15 minute read
Community
AUDREY TWEED STILL TEACHES PAINTING AT 100
University Park centenarian shares tales of flying military aircraft
Advertisement
Audrey Tweed recently celebrated her 100th birthday with family and friends outside her University Park home. (PHOTO: RACHEL SNYDER)
By Rachel Snyder
People Newspapers
Audrey Tweed served in the Women’s Auxiliary Ferry Squadron, traveled the world, and won’t stop watering her yard herself at the age of 100.
The painting instructor recently celebrated her century mark with a surprise birthday gathering outside her University Park home, where she’s lived for more than 70 years.
The fourth-generation Texan was born in Houston and moved to Dallas in the ‘30s.
After graduating from Sunset High School in 1939 and Hockaday Junior College in 1942, her family moved to her present home in the 3200 block of Stanford Avenue.
Her father bought her a Taylor Craft airplane in her late teens, and she was in the process of getting her pilot’s license when accepted in the Women’s Auxiliary Ferry Squadron, created in 1942.
“My dad got the plane. He was going to get a pilot’s license, and I thought, ‘Well, if you can do it, I can, too,’” Tweed said. “The first time I flew the plane was at Love Field.”
The mission of the auxiliary was to ferry USAAF trainers and light aircraft from the factories. Still, later they delivered fighters, bombers, and transports, according to the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force website.
She met 2nd Lt. Earl Tweed when he was stationed in Camp Wolters, Texas, and after seven dates, the couple got married at her family home.
Shortly after their wedding, Earl went to Europe with the 115th Infantry 29th Division. Audrey joined him in Europe after the war. They lived in Mannheim, Germany, then in Salzburg, Austria, from 1946 to 1947, before returning to Texas.
“Everybody in the Army called him Tweed,” Audrey said of her husband. “I didn’t know his first name for a long time… so, I mean, it got to be a habit, and all our married life, I called him Tweed.”
The couple ran Dallas Lumber and Hardware from 1949 until they retired in 1984. Audrey first taught painting in the store and continues to teach painting classes from her home studio.
Their daughter, Penelope, was born in 1947 and graduated from Highland Park High School in 1966. Audrey now has a granddaughter, seven great-grandchildren, and eight great-great-grandchildren.
In addition to being an accomplished pilot, equestrian, and painter, Tweed also enjoyed ice skating and was in the Dallas Figure Skating Club when it was at Fair Park and performed in shows from the 1940s until the 1960s.
The couple traveled to Israel with the Park Cities Baptist Choir in the ‘70s and re-visited battle sites in France for the 50th anniversary of D-Day, including Omaha Beach, where Earl landed with the 29th Division.
“That was the highlight of my life to go to Israel,” Audrey said. “My religion, my religious background, I always wanted to go to Israel.”
They celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary with a trip to England with their daughter and granddaughter to visit Bath, Stonehenge, London, and Glastonbury. Earl died in 2017, shortly after their 74th anniversary.
Canine Cowboys Fanatic, Jet-Setting Sisters Star in Books For Children
By Riley Farrell
People Newspapers
The Sissies Adventure Series
By Marisa Howard (Page 8B) $39.95 for threebook bundle bookstore.weeva.com
For all those 1 to 4-year-olds tired of being cooped up at home, the three books in the Sissies Adventure Series offer literary escapism. Read more about author Marisa Howard of University Park on Page 8B of our 20 Under 40 section.
The books – Sissies at The Sea, Sissies in The Mountains, and Sissies Go To Mexico –are sold separately or packaged together in a giftable box set with a handle for travel.
Based on Howard’s family vacations to Florida, Colorado, and Mexico, the short stories teach about the bonds of sisterhood and seeing the world through children’s eyes.
“Each book was created with lots of love and captures the bonds of sisterhood,” Howard said. “My hope is that these books will provide all children with the chance to see the world through the adventures of two sweet, silly sisters.”
By Marnie Schneider $14.95 mascotbooks.com
A love letter to all the things that make Dallas delightful, Football Freddie and Fumble the Dog: Gameday in Dallas follows two friends as they wander through the city’s most iconic spots, making their way to AT&T Stadium to cheer for the The Sissies Adventure author Marisa Howard sits with her two daughters. (PHOTOS: LAUREN LAMP/ PLUG PUBLIC RELATIONS) Gameday in Dallas author Marnie Schneider holds her book and a dog.
(PHOTO: JAN SPENCE/WHAT’SNEXTCOMMUNICATIONS)
Cowboys. Along the way, they stop at such places as the Katy Trail, Pioneer Plaza, and the Dallas Zoo. In just 38 pages, the book gives young readers the history behind Dallas football and a rundown about football in general.
The Gameday series, marketed for 6 -to 8-year-old readers, features Freddie and Fumble touring cities around the country for their love of culture and football.
Though author Marnie Schneider is not from Dallas, she has always loved football. A Philadelphia native, Schneider was taught to value sports by her grandfather, Leonard Tose, who owned the Philadelphia Eagles, founded Ronald McDonald House, and helped build NFL Films. The book series functions as Schneider’s way of giving back to the many great football communities across the nation, the author said.
Let’s Roar for Mother’s Day
If April Showers bring May flowers, what do Mayflowers bring?
No, not pilgrims, as the old joke goes; it brings flowers for Mother’s Day! Florists delight as it’s one of their busLEN BOURLAND iest times of the year. Since the early 1900s, when Anna Jarvis wanted to honor mothers, and President Woodrow Wilson concurred, Mother’s Day has come on the second Sunday in May.
It’s now de riguer to get your brunch reservations on the books or at the very least a bouquet. This is the year to go one step further and deliver breakfast in bed and a tiara.
Hopefully, all moms will have received the vaccine by the end of May, if not by Mother’s Day, as the essential workers they are. All mothers who survived this past year without succumbing to depression from severe cabin fever deserve applause.
What working moms did zooming their jobs while supervising the Zoom schooling of their offspring, keeping spirits up, entertaining bored kids, all the while cleaning and cooking and doing laundry while locked down is just the definition of a phenomenal woman.
To all who put on the COVID kilos, you are hereby pardoned. Whatever it took to power through the anxiety of the news, the fear of disease, the inchoate future is OK.
Women have long been the glue that holds the family together, herding up strays for meals, setting limits on unwanted behaviors, enticing all to get along.
Be it single moms, mothers of large broods or of wailing infants, grandmothers who are the helping hand that kept everyone sane, kudos.
I’ve personally seen moms in healthcare who come home, got out of the hazmat suit, shower, and fix dinner. I bear witness to moms who had to move cross country in the pandemic and homeschool depressed kids with no friends or activities. I’ve watched full-time professional women in yoga pants in the street organizing the neighborhood into field days and games.
Every family has issues, from Queen Elizabeth (Bless her heart) to those hanging on by a thread. Mom and Grandmom center them all.
Then some mother us who may not be our biological mothers: aunts, godmothers, special friends.
So this year, instead of Happy Mother’s Day, it might well be the old Helen Reddy tune, “I am woman, hear me roar!”
In the silence of shutdowns, that roar was our saving grace.
Reach columnist Len Bourland at lenbourland@gmail.com.
SELLING PREMIER URBAN NEIGHBORHOODS
Meet the experts in Park Cities & Preston Hollow.
FOR SALE
3601 Springbrook Street 3 Bed | 3.2 Bath | 4,555 SqFt Listed At $1,649,000 9110 Rockbrook Drive 5 Bed | 6.2 Bath | 7,596 SqFt Listed At $3,650,000
SOLD
1918 Olive Street Museum Tower Residence #1901 Listed At $5,995,000
PENDING
3510 Turtle Creek Boulevard #19-A 3 Bed | 6 Bath | 7,298 SqFt Listed At $4,900,000
FOR SALE
PENDING
FOR SALE
Not intended as solicitation of properties currently listed with another broker. Information contained herein is believed to be correct but not guaranteed. O ering made subject to errors, omissions, change of price, prior sale or withdrawal without notice.
A LIFE WELL LIVED. A LIFE WELL EARNED.
Since 1998, Belmont Village has safely delivered an unparalleled senior living experience for thousands of families. Collaborations with experts from the nation’s top healthcare institutions and universities have established our national leadership in demonstrably effective cognitive health and wellness programs. Combining the highest levels of hospitality and care, our communities make life worth living.
BelmontVillage.com/TurtleCreek | 214-306-7687
TURTLE CREEK
The Community Built for Life.®
Licensed nurse on-site 24/7
Circle of Friends® award-winning memory care Urgent care telehealth | Dedicated Alzheimer’s care
Physical therapy, rehabilitation and fitness
Nationally recognized, highly trained staff
Bishop: ‘Wear Masks Out Of Charity’ Despite kerfuffle, few protest at Holy Trinity
By Rachel Snyder
People Newspapers
Police officers arrived during Mass and gave Hairston a trespass warning. “When RO’s (reporting officers) went into
For all the social media furor, few attend- the location and made contact with the sused planned protests at Holy Trinity Catholic pects,” the report said. “Suspect Deirdre, who Church, where police had removed a North was holding her infant, ignored RO’s direcTexas politician’s daughter after she refused to tions to leave (the) location to talk outside.” wear a mask at Mass. The Diocese of DalAnd the 14 or so who showed seemingly It feels helpless las issued a statement two days after her inpreferred, in the words when a simple little terview was posted on of the Gospels, to hide their lights “under bush- Facebook page for YouTube. “The pastor of the el baskets.” They point- your home parish… parish has required lessly demanded their photographs not be is suddenly blowing masks at Mass out of concern for the health published (journalists up with comments and welfare of his endon’t need permission to use images of protestthat are so hateful tire congregation. Canon law grants pastors ers in public spaces) and that you don’t even jurisdiction over their refused to provide their names. recognize the place parishes, and while the bishop has not man-
The maskless pro- where you attend dated masks for every testors, who said they typically attend other and worship. parish, he has left these specific details to the churches in the Ro- Kathy Palter pastors of the Diocese, man Catholic Dioceses adding that he expects of Dallas and Fort Worth, gathered off Oak the faithful to wear masks out of charity and Lawn Avenue to pray while the Holy Trinity concern for others,” the statement read. held Mass outside on April 10. Holy Trinity parishioner Kathy Palter said
One woman called the removal of Deirdre the church was “inundated” with emails and Hairston from 5 p.m. Mass March 14 “unjust.” voicemails after the episode.
Hairston, the daughter of former GOP “It’s upsetting,” she said. “Of course, as we state Sen. Don Huffines, went on at least two all know, everything is played out in public on podcasts to talk about being approached by the social media, and I’ll tell you it feels helpless Rev. Milton Ryan, the pastor of the Uptown when a simple little Facebook page for your Dallas parish, when she went to 5 p.m. Mass home parish, which probably gets one or two with her 1-year-old child. hits a day if it’s lucky, is suddenly blowing up
She shared a video she took of the inci- with comments that are so hateful that you dent on the video podcast of Taylor Marshall, don’t even recognize the place where you atan advocate for traditionalist Catholicism and tend and worship.” author of 2019’s Infiltration: The Plot to Destroy the Church from Within. She also appeared on Editor’s Note: People Newspapers publisher former White House Chief Strategist Steve Patricia Martin serves as Holy Trinity’s ParBannon’s “War Room: Pandemic” podcast. ish Council Chair and serves in other volunteer
According to an incident report, Dallas ministries.
And the King shall answer and say unto them, “Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these
my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” – Matthew 25:40
The King James Version wording of this text came to mind as I thought about how Deirdre Hairston has deWILLIAM TAYLOR scribed her ejection by police from Mass in March for refusing to wear a mask at Holy Trinity Catholic Church.
The 28-year-old nursing mom told traditionalist Catholicism podcaster Taylor Marshall how officers met her as she returned from receiving Holy Communion.
“You still have the Eucharist, Jesus Christ, still in you, and you are being cast out,” an outraged Marshall said.
An usher followed them out and urged officers to “write her up, write her up,” Hairston added. “He almost kind of reminded me, not to flatter myself, of, “Crucify her! Crucify her!”
When reflecting on “the least of these” Jesus mentions in Matthew 25, I usually think of the homeless, hungry, and imprisoned, rather than the pregnant daughter of a still politically ambitious former state senator.
Marshall thought of the homeless, too, contrasting their treatment with Hairston’s.
“I remember a person, a homeless woman once coming in during Mass and kind of causing a thing, and everyone was pretty delicate and gracious and charitable,” he said.
It wasn’t clear whether Hairston had made anyone at Holy Trinity aware of her need for charity: She often feels light-headed while wearing a mask.
Regardless, it’s not a good look to have a worshiper removed by police during prayer.
Still, what are pastors and ushers to do when someone insists on ignoring a church’s COVID-19 protocols? You don’t have a mask requirement if someone can stay while refusing to comply.
I suggested to my church leaders that we needed to consider how ushers should respond in similar situations. But I was told to trust that people coming to worship would cooperate.
That’s naïve, I fear. Haven’t we all seen videos of angry people berating store employees when told to mask up?
Hairston said she goes along with masking, as needed, everywhere else, but at church, she does not want to “play these, you know, communist games.”
“You are more likely to get treated with Christian charity and grace at a Taco Bell than you are at church, unfortunately,” she claimed.
Beware. If you have an encounter with Hairston, it appears likely that would prove true.
2019 Park Cities parade. (PHOTO: CHRIS MCGATHEY)
United We Stand: Parade Scheduled
By William Taylor
People Newspapers
A year after its COVID-19 cancelation, the Rotary Club of the Park Cities expects the Fourth of July Parade to return this summer. As for the picnic in Goar Park, that was still being worked out at press time.
The parade will begin at 9 a.m. July 3 and follow its usual route from Highland Park Town Hall to Goar Park.
Jim and Laurie Hitzelberger, selected to serve as grand marshals last year, will finally get to ride this year and be honored at a luncheon at 11:45 a.m. June 11 at Maggiano’s Little Italy.
Major sponsors include Oncor (lead), Frost Bank, and the Rotary Club of Park Cities Foundation.
Rotary members chose a parade theme that speaks to present situations and needs: United We Stand.
“We are a nation,” parade committee chairman Phillip Bankhead said. “We may be diverse, but nevertheless, we are in this together.”
Also, he said. “We’ve been isolated through the COVID lockdowns, and it’s important that we are a community.”
He added the theme also dovetails nicely with Highland Park Mayor Margo Goodwin’s desire to recognize municipal employees who responded so well during the “Snowmageddon” and other frontline workers who have carried the communities through the pandemic, Bankhead said. “The parade is going to be dedicated to them.”
