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PRESTON HOLLOW NEIGHBORS PARADE WITH PATRIOTIC PIZZAZZ
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(PHOTOS: BILL NAIFEH/NAIFEH PHOTOGRAPHY)
North Dallas residents know how to spend Independence Day with style.
The Hillcrest Forest Neighborhood Association celebrated the Fourth of July with a parade of vintage cars, children on bikes, patriotic pets, a Dallas fire truck, and all things red, white, and blue the morning of the holiday.
The event, held at Kramer Elementary School, was put on with the help of many sponsors and volunteers.
– Staff report
Fourth of July Coloring Book Contest Winners
Recently, our daughter moved from Texas to Utah. We were crushed that she planned to take our only grand children, 2-year-old twins with her. Out of appreciation for our years of dedicated service as parents, MICHELE VALDEZ we expected our grown Rugrat would always stay close so we can see her Rugrats grow up. How could she trade the best grandparents ever and the flatlands of Texas for majestic mountains, dry heat, and endless outdoor activities?
As we pined away for the precious pups, we were thrilled when our daughter asked us to tend the twins for three days while she moved into a new home. In a snap, we booked flights, rented an SUV, car seats, and a VRBO close to a park. We made grand plans to visit the zoo, the aquarium, playgrounds, and waterparks. By the end of the visit, our diapered divas would be begging for Mimi and Papa to stay forever.
On the plane to Salt Lake City, I browsed through Zillow listings for small condos in the area. Surely my husband, the pleaser, would gladly work a few more years so that we could buy a third home to share the same zip code with our 529 account beneficiaries.
The visit, in a word, was exhausting. We had never babysat this dynamic duo for more than one night, and three nights was two, too many. We were beat. Feeding, changing, playing, and entertaining were never ending. I began to pray for naptime so we could get a break. How did we survive raising our own kids and working full time so many years ago? I counted down the hours until we returned our bubbly babies. I was glad I hadn’t mentioned the Zillow search.
Three days felt like a lifetime with our granddaughters. Yet, when it came time to drop them off, my emotions swung like a pendulum. I found myself missing them before we had even taken them out of their car seats. Like a video, my mind replayed the scenes of them pointing at “shocks” (sharks) at the aquarium, squealing with laughter as we chased them through the park, and imitating the roar of the lions at the zoo.
On the flight home, I once again found myself searching Salt Lake City real estate on Zillow.
Michele Valdez, a slightly compulsive, mildly angry feminist, hasbeen attorney, and volunteer, has four demanding adult children and a patient husband.
SELLING PREMIER URBAN NEIGHBORHOODS
Meet the experts in Park Cities & Preston Hollow.
FOR SALE
ANI NOSNIK
PENDING
ANI NOSNIK & KYLE CREWS
FOR SALE
KYLE CREWS & TERRI COX
The URBAN Team (L to R): Robin Brock Webster, Sanders Avrea, Moriah Lovett McRae, Ani Nosnik, Kyle Crews, Mary Alice Garrison, Ashley LaRocca, Trey Bounds and Carla Johnson.
FOR SALE
TREY BOUNDS
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.
By Karen Chaney
Special Contributor
Sarah Simon, a 2017 Greenhill School graduate, has taken up the cause of the wrongfully convicted.
To that end, the daughter of Old Preston Hollow residents Dr. Stuart and Stacy Simon partnered with University of Pennsylvania classmates Carson Eckhard and Natalia Rommen to establish Project HOPE.
Project HOPE supports the day-to-day casework of The Liberation Foundation, a nonprofit founded by Philadelphia exoneree Terrance Lewis in 2020.
The foundation connects incarcerated Pennsylvanians with innocence, wrongful conviction, or disproportionate sentence claims to pro bono appeals attorneys.
“We provide the necessary high-level paralegal and investigative support to these cases, significantly lowering the barrier to entry for attorneys who wish to become involved in this important work,” Simon said.
Project HOPE also offers a comprehensive, community-led reentry preparation program.
“The program is 16 weeks long and comprises a range of expert speakers who discuss vital components of the reentry process such as financial literacy, job searching, education, and finding mentors,” Simon said.
A press release from Penn provided a summary of the inaugural year:
“In the year since it got underway and backed by support from Penn’s 2021 President’s Engagement Prize, the project has helped free Jehmar Gladden, who spent more than 20 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit and graduated the first cohort of inmates from an innovative reentry program piloted at a state correctional institution.”
Simon said receiving the President’s Engagement Prize was invaluable.
Simon credited her family, Greenhill teachers, Gary Udashen from The Innocence Project, and Harry Ingram from the Dallas County Public Defender’s office for influencing and molding her. Knowing she wanted to pursue a career in human rights law, she chose to attend Penn because of the Criminology and Political Science Departments.
She graduated Summa Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa in May 2021 with a double major in criminology and political science-international relations.
FROM LEFT: Carson Eckhard, Sarah Simon, and Natalie Rommen won the University of Pennsylvania’s 2021 President’s Engagement Prize for their
Project HOPE. (PHOTO: ERIC SUCAR)
Her plans include law school. Then, hopefully in five years, she will be a practicing attorney and involved in the work of The Liberation Foundation and Project HOPE.
Her advice to those interested in doing similar work: “Connect with those who have lived experience, take their lead, and embed yourself in the criminal justice community and join the fight with so many others who are dedicated to a more just future for us all.”
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