Eight camera?’”

However, they quickly realized the institute’s work extended well beyond fun moviemaking activities.

“We actually are a youth development nonprofit,” Duncan explained, comparing youth filmmaking activities to dance.

“Dance kids usually don’t stay in dance,” he said. “They do dance up to, you know, when they get to a certain point, and they decide they want to be veterinarians or something, right?

But the dance school gave them a lot of poise and self-confidence and taught them a lot of things that they use in their everyday life.”

The institute, which is building a new 6,500-square-foot movie studio at The Shops at Willow Bend in Plano, works with schools in Dallas and Collin counties, offers workshops in various aspects of filmmaking, and runs its annual Kamp Hollywood in the summer.

Duncan estimated the nonprofit has worked with 2,000 youths in the past 23 years.

For Kamp Hollywood, youths spend a week making short films using professional equipment.

“They learn how to do it. We put them through all the paces. They write their own

Here’s Where it Gets GOOD!

Since 1959, from their first day of prekindergarten through eighth grade graduation, Good Shepherd Episcopal School has provided an environment where children realize the best versions of themselves. Our students develop independence through structured intellectual exploration, practice empathy and grow spiritually by serving others, and leave Good Shepherd equipped and emboldened to make a meaningful impact on the world around them!

script. They choose their own director, and they make the movie,” Duncan said.

A professional editor completes the final cuts, and the films get shown in a red-carpet evening event at Studio Movie Grill. Outside professionals do the judging.

The staff prioritizes mentorship, making it the responsibility of every production tech, administrator, and office person to ensure every camper gets plugged into a team and finds a place in the moviemaking process.

“They learn team building. They learn how not to be so within themselves, how to work with other people, critical thinking skills,” Duncan said. “They learn those are skills that we all want them to have when they come to work for us.”

CAMP CHAMPIONS

KAMP HOLLYWOOD

What: Children ages 8-17 spend a week learning about moviemaking and collaborating on short films.

When: July 29-Aug. 2

Where: Frisco School of Music & Performing Arts, 9255 Preston Road, Frisco.

Tuition: $799 ($100 discount if registered by Feb. 29)

Information/registration: movieinstitute.org

Camp Champions has created a tradition of excellence since 1967. This beautiful camp on Lake LBJ offers the fantastic activities and best-trained counselors that you expect from a top overnight summer camp. However, it is our developmental focus on building strong kids that most differentiates Camp Champions from other top camps in Texas. Camp Champions specializes in two and three-week sessions where we create a loving community and encourage every camper to discover the best versions of themselves. Camp Champions also operates tech-free, which creates an important break from phones and screens. Learn more at www.campchampions.com.

Campers learn team building and critical thinking while spending a week making a movie. COURTESY THE MOVIE INSTITUTE

GOOD SHEPHERD EPISCOPAL

Through the Eyes of a Camp Counselor: Summer at Glen Lake Camp

It’s a strange full-circle moment when you become a camp counselor after spending years as a camper.

Though Glen Lake wasn’t the camp I grew up in, I knew the excitement and nerves that filled the girls on the first day.

Having 13 girls in a tight space for the next five nights was going to be fun – and maybe a bit stressful.

Daily reminders included:

“Don’t forget your water bottle!”

“Did you put on sunscreen?”

Mealtimes involved a battle over whether my elementary school girls were going to eat the home cooked meal served or get a plate of croutons and cheese.

The hike up the mountain was always something to look forward to, but without fail, there was a camper who didn’t have a water bottle, even though they brought one at the beginning of the week.

Despite these frustrations, I loved getting to know the new set of girls I had in my cabin each week.

I enjoyed seeing how they laughed and made new friends and experiencing their energy whenever they got to explore the camp, swim, or craft lanyards and friendship bracelets.

One girl surprised me with a beaded duck she made, which I attached to my backpack.

My favorite part of Glen Lake was evening worship, where we would sing songs and I would urge my campers to dance and have fun.

It astonished me when, by the end of the week, the girls weren’t nervous to dance, even leaving the pews to dance in the walkway or join

me and the other camp counselors at the front of the chapel.

The summer’s theme was “names of God,” and each day included a Bible story that revealed a new name of God. The mornings were led by camp staff, featuring musical talents from counselors and a small sermon to talk about the scriptures of the day.

The night before it was time for

campers to go home, I sat around a picnic table with my middle school girls as they shared emotions about camp and what was happening in their personal lives back home.

It warmed my heart to see how much love and kindness these girls gave to one another after a week of knowing each other.

When it was time to go to our next event, we couldn’t leave

AT A GLANCE

What: Glen Lake Camp, affiliated with the United Methodist Church, provides a fun environment dedicated to creating disciples of Christ for the transformation of the world.

Where: 1102 NE Barnard St., Glen Rose, Texas 76043

Amenities: a lake for swimming, a pool with a lazy river, a rock wall, a zipline, and a chapel used for morning and evening worship.

Other activities: hiking, archery, gaga ball, basketball, teambuilding games, and volleyball.

Online: glenlake.org

that moment, creating a circle for a group hug while some girls sobbed and conveyed their love for one another.

Though the week was hot, and the sun was brutal, the campers enjoyed activities like archery, gaga ball, hiking, ziplining, and swimming.

More importantly though, they understood the importance of community and made memories that would help them through the outside world, and hopefully bring them back to camp next summer.

Heather Aldridge, a senior majoring in journalism at the University of North Texas, worked at Glen Lake Camp during the summer of 2022 and interned with People Newspapers in the fall of 2023.

HEATHER ALDRIDGE

Glen Lake Camp counselors lead their charges through such traditional summer activities as fishing, hiking, and swimming. The faithbased camp also includes evening worship. COURTESY GLEN LAKE CAMP AND HEATHER ALDRIDGE

ROYAL LANE BAPTIST CHURCH’S FIRST FEMALE REVEREND

Victoria Robb Powers

By Daniel Lalley Special Contributor

The Rev. Victoria Robb Powers, senior pastor at Royal Lane Baptist Church, says God put the right people in her path to pioneer a position and inspire the women around her.

The church’s first female senior pastor, Powers grew up in Southern Baptist churches. She was raised in Lubbock and is the daughter of a Mexican immigrant. While she often admired those at the head of the church, she didn’t see herself advancing past a supporting role.

“I often tell people, ‘You can’t be what you can’t see.’”

Victoria Robb Powers

“Southern Baptist is a very particular type of Baptist, which leans much more

evangelical and conservative,” Powers said. “I had a wonderful upbringing in the church and am so thankful for how formative growing up in that environment was for me but didn’t know where my role was.”

Powers attended Baylor University to pursue vocational ministry. Her perspective on what she could achieve changed during her undergraduate years.

“In one of my classes, I was introduced to a young female Hispanic senior pastor from a Baptist church in North Carolina,” Powers

said. “At the time, I didn’t know that women could be pastors in my tradition. I didn’t know women could be pastors in any tradition. I was really sort of disoriented by that.”

That encounter was enough to pique Powers’ curiosity. Immediately after, she learned of another female senior pastor at Calvary Baptist Church in Waco and went to see her preach.

From there, she felt her own calling open before her.

“I often tell people, ‘You can’t be what you can’t see,’” Powers said.

INSPIRED BY

As far as her own remarkable woman role model, Powers credits her mother.

“My mom moved to this country as an immigrant,” Powers said. “She’s so strong and perseverant, but also modeled for me how faith can help us make our way through the world. That’s something that has truly motivated and inspired me in my own path.”

To further pursue her path, Powers attended Brite Divinity School at TCU and became ordained at Wilshire Baptist Church. She worked as chaplain for Baylor Scott & White, an associate minister at Highland Park Methodist Church, and an executive pastor at University Park United Methodist Church.

She says that while her career excelled in many aspects, God’s plan for her hadn’t yet fully played out.

“In the fall of 2022, I got a call from Royal Lane Baptist Church asking if I was interested in applying for the senior pastor role,” Powers said.

The congregation, which describes itself as a progressive and autonomous Baptist church, is not affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention.

“Long story short, I did and got the role in January of last year,” Powers said. “It’s been a real gift to be here because I waited so long to serve in my own tradition.”

SMU Perkins’ Grad Adam Hamilton Tackles Doubt, Faith, Hope

By William Taylor william.taylor@peoplenewspapers.com

When Paul Rasmussen began pursuing his Master of Divinity in 2000, a pastor who graduated a dozen years earlier already had legendary status at SMU’s Perkins School of Theology.

“There was always this guy out in front of us named Adam Hamilton who we looked to for everything I did at that time,” the now Rev. Rasmussen recalled recently.

“Every time I was in his company, I learned, and I learned a whole lot,” Rasmussen said. “He was what we aspired to be back in the day in seminary.”

After graduating from Perkins, Hamilton returned to the Kansas City area to start a church for the non-religious or nominally religious.

Founded in 1990, the Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas, now has five locations and is the largest United Methodist church in the United States.

Rasmussen also leads one of the denomination’s most prominent congregations, the historic Highland Park United Church.

But differences between the two pastors go beyond age and geography, a fact mentioned when Hamilton visited the Park Cities in late January to speak and sign copies of his latest book, Wrestling with

Doubt, Finding Faith

“This is the 37th book that he has written, which means he has written 37 more than I have,” Rasmussen said, introducing Hamilton to the several hundred members and guests who turned out on a Tuesday night at HPUMC.

“I want to begin by recognizing that doubt is not the enemy of faith – that the doubt is normal,” Hamilton said. “In fact, I wish some Christians would doubt a little bit more.”

He said some Christians seem too gullible, too ready to believe unhealthy versions of the faith.

“Whatever their preacher said, they believe it without asking questions,” Hamilton said. “You’re not

doubting comes when people walk away from faith without searching for answers to their questions, answers that could prove helpful.

He noted that when Church of the Resurrection started, about 50% of Americans didn’t go to church. It’s 62% now, with many of those identifying as spiritual but unsure what to think about God, he added.

meant to check your brain at the door of the church. God gave you that as a gift.”

The pastor said the trouble with

“A lot of folks’ doubts come from the fact that they’ve known Christians and churches that didn’t reflect the love of Christ very well,” Hamilton said. “I want to invite us to be the kinds of churches where the outcasts feel like they’re welcomed and loved. And when we do that, I think we have a future with hope.”

The Rev. Adam Hamilton uses a colandar to illustrate how Jesus can help Christians sort through difficult Scriptures, filtering such passages with the truth of Christ’s love.

WILLIAM TAYLOR

High Tail it to Denver for a Rocky Mountain High

transportation hub updated in Western opulence with restaurants, retail, and bars nearby.

“I can see why John changed Deutschendorf to Denver. Besides the obvious, it’s a great town to be associated with and well worth a visit.”

EAT

Still, Hotel Clio and Halcyon, both in Cherry Creek, are gorgeous, full-service hotels in a walkable district filled with retail and restaurants.

VENTURE

You can do Denver without renting a car, but there are fabulous places to visit within an hour’s drive. Boulder is a college town with a granola-chic vibe. Pearl Street Mall is a four-block stretch of downtown with unique retail, outfitters aplenty, and a cool vintage vinyl store called Paradise Found, whose owner is a delightful Neil Diamond savant. Restaurants in Boulder are creative and elevated, with SALT and Oak two standout restaurants. I ate one of the best meals of my life last year at Frasca Food & Wine, which has since earned a Michelin Star.

KERSTEN RETTIG

“Rocky Mountain High” means different things to different people.

Henry John Deutschendorf Jr. aka John Denver, penned the song after an inspiring camping trip in Colorado.

Colorado has long been considered Texans’ playground, the mountain part anyway. In the past few years, Denver has become the darling of Gen Z’s live-where-they-

want, work-from-home movement, and after a recent long weekend there, I can see why.

Denver is an easy flight from Dallas Love or DFW, making a long weekend exploring the city a breeze, but there’s so much to do in the area you might want a few more days.

DO

The Denver Art Museum is a striking architectural complex that’s an attraction on its own. The Hamilton Building, covered in 9,000 titanium panels, is an engineering marvel engaging at every angle,

with serious and whimsical sculptures around it. The collections vary from Western art to textiles, plus a revolving lineup of exhibitions.

If you’re into a different kind of art, you can join a two-hour walking tour of Denver’s murals and graffiti, which ends up at the Denver Central Market, a lively food hall.

Even if you’re not outdoorsy, consider visiting REI’s Denver flagship store in a majestically transformed historic 1901 Denver Tramway Power Company Building alongside rapids where you can watch kayakers navigate the water.

Union Station is a functioning

Do you struggle with sleep?

Denver’s impressive food scene includes three Michelin-starred restaurants and award-winning casual joints. One of the most influential people in American fine dining today is Bobby Stuckey, whose Tavernetta and Sunday Vinyl flank Union Station are must-go restaurants. Tocabe: An American Indian Eatery is great for a quick lunch and an introduction to Native American food, which is still a rarity on menus. The Cherry Cricket offers a sunny patio and an unforgettable green chile relleno burger.

STAY

Denver’s hotel accommodations lack an ultra-luxury brand.

Southwest of Denver lies Golden, a historic gold rush town, where you can tour Coor’s Brewery and Stranahan’s Distillery or take in a concert at Red Rocks.

Denver’s great. I can see why John changed Deutschendorf to Denver. Besides the obvious, it’s a great town to be associated with and well worth a visit.

Kersten Rettig, a freelance writer with leadership experience in the food and travel industries, lives in the Park Cities, where she is known as “the restaurant sherpa” for her recommendations. Follow her on Instagram @KerstenEats.

Find beauty inside and out at the Denver Art Museum. JAMES FLORIO

Dish Up a Bowl of Louisiana Gumbo – Talk About Good!

When I think of Louisiana, I think of New Orleans, Mardi Gras, trees draped in sphagnum moss, beignets coated in powdered sugar, and gumbo. In 2004, Louisiana declared gumbo the official state dish.

CHRISTY ROST

So, is gumbo Creole or Cajun?

The answer is – both. The Creole version generally features shellfish and okra with tomatoes, while the Cajun version is typically made with chicken and andouille sausage and no tomatoes. This spicy dish is thought to have originated in Louisiana in the early 18th century and is named after the West African word for okra, but the heart of every gumbo is its roux – a blend of butter or oil and flour. It’s used as both a thickener and for flavor, which is enhanced the longer it cooks. When gently whisked over low heat until its color resembles melted milk chocolate or even mahogany, the earthy, toasty flavor it imparts to gumbo makes this dish so delectable.

Celery, green bell peppers, and

plays a role in gumbo’s flavor and texture. Because achieving its characteristic depth of flavor takes time, my Louisiana chicken and andouille gumbo recipe includes make-ahead elements such as chicken broth.

A blend of onion and garlic powders, cayenne pepper, black pepper, and paprika, plus several dashes of Tabasco, ensures plenty of spicy flavors. Celery, bell peppers, onion, and sliced okra cradle the spicy andouille sausage and shredded chicken.

CHRISTY ROST

LOUISIANA CHICKEN AND ANDOUILLE GUMBO

Initial ingredients:

2 skinless, bone-in chicken thighs

1 skinless chicken breast

8 cups water

1 bay leaf

½ large onion, peeled and halved

1 stalk celery with leaves

1 carrot, peeled, trimmed, and cut in half crosswise

Directions: Place ingredients in a large stockpot, cover, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, skimming foam from the top of the liquid. Reduce heat to low, simmer 30 minutes, remove chicken, and reserve broth.  Shred chicken into bite-size pieces and discard bones. Strain broth and set it aside, discarding cooked vegetables.

rice, this gumbo makes you sit up and take notice. As my college roommate liked to say, “Talk About Good!”

Christy Rost is a cookbook author, host of Celebrating Home cooking videos, and longtime Park Cities and Preston Hollow resident. Her ‘At Home with Christy Rost’ cooking series for Eat This TV Network airs on AmazonFire, AppleTV+, Roku, Samsung TV, and YouTube. Please visit christyrost.com for details and recipes.

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

½ teaspoon paprika

12 ounces andouille sausage, sliced and sauteed

12-ounce package frozen okra, thawed

Directions: In a small bowl, stir together salt, onion powder, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, black pepper, and paprika, and set aside. In a medium skillet, whisk 1 cup oil and flour until smooth. Cook over mediumlow heat, whisking constantly, until the roux turns the color of milk chocolate, about 20 to 25 minutes. Take care the roux doesn’t burn.

Gumbo ingredients:

1 cup canola oil, for roux

1 cup flour

2 tablespoons canola oil, for sauteing

2 large stalks celery, rinsed and sliced

2 large green bell peppers, rinsed, seeded, and coarsely chopped

1 cup sweet onion, peeled and coarsely chopped

2 teaspoons coarse kosher or sea salt

2 teaspoons onion powder

Preheat a Dutch oven over medium heat, add 2 tablespoons oil, celery, peppers, and onion. Saute 5 minutes until they begin to soften. Stir in chicken. Sprinkle seasoning mix over the vegetables and chicken, toss well, and cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Stir in 6 cups chicken broth and the roux. Raise heat to medium-high and cook, uncovered, 15 to 20 minutes.

Stir in sausage and okra and several drops of Tabasco, if desired. Cover and simmer 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the gumbo thickens. If it’s too thick, add reserved broth a little at a time. Serve in large bowls over cooked rice.

Yield: 6 to 8 servings

Young Pros Play Table Games, Dance at CASAblanca

More than 400 packed The Hall on Drag on Feb. 2 for Dallas CASA Young Profes sionals’ annual casino party, CASAblanca.

The sold-out, red-carpet event featured live music from the Special Edition Band, dancing, a silent auction, and casino games such as blackjack, craps, and roulette. The young professionals’ most requested song of the evening: “Man I Feel Like a Woman” by Shania Twain.

The evening was co-chaired by Brooke Donelson, Hannah Harpole, and Amanda Rodriguez.

Guests received realistic-appearing play $100 bills to buy into casino games and could win prizes. A silent auction included such items as a year of Whataburger, Aero flight tickets to Cabo or Aspen, and other experiences.

Each guest got to take a Whataburger honey butter chicken biscuit for a late-night snack on their way out.

— Compiled by Maria Lawson

Bryan’s House Power of You Awards Luncheon Raises $320,000

Celebrity Chef Kent Rathbun welcomed more than 75 patrons to his home to celebrate the success of last fall’s Bryan’s House Power of You 2023 Awards Luncheon.

The October event raised $320,000, luncheon chairs Regina Bruce and Dr. Carla Russo announced Dec. 11 during the Patron Party and Check Presentation.

Linda White, Bryan’s House director of finance, confirmed that those net proceeds are by far the most monies ever raised from a single fundraising event in the nonprofit’s 35-year history.

Dr. Keith Mankin, board chair, presented the Employee of the Year Award to Marilyn Quinones, in celebration of her 19 years of service and introduced the new Bryan’s House CEO Jennifer Searles.

Bryan’s House provides children with special needs and their families with case management, educational, therapeutic, and medically supported care.

— Compiled by staff

Save the Dates

February

24 through April 8 - Dallas Blooms, Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden, dallasarboretum.org.

March

2 - Compass School of Texas Rock the Runway, JSX Hangar, compassschooltx.org.

4 - Council for Life Men’s Breakfast, Dallas Country Club, councilforlife.org.

22 - Community Partners of Dallas 18th Annual Chick Lit Luncheon, Hilton Anatole, cpdtx.org.

22 - Mavs Ball, Omni Dallas Hotel, mavs.com/mavsball.

April

5 - Junior League of Dallas Milestones Luncheon, Omni Dal las Hotel, jldallas.org.

13 - Art Ball Gala, Dallas Museum of Art, dma.org.

13 - SPCA of Texas Strut Your Mutt, Fair Park, spca.org.

18 - Mad Hatter’s Luncheon, Rosine Hall at the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden, wcdabg.org.

18 - VolunteerNow Hearts of Texas Luncheon, Arts District Mansion, volnow.org.

19 - Dallas CASA Cherish the Children Luncheon, Omni Dallas Hotel, dallascasa.org.

19 - Grant Halliburton Foundation Beacon of Hope Luncheon, Omni Dallas Hotel, granthalliburton.org.

20 - Dallas Symphony Orchestra Young Professionals Experience, Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center, dallassymphony.org.

23 – Dallas Service Forum Annual Luncheon and Silent Auction, Northwood Club, dallasserviceforum.org.

25 - People Newspapers 20

Under 40 Event, Communities Foundation of Texas, peoplenewspapers.com.

27 - House of DIFFA, Sheraton Dallas Hotel, diffadallas.org.

30 - Texas Women’s Foundation Leadership Forum and Awards Celebration, Omni Dallas Hotel, txwf.org.

— Compiled by Maria Lawson

JIM COWEN/GRAPEVINE PHOTOGRAPHY AND RAY CARLIN

Brooke Donelson, Hannah Harpole, and Amanda Rodriguez

Dr. Ronald Stukalin, Ryan Johnson, and Bess Detar

Anya and Pierce Schnetzka

Kathleen M. LaValle and Retta A. Miller

Jack and Amy Zeringue

DANNY CAMPBELL

Kelly and Geoff Schorr

Jeanne Lewis

Ron McCallum and Elizabeth Smith

Jennifer Searles and Stefanie Held

Stephen Hoyl, Dr. Carla Russo, Kent Rathbun, and Regina Bruce

Robin Roberts

Ryan Bingham

Three HP Women Chair Mahjong for a Mission Annual fundraiser celebrates fourth year for Dallas Children’s Advocacy Center

By Maria Lawson maria.lawson@peoplenewspapers.com

Dallas Children’s Advocacy Center’s latest fundraising event isn’t your typical society function — they’ve traded gala dresses and a seated dinner for “Galentine’s” attire and mahjong boards.

The fourth-annual Mahjong for a Mission, which took place Feb. 10, was chaired by three Highland Park residents: Jane Wallingford and the mother-daughter duo Linda Gardner and Laura McCallan.

“I think people are looking forward to it every year, and I think as it gets bigger, it’ll just make a bigger and bigger impact.”

Laura McCallan

“Mahjong for a Mission is unique in the mahjong world in that it’s really more about the cause

and the beneficiary than … to be the winner of the tournament,” Wallingford said.

The event brings avid mahjong players who may not be familiar with the advocacy center’s work.

“That’s how I learned about it, was going to the first mahjong with a friend four years ago,” Gardner said.

The Dallas Children’s Advocacy Center works in Dallas County to improve the lives of abused children and their non-offending family members and provide national

leadership on child abuse issues.

“It’s something that is important in everybody’s life to support these children who don’t necessarily have a voice for themselves or the ability to defend themselves or to get help for themselves,” McCallan said. “Having young children myself and imagining what some of these children have gone through, you have no choice but to step in and help out and do what you can to support them.”

McCallan describes combining the recently trending mahjong with

fundraising for the advocacy center as a “no-brainer.”

“Obviously, it’s wonderful to have something like DCAC here to support these kids and really help them heal and help them have a better life,” she said. “I think anything we can do to support them is worthwhile, and without the support, they wouldn’t be able to do as much as they do.”

The event brought a sold-out crowd of 130 to participate in gameplay, prizes, raffles, food and

ABOUT DCAC

The Dallas Children’s Advocacy Center reads every report of child abuse made in Dallas County, about 31,000 each year, and works with law enforcement, CPS, and other partner agencies to coordinate investigation, prosecution, and healing services. For more information, visit dcac.org.

drinks, and socializing.

“It’s raised more money every year, which is wonderful,” McCallan said. “I think people are looking forward to it every year, and I think as it gets bigger, it’ll just make a bigger and bigger impact.”

Mahjong for a Mission started as a summer event at the Monarch downtown four years ago. Since then, it’s moved to around Valentine’s Day and is held at the Dallas Children’s Advocacy Center.

Each of the three chairs got involved to help break the cycle for the children in need.

“DCAC as an organization, I really respect,” Wallingford said. “I trust the leadership and the board and the staff, and I believe that when people donate their resources and time to DCAC, it’s used in a meaningful way, whether it’s time or money.”

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Linda Gardner, Laura McCallan, and Jane Wallingford. MARIA LAWSON

Trending on TikTok – #SMURush

By Sarah Hodges sarah.hodges@peoplenewspapers.com

Her top with the oversized pink bows in the back is from Nana Jacqueline, her jeans are Hauser, her hot pink heels are EGO, her dangling silver earrings are from Dillard’s, and the video featuring her Outfit of the Day has been viewed on TikTok more than 5 million times.

Videos documenting the SMU sorority rush experience were trending on TikTok in January. Most #SMURush videos feature students’

Outfit of the Day (OOTD). However, there are also choreographed dance videos and at least one video, with 8.8 million views, that tearfully documents sorority rejection.

Then, there are videos made about the students’ videos.

telling a story in a nuanced way, where you have all of these little pieces of puzzle that tell a larger story.”

Sorority rush videos first made a splash in 2021 at the University of Alabama. Hit #BamaRush videos sparked a TikTok trend, especially at southern schools with an active Greek life. Viewers unfamiliar with rush may not comprehend “the cost and the investment in the process,” Boffone explained. “People are tuned in, they want to watch, because it sort of gives transparency to a thing that a lot of people often feel is not transparent.”

Some use shopping websites to price the OOTDs, which — if you believe TikTok content creators — can cost in excess of $25,000. And there are yet more videos explaining sorority rush or criticizing the rush system itself.

So why did clips about the sorority rush experiences of SMU undergrads get more views than the Emmys? (To be fair, the Emmys did have a record-low year.)

“At the end of the day, TikTok is a storytelling platform,” explained Trevor Boffone, author of Renegades: Digital Dance Cultures from Dubsmash to TikTok and editor of TikTok Cultures in the United States. “It’s

SMU sorority recruitment this year took place from Jan. 9 to 14. It began with two days of open houses, followed by Philanthropy Day, Sisterhood Day, Preference Day, and Bid Day, according to the school’s 20232024 Panhellenic Recruitment Guidebook.

About 41% of

SMU undergrads are members of one of the school’s Greek organizations. In May 2023, new member fees at the seven sororities ranged from $2,525 to $3,878, according to the Guidebook.

SMU undergrads are aware of the interest in sorority rush, Boffone explained, and understand how to make their TikTok content a hit.

“Going viral gets you followers, and with followers comes opportunity,” he said. “The opportunity might not exist right now for these young women, but when they graduate college, and they have these platforms, it opens them up to a whole new world of possibility.”

Have a story idea? Share it with us.

UNSPLASH.COM

La Fiesta Season Kicks Off With Introduction of 2024 Duchesses, Escorts

La Fiesta de las Seis Banderas, now in its 39th year of service and support of vari ous Dallas and Park Cities beneficiaries, has gifted more than $10.8 million since 1986.

The nonprofit distributed money to 17 beneficiaries in 2023 and introduced the 2024 duchesses and escorts during the an nual Announcement Party on Dec. 19, 2023, at the Dallas Country Club.

Tootsie’s hosted the annual “Duch ess Dip” event earlier in the day. The girls, clad in their respective college T-shirts, learned “the dip” and practiced their pre sentation bow for their mothers.

The duchesses and escorts will be formally presented in June at the La Fiesta de las Seis Banderas Presentation Gala. Kay Herring and Courtney Wiles are this year’s La Fi esta chairs, and Carrie Cothrum and Renne Lokey are the social chairs.

– Compiled by staff

11/03/1948-12/12/2023

Clayton Lynn Sawyers, age 75, of Kemp, Texas, passed away on December 12, 2023, after a yearlong battle with bile duct cancer.

Clayton was born on November 3, 1948, to Ralph and Daisy Sawyers in Dallas, Texas. After graduating from Thomas Jefferson High School in 1967, he went to college at Tyler Junior College.

Clayton went on to work at the Texas Body Shop in Oak Cliff with

his father. Clayton later owned Texas Body Shop and had the privilege of working on many cars for friends and clients.

In 1967, Clayton met Martha Womack at Tyler Junior College. Clayton and Martha went on to have 4 daughters, Jacque Sawyers, Emilie Sawyers, Aimee Rado, and Elizabeth Sawyers. Clayton lived in the Park Cities for 35 years before moving to Cedar Creek Country Club.

In 2023, Clayton retired and spent most of his time being Santa Claus to hundreds, if not more, of children and adults. Clayton was a professional Santa Claus for over 20 years and played Santa for friends and family for 48 years.

Clayton was predeceased by his father, Ralph Sawyers, and his mother, Daisy Sawyers. He is survived by his spouse Martha Sawyers, his children, Jacque Sawyers, Emilie Sawyers, Aimee and Kiel Rado, Elizabeth Sawyers, his sister Denise Bunch, and nephews James Bunch and Sean Bunch.

Let your loved one’s memory live on.

JAMES FRENCH

Lanier Monk and Elaina Peterie

Riley Laine Peterie, Rachel Hanna, Greer Dunston, and Anderson Dugas

Bob Lilly Jr. and Ken Monk

Laurie, Katherine, and Justin Shults

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Choose the Leader When Listing Your Home

Allie Beth Allman & Associates sells more luxury homes than any other competitor, according to MLS.

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Prospective Homebuyers Head to Preston Hollow

Allie Beth Allman & Associates offers luxury in Preston Hollow, from new builds to estates.

For 2024, the experts at Allie Beth Allman & Associates are predicting it will be another strong year for home sales

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Carolyn Rosson Named RISMedia Real Estate Newsmaker

Carolyn Rosson, President & CEO of the Ebby Halliday Companies, has been selected as a RISMedia 2024 Real Estate Newsmaker—a dynamic group of key influencers making

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Your Park Cities Home is Calling…

Allie Beth Allman & Associates announces several significant new listings in the Park Cities.

In 2023, average sales price grew steadily in Highland

2300

in Dallas, for decades.

The Allie Beth Allman & Associates team of entrepreneurs has the market knowledge to adapt their marketing and sales strategy for each home based on the neighborhood, street and block.

And, while most homes are sold to local neighbors, the brokerage boasts the strongest global partners through its partnership with the invitation-only Leading Real Estate Companies of the World.

Local knowledge combined with global connections equals the best in service for Allie Beth Allman & Associates clients.

That’s why these homeowners chose to list with the leaders.

Pristine at 6541 Stichter Ave., the 5,472-square-foot home is dressed in stone and welcomes you with grand warmth, including a fountain in the manicured front yard.

Add in the five-bedroom abode’s media room and it undoubtedly feels like a Preston Hollow paradise.

An eye-catching Highland Park property has forever-home potential. It’s all about the details at this transitional stunner.

When touring 4572 Arcady Ave., be sure to take in the beautiful woodwork, fashionable light fixtures, and careful marble selections.

in Preston Hollow.

Looking at the previous year, 542 homes sold in this prestigious neighborhood, for a total sales volume of $675,872,224, according to the Multiple Listing Service. That number does not include private sales.

Here are five exceptional homes available in Preston Hollow.

On more than an acre in sought-after Mayflower Estates, a mid-century modern home at 5207 Kelsey Road features a floor plan with split bedrooms. The exterior has lovely fountains and gas lighting.

At 6414 Waggoner Drive, well-designed landscaping ensures privacy. A pool with a cooling waterfall is the centerpiece of the yard. Entertain guests on the large patio, which has both a fireplace and a grill.

The French-style estate at 5100 Brookview Drive features a private guest cabana, pool and pickleball court. The downstairs primary suite includes a sitting room and gym.

The custom-built, five-bedroom home at 4407 Gloster Road in Old Preston Hollow is looking for only its second owner in its 30-year history. Take a swim in the remodeled pool and spa, or relax with friends and family around a gaspowered fire pit.

headlines as a result of their newsworthy contributions to the real estate industry, and their efforts to positively affect the consumers and communities they serve.

RISMedia’s 2024 Real Estate Newsmakers were nominated by RISMedia readers and editors and are showcased in the following categories: Influencers, Trailblazers, Futurists, Achievers, Crusaders, Inspirations, Luminaries and Trendsetters. Rosson was honored in the Luminaries category.

“While this award may have my name on it, it’s each of our more than 2,000 agents and employees who really deserve this honor,” says Rosson. “They go above and beyond each and every day to serve our valued clients with the utmost professionalism. am so honored and humbled to be part of our amazing team at the Ebby Halliday Companies.”

Adds Rosson, “Relationships are the foundation of our success, and together, we work tirelessly to serve our clients with unwavering integrity and a commitment to excellence. In this journey, it’s the people and the genuine connections we create that truly make my role as President and CEO profoundly rewarding.”

Visit ebby.com.

Park, from $3,304,341 in 2022 to $3,764,955. The same goes for University Park, where average sales price jumped from $2,000,353 to $2,439,688.

If a new home in the Park Cities is on your to-do list, these are available from Allie Beth Allman & Associates.

In Volk Estates, 4021 Glenwick Lane offers luxury and comfort. Perfect for living and entertaining, this family friendly residence has been meticulously updated. A screened porch next to the kitchen overlooks the pool.

In the good old days, mansions often featured a designated card room with a bar for playing games with friends and family. The French-inspired masterpiece at 4408 Arcady Ave. in Highland Park still does.

If you’re looking for privacy, tour the seven-bedroom mansion at 3500 Dartmouth Ave., where a tall hedge and stately stone fence line the 99-foot frontage. This almost 9,000-square-foot home features vaulted ceilings and a beautiful library.

A traditional, five-bedroom home in the heart of University Park’s fairway, 3704 Marquette St., is designed for sophisticated entertaining, with a well-equipped kitchen and butler’s pantry, two dishwashers and an outside patio with automatic screens.

Never

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Feast Your Eyes on These Dazzling Dallas Estates

Allie Beth Allman & Associates leads DFW’s real estate market in estates listed at $6 million+.

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New Construction Modernist in KnoxTravis Corridor

3503 Edgewater is currently being offered for $3,995,000.

Unveiling a residence that transcends the ordinary,

3503 Edgewater stands as a testament to curated design excellence in the heart of Dallas’s hottest neighborhood, Northern Heights. This exceptional home, nestled on the most coveted lots adjoining the Katy Trail, epitomizes urban luxury, boasting an unrivaled walkability index and proximity

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Must-See Luxury Estates for Discerning Buyers in 2024

The luxury leaders at Allie Beth Allman & Associates offer estates for sale across the region.

Allie Beth Allman & Associates has brought mesmerizing residences to market that will delight the most discerning buyers and perhaps make someone’s new year dreams come true.

The brokerage assures confidentiality, privacy and deep understanding of the luxury market.

A Louisiana aesthetic inspired the magnificent home at 3825 Potomac Ave. A picturesque front porch and secondlevel balcony run the length of the façade, creating instant possibilities for outdoor living. The possibilities for fun in the sun continue in the lushly landscaped back yard, counting a covered porch with a grill station, a pool and spa, and a detached guest house with a full gym.

In Preston Hollow’s Mayflower Estates neighborhood, the custom home at 5315 Meaders Lane sits on 1.2 acres and has a larger-than-life presence. It offers pristine perks like a two-story great room, a wet bar and wine room, a kitchen with double islands, and an oversized patio with heaters and motorized shades.

Another Highland Park gem is available at 4408 Arcady Ave. The six-bedroom masterpiece features a unique, large spa parallel to the pool. From the grand foyer with a dramatic, curving staircase to the wood-paneled study to stately fireplaces, French-inspired elegance is around every corner.

to the city’s burgeoning culinary and shopping scene, the Knox-Travis corridor.

A visionary alliance of talent has given life to this architectural gem. AIA award-winning architect Gary Cunningham’s genius has crafted a lock-and-leave modernist home that seamlessly connects with its surroundings. Internationally-recognized Landscape Architect David Hocker’s Zen-like, low-maintenance grounds are secured behind a 10-foot metal gate and fencing that will soon be cocooned with Wisteria vines. Snelling Homes, an industry leader in luxury home construction, brought this vision to life with unparalleled craftsmanship and attention to detail.

The tri-level layout bathes the interior in natural light from all angles. Windows adorn every side, creating an ethereal treehouse effect, encapsulating the essence of a private oasis. A stunning architecturally-designed staircase with vertical slats allows light to permeate while maintaining separation between the gourmet kitchen, dining area, and the main living space. Elevator access to all three levels ensures convenience without compromise, making this home suitable for every stage of life.

Seize this rare opportunity to purchase this exceptional home in Dallas’ hottest locale!

Contact Ryan Streiff (469.371.3008) or more information or to set up a private showing. Visit DPMFineHomes.com to learn more.

These three homes are just a glimpse at the properties Allie Beth Allman & Associates’ agents represent that are priced above $7 million. Be sure to reach out to an agent to get the details on all their current offerings.

In Highland Park, the French-inspired masterpiece at 3518 Armstrong Ave. impresses with more than 12,200 square feet of living space, eight fireplaces and six bedrooms.

A spa-like primary suite, gourmet kitchen and great room with wood-vaulted ceilings are just a few more perks inside to look forward to. Outside, the backyard elevates the luxury experience further with a pool, spa, outdoor kitchen and manicured landscaping.

Nearby in University Park, an architectural gem designed by Oglesby Greene awaits at 6625 Golf Drive, brimming with high-end finishes and sleek allure.

The heart of the home is the two-story living room with a fireplace, which breezily leads out to a cantilevered deck overlooking the pool and babbling creek.

List your home with the luxury leaders at Allie Beth Allman & Associates. Call to connect with an expert agent: https://www.alliebeth.com/roster/Agents

The generous third-level primary bedroom features

and carpet throughout complete this stylish townhome.

For questions, contact Moore at 214-316-3751 or jamiemoore@dpmre.com.

Dave Perry-Miller Real Estate (dpmre.com) is a division of the Ebby Halliday Companies, a Berkshire Hathaway affiliate, with four locations that specialize in Preston Hollow, Park Cities, North Dallas, Lakewood, East Dallas, Uptown, Kessler Park and Farm & Ranch properties.

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