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The Fourth of July is a pretty big deal in a normal year, but after so many festivities were reimagined (how many times did we use that word in 18 months?) last year at the height of the pandemic, we expect this year people will really flex those patriotic muscles.
And we want you to share that flex with us. Send us your photos from your parades, barbecues, fireworks watching, and more. Email us at online@peoplenewspapers.com, and you could see yourself on our website in the coming weeks — or our weekly newsletters.
Speaking of peoplenewspapers.com, if you aren’t a regular visitor, you might have missed a few interesting stories that you won’t find in the pages of the issue you’re holding.
was teaching from this book, telling him that he checked, and it’s not on the curriculum, nor is it in any school library.
Hughes said that he was told by a parent that a teacher recommended the book.
“It’s one teacher, one kid, one book, and one district and one time at best — and we don’t even know if that’s true,” Johnson said. “If you’re wondering what’s going on in my district, that’s not it.”
For instance, you may have missed some of our coverage of the 87th legislative session, which included the passage of the socalled “anti-critical race theory” House Bill 3979. If you missed that, you missed our coverage of the overnight (literally) debates about the genesis of the bill, including the insistence of the bill’s authors that it was prompted in part by the book Not My Idea: A Book About Whiteness, written by Anastasia Higginbotham. Both State Rep. Steve Toth (R-The Woodlands), the bill’s author, and State Sen. Bryan Hughes (R-Mineola), the bill’s sponsor, insisted that the book was being taught at Highland Park ISD.
State Sen. Nathan Johnson (D-Dallas), whose district includes the Park Cities, took Hughes to task for his assertion that HPISD
We talked to the book’s author, too, who says the debate about the book illustrates the need for it.
“It’s strange because there’s so much distortion involved,” she said.
You can read our coverage at peoplenewspapers.com/tag/ txlege-2021.
Also check out:
Want to buy a piece of Dallas Cowboys history? Allie Beth Allman has the listing for the Preston Hollow/Devonshire home that belonged to the late Tom and Alicia Landry and we have the details in our real estate section.
Sports editor Todd Jorgenson sussed out the Highland Park connections to the new Luke Wilson flick 12 Mighty Orphans — you can read it in our sports section.
Missing Dallas ISD graduations? Thanks to a late start this school year, the district’s graduation ceremonies for W.T. White, Hillcrest, and Thomas Jefferson didn’t align with our July production schedule. See coverage of each ceremony in our schools section online, and see highlights in our August print issue of Preston Hollow People
SCHOOL OF THE FUTURE
Dallas company builds virtual world for hybrid campus students
By Bethany Erickson bethany.erickson@peoplenewspapers.comIt may look like a game, but when students “walk” into the new Dallas Hybrid Preparatory at Stephen J. Hay this August, they’ll step into a virtual world designed to not only mimic the feel of going to school but also to tailor lessons to their interests.
STEMuli CEO Taylor Shead said her Dallas-based company aims to create a right-sized learning environment for every student and make it a little easier for teachers, too.
“One principal told me, ‘Taylor, I counted how many apps I have to use these days — it was 23,’” Shead said. “So, we talked to administrators as well as teachers in order to build a way that their lesson planning, instructional calendars, grades, and attendance in one pretty interface that connects those tools on the back end.”
The project has districtwide implications and grows from Dallas Education Foundation and Dallas ISD goals set before it became clear the platform would go in a hybrid school, Shead said. “They were like, ‘We don’t want to put a band-aid over the pandemic. We
Stumped!
want to go forward. We don’t ever want to go back to the old normal.”
Shead anticipates a platform able to scale across all Dallas ISD schools in some fashion and perhaps eventually statewide.
“We have no idea what that exactly looks like, but we’re probably going to do a pilot test at Conrad High School next year as well in order to understand what this could look like in high school,” she said.
Sound cool? Yes. But it’s not only fun and games, Shead said. “People should understand that Fortnite and Minecraft and all these video games produce so much data on what players like to do, like where they’re looking, where they’re spending their time.”
Similarly, using data can improve the already popular personalized learning approach by being even more responsive to student interests.
“Traditionally, what personalized learning means is like, if you ask me a series of questions, depending on how I answer, I get a next series of questions pertaining to that answer, but this is different,” she said. “I want a student in fourth grade to be able to tell
Neighbors decry removal of Colgate Avenue trees
By Rachel Snyder rachel.snyder@peoplenewspapers.comThe removal of 13 trees lining Saint Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church’s west parking lot facing Colgate Avenue has upset some nearby residents.
“They were protected trees,” complained Preston Whisenant, who called them “an important buffer between” homes and nonresidential activities.
With work ready to begin on a Preston Center mixed-use development on churchowned land, crews removed the trees from city-owned land in May.
the system, ‘I want to be an astronaut,’ or ‘I want to be an exotic animal veterinarian,’ and when they tell our system that, we continue to
produce experiences for these kids that can get them prepared for that career and actually see themselves in that career.”
“We want the church to admit they were wrong, and we need them to commit to replacing the (trees) that were removed,” Whisenant said.
However, a church spokesperson said a certified arborist told church leaders that February’s winter storm irreparably damaged the
trees planted by the church two decades ago.
“We were deeply saddened by this assessment,” said Melodie Elliott of Sunwest Communications. “We are thankful that the older, more mature Live Oaks on the east portion of Colgate survived.”
The church also has consulted with the city
LEARN MORE
See more of what the school day will look like for students at the Dallas Hybrid Preparatory at Stephen J. Hay, and read more of our conversation with Taylor Shead at peoplenewspapers.com.
of Dallas, Elliott added. “We are working towards an appropriate resolution to the sad loss of these beloved trees.”
Whisenant informed Dallas City Council member Jennifer Gates’ office, before she left office, that the trees didn’t appear to be dead.
He also inquired about whether their removal complied with city code.
Gates’ office provided an update from the city arborist Preston Willms, who described the trees’ removal as unauthorized.
“We are holding the property owner responsible for full tree mitigation for the loss of the trees,” Willms said in a memo. “If they cannot prove their case for removal by natural death or decline, then we will require the replacement of inches of trees removed by planting and/or by payment in lieu of planting.”
The city will want to resolve the issue before building permits are issued, and tree replacement would require careful scheduling, he said. “We need to assure any trees installed in the location are not damaged from construction activity.”
Crime Reports May 10 – June 6
May 10
Before 5:04 p.m., a crook claimed contents from a Milestone Electric vehicle whose crew was “fixing it in a flash” at a home in the 4700 block of Crooked Lane
May 11
Reported at 6:29 p.m.: A robber “postured as if he had a weapon” and demanded cash from the register at Texaco at Preston Road and LBJ Freeway
May 13
A 54-year-old Highland Park man at 9:42 p.m. reported seeing a prowler in the garage of a vacant house in the 5500 block of Ursula Lane. The mischief-maker fled police in a vehicle.
May 14
Reported at 4:14 p.m.: a bad break for a 59-year-old man at the Market at Preston Forest. A vandal smashed his vehicle window.
May 15
Before 3:48 p.m., hammer-wielding robbers attacked and stole from a 49-year-old Denton man near the Hilton Dallas/Park Cities on Luther Lane
May 17
Officers responded at 1:10 p.m. to a burglary in progress at a home in the 7100 block of Mimosa Lane and discovered damage to a 48-year-old man’s property.
May 18
Not cool! Before 11:48 a.m., a prowler stole from a Crawford Services of Grand Prairie vehicle, making an HVAC call in the 9400 block of Meadowbrook Drive. Theft from the company also occurred during a call in the 4100 block of Royal Ridge Drive
May 19
Discovered at 8:40 a.m.: damage to a 66-year-old man’s vehicle after someone rammed a shopping cart into it at Preston Forest Square
May 22
Didn’t get the picture? At 7:20 p.m., an unwelcomed guest returned to Touchstone Imaging on Forest Lane near Central Expressway despite an earlier warning to leave and stay away.
May 23
Discovered at 1:32 p.m.: A guest of the Cooper Hotel Conference Center & Spa on Preston Road left behind drugs and drug paraphernalia.
May 24
The unclean getaway: A burglary in progress call at 6:33 p.m. led to the quick arrest of a man (age not provided) at Forest Car Wash & Detail on Forest Lane at the North Dallas Tollway
May 25
Officers responded at 10:21 a.m. to a “major disturbance (violence)” call at a 44-year-old man’s home in the 7000 block of Yamini Drive, but the intruder had fled.
May 26
Reported at 4:30 p.m.: easy pickings. A thief took tools from the bed of a 36-yearold Carrolton man’s pickup truck at a home in the 6400 block of Mimosa Lane
May 27
Reported at 5:34 p.m.: storage withdraw. A burglar removed contents from a 52-yearold Lewisville woman’s unit at Public Storage at Inwood Road and Lemmon Avenue
May 28
Reported at 7:34 p.m.: a frightful encounter for a 50-year-old Fort Worth man who had a pistol pointed at him at Preston Valley Shopping Center
May 30
A suspicious person making an uninvited visit to a home in the 5400 block of Deloache Avenue received a criminal trespassing warning at 12:43 p.m.
June 2
Before 7:59 a.m., a thief took the license plate off a 62-year-old man’s vehicle at a home in the 11100 block of Russwood Circle
June 5
Reported at 5:08 p.m.: A vandal armed with spray paint tagged a 64-year-old man’s vehicle on June 4 at a home in the 6600 block of Del Norte Lane
June 6
Reported at 1:15 p.m.: A woman from the 12000 block of Inwood Road received an “explicit message.”
SKULDUGGERY of the MONTH: LOST & FOUND & LOST
At 8:30 a.m. June 6, officers found a vehicle stolen in Addison in front of a home in the 5700 block of West Hanover Avenue
The thief got away – though more slowly than intended. The crook, unable to start a motorcycle, fled on foot.
WE MANAGE THE POLITICS OF DIVORCE
Make no mistake, the strategy to gain an upper hand in divorce often mirrors the power struggles typical in politics. Elizabeth Hunter, David Hoffmann and Teresa Clark Evans are tough, seasoned veterans of this contention filled process. Individually and as a team they help clients settle sensitive issues regarding children, money, possessions and much more.
Family Law Attorneys
David Hoffmann
Equity Shareholder
Board Certified Family Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization
Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers
Texas Super Lawyer 2016-2020 (Thomson Reuters)
Texas Rising Star 2014-2016 (Thomson Reuters)
For a consultation Dhoffmann@qslwm.com 214-880-1840
Elizabeth Hunter
Founder and Managing Shareholder of the QSLWM Family Law Section
Trained in Collaborative Law
AV Rated by Martindale-Hubbell® for 22 years
Equity Shareholder
Farm Raised, City Educated and Sharpened by Steel
For a consultation
Ehunter@qslwm.com 214-880-1822
Teresa Clark Evans
Equity Shareholder
Experienced in high conflict property and child custody litigation
Texas Super Lawyer 2014-2020 (Thomson Reuters)
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For a consultation
Tevans@qslwm.com 214-880-1823
Lee Kleinman City Council Exit Interview: Not Exactly Retired
By Bethany Erickson bethany.erickson@peoplenewspapers.comCounting his time on the Dallas Park and Recreation Board, Lee Kleinman has been serving constituents in District 11 for nearly 13 years — and while his tenure on the city council ended in June, he’s not quite ready to retire.
When the pandemic hit, that kind of one-onone contact really got shut down, and that was really hard, because that’s a big part of how I like to engage with the district.
Lee Kleinman
“I think short term, the plan is some well-deserved downtime,” he said just before the June 5 runoff election, where Jaynie Schultz prevailed over Barry Wernick to become Kleinman’s successor. “I’ve kind of still got 10 years of work left in me. All my career opportunities are clearly in Dallas and not anywhere else. So despite the fact that much has been made about the fact that I’ve got a vacation home in Colorado, I’m not moving out there — as much as I would like to.”
hard, because that’s a big part of how I like to engage with the district.
What are some of the biggest misconceptions about D11?
I think one of the biggest misconceptions is that it’s such a suburban district and dominated by single-family homes. And in reality, half the district is rental apartments. And generally, when those apartments were built, they were built anywhere from 40 to 60 years ago. So we have a lot of aging apartment stock that needs to be addressed in the city and in the district.
Jennifer Gates talked about how so many projects are about having to be OK with the fact that you may not be the one that sees it all the way through to the end — you’re probably going to hand it off.
Oh, but you pick it up from somebody else also. And that’s what I’ve frequently said to incoming council members, as well as even people that sit on our boards of commissions — “Pick it up where it is and get it across the goal line and take credit for it because, you know, your predecessor did that, and your successors will do that.”
FRANK LEE SPEAKING
It definitely had its challenges, especially with the pandemic — we’re operating from home and didn’t have the opportunity to go out and have community meetings and,
This last term of yours has had some significant things that have happened to the city and your district — a tornado, a pandemic. What is it like to have to kind of shepherd your district through twin disasters within a year of each other?
you know, give someone a hug because their house just got wrecked. When the tornado (in 2019) went through, we went to all the neighborhoods. I talked to people and just tried to give assistance where I could — a lot of it was moral support. But when the pandemic hit, that kind of one-on-one contact really got shut down, and that was really
Go to peoplenewspapers.com for Lee Kleinman’s full “exit interview” and see what he has to say about the crime rate, Dallas Midtown project, biggest regrets of his tenure, and other topics.
CULTIVATE
‘THE
BEST DAY OF THE YEAR’ IN PRESTON HOLLOW Newspaper archives preserve tales of long-standing July Fourth traditions
In my house, the Fourth of July is a –capital “B” – Big Deal.
We refer to it as “the best day of the year,” and preparations begin months in advance.
We have designated outfits for the day, even our dog, and our house overflows with glowsticks and beads. My family knows how to celebrate our country’s birthday, and those celebrations would not be complete without a trip to the Preston Hollow North Fourth of July parade.
I first moved to Preston Hollow when I was 6, and almost every year since then, I’ve been an active participant in the parade.
I remember decorating my bike with red, white, and blue tinsel and fans, playing with other neighborhood children, and, of course, riding the miniature train around Preston Hollow Elementary.
The parade is a central part of my Fourth of July experience, but its roots stretch far beyond my 17-year-old memory. Here’s what I found after a few hours
exploring Independence Day coverage in People Newspapers’ archives.
The first Preston Hollow North Fourth of July Parade occurred over 20 years ago, boasting some of the same attractions it does today.
In 2000, the parade offered arts and crafts, a magic show, and visits from the local fire department, among other things. Children also decorated their bikes, and themselves, for contests, a longstanding tradition.
However, the Preston Hollow North parade is far from the only, or the first, Fourth of July celebration in Preston Hollow. Many Homeowner’s Associations have hosted their parades for decades, all of which have long and storied histories.
The Elderwood Drive parade, one of the oldest in Preston Hollow, began in 1962. The parade’s longest-standing tradition is the Statue of Liberty float that leads the festivities, ridden by the year’s “Miss Liberty.” Each year, a young girl crowned with the title rides the float dressed as the statue.
In 1992, the parade received representatives from both the Dallas Fire Department and the Salvation Army, whose band played patriotic music on Elderwood
“I Am Luney: The Untold Story of the World’s Naughtiest Man”
By Josh Hickman
$14.99
Amazon.com
First, let me apologize for the headlines I’ve run on top of Hickman’s recent stories in our papers. They were nowhere as entertaining as the ones this comic novelist puts on his books.
The Highland Park author returned to the area several months ago after 14 years in Los Angeles. His latest book begs the question: Just how “naughty” is it?
“It’s not really naughty at all,” Hickman assured me. “Tame by the standards of today. It’s a comic novel. Much of the humor comes from the mundane ‘crimes’ the title character is accused of committing.”
Here’s how the press release describes the book: “From his beginnings as a rebellious child of means through his later years as an elusive recluse, Luney’s life explodes across the page through various moral scandals, naughty religious cults, thrilling séances, and lusty romances, and his increasingly obsessive search for a fabled Elixir of Life.”
Oh my!
“Deadly Dallas: A History of Unfortunate Incidents and Grisly Fatalities”
By Rusty Williams $21.99 historypress.com
Didn’t get enough “grisliness” in 2020-21?
Street during the celebrations.
The Russwood Acres Parade, which began in 1987, has served as a neighborhood get-together for generations. Through the years, it has entertained with clowns and vintage cars.
The parade is a central part of my Fourth of July experience, but its roots stretch far beyond my 17-year-old memory.
With the many homeowners’ associations spanning Preston Hollow, there plenty of opportunities to spend “the best day of the year.”
While I may be partial to Preston Hollow North, you are sure to find an amazing celebration rooted in tradition no matter where you go.
Maddie Stout, co-editor of her campus newspaper, will begin her senior year at The Hockaday School in August.
A former journalist will take readers back a dozen decades to explore tragic events, most of which occurred before the Park Cities incorporated. Williams, an award-winning writer-historian, has authored multiple books and written stories for the Dallas Morning News, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, San Antonio Express, and Associated Press. His latest book comes out near the end of June.
According to publicity materials, it chronicles “heartbreaking and bizarre forms in which death stalked Dallas at the turn of the century.”
“CH is the Most Challenging Sound”
By Cynthia
Marlowand Michelle Marlow Illustrated by Megan Skeels $21.95 tamupress.com
In 2019, we introduced this children’s series by two sisters-in-law who combined their interest in education and love for North Texas to create fun stories aimed at helping children with speech impediments. They are back at it with their latest volume, published this spring.
The fun tale of Charley, a young girl who desperately wants to win her school charity contest to get to the State Fair of Texas, includes “secret tips” for tackling her troubles with the CH sound.
– Compiled by William Taylor
Will this Fourth of July be Liberty Day?
Will masks become a choice instead of a mandate?
Will the government back out of our lives, and the citizens begin to feel some self-governance?
Hard to know. But at least for a while, with schools neither in session nor Zoomed, here’s hoping kids are playing outside without masks.
I long to hear shrieks of laughter and people singing patriotic songs without being muffled.
A pandemic is too amorphous an enemy to declare victory and have ticker-tape parades. Yet optimism abounds.
Ironically just as all are unmasking, I’ll be donning one.
In the blink of an eye, following a routine endoscopy, a large tumor was discovered in my esophagus. That adage, “first you cry,” didn’t hold true. Disbelief and incredulity, but the speed with which my family and family of friends helped me with a plan, was truly humbling. It’s a terrible way to hear from and see everyone you care about, but I’ve never felt so encircled.
People of faith, my clergy, my friends, and my family have helped stay the nausea, the queasiness, the fatigue, the blahs.
I live on a feeding machine for the next several weeks or months; I juggle medications and tubes like a mixologist; I sleep a lot. Swallowing is a luxury.
But there are so many gifts.
Humor. The first time my sorority sister and I tried to wrestle the lines and hoses of the feed bag that churns a milk drink into my gut, we looked like Lucy and Ethel in a skit. When an old neighbor came to stay, we looked at wigs and got the giggles. The cards people find are seriously funny. And sweet. And inspirational. And real. No chit-chat with cancer.
Love. Constantly, I am amazed at what is being done for me. Ladies have organized radiation and chemo carpools, make sure I’m never alone for stretches at a time, have not fled from the unpleasantness that is cancer. The many kindnesses from all sorts of people are what bring me to tears. Not selfpity.
Why me? Why not me? Why anybody?
I don’t hate much, but I do hate evil cancer.
So while my columns may take a break, please feel free to follow my journey, which is at once singular and familiar. Every day has a gift. This July, mine is that chemo ends.
SELLING PREMIER
JUNE 19
Maegan Brown, The BakerMama and author of Beautiful Boards, will join us to create her beautiful boards using products from our own market!
JULY 3
Dress patriotically, decorate your bikes and strollers, and join us for Family Day at the Farmers Market to celebrate Independence Day!
Cole’s Ministry: Feeding Dallas, Souls
True story: Jay Cole saved me from becoming a bridezilla.
At the time — more than a decade ago — Jay was serving two roles: executive director of Crossroads Community Services and associate minister at First United Methodist Church-Dallas.
BETHANY ERICKSON
My husband and I appreciated his work, and there wasn’t much debate about who would perform our ceremony.
Cole, our calm counselor, led us through meetings designed to make sure we really did want to get married and you know, should get married.
Then, a week before the wedding, he gave me an even greater gift - the opportunity to work off nervous energy by doing something that wasn’t about me by volunteering at Crossroads, helping families walk through their aisles of choices.
Dietary Guidelines for Americans. That computerized system was something of a game-changer. The day I volunteered was my first opportunity to see it in action. A family would apply with the organization for assistance, and an intake staff member would make note of how many were in the family, their ages, and activity levels. Then the computer would take all of that, figure out how many calories each person would need, and a list of food items would pop up on a printer among the aisles of canned goods, rice, beans, and other food.
Jay Cole, here with North Texas Food Bank senior management of partner development Sara Gorath, recently retired from Crossroads Community Services after nearly two decades with the organization. (COURTESY CROSSROADS COMMUNITY SERVICES)
From its inception, Crossroads was the Hillcrest High School (and later SMU Perkins School of Theology) graduate’s ministry, built for the people who, as he frequently put it, “ended up with more month than paycheck.” He helped FUMC-Dallas open Crossroads in 2001, and served as its executive director since 2003. He retired this spring, leaving behind a legacy that will be continued by new executive director Benaye Wadkins Rogers.
It’s safe to say that while the support of the church and many volunteers and staffers created the growth of the agency, the ship was steered by Jay and his vision for making food distribution equitable, efficient, and loving.
In 2005, Crossroads created the first computerized system in the U.S. to help clients select the appropriate amount and kinds of food based upon each household member’s age, gender, and activity level — following the recommendations of the
It was a science and a ministry.
In 2006, Crossroads pioneered a new hub-and-spoke model of food distribution to low-income neighbors, engaging communities, churches, and other locations in becoming Community Distribution Partners. And by 2011, Crossroads became an official NTFB Hub. It moved into its 72,000 square-foot Cockrell Hill Road location in 2019.
“For over 18 years, Jay Cole led Crossroads as a faithful servant leader,” said Camille Grimes, Dallas Morning News charities executive director. “All along the way, he has offered compassion and hope that instills dignity in those served.”
HELP FEED
DALLAS
Make a standing appointment to volunteer at Crossroads Community Services - as often as once a week, or even once a month, and as an individual or as a group.
Donate - every $1 donated buys four meals.
Add Crossroads Community Services to your Amazon account at smile.amazon. com.
For more details (and more ways to help) go to ccsdallas.org.
Dallas CEO Urges Help for India
Arun Agarwal’s Preston Hollow neighbors donate for Jaipur
By Josh Hickman Special ContributorThe CEO of Dallas-based multimillion-dollar textile business Nextt still has family and friends in Jaipur, India, a 3.1 million-resident city recently devastated by the pandemic.
“Every morning, I would be scared to look at my phone, not knowing what bad news I might be getting,” Preston Hollow resident Arun Agarwal said, thinking back to when COVID-19 first hit his hometown full-force.
A noted philanthropist and supporter of many nonprofits — 2016 winner of the Bert Tonkin Gift of Giving Award — as well as a leading businessman, Agarwal altered his business to supply growing COVID-19 emergency needs.
PPE company Nextt Shield donating $500,000 worth of PPE to Jaipur as part of the effort.
“We were very successful in making the quick change, servicing over 100 million units of PPE right from the state of Texas,” Agarwal said. Nextt Shield clients include organizations, hospitals, school districts, and universities across the United States.
He also is using his network to secure more donations for other organizations to provide additional funds to India outside the recently announced relief effort.
“We realized 90% of the PPE is fabric-based,” Agarwal noted, “so why can’t we just pivot and change our manufacturing from making sheets to PPE?”
Mayor Eric Johnson invited Agarwal to help with the city of Dallas’ Jaipur Initiative relief effort. The partnership to assist Jaipur during a surge of COVID-19 cases includes the Dallas Foundation and the Indian American CEO Council, co-founded and chaired by Agarwal.
Every morning, I would be scared to look at my phone, not knowing what bad news I might be getting.
Arun Agarwal
“Many of the initial major contributors to the initiative were neighbors and friends from Preston Hollow,” Agarwal said.
The Jaipur Initiative has already raised over $1 million, with Agarwal’s
“With the mayor’s initiative, not a single dime is being spent from a city budget; it’s all private contributions,” Agarwal said.
“The Dallas Foundation partnering became really key in helping us get help from mainstream Dallasites. Small individual contributions really show that the initiative city leaders take can really help. They are really philanthropic.”
Agarwal sees himself as fortunate to have a business that can help.
“It gravitates you more and more to give back and ask, ‘What more we can do with what is happening in the world?’ Today we are helping India, but hopefully, that helps us too by that variant not coming here,” he said. “If that would have happened initially in some of the countries where it was, it would not have become a global pandemic. It’s like the Indian belief of karma — I don’t know if I am paying forward or repaying for something good done to me. Though it’s very personal to me, it’s very fulfilling and gratifying to impart the lessons of a global citizen, for we are all global citizens.”
HOW TO HELP
Visit www.dallasfoundation.org/ donors.aspx to donate to the Jaipur Initiative.
FOR TEXAS’ GREATEST ATHLETES, 10 EVENTS ARE BETTER THAN ONE
Annual St. Mark’s meet is an elite decathlon, heptathlon showcase
By Todd Jorgenson People NewspapersIn 1999, John Turek started hosting an annual decathlon and heptathlon at St. Mark’s to introduce young athletes to the multi-event competitions not often held at the high school level.
More than two decades later, the Texas Greatest Athlete meet has evolved from a developmental clinic into a valuable tuneup for elite international competitors and Olympic hopefuls.
Within the track and field community, the combined events are very unique. John Turek
This year’s 20th annual event, held on June 5-6, brought a record 51 athletes in both open and youth divisions.
Turek, the longtime track and field coach at St. Mark’s, was asked by USA Track and Field officials to expand the meet in 2006, giving top athletes a chance to compete a few weeks before the world championships (typically in odd-numbered years) or the U.S. Olympic trials — both held in late June.
“Every Olympic year, people tend to come out of the woodwork to give it one last shot,” said Turek, a former decathlete himself. “There (are) also people trying to get a score to hit the Olympic qualifying standard.”
This year’s field included Solomon Simmons, who finished eighth in the decathlon at the world championships in 2019 in Doha, Qatar. The California native hopes to be competing this summer at the Olympics in Tokyo.
Ditto for decathlete Scott Filip and heptathlete Ashtin Mahler,
who won an NCAA title at the University of Texas in 2019.
The meet has not strayed from its original mission, either, retaining divisions for boys and girls learning the unique nature of the grueling two-day decathlon (10 events for men) and heptathlon (seven events for women).
“Within the track and field community, the combined events are very unique,” Turek said. “The camaraderie among the athletes is unparalleled. It’s not really competing against each other. It’s competing against the score. It’s a
whole different mindset.”
Turning heads this year was Louisiana native Ariel Pedigo, the top teenage heptathlete in the country, whose total score broke a 20-year-old meet record.
For the first time in 2021, the meet was renamed in honor of John Green, longtime USATF administrator and Turek’s friend and mentor. Green died in March.
“He was invaluable to USA Track and Field. He never said no,” Turek said. “He oversaw the development of men and women who were just below world-class.
STRENGTH AND SPEED
The Texas Greatest Athlete meet includes the decathlon for men, and the heptathlon for women. The events, contested over two days in a specific order, break down as follows:
Decathlon
100 meters
Long jump
Shot put
High jump
400 meters
110 hurdles
Discus
Pole vault
Javelin
1,500 meters
Heptathlon
100 hurdles
High jump
Shot put
200 meters
Long jump
Javelin
800 meters
He also sat on several committees. He wore a lot of different hats in a lot of different venues. He was a great communicator and great mediator and had tremendous foresight.”
Major Goals: Recent Results Renew Confidence for Spieth
After COVID break and Byron Nelson finish, Preston Hollow resident aims for big
By Todd Jorgenson People NewspapersJordan Spieth has been trending upward this season on the PGA Tour, even though wins in his backyard remain elusive.
Spieth is a three-time major champion and former FedEx Cup winner. This season, he won the Texas Open in San Antonio, finished third at the Masters, was second at the Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth, and has eight top-ten showings in 19 starts.
His struggles at AT&T Byron Nelson are well documented. The Preston Hollow resident and former Jesuit standout has played the local tournament 10 times in his career, more than any other stop on tour.
Almost every time, he’s among the favorites and draws the largest galleries, but he’s never been a factor on Sunday. This
year, Spieth placed ninth — his best finish since debuting in 2010 at age 16.
“I’m happy with kind of the way things turned out for the week as a whole,” Spieth said. “The tournament was great out here, and after having a month off just kind of coming out and hitting a lot of good shots, picking back up where I left off, was a big confidence boost.”
That month was due in part to a post-Masters case of COVID-19 that sent Spieth, 27, to the sidelines unexpectedly.
“It just kind of set me back a little. I wasn’t planning on taking a month off in the spring,” he said. “I had to quarantine away from my wife — in the same house, which was interesting. I know a lot of people have had to do that over the last year or so. I guess it certainly could have been worse, and so I was lucky with that.”
Spieth, 27, played the first two rounds in a threesome with two up-and-coming local
stars, Scottie Scheffler and Will Zalatoris — each still seeking their first victory on tour.
“They’re both obviously incredibly tal ented,” Spieth said. “I remembered being on the green in the group with these guys when I was 13, and they were 11. So what a kind of cool experience to see that now and obviously the success they’ve had.”
The quality of the tournament field increased this year with a relocation to TPC Craig Ranch in McKinney after a lackluster two-year stint at Preston Forest in Dallas and a cancellation in 2020.
“It’s exciting to see so many top guys coming back to Dallas. Obviously, as somebody who plays it every year, I would love for all the top players to come here,” Spieth said. “From the way I look at it, it’s just nice to have people come to the tournament that I grew up going to and seeing the best players come in.”
summer
FUN FASHION FINDS: BERKLEY CLOTHING AND EMPOWERED COWGIRL
They got leggings and know moms-to-be can use themBy Rachel Snyder rachel.snyder@peoplenewspapers.com
University Park’s Loren Heller had trouble finding maternity activewear leggings while pregnant with her daughter, Leighton, so she and friend Hillary Cullum started their Berkley line in 2020.
“What existed was what ... I term ‘throwaway leggings’ — intended to be worn for a short period of time,” Heller said. “I did what most women do, which is buy something two sizes too big.”
Heller and Cullum met while working for Neiman Marcus in Colorado about 15 years ago. Neiman Marcus eventually brought the pair to Dallas.
They started work on their line of luxury maternity leggings in 2019. The first, named the Janey and the Cindy after Heller and Cullum’s mothers, feature four-way stretch and come in trendy prints.
“(We) spent the next year and a half perfecting the perfect pair
of maternity leggings,” Heller said. “We started with the leggings as the most essential part of our assortment.”
Women struggle finding clothing that makes them feel like who they are during their pregnancy. Hillary Cullum
Cullum said they sought to fill a gap in the activewear market.
“When Loren brought the idea to me, we did research (on) what was out there,” she said. “The (activewear) market is really penetrated, and there are lots of options ... (but) when you become pregnant, that’s really not available to you anymore.”
Heller said they sought to empower women with their
New York designer draws on Texas roots for inspiration
By Maddie Spera Special ContributorEllie Gilchrist brings a bit of country to the big city with her Empowered Cowgirl line of jackets and accessories.
In May, the New York-based designer introduced her recently launched inaugural fashion line to Dallas shoppers with a popup event at her parents’ Highland Park home.
Gilchrist’s family owns clothing stores in Lubbock, so the world of retail and fashion has been ingrained in her from an early age.
After studying fashion design at Texas Tech, Gilchrist immediately went to New York for an internship at esteemed fashion title Harper’s Bazaar
“It was kind of like Devil Wears Prada, but the internship version,” Gilchrist said. “It was an intense but fun environment, and I loved the fast pace of everything.”
clothing line.
“Our heart and souls are in every aspect of the design,” she said. “Women struggle finding clothing that makes them feel like who they are during their pregnancy.”
Cullum said they designed their leggings to take women through pregnancy and postpartum times.
The COVID-19 pandemic posed challenges as the pair were working on launching their brand.
“Berkley is designed in Dallas and made in LA. During the shutdown, it made it very difficult to get anything moving quickly,” Heller said. “What would have taken us a couple months took us basically a year.”
The shift to working from home also added to the importance of their goal of providing comfortable, functional activewear, Heller said.
In the future, they hope to launch tops to go with their leggings and partner with retailers.
That led to more opportunities, including internships focusing on her interest in creation and design.
“I ended up with Jason Wu in 2015, and that was the first exposure I had to production, and that’s kind of where my career went for a few years,” she added.
Jason Wu let Gilchrist go from her job as a production coordinator at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. That setback provided an opportunity to focus on fashion design.
“One of my main inspiration sources is actually the Cowgirl Museum in Fort Worth,” Gilchrist said. “I went there in 2017 for the first time and fell in love with it. There’s a hall of fame with these really dynamic, strong women who come from all over the world. I figured there was a marketplace for this, like fusing the western style with more of a modern, sophisticated woman.
“City girls and country girls could both understand the Empowered Cowgirl,” she said. “And a cowgirl within this spirit also just means someone who is hardworking, has dignity, responsibility, and grace at the same time. So I wanted to fuse those things into apparel.”
Gilchrist plans to have more pop-ups and take her line to trade shows in the coming months. She is focusing her energy on improving and expanding her line and is excited about the future of the collection.
“I feel the creative spark quite often, so there are a lot of possibilities, for even just the pieces that I’ve already done,” Gilchrist said. “So this is going to be my next thing, but just enhanced.”
FEEL EMPOWERED
Visit empoweredcowgirl. com for more information or to shop Ellie Gilchrist’s fashion line.
3524 Centenary Drive Offered for $4,195,000
5 Bed / 6.2 Bath / 7,142 Sq.Ft.
Susan Baldwin 214.763.1591 susan.baldwin@alliebeth.com
5656 Celestial Road
Offered for $4,250,000
3 Bed / 3.1 Bath / 7,196 Sq.Ft.
Alex Perry & Elizabeth Wisdom 214.926.0158 / 214.244.0181 alex.perry@alliebeth.com elizabeth.wisdom@alliebeth.com
Inhale the Beauty
5403 Preston Fairways Circle – SOLD Offered for $1,150,000
4 Bed / 5 Bath / 4,707 Sq.Ft.
Susan Bradley 214.674.5518
susan.bradley@alliebeth.com
4321 Purdue Avenue – SOLD Private Sale
4 Bed / 3 Bath / Pool
Marc Ching
214.728.4069
marc.ching@alliebeth.com
Overflowing with Visitors? Time To Pop Up a Hut
By Bethany Erickson bethany.erickson@peoplenewspapers.comDavid Windle’s idea for a portable extra room wasn’t borne out of the pandemic. Still, when he mentioned his fledgling Popup Hut company among North Dallas NextDoor neighbors a few months in to the safer-at-home orders, it captured attention.
The story, however, starts in 2017 when Windle and his wife decided to host their families for Thanksgiving. They didn’t think everyone they invited would RSVP. When they did, their three-bedroom home suddenly became a tight fit that culminated in his sister-in-law sleeping in the utility room.
I built the first prototype, and we used the heck out of it. It actually became my office for a while. David Windle
“We tried to make it as homie as possible, we blew up this mattress, put a couple of candles in, and lots of flowers, but I guarantee you she was pretty miserable for the three nights she was at our house,” he said, ruefully.
That need for the occasional extra room didn’t leave when his relatives left that year, either.
In 2019, after leaving a decade-long stint in finance and traveling a bit, Windle discovered his next venture — creating a prototype (and eventually a business) of a portable room that was better than a tent in
terms of comfort but just as easy to put up and take down.
His first idea was a kind of accessory dwelling unit that would be easy to construct. Meetings with the city of Dallas (and a look at other cities permitting processes
and ordinances) left him realizing that he wouldn’t be able to scale and expand the project easily.
His epiphany, he said, came one day when he went to pull in beside his wife’s car in the garage.
“I’m looking in the garage, and the light bulb goes off, and I’m thinking like, this has some potential, there’s your roof, there’s already electricity running to this thing, there’s a nice concrete foundation,” he said. “I could build something that I could just quickly set up and take down when we don’t need it and be able to park the car in the garage again.”
What resulted (after several months of research and prototypes) was Popup Hut, a portable room that you can install in your garage that can be heated or cooled, has electricity, and can be an additional guest room, workout room, or home office.
“I built the first prototype, and we used the heck out of it,” he said. “It actually became my office for a while.”
POPUP BASICS
The modular 100-square-foot huts retail for $1,295 and can be built at half the size if needed. Made of military-grade fabric with steel supports, they include ports for air conditioner hoses, a door and windows, and carrying cases. Visit popuphut.com.
Comings and Goings
Eighty Three 0 Eight
Preston Center Plaza
The salon features a hair studio, nail services, facials, and medspa.
Kid Art
Snider Plaza
The studio moved to a larger lo cation to allow owner Tori Pend ergrass to include a long-awaited local artist gallery, gift boutique, and evening events.
Farmhouse Delivery farmhousedelivery.com
The online company expanded its service area to include the Park Cities, east Dallas, and other neighborhoods. It offers weekly deliveries and options ranging from meal kits, Farmhouse Kitchen dishes, grocery goods, as well as boxes of produce and meats. Deliveries in the Dallas market are every Thursday. Place orders by 3 p.m. Tuesdays.
The Bar Method
11661 Preston Road
The new 1,806-square-foot studio is the 154th nationwide but the first studio owned and operated by owner Melissa Moore. The studio offers hour-long, barrebased workouts that use isometric exercises to tone muscles, followed by stretching periods.
COMING
D.L.
Mack’s 6501 Hillcrest Avenue
The sixth concept for the Dallas-Fort Worth-owned and operated Valenday Hospitality Group will open in the former Biscuit Bar location. The reimagined 2,400-square-foot space will feature an outdoor garden patio. Its menu will include D.L. Mack’s Chicago-style cracker crust pizza, the “World’s Coldest Martinis,” and other elevated takes on classic American dishes inspired by Chicago eateries.
HOUSE OF THE MONTH 6 Island Drive, Cedar Creek Lake
This 1.24-acre waterfront home, complete with pool, is set on an island in Cedar Creek Lake’s Pinnacle Country Club. With lake frontage totaling 266 feet of deep, wide open water, the premier lot is one of the prettiest around with majestic trees and unobstructed water views. The residence offers three living areas, four gas fireplaces, an office, billiard room, two primary suites, and an amazing kitchen with gas cooktop and Viking appliances.
The property has been beautifully designed with custom woodwork, handpainted carved coffered ceilings and exquisite chandeliers. Outdoors is a gunite pool with expansive patio, and a boathouse that accommodates two boats and four personal watercraft. There is also a four-car garage and metal shake-shingle roof with lifetime warranty. Pinnacle Country Club offers a guard-gated entry, restaurant, pool, golf, and tennis.
Real Talk: Botond Laszlo
Botond Laszlo left Romania for the United States in 2001 and hit the ground running, first as a building engineer at the Galleria, doing home renovations and repairs on the side.
He hung his shingle up as Marvelous Home Makeovers not long after, creating innovative designs and seeing them through for upscale clientele all over the Park Cities and Preston Hollow.
He prides himself on building a clientele based on word-of-mouth and happy client referrals.
Seventeen years (and several awards) later, Laszlo rebranded his full-service firm as MHM Living.
What is the best thing about your job?
The best part of my job is building genuine relationships with our clients. That, and being able to create spaces that are unique to them is equally as rewarding. I enjoy developing spaces that capture who they are and reflect their personality and lifestyle. It is so fulfilling to see clients happy with their completed renovation that met or exceeded their expectations and to continue those relationships after the project has been completed.
Best advice for anyone considering a remodeling project?
Understand why you are remodeling. Is it because you need more space, or is it that the space is dysfunctional?
Have a vision. Did you see an example of a great gourmet kitchen or visit a house that connected their backyard with their living room? Do you have design ideas? If so, bring ideas/colors/pictures of rooms/materials that you like or inspire you.
Think about how the construction process and the end result will impact you and your family.
If you could go back in time and give just-starting-out you any advice, what would it be?
Have a clear vision – know where you are going.
Make sure you have the right people from the beginning; an amazing team is crucial for growth.
Surround yourself with successful people and learn from them.
Be bold and just do it.
Realize that you NEVER stop learning.
Think about the type of builder you want. Do you want a turnkey design and build firm or a handyman type of company?
Weigh out and manage your expectations about time, cost, and communication methods.
What is the mostused room in your home?
In my home, both the kitchen and family room are the center of our home, like most people. It is where we spend most of our time, whether it is just the family or if we have our friends over. Having a multi-purpose space that can accommodate any occasion is important.
Can you give us a couple of fun facts about yourself?
Ever since I was a child, I’ve always enjoyed working with my hands. When I was 14, I even dug out and built the foundation of our garage. At the age of 15, I would DJ and continued to for four years. Lastly, I raced mountain bikes for many years. To this day, I’m still an avid rider!
– Staff Report
BSWHealth.com/DallasChildbirth
Schools
CONGRATULATIONS, CLASS OF 2021
Alcuin
ESD
Hockaday
Lakehill
Jesuit Dallas
Parish Episcopal
Shelton School
Trinity Christian Academy
St. Mark’s
Student Documentary Explores What It Is To Be
By Rachel Snyder rachel.snyder@peoplenewspapers.comStudents in SMU’s Meadows School of The Arts turned five tweets shared by students using the #BlackAtSMU hashtag into a documentary.
Students first used the hashtag to share their experiences of racism on campus in 2015, and stories proliferated again last summer after the murder of George Floyd and protests for racial justice.
After about nine months of work by the production crew and cast, including co-directors rising senior Crislyn Fayson and rising junior Aysia Lane, producer Jillian Taylor, and others, the movie premiered on Dallas Hall Lawn this spring.
“When it came out, the students had an amazing reaction. It was beautiful,” Fayson said.
The idea to make the stories into a documentary grew out of one of SMU film and media arts
assistant professor Amber Bemak’s classes as students researched topics around racism on campus.
The film began with the story of SMU alumna Anga Sanders, who graduated in 1970. She spoke about burning small Confederate flags to protest a tradition known as “Old South Week,” when the Kappa Alpha fraternity would hang Confederate flags.
The film then told the stories of a student who recalled hearing chants of racial slurs on campus after the election of former President Donald Trump and another called a racial slur at a fraternity party. Still, another was asked to read Sojourner Truth’s “Ain’t I a Woman?” in a “plantation dialect.”
we wouldn’t have made the film,” Lane said.
The filmmakers hope professors and students will use the documentary to educate about racism.
“This film is meant to go beyond the screen and really be about conversation and discussion,” Bemak said after a recent virtual screening.
If we didn’t care about SMU, we wouldn’t have made the film. Aysia Lane
“I personally feel like conversations about things that are hard to talk about or uncomfortable, or not fan favorites are typically what sparks the most change,” Lane said. “I think SMU needs some conversations and to sit down and have talks about race on campus and race relations.”
She added that the documentary was “made from a place of wanting to get better together.”
“If we didn’t care about SMU,
Taylor said the film’s already influencing campus culture.
“A lot of this film is focused on influencing student culture, but it’s inherently bleeding into administration,” Taylor said. “Whispers of this are getting into administration’s ears, and some of them are seeing the film and seeing examples of these things happening on campus, so I think it’s doing really positive things – influencing not only student culture but administration culture too.”
LEARN MORE
Follow @blackatsmufilm on Instagram
REUNIGHT, A PARTY UNDER THE STARS
ReuNight, an annual benefit for The Family Place, moved to spring for a socially distanced evening amidst exquisite art at the Nasher Sculpture Center Garden.
The Dallas String Quartet serenaded the 150 guests, who arrived in floral-inspired cocktail attire to enjoy cocktails, dinner, and a live auction outdoors.
Event co-chairs Kristen Sanger and Lisa Singleton mingled with guests.
Patrick and Kristy Sands talked about touring the winter-storm decimated Safe Campus and reminded guests of the event’s purpose: to raise additional funds to address domestic violence.
“The Nasher Sculpture Center Garden was simply surreal,” said Melissa Sherrill, vice president of development at The Family Place. “We could not have dreamed up a more perfect place to ReuNight with new and old friends to raise much-needed funds for The Family Place.”
Playhouses Get Real Home Durability
By Rachel Snyder rachel.snyder@peoplenewspapers.comLes Owens of LRO Residential has lent his building expertise to Dallas CASA’s Parade of Playhouses at NorthPark for 12 years and is at it again this year.
LRO Residential builds homes in the Park Cities, Preston Hollow, Bluffview, and Devonshire.
Over the years, Owens has built a range of playhouses – from whimsical cottages to a fire station to a farmhouse with a copper silo. This year’s is a high-ceilinged cottage with a wooden roof.
“We frame the walls, and the roof, the rafters – everything just like you would a house,” Owens said. “So, it’s going to stand up over the test of time for sure. The front door, it’s ... real wood, just like a mini wood front door would be, real windows provided by Anderson, wood floors just like we put in the house, sheetrock.” Parade of Playhouses is the signature fundraising event for Dallas CASA, a nonprofit that advocates for abused and neglected children.
“Over the years, I’d seen it go into the mall,” Owens said of the event. “I always thought it was kind of neat, and when we had our first child ... we signed up. We were able to participate in it and thought as long as we have kids, it’d be a good thing to do every year. (It’s an) easy way to give back that aligns with what we do.”
– Staff report
1.
2.
TIPS FOR
ACheeky Beaches Need Sunscreen
Summer is here, and like jailbirds at Leavenworth, we couldn’t wait to break out of COVID prison.
3.
DECORATING WITH PLANTS
ny home will benefit from a few well-placed plants, whether they’re live or faux.
If you’re about to take a trip to the nursery and are wondering where your plants will go when you get home, read on for some designer tips on incorporating them into a space. Begin by looking for any unused corners, shelves, or trays where plants could go. For the most impact, you can’t go wrong with putting a large potted plant or indoor tree in your living room corner. Some other great places to display potted plants include balconies and on tables (such as breakfast tables, coffee tables, and dining tables).
My personal favorite containers for plants are blue-and-white porcelain pots and attractive baskets. Keep in mind that your
plant containers should match the overall style for your house. While blue-and-white pottery is more traditional, containers made of sleek metal or ceramic are more contemporary. Baskets can go either way.
If you’re intimidated by the upkeep required with live plants, or if you travel often, faux plants make a great alternative.
The most important consideration for choosing a faux plant is its realism. Thankfully, the quality of faux plants has improved dramatically in the past 10 years.
Nowadays, you can buy a faux tree for your home that is made with faux leaves attached to real wooden branches. Manufacturers also have started to vary the size and color of the leaves on these products, which goes a long way to creating a realistic look.
To make your faux plants even more difficult to distinguish from the real thing, try mixing them in with any live plants you do have, or putting them near a sunny window. Don’t put two of the same kind of faux plant
next to each other; the uniformity between the two will be too obvious.
Don’t put two of the same kind of faux plant next to each other; the uniformity between the two will be too obvious.
There are just as many ways to decorate with plants as there are varieties of plants, so don’t be afraid to get creative!
Margaret Chambers, a registered interior designer (RID) and member of the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID), leads Chambers Interiors and Associates. Her colleague Caitlin Crowley helped edit this column. Find more design advice at chambersinteriors.com/blog.
Earlier this year, our youngest, who finished college in May, informed us that for graduation, she wanted an upgrade to a new 2021 Audi from her low mileage 2017 Ford Escape. When it comes to gift requests, our kids always swing for the fences.
The conversation that followed began and ended with “No!” Surely her college education, which cost the same as a comfy suburban home, was a gift in itself.
With the backbone of Gumby, we bent and pondered possible presents.
We settled on a trip to the Bahamas and invited three of her besties. To ensure that this fierce foursome stayed on the good side of trouble, and as our reward for bankrolling academia, we decided to tag along. We felt like geniuses.
We arrived on Harbour Island with enough luggage to shame passengers on the Queen Mary II. The beach was layered with pink sand, the same color pink used by Lily Pulitzer. The water was a shade of blue only found in a Crayola 64-count box of crayons.
We rented a house and planned to eat breakfast and lunch in, hoping that our daytime frugality would offset the cost of dinners out. Our theory failed the first night. The college grads opened the evening with rum libations and lobster. To be conservative, I had only one Goombay Smash. Total dinner cost - $700. I began to wish we had invited fewer friends.
The next day we headed to the beach. When did behinds, as in the kind that I have managed to keep covered my whole life, become so public? I love fashion and knew that the latest trend was “cheeky” bikinis, but on this flamingo-colored beach, there was a full-monty of southern exposure. What’s more, all the other women (except me) donned the same style.
That day I saw more backsides than the last place filly at the Kentucky Derby. But, by week’s end, I had managed to relax and look past the Baywatch bums and the high price of a Goombay Smash. Our gaggle of grads had a memorable time, and as they gingerly took their seats on the flight home, I realized they had learned at least one life lesson: Always apply sunblock to parts down under.
Michele Valdez, a slightly compulsive, mildly angry feminist, has been an attorney and community volunteer. She has four demanding adult children, an enthusiastic black lab, and a patient husband.
Six Degrees of Separation: The Culinary Version
If you lived here in 2002 and were old enough to drink, chances are you found yourself at Hotel Zaza, head swiveling, looking for Kato Kaelin or your future ex-spouse.
It’s been almost 20 years since Zaza and Dragonfly, its in-house restaurant, opened, and it amazes me that they are both still relevant.
Dragonfly’s been led by well-respected chefs including Marc Cassell, Dan Landsberg, and now, Daniel Hatcher. Hatcher’s menu has something for everyone, from a succulent prime filet to a mind-blowing pan roasted redfish with shitakes and rock star starters including masa-battered jalapeño calamari and tender lamb lollipops.
Hatcher’s predecessor, Chef Dan Landsberg, started his career as a dishwasher, worked his way up the ladder, graduated from culinary school at the top of his class, and ended up executive chef of Stephen Pyles. He went on to lead Zaza’s Dragonfly restaurant to accolades for 11 years. Today, Chef Dan Landsberg is the executive chef of Ellie’s the art museum/restaurant in the HALL Arts Hotel, just around the corner from the very same Stephen Pyles restaurant which closed in 2015.
Ellie’s opened in December 2019 with Chef Eric Dreyer in charge. Dreyer was the executive chef at Fearing’s for more than 10 years before pulling a stint as Oprah’s personal chef. Sadly, we didn’t get to enjoy much of his beautifully fresh, California-vibe menu because of the *P* word.
Dreyer left Ellie’s in January 2021 and Zaza’s Landsberg came to Ellie’s in March, putting his own spin on the menu with dishes
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like ancho chile coconut palm chicken breast and Texas shell pea hummus with local produce and pita. Ellie’s menu is filled with produce and products from local farms and small purveyors, a signature of Landsberg’s menus.
So, where’s Chef Dryer? He moved to Monarch, the high-above-the-clouds restaurant in The National downtown, home of The Thompson Hotel. Monarch is buzzy right now for its exceptional view from 49 floors up, the beautiful-people crowd, and for its outstanding food. Dreyer’s oven roasted prawns, sea scallops, and pastas command a high price, and they should.
Local chatter included some criticism of Monarch’s prices, such as $18 cocktails and $12 sides, and cancellation policy that charges $25 per person for late cancellations or noshows. Restaurants that serve best-in-class proteins, house-made pastas, and a live Alaskan king crab for $1,000 demonstrate a value proposition that isn’t going to appeal to everyone. Eric Dreyer is one of the best chefs in North Texas right now, and Monarch fills a desire to be spoiled, entertained, wowed, wined, and dined.
If you haven’t noticed by now, the restaurant business is one big game of “Six Degrees of Separation.” Sometimes in the kitchens and sometimes out. To wit, Dragonfly’s Chef Hatcher is from a little town in Louisiana called Zachary where my people, the Rettigs, settled after immigrating from Alsace. Chef Hatcher went to middle school with my cousin, which delights me almost as much as Dragonfly’s key lime pie made by his sous chef’s own recipe.
Follow Kersten Rettig, a Park Cities-based writer with more
Memory Lane: Grandmother’s Lemon Meringue Pie
The first dessert I ever baked, at the ripe old age of 12, was a lemon meringue pie, my grandfather Sebastian’s favorite.
As a young girl, I loved watching my grandmother Henrietta in her Pennsylvania kitchen roll out pie pastry and expertly flute the edges.
I still have cherished flavor memories of her delicate cookies, but try as I might, I can’t duplicate those. After years of baking in my own kitchen, it dawned on me that the butter, eggs, and even the flour are different from the ones my grandmother used.
Over time, I learned many of her baking techniques, including the pastry cloth she always used for rolling pie and cookie dough so they wouldn’t stick to the counter. I always pack a pastry cloth in my luggage when visiting my mom or our son and daughter-in-law, just in case I have the occasion to whip up a pie, biscuits, or rolled cookies.
Lemon meringue pie is sublime any time of the year, but especially during spring and summer. The bright, lemony tang of the filling, topped with a cloud of melt-in-your-mouth sweet meringue cleanses the palate while satisfying the urge for something light and sweet after chowing down on barbecued ribs, burgers, or a juicy grilled steak.
PASTRY
Ingredients:
1 ½ cups flour
1 tablespoon sugar
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup cold unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch cubes
5-6 tablespoons ice water
Directions: Place flour, sugar, and salt into the bowl of a food processor, cover, and pulse several times to mix. Add cold butter and pulse until it is pea-size. Add five tablespoons of ice water and process at low speed until the pastry is crumbly. If the mixture appears dry, add the remaining water and process just until the pastry comes together and forms a ball. Remove the pastry, wrap it in plastic wrap, and chill at least 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Roll the pastry out on a floured pastry cloth or counter and fit it into a 10-inch pie plate. Flute the edges and prick the crust with a fork. Bake the pie shell nine
The secret to any lemon filling begins with the fruit. Taking a short cut by using bottled lemon juice will only yield disappointment after the first taste.
Look for fruit with smooth, thin, bright yellow skin, and avoid lemons with tinges of green, since these are underripe. They should feel heavy for their size for an abundance of juice. Before slicing in half, roll them back and forth on the counter a few times using light pressure from your hand. It’ll make them easier to squeeze, so you’ll get more juice.
For a pie that’ll win the hearts of your
day of baking, and preferably on the same day. There’s a rather short window before meringue turns from silky to sticky, which makes it difficult to slice without destroying that picture-perfect meringue. If it begins to stick to the knife, use a wet towel to wipe the knife between each slice.
I never bake a lemon meringue pie without thinking of my grandparents. What’s your favorite food memory?
Cookbook author and PBS television chef Christy Rost is a longtime resident of the Park Cities and Preston Hollow. See her “Celebrating Home” four-minute cooking videos at youtube.com/ChristyRostCooks and
to 11 minutes until the pastry is lightly browned. Remove it from the oven and cool completely.
FILLING
Ingredients:
1 ¼ cups sugar
1 package unflavored gelatin
1/3 cup cornstarch
¼ teaspoon salt
3 egg yolks
1 ½ cups water
½ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon zest
Directions: In a large saucepan, stir together the sugar, gelatin, cornstarch, and salt. Whisk in egg yolks, water, lemon juice, and zest. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens and just comes to a boil. Remove the saucepan from the heat and set it aside 15
minutes to cool, stirring every five minutes. Pour into the cooled pie shell.
MERINGUE
Ingredients:
3 egg whites, at room temperature
¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
1/3 cup sugar
Directions: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. With a mixer on high speed, whip egg whites until they are foamy, add cream of tartar, and beat briefly. Gradually add sugar, beating until the meringue forms stiff peaks.
With an offset metal spatula or knife, spread the meringue over the lemon filling, sealing it well at the edges of the pastry. Bake four to five minutes to lightly brown the meringue. Cool 40 minutes, then chill until the pie is cold and the filling has set.
Pinned Up Patriotism For Vaccinations
By Riley Farrell Special ContributorThe Appleton boys, John, 15, Boone, 13, and Cole, 10, founded 3ApplePins before children younger than 16 became eligible to get a COVID-19 vaccine to encourage adults to get immunized.
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The Preston Hollow brothers, all students at The Episcopal School of Dallas, found inspiration from their parents who participated in the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine trial. The financial compensation the Appletons received from the trial served as seed money for the boys’ online store.
“We wanted to contribute to this pandemic being over,” John said. “So we made up an idea of vaccine pins so that people would be encouraged to get vaccinated.”
3ApplePins promotes COVID-19 vaccinations through accessories, featuring their slogan, “for you and me,” to make people view getting vaccinated as a patriotic act, John said. Cole said 3ApplePins has an ideal target clientele of people who got vaccinated and want to lessen the anxiety others feel about getting immunized.
“We were just talking about how masks could have been more effective if they were patriotic, and so we just thought if we could make vaccines patriotic, then maybe everyone would get them, and everyone would be safer,” Boone said.
The brothers hope people who have gotten vaccinated will encourage others by wearing one of two pin designs available for $10. A portion of their profits goes to the American Red Cross for COVID relief.
Their mother, Monece Appleton, said her sons learned skills such as opening a checking account, getting a PO Box, researching a supplier, packing materials, and shipping.
“They have also learned about problem-solving, managing their time, and being responsible,” she said. “I have no doubt those skills will come in handy as they grow up.”
https://www.etsy.com/
THE PERRY-MILLER STREIFF GROUP
French Creole Charm in Preston Hollow
4214 Manning is being offered for $2,995,000 in Manchester Estates.
Inspired by the renowned architecture of A. Hays Town, 4214 Manning combines French Creole charm with modern-day comfort and construction. Exposed brick interior walls and painted brick archways are reminiscent of a leisurely stroll through New Orleans’ French Quarter. This theme continues in the brick-paved courtyard with bubbling fountain – perfect for your morning paper and coffee.
Throughout the home, enjoy stunning sight lines and architectural details from every vantage point. Generouslysized windows and a thoughtful floor plan combine to allow both natural light and privacy. Oversized rooms with high ceilings - such as the delightful downstairs owner’s retreat - still feel cozy and intimate thanks to perfect proportions and textural charm. This timeless, restrained beauty is only enhanced by modern-day conveniences, such as dual walk-in closets and a full Lutron lighting system.
Enjoy the manicured French garden from the adjacent outdoor dining area or screened-in back patio. Towninfluenced components such as reclaimed 150-year-old pine floors and antique reproduction light fixtures ensure you won’t find another home like this in Dallas.
Located in the prestigious estate section of Preston Hollow, with multi-million-dollar new construction in every direction. Close proximity to elite private schools and recent addition of Central Market add further interest to this sought-after neighborhood.
Ranked as the #2 team in DFW and the #4 team in Texas, The Perry-Miller Streiff Group has over $165 Million in Sold and Pendings for 2021.
Contact Jamie Kohlmann (214.669.6520) or Ryan Streiff (469.371.3008) to schedule a private showing or visit dpmfinehomes.com for more details and images.
Low inventory of homes for sale in the DFW market hasn’t held back the agents at Allie Beth Allman & Associates. This year, the brokerage met its $1 billion annual sales milestone in April, the earliest it has ever achieved this goal.
“This is the direct result of our agents building lasting relationships with their clients and colleagues,” said President of Sales Keith Conlon. “They are connecting with longtime clients every day to list their homes for sale as well as searching every day and finding homes for buyers.”
Using an expert real estate is very nearly a must in today’s market, according to a recent report by bankrate. com. That agent can help with negotiating amid multiple offers, which is common today, finding homes via private listings, and navigating disclosures, inspections and other steps in the process. In 2020, only 12% of homebuyers declined to use an agent while buying a home, according to the National Association of Realtors.
The luxury real estate boutique of Allie Beth Allman & Associates leads DFW in the sale of homes $3 million above, and in premier neighborhoods including the Park Cities and Preston Hollow areas, according to the Multiple Listing Service. Connect with an agent at alliebeth.com.
BRIGGS FREEMAN SOTHEBY’S
REALTY
Bluffview’s Coolest Contemporary
8410 Swananoah Road, represented by Cortney Bailey for $3,400,000.
Can you imagine your housewarming party here?
Behind double privacy gates in the heart of Bluffview is 8410 Swananoah Road, a superb Contemporary showplace offering more than 5,600 square feet of space and style. It brims with modern luxuries, including architectural detailing everywhere, a twostory chef’s kitchen, a tiered media room and a firstfloor main suite with spa-like bath, safe room and boutique-style closet.
The outdoor living is as posh, with a resort-style pool, covered outdoor kitchen and fireplace. The pristine, one-owner home was built in 2012 and boasts a smart layout and designer touches in every room, with dramatic interior spaces that blend functionality and elegance.
The two-story chef’s kitchen is a showstopper on its own, fitted with the finest appliances and seamlessly joining the family and dining rooms. More perks include four additional en-suite bedrooms, five full baths in all, three half baths, several bonus spaces and a four-car garage.
This unique home is represented by expert agent Cortney Bailey for $3,400,000. Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s International Realty, founded in the Park Cities in 1960, represents luxury homes, highrises, ranches, land and commercial properties. Its briggsfreeman.com website is a cutting-edge portal featuring properties, neighborhoods, schools, virtual tours, architecture guides and more.
DAVE PERRY-MILLER REAL ESTATE Stephen Collins Lists Reso rt-Style Bluffview Home on Large Lot
This Mediterranean home at 8607 Midway Road (8607midway.daveperrymiller.com) is sited on a deep, private .45-acre lot on the quiet stretch of Midway where it turns west. Offered by Stephen Collins for $1,495,000, the four-bedroom, 3.1-bath home with pool/spa feels like your own personal resort - a very manageable resort at 2,985 square feet (per tax).
Originally built in 2000, updates abound – including stone and leather (in the primary suite) flooring, Ann Sacks accent tiles, wine room with stone cave entry and a temperaturecontrolled wine cooler. Highlights include a gallery-style entry hall leading past the study to a bright, open kitchendining-living area, a primary suite with gorgeous views of the tropical yard and an incredible year-round outdoor living area featuring a fireplace and fully equipped kitchen.
Other amenities: a sizable rear storage building, threecar garage and a separate air-conditioned bonus space perfect for dogs, hobbies or crafts.
To schedule a showing, contact Collins at 469.774.9749 or steve@daveperrymiller.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.
ALLIE BETH ALLMANTexas is Magnet For New Homeowners
The world has discovered what we always knew – Texas is a great place to buy a home, raise a family and enjoy an inspired life.
“We have more options on space and are much less congested compared to other large cities,” said Deb Borrell, director of Relocation and Business Development for Allie Beth Allman & Associates.
U.S. Census Bureau figures released May 4 show DFW is No. 1 in raw population growth, and Borrell said that’s not likely to change soon.
Here are three homes Allman experts have waiting for them.
On a large lot in Highland Park, a five-bedroom home is steps away from Bradfield Elementary School. The Georgian-style home at 4529 N. Versailles Ave. is built for today’s lifestyle with a first-floor study and bath and a beautiful saltwater pool.
A refreshed, single-story home with four bedrooms sits at 7514 Northaven Road in popular Preston Hollow. The home has an open floor plan with a sitting area near the eatin kitchen. The covered patio has a fireplace.
Visit alliebeth.com for all available listings. The luxury real estate boutique of Allie Beth Allman & Associates leads North Texas in the sale of homes in several of the most prestigious neighborhoods.
When you subscribe to The Allmanac, a weekly newsletter produced by Allie Beth Allman & Associates, you get a weekly executive briefing of the luxury real estate market delivered directly to your inbox. Here’s what The Allmanac reported recently. Multiple offers. Cash only. Thousands of dollars over
EBBY HALLIDAY New Ebby Home-Search App Now Available
Ebby Halliday Realtors’ new app means your new home could be just a tap away.
“With our new app, MLS listings across North Texas are in the palm of your hand,” says Travis Mathews, vice president of Strategic Growth & Technology for the Ebby Halliday Companies. “Our primary goal for this release was providing consumers with the most intuitive mobile real
BETH ALLMANFinding Luxury Living in a Dallas High-Rise
Buyers of all ages are gravitating toward high-rise living in Dallas, according to the high-rise luxury experts at Allie Beth Allman & Associates.
Owning a high-rise home in Dallas comes with easy walkability to shops and restaurants, and luxury-level amenities such as 24-hour concierge services, valet parking, and state-of-the-art gyms and pools.
For those interested in living the high life here are some homes available right now.
A four-bedroom condo for sale at The Stoneleigh, 2300 Wolf St. #16BC, has an undeniably glamorous atmosphere. The elevator opens directly to the light-filled foyer, providing privacy and convenience. From there, the home continues to impress with sweeping city views and elegant modern style. Offering an open layout and 5,427 square feet of living space, the home has plenty of room for playing host.
Across the street, there’s a captivating condo listed on the 22nd floor of The Mayfair, 3401 Lee Parkway #2203. Its open floor plan is ideal for entertaining and leads out to a covered terrace where unobstructed views of Downtown Dallas shine. This home is a true oasis of calm. The master suite has two generous walk-in closets, a jetted-tub and a spacious shower.
Connect with an expert agent at alliebeth.com.
stone-clad estate home with Italian barrel tile roof, manicured 1.1-acre site with mature trees and landscape by Harold Leidner. Gourmet kitchen topped by a barrel brick ceiling is open to one of several family rooms. Custom Knotty Alderwood cabinetry with White Castle hardware provides storage. Two full-size SubZeros refrigerators, two Asko dishwashers, two gas Wolf ovens and warming drawer. Outdoor Kitchen equipped with a Wolfe outdoor grille and Subzero undercounter refrigerators, and electric screens. Resort like pool, cabana, turfed back yard, private guest house. Home is equipped with Geothermal HVAC and natural gas generator.
For more information please contact Kyle Crews (214) 538-1310.
asking price as the minimum. If you are or have been a buyer or a seller or have represented any side in the past year, you know the story. Contingencies? Not in this market. This is a seller’s market and even before the sign goes up, the house is probably already sold, especially in the suburbs. The average number of days on the market for a single-family home in the area has been around 30, with a few exceptions. Want to get away? You’re not alone. The strongest price increases in the country in the first quarter of 2021 were vacation destinations. Second-home demand surged during the pandemic and the trend continues. Kingston, N.Y., 100 miles north of the Big Apple in the picturesque Hudson Valley, gained the most, up 35.5% from 2020.
To subscribe to The Allmanac, visit alliebeth.com/ registerfornews.
estate experience possible.”
Whether you’re shopping by price, location or aesthetics, as a user of the new Ebby app you’ll find it’s easier than ever to browse homes for sale.
“Our new mobile app provides access to real-time property information and smart messaging tools,” Mathews says. “It makes it easy to connect with your agent from any mobile device, as well as create saved searches and add favorites at your convenience. Simply put, our mobile-first home search with built-in chat makes collaboration fast, easy and fun.”
The new Ebby Halliday app seamlessly integrates with ebby.com so your saved searches and favorited properties sync between the app and websites. The Ebby Halliday Realtors app is available on the Apple App Store and on Google Play. Download the app today for free and experience modern home searching with ease.
‘Post Office Murals a Truly Democratic Art Form’
Is a U.S. Post Office Murals tour a reason to plan a road trip?
Can a post office double as a mini-museum?
Absolutely!
But if my questions leave you wondering what is a post office mural, let’s enjoy a brief history lesson.
Post office murals and art are only one of the New Deal efforts to employ artists and beautify our country.
Patricia Raynor wrote in a Smithsonian Institute article at si.edu, “Post offices built in the 1930s during Roosevelt’s New Deal were decorated with enduring images executed by artists working for the Section of Fine Arts … Post offices were located in virtually every community and available for viewing by all postal patrons — which made post office murals a truly democratic art form.”
I honestly don’t know how I became aware of post office art. Google led me to a list of the post office art and artists throughout Texas, and a Texas road trip with my daughter
included visits to small-town post offices.
Out of the blue, I received a very kind note from a post office mural author David Gates who came across my March column about that trip.
I interviewed him in a recent Curious Cowgirl travel podcast episode.
David discovered murals while hiking across America and stopping in small-town post offices to receive packages of supplies.
He later wrote two coffee table books documenting post office murals in Tennessee and Wisconsin and also has guide books for those states plus Illinois.
Another author, Philip Parisi, published a coffee table book (meaning filled with gorgeous full-color photos) for the Great State of Texas.
Post office murals and art are only one of the New Deal efforts to employ artists and beautify our country. Visit livingnewdeal.org to find 16,000-plus locations in the United States to admire New Deal art and architecture.
Texas has more than 900 sites.
In our backyard, see the Reverschon Park Bridge, Flag Pole Hill, the Tietze Park Pavilion, and of course, Fair Park.
Now there’s a great road trip –just around Dallas!
Mary Meier-Evans, of University Park, has a Texas-sized curiosity. Check out her blog and podcast at thecuriouscowgirl.com.
/ 214-755-8180 / atrusler@briggsfreeman.com
ARVESEN / 214-354-6142 / darvesen@briggsfreeman.com POGIR / 214-244-3103 / pogir@briggsfreeman.com
ARVESEN / 214-354-7029/ marvesen@briggsfreeman.com
2021 Coloring Contest
Submit entries for a chance to win fun and yummy prizes.
*Details on Page 4
Coloring Book Contest 4th
Entries will be displayed in a digital photo gallery on peoplenewspapers.com and winning entries will be published in the August edition of Park Cities People and Preston Hollow People Submitted pages will be displayed at Toys Unique, 5460 West Lovers Lane (behind Inwood Theatre).
RULES
1. One entry per child.
2. Pick your favorite coloring page, when complete scan or take a photo of your colored page.
3. Submit your coloring page and complete the entry form:
4. All entries must be received by July 13, 2021
Prizes will be awarded in each of the following age groups (2–4, 5–7, 8–10, 11–13)
$100 Toys Unique gift card, 4 tickets to this year’s State Fair of Texas, and 2 dozen Bundtinis ® from Nothing Bundt Cakes* for a sweet celebration with friends and family!
*Must redeem at 4264 Oak Lawn Ave location
NOW BOARDING.
DART is the perfect way to start your family adventure.
Dallas Fort Worth International Airport and Dallas Love Field are