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contents JANUARY 2022 VOL.16 NO.1
4 CLICKWORTHY All the web news 6 PROFILE Texas Rep. Jessica González 12 WILLIE’S HARMONICA PLAYER How a SOC grad influenced Mickey Raphael 16 EVICTION HOT SPOT Why landlords kick tenants to the curb 18 GREEK CAFE & BAKERY Joanna Tatakis carries the torch for her family 20 REARVIEW MIRROR Moments that matter from the past year
Kourabiedes, walnut sugar cookies, from Greek Cafe & Bakery. Read more on page 18. Photography by Kathy Tran. JAJANUARY 2022
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The building at 1700 W. 10th St. was originally a gas station.
Contributors: George Mason, Patti Vinson, Carol Toler, Sam Gillespie, Matthew Ruffner, Eric Folkerth, Contributing photographers: Kathy Tran, Emil Lippe, Corrie
T
wo vintage gas stations in Oak Cliff could become restaurants if zoning-change requests are approved. A group of investors wants to turn the lavandería/taquería/sno-cone stand at 1700 W. 10th St. into a restaurant with a patio. The current occupant serves takeout as a retail space, but this request is for a full-service restaurant, which its zoning doesn’t allow. T he building was construc ted in 1930 as a Magnolia/Mobil gas station. Ninety years ago, it was on The Boundary streetcar line. It is currently for sale. Winnetka Heights resident Chad Dolezal is the chef behind the idea. He previously helmed The Hightower in Austin. Dolezal said “it’s very early in the process” and declined to share any specific plans. The old filling station at 700 W.
Davis St. is only a little younger, built in 1932. The owner of the building, which is now the headquarters of nonprofit the Better Block, has requested a zoning change to allow a restaurant. The owner, Craig Schenkel, and representatives from the Better Block didn’t respond to requests for comment. Better Block founder Jason Roberts is also a restaurateur who coowns Oddfellows and Revelers Hall in the Bishop Arts District, as well as Frenchmen All Day in New Orleans. T he building was originally a Conoco gas station, according to the Texas Historical Commission. It was the office of Ruth Chenoweth’s real estate firm until she died in 2006. Brumley Gardens had an outpost there for a couple of years before Better Block leased it in 2016.
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ABOUT THE COVER A remnant of the old Alamo Plaza Hotel Courts sign at Sylvan Thirty. Photography by Jessica Turner.
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CRYSTAL GONZALEZ More than a neighborhood Real Estate Broker, Crystal Gonzalez is your neighbor. She’s raising 2 children in Oak Cliff and fully invested in preserving Oak Cliff’s spirit and soul. Crystal has been invested in Oak Cliff since the moment she arrived in Dallas. Her first investment in Oak Cliff was in the historic neighborhood of Winnetka Heights. Many homes later she still lives in the neighborhood and continues to sell homes throughout Oak Cliff, many at record setting values. “Initially people didn’t understand my obsession with Oak Cliff,” she says. “The spirit, soul and culture is like nowhere else in Dallas. I believe in Oak Cliff and can’t ever see myself leaving. I’m doing my part to preserve the culture while moving us forward for my and everyone’s future generations.” “While the landscape changes and we move forward and advance, I plan on being here for it and every change we go through, whether easy or difficult we’ll do it as a community.” she says. Want a neighborhood specialist to handle your real estate needs? Call her at 214.642.9630 or email her at crystal.gonzalez@ compass.com
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QUO RU M BUST E R Rep. Jessica González led Democrats into an epic standoff in the 2021 Texas Legislature Interview by RACHEL STONE | Photography by EMIL LIPPE
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A
newswire photo of Rep. Jessica G onzález shows the Texas lawmaker from Oak Cliff in a houndstooth dress and true-blue blazer, arm outstretched with fingers spread, speaking intensely in front of microphones at a press conference on May 30, 2021, the day Democrats walked out of the Texas House of Representatives. G onzález’s fellow Dems fill in six rows on the steps of a church behind her, but she’s the leader here. As vice chair of the Elections Committee, G onzález was at the forefront of a political fight over voting rights during the 2021 Texas L egislature. “ This bill is entirely unnecessary, and it’s a hateful piece of legislation,” G onzález told ABC News earlier in May. Orchestrating a coup to stop the Texas voting bill was the easy part. “That was probably one of the first times I’d smiled in a long time, when we broke quorum, and we went to the church that night, and there was only about an hour left of session,” G o n z á l e z s a y s . “ We had just seen Republicans getting their w a y o v e r a n d o v e r, and for once, it was l i ke , ‘ No , t h i s i s t o o i m p o r t a n t .’ S o m e times you have to do what’s scar y.” That night in May, Democrats killed the Republican-backed proposal to restrict voting in Texas by leaving the Capitol and preventing a quorum on the House floor. But the bill was resurrected in one of G ov. Greg Abbott’s special-called sessions and eventually passed. The law is set to take effect before the November election this year, but it is currently embroiled in litigation. G onzález was born in Oak Cliff, the youngest of four kids, and attended what is now Barbara Jordan Elementar y. Her parents are immigrants from Mexico who own a snack business. She graduated from Duncanville High School — coincidentally,
“That was probably one of the first times I’d smiled in a long time, when we broke quorum.
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also Abbott’s high school alma mater — in 1999. She attended Mountain View College while still in high school because her calculus class was taught there, and she eventually received a degree in criminal justice from the University of Te xas at Arlington. The late Adelfa Callejo, a Dallas civil rights leader, encouraged her to go to law school after G onzález applied for a job at Callejo’s law firm. She wasn’ t hired because, Callejo told her, she was overqualified. At the time, González was only considering schools nearby because she didn’ t want to be far from her family. And she’d scored low on the LSAT despite a stellar academic record. “She gave me a lot of good advice. She told me to apply for law school out of state,” G onzález says of Callejo. “She said, ‘Apply to all the schools that have free applications and see if you get in.’ ” And that’s how she wound up at Western Michigan Law School. That led her to a string of impressive work experiences, including law extern for the U.S. Department of Justice voting rights section. She spent six months as a White House intern in 2012, working on immigration policy. And she was statewide voter protection director in Nevada for Obama’s second presidential campaign. She works as a personal injury trial lawyer at her firm, Gándara & G onzález PLLC, in Oak Cliff. She took office in 2018, and she is up for re-election in November. She was criticized in August 2021 for traveling to Portugal while the Texas Democrats were amid another walkout. It was revealed later that G onzález was there to get married. She tied the knot with Dallas native Angela Hale, a senior adviser for Equality Texas and a registered lobbyist who works for LGBTQ+ rights, on Aug. 7. G o n z á l e z fi r s t ra n f o r o ffi c e i n 2 01 8 , b e at i n g l o n g t i m e i n c u m b e n t D e m o c rat R o b e r t o A l o n z o in the primar y “Initially I wanted to run for city council, but people started asking me, ‘Have you thought about state house?’ I just saw these vulnerable communities who are under attack. It’s personal, and it’s personal for the district.” S H E STA RT E D H E R F I R M W I T H CASSA N D RA GÁNDARA, WHO HAS ALSO RUN FOR POLITICAL OFFICE
We s t a r t e d h e a r i n g f r o m f o l k s w h o we r e s c a r e d
about picking up their kids from school or going grocer y shopping, so they were trying to get documents to make sure their kids would at least b e wi t h a f a mi ly m e mbe r or friend if they got deported. We started helping people with those documents, but you should be able to pick your kids up from school and not be afraid. And then there was t h e “ b a t h r o o m b i l l ,” a tt a c k s o n w o m e n’s h e a l t h c a r e a n d t h e L G B T c o m m u n i t y, a n d I just got really frustrated that there’s something really wrong. It was like this district being under attack. It’s a safe Democrat seat, and it deserves t o h av e s o m e o n e v o c a l w h o will stand up for it. So finally, my law partner was like, “ You have to do this.” REPUBLICAN SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE DADE PHELAN APPOINTED HER TO THE E L E CT I O N S C O M M I T T E E , L I K E LY B ECAU S E O F H E R EXTENSIVE EXPERIENCE WITH ELECTIONS AND VOTING RIGHTS
As far as hands-on experience, I knew there was no other House member who had that. It was an opportunity for me to get in there and let my experience work for the people of Texas. REP. BRISCOE CAIN, A REPUBLICAN FROM BAYTOWN, SERVED AS CHAIRMAN OF THAT COMMITTEE
When I saw the appointments, I was like “Oh, Lord.” I was an Obama lawyer, and the chair was a Trump lawyer. He flew out to Philadelphia to tr y and o ve r t u r n t h e 2 0 2 0 e l e c t i o n .
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We o b v i o u s l y h ave ve r y c o n trasting perspectives, so I knew it was going to be a challenge. I decided to focus on my work as vice chair of the committ e e , t o m a k e s u r e t h a t w e ’r e building a litigation record, because I knew if it passed, there was going to be a lawsuit that followed.
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IT WAS AN EXTREMELY CONT E N T I O U S L E G I S L AT I V E SESSION
As vice chair, unfortunately, I saw firsthand what it is to be a woman, and then a woman of color, in this position. Being disrespected, being ignored, and I saw it even more this session. There were no Black members on the elections committee, and the chair refused to hear the Black caucus. So I coordinated with the chair of the Black caucus, (Rep. Nicole Collier)and I said, “When I’m presiding, I’ ll recognize you.” Well the chair abruptly stopped the committee hearing and would not let her speak and demande d t h e g av e l b a c k . S o i t w a s very frustrating in that regard. To n s o f p e o p l e w o u l d c o m e in and tes tify that there’s no e vidence of widespread voter fraud in Texas, and yet it would still move for ward.
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B E I N G A D E M O C R AT I N A R E D S TAT E M E A N S C O N STANTLY PLAYING DEFENSE
Democrats actually do have a p l a t f o r m . He r e i n t h e d i s tric t, we have problems with a ff o r d a b l e h o u s i n g . Ho w d o we balance encouraging economic development and entrepreneurism and help s m a l l businesses without displacing people from their h o m e s ? And we’re not even able to work on that bec a u s e Democrats are left to have to just fight the entire time against something like the “ bathroom bill ” and all these culture wars.
It’s my responsibility to make sure people turn out to vote. We can’t lose our focus on that.
WALKING OUT TO PREVENT THE VOTE WAS AN EASY DECISION
It k i n d o f c a m e d o w n t o t h e wire, and when Republicans
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started to have these backroom conversations, changing the bills. … There were some that would’ve made it really easy to overturn elections, like without any e vidence of fraud. … For me, that was it. Democrats came together to use the only power we had.
SHE ALSO FOUGHT THE “ T R A N S S P O R T S B I L L ,” WHICH ULTIMATELY PASSED AND IS MEANT TO PREVENT TRANSGENDER GIRLS FROM PARTICIPATING IN UIL SPORTS
People who have been following what’s been happening in our state and across the nation, t h i s i s w h at R e p u b l i c a n s d o . The “ bathroom bill” is a prime
e x a m p l e . T h e y ’r e a l w a y s going to find a creative w ay t o a tt a c k t r a n s c h i l dren. This time it was trans kids playing sports. So we always have to be vigilant about these issues. I think they might’ve gone too far this time. We will find out in November.
We thank you Oak Cliff, for a great 2021, and cheers to serving you in 2022!
WHAT SHE’S PROUD OF, FROM THE 2021 TEXAS LEGIS LATURE
I’m proud of the fact that I challenged laws based on data. (The walkout) helped make the voting-rights i s s u e i n Te x a s a n at i o n a l issue. It elevated it to a national stage, and it started a robust discussion. I d o n’ t t h i n k p e o p l e k n e w the egregious behavior that was happening in the elections committee. We were able to de feat all the anti-LGBT stuff in the regular session, and the special sessions until the last one. ON SERVING A “SAFELY” DEMOCRATIC DISTRICT
I feel like I have an e ven b i g g e r r e s p o n s i b i l i t y. There’s no reason I should have the second-lowest turnout district in Dallas County. It ’s my responsibility to make sure people turn out to vote. We can’ t lose our focus on that. And I think that people jus t need to know what ’s going on — that our rights are under attack. In local elections, sometimes people win by a couple hundred votes, so for people t o t h i n k t h e i r v o t e i s n’ t important, that’s just not true.
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H A R M O N I CA MAN Dallas native Mickey Raphael made a career of wailing on the harp Story by RACHEL STONE Photo courtesy of MICKEY RAPHAEL
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LEGE N DA R Y UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS FOOTBALL COACH Darrell K. Royal introduced Mickey Raphael to Willie Nelson in 1973. “He was a big music fan and patron of the arts and a close friend of Willie’s,” Raphael says of Royal. “He had heard me play, I guess, at some clubs in Austin.” Coach Royal had a friend-of-a-friend invite Raphael to a “pickin’ party” in his room at what is now The Highland Dallas on Mockingbird Lane after a game at SMU. Willie and 30-40 other people were there. The harmonica player, who grew up in Preston Hollow, has been in Willie’s band ever since that night. Now 70, he’s still the young guy in The Family. “I started with him when he was 39, but he doesn’t look any different to me now,” Raphael says of his boss, who is 88. “Maybe a little bit. But he was seasoned when he turned 40.” Raphael graduated from Hillcrest High School in 1969, and the father of his inimitable style was Don Brooks. Brooks, a South Oak Cliff High School graduate, was a harmonica session musician who played on dozens of albums, including titles by Diana Ross, Bette Midler, Judy Collins and the Talking Heads.
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He was i n Wa y l o n Je n n i n g s ’ band and stands out on Honky Tonk Heroes and This Time. He’s featured on the track “Harmonica Talk” off Walker’s 1970 album Bein’ Free. Brooks died in 2000 at age 53. Raphael met him at The Rubaiyat, a bygone coffeehouse and music venue in Downtown Dallas, where Jerry Jeff Walker, Guy Clark and Michael Martin Murphey also played. “He was the first real harmonica player that I ever saw,” Raphael says. “I heard him play, and that’s when I decided to focus on harmonica.” The tuba was Raphael’s first instrument in the middle school band, which he joined to avoid gym class. “I think they just gave it to me because I was tall enough to march with it,” says the 6-foot-tall musician. “They didn’t even care if I could play it, but I learned a few things.” He loved music but was a lousy guitar player. He says he was “just a music fan” noodling around on the harmonica when he ran into Brooks at the Rubaiyat one fateful night. “He taught me the basics of everything I know in 10 minutes, sitting on a step outside the Rubaiyat,” Raphael says. “I’d say about 80% of my style comes from him.” After that, he went on tour with Oak Cliff native B.W. Stevenson for about two years. Stevenson, who had hits with “Shambala” and “My Maria” at the time, died in 1988. Willie was on Raphael’s radar only be-
cause he and Stevenson were both signed to RCA, so they were allowed to grab free records from their office in Dallas. Now his harmonica playing is as much a trademark of a Willie Nelson song as the chords from Trigger, Willie’s guitar. The discography of Raphael’s work as a session musician could make anyone starstruck: Elite Hotel and Luxury Liner by Emmylou Harris, Two the Hard Way by Cher and Gregg Allman, Seven Year Ache by Roseanne Cash and TNT by Tanya Tucker, to name a few from the early years. Raphael moved to Nashville from Los Angeles about 20 years ago. He also tours with Chris Stapleton when Willie’s not on the road. He’s an avid cyclist who packs a road bike onto the tour bus with him. His dad, a furniture designer who died in 1994, built Raphael’s childhood home on Edlen Drive, where he and his older brother used to ride bikes around the neighborhood. His mother lived in that house for decades, and she died in 2019. Raphael supports Farm Aid and gives a lot of money to the Carter Foundation, Habitat for Humanity and the Southern Poverty Law Center.
ABOUT LIFE ON THE ROAD WITH WILLIE I can’t tell you anything about that. I’m sworn to secrecy. I’ve been around the world many times. It’s been fun. I’m very fortunate. I don’t take anything for granted. Willie is a great ambassador. As split as the nation is now — and it was split when I first started because the Vietnam War was winding down — but our crowds were always a cross section of all types. It’s a mixed crowd, be it racial or political. You had your cowboys and your hippies back in the early ’70s, late ’60s. One thing Willie
always told me is that music would bring people together.
AND IT LITERALLY HAS We played in Belfast during The Troubles. You’d pull into the city limits, and our bus would have to go through a checkpoint with machine guns, and there was a tank at the entrance of our hotel. But when we played the civic center, or wherever it was that we played, in Belfast, that’s one place where the two opposing factions were agreed upon not causing any trouble.
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THE THING ABOUT WILLIE He’s got this longevity because he’s really honest, and what you see is what you get. He didn’t really follow any trends and just did what he wanted to do. Sometimes it was popular, and sometimes it wasn’t. But we’ve got such a great fanbase and such loyal fans. We’ve been very lucky.
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THE SPORTATORIUM My favorite place to play was the Sporatorium. It was one of those places where you’d just be soaking wet by the end of it, and you know, we’d play two or three hours. You were surrounded by the audience on three sides, and it was just electric. We played in the boxing ring, and the promoter at that time was named Geno McCoslin. He also ran 57 Doors on Cedar Springs where we would play in the ’70s. He wound up promoting a bunch of Willie’s picnics. But anyway, he oversold the place by I don’t know how many tickets, and we got there, and the fire marshal said just the band could go in. They wouldn’t let any of our guests or anyone else inside. Someone asked him why he oversold it, and he said, “Well, bubba, airlines do it all the time. It’s because I was depending on a 20% no-show factor.” He was a colorful character. But he put a sign that said “Men’s” over the exit signs, so that people would walk out the door thinking they were going to the restroom, and they couldn’t get back in. I was telling Rip Torn all about Geno, and he based his character in Songwriter on him.
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THE RETURN OF EVICTIONS Story by CHRISTINA HUGHES BABB | Illustration by JESSICA TURNER
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N
ot long after a nationwide moratorium on evictions ended, representatives from the Oak Cliff-area nonprofit Under One Roof set up tables and computers in the courtyard of a multifamily property where dozens of residents had just received eviction notices. Volunteers and apartment managers were there to help tenants apply for rental assistance by translating documents and filling out paperwork. The property management company, City Gate, has buildings in Oak Cliff and throughout Dallas and wanted to ensure residents knew help was available, says Dawn Waye, City Gate’s founder and operator. “We knocked on doors, called, printed fliers, and we made sure our staff was treating people compassionately, because we know fear can keep a person from coming in and asking for help,” she says. “All they had to do was come down, acknowledge their rent would be paid and sign,” Waye says. That first Under One Roof visit benefitted at least 25 households by helping them catch up on rent. Many hadn’t paid in over a year, which hurts landlords who use rent money to fund payroll, pay taxes, mortgages and maintain their properties, Waye says. “The last thing we want to do is put anybody out of their home,” she says. “That is definitely not the heart of the people that I work with in the industry.” In early 2020, Dallas eviction filings were 15-20% above historic averages, according to researchers at Princeton’s Eviction Lab. Recognizing the impending problem and fearing a wave of displaced tenants, in March 2020 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention enacted a moratorium temporarily preventing nonpayment evictions. Evictions came to a near standstill for nine months. Even when the moratorium ended, the eviction crisis many feared didn’t materialize, though cases slowly started to rise. But early in December, evictions began increasing quickly, putting the month on track
to hit 85% more filings than average. Property owners such as City Gate, housing advocates, pro bono attorneys and apartment associations are working to stem a wave of evictions, using data to pinpoint problematic areas of the city and resources to pay rents. “It takes a lot less toll on the community than having to put them through the entire rehousing system that they would enter if they’re homeless,” says Ashley Brundage, executive director of housing stability and senior vice president of community impact at United Way. But will it be enough? In Dallas County, residents in 75237, 75232 and 75115 are dealing with some of the highest eviction filing rates as of early December. That includes some of Oak Cliff, the Red Bird area, Wolf Creek and DeSoto. Attorney Mark Melton and his wife, Lauren, founded the Dallas Eviction Advocacy Center during the pandemic to help disenfranchised tenants battle lawyered-up landlords. Melton, a tax lawyer who started taking eviction cases pro bono during the pandemic, says in all but nine cases of 2,000 in a six-month period, there has been something that could be done to keep the home, be it pointing out plaintiff illegalities or helping to procure rental assistance. “While laws exist to protect people, evictions rarely happen in accordance with the law, because the tenants don’t know any better themselves,” Melton says. “The populations in the apartments are vulnerable. You miss work because you’re sick, or your job is down, or whatever happens, you’re screwed,” Melton says. “It’s an issue we see across the country, and the disproportionality of evictions, based on race, are pretty stark.” United Way is in the process of identifying partners in eviction hotspots to distribute rental assistance funds faster and will launch a new program in January, Brundage says. The federal government allotted $50 billion in funds for housing relief through the federal Coronavirus Aid
Relief and Economic Security Act. It’s been up to local governments to get those funds to organizations and to the people who need them. Under One Roof had $750,000 in rental assistance funds to disburse, Waye says, and volunteers from the nonprofit returned to assist tenants at her properties until those funds were exhausted. “We are seeing more people experiencing homelessness during this time, and part of that is because safety nets have been stressed and stretched to the max,” Brundage says. “There are not any funds or an extra room to lend somebody.” While the data on evictions is interesting, it doesn’t tell the entire story, says Jason Simon, the director of government affairs at the Apartment Association of Greater Dallas. “One thing is it does not parse out non-payment of rent evictions versus evictions for other reasons,” he says. “Some of our members have acquired (problematic) properties, but we can’t help clean them up without the tools to be allowed to remove tenants. “Another concern with some of the data is that it looks at eviction filings, and there’s a big difference between filing an eviction and an actual physical removal.” Sometimes landlords serve an eviction notice to get a non-paying tenant’s attention — “to get them to come talk to us,” Simon says. “For members (of the apartment association), eviction is a last resort,” Simon says. “It doesn’t make sense financially to evict. It doesn’t make sense on a human level, really in a lot of ways, so it really is our last resort.” Brundage says she hopes lessons learned during the pandemic can lead to sustainable solutions. “If anything good has come out of this, it is how well our organizations across the community have coalesced and come together to serve clients,” Brundage says. “We keep saying to each other, ‘We can’t let this go. We are creating so many good things. We’ve made such good headway that once COVID is gone, we can’t let that falter.’” JAJANUARY 2022
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food
S M A L L BU T M I G H T Y This Bishop Arts restaurant serves a few Greek classics Story by RENEE UMSTED | Photography by KATHY TRAN
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Opposite page: Baklava is locally made by Tatakis’ cousin who owns a snack box and dessert company, Mezes & More. Above: A classic lamb gyro. The café also serves chicken or beef gyros.
THEY MET AT A GREEK CLUB IN NEW ORLEANS. He was the singer in the band. She watched from the audience. The minute he saw her, lovestruck, he dropped the microphone. That’s the origin story of Mary Ann and Emmanuel Tatakis, according to their daughter, Joanna Tatakis. Eventually, the Tatakis family opened Greek Cafe & Bakery in Duncanville, where Joanna grew up. Mary Ann’s father had a diner in Connecticut, but they moved to Oak Cliff when she was a kid. It was Emmanuel who had the more extensive experience in the restaurant industry. When he moved to Chicago from Greece, he didn’t speak very much English. The first restaurant he walked into was owned by a Greek family, and they gave him a job. He worked there for a while before moving to another restaurant. “I was planning on going away to college and doing the whole finding myself thing,” Tatakis says. “But things didn’t go that way. And my parents opened a restaurant, and I decided to stick around and help out. And then I just fell in love with it.” They kept that place until soon after they opened a location in Bishop
Arts in 2009. Tatakis says it was the dream of her mother, who was raised in Oak Cliff and died in 2013, to have a restaurant there. They were starting to give up on the search for a space, but Mary Ann knew as soon as she stepped in the building on West Davis that they’d found the one. She was attracted to the welcoming community and the district’s potential for growth. Tatakis started out waiting tables and learning from her mother, who was “an amazingly social person.” Even after Mary Ann died, customers would come into the restaurant to share stories of their interactions with her mother. One day, Tatakis’ dad decided she needed to work in the kitchen. “He’s very strict on how to do things. He taught me everything,” Tatakis says. “I’d think I’d mastered something, and he’d be like, ‘What are you doing? You don’t do it that way.’” Now, she manages the day-to-day operations of the restaurant, which is open for takeout and delivery. Her dad comes in every day, too, which he wasn’t able to do during the pandemic. “He can supervise me and tell me what I’m doing right and wrong — 80% right, 20% wrong,” she says.
The most popular items are the gyros, which Greek Cafe & Bakery makes with either lamb and beef or chicken and Greek salad. There’s also the baklava, which is baked by Tatakis’ cousin, Anne-Marie Cariotas, who owns Mezes & More. Dolmas are other favorites, and the restaurant sells out of them “quite a bit.” Greek Cafe & Bakery also serves Greek fries, which are French fries with feta, oregano and olive oil. Tatakis says she and her dad are thinking about how the restaurant will operate in the future, even considering making the to-go only setup permanent. “I have a couple versions in my head that I haven’t quite decided on, but it’s more like creating a welcoming atmosphere but in a to-go setting,” she says. The restaurant has always been a casual spot, and she wants to keep it that way. “We’re small. We have a simple menu,” she says. “But any Greek restaurant you go to, you’re going to find love and passion in all the food. And that’s what we try to do.” Greek Cafe & Bakery, 334 W. Davis, 214.943.1887, greekcafedallas.com Hours: 4-9 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday
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22 MOMENTS
IN 21 Compiled by RACHEL STONE
GOLDEN BEARS ON THE GRIDIRON The South Oak Cliff High School football team played a legendary season. The Golden Bears headed to the Texas 5A UIL championship game on Dec. 18, after this magazine went to print. Sunset High School was the most recent Dallas ISD team to hold a UIL title, in 1950. Photo courtesy of Dallas ISD.
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A guy went skitching on the Interstate 30 bridge during the devastating Texas winter storm. More construction cranes popped up in our neighborhood, where restaurants and shops are booming along with the real estate market. Some lined up for vaccinations and unmasked for the first time in a year. Neighbors fought over zoning cases and came together for schools and nonprofits. Here are 22 more moments that made Oak Cliff in 2021.
Photo courtesy of Behind Every Door.
FOR THE COMMUNITY NAME CHANGE Several Dallas ISD schools shed the names of people associated with the U.S. Confederacy this year, the result of students researching their own schools’ names. Bishop Arts S.T.E.A.M. Academy is the campus formerly named for John H. Reagan, who served as postmaster under Confederate President Robert E. Lee and later became a popular Texas politician. The former Sidney Lanier Middle School, originally named for a guy who wrote patriotic poems about the confederacy, is now named after José Moroles, a sculptor who grew up in Oak Cliff and died in 2015.
A nonprofit, Behind Every Door, acquired the 50-year-old Cedar Crest Community Center, with plans for an $8-million renovation to serve the estimated 2,000 children and teens who live in that neighborhood. The Salvation Army previously owned the center at 1007 Hutchins Road until it closed in 2019 due to financial cuts. It comprises 8 acres and includes a 20,000-square-foot community center with a basketball court and workout center, a 4,000-square-foot chapel, a football field and a playground.
HORNS BLAZING The owners of Revelers Hall started a record label this year and have released two albums already. The Revelers Hall Band put out their self-titled album in May. And Steve Austin & The Bioniq Brass Band released Head of the Street in September.
GIRL POWER Female wrestlers from Oak Cliff made a strong showing at state in April. Sunset High School senior Maya Lewis took second place in the 5A UIL state championship tournament, competing in the 138-pound weight class. Ki’Aundra Green of Kimball High School won third place in the 185-pound weight class. Photo courtesy of Dallas ISD.
COCKTAIL CRAZE The Bishop Arts District’s first Indian restaurant opened in the corner space previously occupied by Hattie’s. Âme, from mother/daughter owners Afifa and Sabrina Nayeb, gives ambiance fit for a king, or at least, Instagram royalty. Its Elephant Bar, a “Parisian-style” lounge offering champagne cocktails, added another ruby to Oak Cliff’s cocktail crown. Not only does virtually every new restaurant offer a cocktail menu now, but upscale bars and “speakeasies” filled into every cranny hipster Oak Cliff has to offer. Cocktail bars Atlas, Ayahuasca, Casablanca, Mermaid and the Trove all opened in the Bishop Arts area this year. And you thought we had a lot of coffee shops.
Photo courtesy of Âme.
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Photo courtesy of Luby’s.
CAFETERIA RULES Luby’s lives! One of the world’s remaining Luby’s cafeterias does brisk lunch and dinner business almost every day at 5600 S. Hampton Road in Oak Cliff. Despite reports in 2020 that all of the Luby’s restaurants would be closing, this one hung on. And now the Houston-based Luby’s, currently amid liquidation, has struck a deal to sell more than 30 Luby’s stores to Calvin Ginn Associates, the founder of airline catering company Flying Food Group, for about $28.7 million.
HOT AND UNBOTHERED The world learned a name that won’t soon be forgotten: Sha’Carri Richardson. She wound up losing her spot on the U.S. Olympic team in July after testing positive for marijuana, and she finished last in a race against the world’s other fastest women in August. But the Carter High School graduate let the world know, in an interview that went viral: “This is one race. I’m not done. You know what I’m capable of. Count me out if you want to. Talk all the shit that you want because I’m here to stay.” Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
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Photo courtesy of Bywaters Special Collections, Southern Methodist University.
PUT SOME RESPECT ON IT It was announced this past summer that Octavio Medellín, a sculptor who worked out of El Sibil at Lake Cliff Park in the 1960s, will receive a year-long retrospective at the Dallas Museum of Art beginning this February. The Mexico-born sculptor and teacher founded what is now the Creative Arts Center, and his work can still be found in public places around Dallas, Austin and San Antonio.
Photo by Yuvie Styles.
SNEAKER SCHOLARSHIPS Pasos for Oak Cliff became a nonprofit in 2021 to raise money to buy shoes for kids who need them all over Dallas. Kimball High School teacher Jesse Acosta and his girlfriend, Alejandra Zendejas, are sneaker enthusiasts who started out raffling a pair of Air Jordan 1s and went from there. Since then, they’ve appeared on national TV a couple of times, and they’ve given away hundreds of pairs of shoes. In July, Pasos for Oak Cliff also awarded scholarships totaling $5,000 (and a new pair of sneakers) to 13 students in Dallas ISD.
NUESTRO OAK CLIFF The Latino Cultural Center focused its lens on our neighborhood in September with “Nuestro Oak Cliff,” a history project from the Dallas Mexican American Historical League. The project culminated in a documentary film exploring the Latino culture and history of our neighborhood, also called Nuestro Oak Cliff, by Oak Cliff residents Eboni Johnson and Victorial Ferrell Ortiz.
DRAMA AND RESILIENCY Arts nonprofits in our city lost an estimated $95.5 million in the last nine months of 2020, but Dallas philanthropy stepped up. The Arts Community Alliance, led by Oak Cliff native and Kessler Park resident Terry Loftis, gave $30,000 in emergency funding to arts nonprofits before the end of that pandemic year. In February 2021, TACA handed out $210,000. And in October, TACA awarded $276,500 to 50 nonprofits, including the Bishop Arts Theatre Center. Photo courtesy of Terry Loftis via Facebook.
LONG-TIME COMING
Photo courtesy of Longhorn Ballroom via Facebook.
This colossal bovine will not be moved. Kessler Theater owner Edwin Cabaniss announced plans to purchase the historic Longhorn Ballroom in September. Cabaniss wants to preserve the theater, which is best known as the place where the Sex Pistols opened their disastrous U.S. tour in 1978. It has a history going back to the early 1950s, when it opened as Bob Wills’ Ranch House, and the list of country-and-western luminaries who performed there is as long as your arm. It was also once owned by Lee Harvey Oswald assassin Jack Ruby.
MARCHING UP A STORM Jesús Mata became the first Latino drum major for Prairie View A&M University’s Marching Storm band. Mata started his band career playing trombone at Greiner Middle School. He says Sunset High School band director Rametria Smith encouraged him academically. “I didn’t have a plan to go to college. I just thought I’d graduate high school and go straight to work. But now I have lots of goals and things I want to do in life – teaching, directing my own band and working my way up to the college-teaching level,” he says. JAJANUARY 2022
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Photo courtesy of Dallas Carter High School Twitter @DWCarterHS Photo courtesy of Catholic Housing Initiative.
RAH-RAH HISTORY The Carter High School cheerleading team became the first all-Black cheer squad to place at the Texas state 4A UIL competition, coming in ninth. The 13 cheerleaders, currently ranked fifth nationally, have set their sights on the national competition in Orlando in February, but they’ve needed to raise a total of at least $21,000 to get there. Donations may be dropped off at the school’s office, 1819 W. Wheatland Road, or given via Go Fund Me.
SURPRISE RELEASE Microsoft surprised gamers by releasing a beta of Halo: Infinite for free on the 20th anniversary of Xbox, Nov. 15, and the game features sounds from Oak Cliff. Alex Bhore of Elmwood Studios composed and recorded all of the music for the game. Bhore worked on it from about April-November 2020. “I’m just happy players are enjoying it,” he told WFAA.
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A LIGHT SHINES A story in The Guardian exposed to the world how hyper development has resulted in a loss of affordable housing and a rise of $1,600-a-month apartments in Oak Cliff. Residents and small businesses showed how they’re being pushed out of our neighborhood because of its newfound high value as a place to invest. “For those who can maintain, it’s great, right? Their property value goes up, and if they want to flip their house and make loads of money, then they can. But ‘if’ is the big word, because if you can’t, then you’re displaced,” Cimajie Best told the publication.
SUITING UP
A PARK WITH MEANING The City of Dallas recognized the contributions of Oak Cliff landscape architect Kevin Sloan with a proclamation to name a park in his honor, before he died of brain cancer in November. A park that will replace the five-lane Jefferson/12th Connector in South Winnetka will be named Kevin W. Sloan Park.
Photo courtesy of Texas A&M University.
Gary Blair will end his career as the winningest basketball coach in Texas A&M University history when he retires at the end of this season. He tied the previous record of 438 wins on Nov. 30. Blair has led Aggie women’s basketball teams to five conference titles, including the 2011 national championship. Blair was the first girls’ basketball coach at South Oak Cliff High School, starting in 1973, and he also started the boys and girls golf teams at SOC.
Photo courtesy of Dallas ISD.
STANDOUT SCHOOLS Two Dallas ISD high schools in Oak Cliff were named National Blue Ribbon Schools. Trini Garza Early College High School at Mountain View College and Kathlyn Joy Gilliam Collegiate Academy were among 26 in Texas to receive the coveted honor from the U.S. Department of Education. They were recognized, along with 325 schools across the nation, for “overall academic performance or progress in closing achievement gaps.”
BEAUTIFUL BURN Kimball High School came this close to winning its seventh 5A state title in March. The Knights lost by one point in the final seconds of overtime. Head coach Nick Smith Photo courtesy of Dallas ISD. told Inside High School Sports that the team’s discipline is “something you can’t teach, but the culture at Kimball High School, that’s something that’s been embedded in in them.”
ROUNDABOUT WAYS Major construction on our neighborhood’s new roundabout was completed. The plans to convert Tyler and Polk to two-way streets connected by a roundabout near Kidd Springs Park at Sylvan and Canty have been nearly a decade in the making. Take it easy around the curves, and expect traffic lights to activate and lanes to reroute as soon as the end of the year. Advocates for the project say the changes will slow traffic and boost retail and restaurant business in our neighborhood.
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Philip Hiatt Haigh stands on the Margaret McDermott Bridge, which has dedicated paths for pedestrians and bikes.
ALL FOR ONE, ONE FOR ALL 50 miles of trails to connect Dallas County Story by RENEE UMSTED | Photography by KATHY TRAN
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Map courtesy of the Circuit Trail Conservancy.
IT WAS A CASE OF “WHO YOU KNOW.” In 2016, Joseph Pitchford asked Philip Hiatt Haigh to work with the Circuit Trail Conservancy. They met each other through positions at Dallas County. Earlier, Pitchford had been appointed to serve on a board by Judge Clay Jenkins, Hiatt Haigh’s boss. Pitchford’s request was for Hiatt Haigh to meet with the rest of the CTC Board of Trustees to brainstorm how to implement the organization’s vision: The Loop. The trustees had already identified the four missing links the locations around Dallas where 11 miles of new trails would connect 39 miles of existing trails, forming a walkable, bikeable, 50-mile loop. At first, Oak Cliff resident Hiatt Haigh was there to help the CTC find sources of funding. “The old ‘a million dollars a mile,’ that was the old formula,” he says. “Now it’s much, much higher.” They knew a City of Dallas bond issuance was coming soon and that they would also need to raise private funds. Dallas County had already approved $5 million. The Texas Department of Transportation contributed
$8 million. Another $20 million came in the 2017 bond program, and $10 million was raised from private donors. That added up to $43 million in initial funding to get the project started. Then in 2018, Hiatt Haigh joined the CTC full-time as the executive director. Given his past experience, he was prepared to secure approvals required for a project involving three public entities: the City, Dallas County and TxDOT. The Loop, which the City will eventually own and maintain, won’t just fill the gaps in the Dallas trail network. Hiatt Haigh says it will “change the perception of Dallas” into a connected city where communities aren’t divided by the built environment. The same amenities available to residents in Uptown and near White Rock Lake will be available to residents in Pleasant Grove and Joppa. “That’s a huge statement for what Dallas is investing in and what they think about their people — to say, ‘you are as important as all these other people, and we’re going to invest in the same amenity across the entire way.’ And it’s going to create this green identity,” he says.
The Loop could also be good for business. In certain places along the trail, especially south of I-30, land is zoned for industrial use. Hiatt Haigh has been meeting with City staff to discuss how the zoning might be amended to make those spaces more desirable for retail, restaurant or residential development. All projects are now under design, with the last design contract executed in September. This stage should be completed by next year. Then the rest of the construction can begin. If the process continues without delays, Hiatt Haigh says The Loop could be open to the public by the end of 2024. Funding is still coming for the projects, estimated to cost $75 million. This year, the Dallas City Council awarded the CTC $11.5 million in tax increment financing dollars, which will be used to add amenities to the Hi Line Connector, the trail linking the Katy to the Trinity Strand. After years of planning, the CTC broke ground on the north phase of the Trinity Forest Spine Trail in September. When finished, it will be 7.5 miles long, connecting White Rock Lake to the Great Trinity Forest. On its northernmost end, it juts out from the Santa Fe Trail south of Garland Road. It will run south along White Rock Creek, cross Interstate 30 and meet the Pemberton Hill Road Trail. Though it will be built in a flood plain, staff members plan to build it to the five-year flood level. For two years, Hiatt Haigh has been working to form an agreement between the City and a railroad to build a trail under a railroad bridge that has stood for more than a century. There are fewer than 500 of these trails in the U.S. “Those railroads have traditionally been barriers between communities, and so this will be the first dedicated pedestrian trail in the city of Dallas that crosses that barrier,” Hiatt Haigh says. Part of the Trinity Forest Spine Trail passes through Samuell-Grand Park. There are two 18-round golf courses there, but not for long. The updated master plan calls for one 18-round course and one nine-round course, and in the space leftover, there will be a nature preserve. “Outside of the nature preserve even, there is 50 acres of forested area that is now going to be accessed by the public for the first time off of the Spine Trail,” Hiatt Haigh says. The Loop’s potential future benefits — a means of transportation, an economic stimulant and a bridge between neighborhoods, to name a few — are only theoretical unless people use the trails. That’s why Hiatt Haigh is in communication with Dallas residents so they “feel like they have some ownership of it.” Soon, the CTC will begin working on wayfinding and signage, using language to encourage trail use. Saying something is a three-mile bike ride away may seem more daunting than saying something is a 10-minute ride away. “This type of amenity coming online is going to continue to make Dallas incredibly resilient and ready for that future,” Hiatt Haigh says. “This is a 50-year investment that we are making right now.” JAJANUARY 2022
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WORSHIP
By ERIC FOLKERTH
Steady chipping S h aws h a n k yo u r way to goa l s i n 202 2
I
f you want to do great things in 2022, don’t make public New Year’s resolutions. Or, I like to say, “resolve to not resolve.” I know that seems bizarrely counter-intuitive as we face a New Year. Everyone else in the culture is rushing out resolutions for you to read. Entrepreneur Derek Sivers first taught me of the power of not making resolutions in a TED Talk he gave long ago. Sivers cites this data: “Tests done since 1933 show that people who talk about their intentions are less likely to make them happen. Announcing your plans to others satisfies your self-identity just enough that you’re less motivated to do the hard work needed.” The psychological path goes something like this: Resolve to be a runner. Tell everybody. Rush out and buy running shoes. Admire new shoes, and brain says “Hey! I’m a runner now.” Thus satisfied, never or rarely ever do actual running. It’s not that you’re morally defective or lack so-called “will power.” What happens, brain scientists find, is that *thinking* about a thing is exactly the same as *doing* a thing. Right down to a slight release of feel-good dopamine. By the way, the department stores know this is how our brains work. Pay attention. This month, they put the running shoes, the exercise equipment, the spandex pants right up in the front window. They know that by March that new treadmill is likely to be your most expensive clothes hanger. So how do we make progress toward our goals this year? It sounds trite, but as Nike would say, “just do it.” Make some small progress, any progress, every day. And you will get where you hope to go. This is the heart of what the writers of James meant when he said, “faith without works is dead.” Instead of announcing grand goals, be kind to yourself, day by day, and keep your spiritual intentions before you every morning.
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Tim Robbins’ character in the film Shawshank Redemption is Andy Dufresne. Dufresne spends decades in prison for a crime he did not commit. But all during those years, he’s secretly tunneling out, through the walls and underground, using nothing larger than a handheld rock hammer. Day by day, he chips away at overwhelming stone. He never quits. He never stops. And! He never tells another soul what he’s doing. At one point Dufresne says: “That there are things in this world not carved out of gray stone. That there’s a small place inside of us they can never lock away, and that place is called hope.” Hope, in the spiritual sense, is always beyond the event-horizon of this world. But, to keep hope, we need small victories along the way. And, if our hope is to do great things, we must allow those small victories to light the path of our future hope, instead of depressing us that we have not traveled farther. It’s tricky. Too much contentment and self-satisfaction can lead us to believe we are done when we are very much still digging. Too much desire to change now can lead us to believe the stone is too thick, the hammer too small, and that we should never even bother starting. In the end, whatever goals you may have for 2021, I’m here to tell you that you can do them. As the Psalmist says, faithfulness is like working in a field, every day, not just talking about it. This year, “resolve to not resolve.” Resolve to just do it. Lift your tiny hammer and start chipping away. By next year, you’ll be amazed how far you’ve come. ERIC FOLKERTH is Senior Pastor at Kessler Park United Methodist Church. The Worship section is underwritten by Advocate Publishing and neighborhood businesses and churches listed. Call 214.560.4212 or email sales@ advocatemag.com for advertising information.
WORSHIP BAPTIST CLIFF TEMPLE BAPTIST CHURCH / 125 Sunset Ave. / 214.942.8601
Serving Oak Cliff since 1898 / CliffTemple.org / English and Spanish 9 am Contemporary Worship / 10 am Sunday School / 11 am Traditional GRACE TEMPLE BAPTIST Come to a Place of Grace!
Sunday Worship: English Service 9:30am / Spanish Service 11:00am 831 W. Tenth St. / 214.948.7587 / gracetempledallas.org
C AT H O L I C ST. CECILIA CATHOLIC PARISH / StCeciliaDallas.org / 1809 W Davis St. / Saturday - Bilingual Mass 5PM; Sunday – English Masses 7:30AM & 11AM; Spanish Masses 9AM & 1PM
DISCIPLES OF CHRIST EAST DALLAS CHRISTIAN CHURCH / 629 N. Peak Street / 214.824.8185
Sunday School 9:30 am / Worship 8:30 am - Chapel 10:50 am - Sanctuary / Rev. Deborah Morgan-Stokes / edcc.org
E P I S C O PA L CHRIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH / ChristChurchDallas.org Sunday School: 11:15am /Mass: 9am & 10am English, 12:30pm Español Wednesday Mass: 6pm English, 8pm Español / 534 W. Tenth Street
METHODIST KESSLER PARK UMC / 1215 Turner Ave./ 214.942.0098 I kpumc.org
10:30am Sunday School/11:00 Worship /All are welcome regardless or race, creed, culture, gender or sexual identity.
N O N - D E N O M I N AT I O N A L KESSLER COMMUNITY CHURCH / 2100 Leander Dr. at Hampton Rd.
“Your Hometown Church Near the Heart of the City.” 10:30 am Contemporary Service / kesslercommunitychurch.com TRINITY CHURCH OAK CLIFF / Love God. Love Others. Make Disciples. Sundays 10:00 am / Worship & children’s Sunday School 1139 Turner Ave. / trinitychurchoakcliff.org
PRESBYTERIAN PARK CITIES PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH/ 4124 Oak Lawn Ave Sunday Worship 9:00 & 11:00 A.M. To all this church opens wide her doors - pcpc.org
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CONCRETE/MASONRY/PAVING ADVANCE STONE ART CREATIONS Decorative Concrete Overlays. 214-705-5954 BRICK, BLOCK, Stone, Concrete, Stucco. Gonzalez Masonry. 214-395-1319 BRICK, STONEWORK, FLAGSTONE PATIOS Mortar Repair. Straighten Brick Mailboxes & Columns. Call Cirilo 214-298-7174 CONCRETE, Driveway Specialist Repairs, Replacement, Removal, References. Reasonable. Chris 214-770-5001 JOHNSON’S PAVING 214-827-1530 Concrete,Drives,Steps, Patios,Retainer Walls
DJ. MUSIC SERVICES D.J MAGNUM FOR YOUR NEXT Company Event, Reunion, Function. We Offer All Styles Of Music From 1920-2020. Wyatt 972-241-3588
ELECTRICAL SERVICES ANNA’S ELECTRIC Your Oak Cliff Electrician Since 1978. tecl25513. 214-943-4890 ANTHONY’S ELECTRIC Master Electrician. TECL24948 anthonyselectricofdallas.com 50 Yrs. Electrical Exp. Insd. 214-328-1333 TH ELECTRIC Reasonable Rates. Licensed & Insured. Ted. E257 214-808-3658
KITCHEN/BATH/TILE/GROUT
ONE CALL WEEKEND SERVICES Contractor & Handyman. Remodels, Renovations . Paint, Plumbing, Drywall, Electrical.469-658-9163
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Let Us Tackle Your To-Do List! ❚ Drywall ❚ Doors ❚ Senior Safety
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G&G DEMOLITION Tear downs, Haul. Interior/Exterior. 214-808-8925
FENCING & DECKS 4 QUALITY FENCING • 214-507-9322 Specializing in Wood. YourWoodmaster.com AMBASSADOR FENCE CO. Automatic Gates, Fences/Decks, Pergolas, Patio Covers, Arbors. AmbassadorFenceCo.com 214-621-3217
FENCING, ARBORS, DECKS !!OLD GUITARS WANTED!! Gibson, Fender, Martin, oldgatefence.com Etc. 1930’s to 1980’s. Top Dollar Paid.1-866 -433-8277 214-766-6422
CABINETRY & FURNITURE
HANDYMAN SERVICES
HANNAWOODWORKS.COM Decks, Pergolas, Patio Covers. 214-435-9574
GARAGE SERVICES UNITED GARAGE DOORS AND GATES Res/Com. Locally Owned. 214-251-5428
GLASS, WINDOWS & DOORS
AceHandymanServices.com ❚ 972.308.6035 ©2020 Ace Handyman Services, Inc. All rights reserved. Locally owned and independently operated Franchise. Licensed & insured.
HOUSE PAINTING TOP COAT 30 Yrs. Exp. Reliable. Quality Repair/Remodel. Phil @ 214-770-2863 RAMON’S INT/EXT PAINT Sheetrock, Repairs. 214-679-4513
LAWNS, GARDENS & TREES HOLMAN IRRIGATION Sprinkler & Valve Repair/ Rebuild Older Systems. Lic. #1742. 214-398-8061
• Experienced Painters • Free estimates • Interior/Exterior/Cabinets • Drywall Repair, Carpentry • Luxury service • Professional Project at reasonable prices Management
972.472.2777
KITCHEN/BATH/TILE/GROUT
EC0NOMY GLASS & MIRROR Mirror, Shower, A STONECRAFT OF DALLAS Windows Repair. 24 Hr. Emergency. 214-875-1127 Granite, Quartz, Marble Countertops. 214-843-6977. Jennifer Voss PRO WINDOW CLEANING prompt, dependable. Matt 214-766-2183
ROCK GLASS CO Replace, repair: windows, mirrors, showers, screens. 214-837-7829
HANDYMAN SERVICES
BLAKE CONSTRUCTION CONCEPTS LLC Complete Kitchen And Bath Remodels. Tile, Granite, Marble, Travertine, Slate. Insured. 214-563-5035 www.blake-construction.com
ANDREW'S HOME REPAIR Big/Small Jobs 214-416-6559
D & D TILE SERVICE Residential/Commercial.30Yrs Exp. 214-724-3408. Rodriguez_tile@att.net
DANHANDY.NET Repairs Done Right For A Fair Price. References 214-991-5692
FENN CONSTRUCTION Full Service Contractor. dallastileman.com 214-343-4645
HANDY DAN The Handyman. ToDo’s Done Right. handy-dan.com 214-252-1628
STONE AGE COUNTER TOPS Granite, Quartz, Marble For Kitchen/Bath-Free Est. jennifer@gmail.com 214-412-6979
HANDYMAN SPECIALIST Residential/ Commercial. Large, small jobs, repair list, renovations. Refs. 214-489-0635 HANDYMAN WANTS your Painting,Repairs, To Do Lists. Bob. 214-288-4232. Free Est. 25+yrs exp.
TK REMODELING 972-533-2872 Complete Full Service Repairs, Remodeling, Restoration. Name It — We do it. Tommy. Insured. dallas.tkremodelingcontractors.com
MAYA TREE SERVICE Tree Trim/Remove. Lawn Maintenance. Resd/ Commcl.Insd. CC’s Accptd. mayatreeservice.com 214-924-7058 214-770-2435 MONSTER TREE SERVICE DALLAS Certified Arborists, Fully Insured 469.983.1060
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Firewood/Cooking Wood
Locally Full service trimming & harvested planting of native trees. wood! 214.946.7138
LEGAL SERVICES A WILL? THERE IS A WAY! Estate/Probate matters.maryglennattorney.com 214-802-6768
PEST CONTROL MCDANIEL PEST CONTROL Prices Start at $85 + Tax For General Treatment. Average Home-Interior/Exterior & Attached Garage. Quotes For Other Services. 214-328-2847. Lakewood Resident NATURE KING PEST MANAGEMENT INC. Squirrels, Racoons, Skunks, Snakes, Possums, etc. Pest & Termite. Neighborhood Resident 30+ Yrs.exp. 214-827-0090
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POOLS
BLAKE CONSTRUCTION CONCEPTS, LLC Complete Remodeling, Kitchens, Baths, Additions. Hardie Siding & Replacement Windows. Build On Your Own Lot. Insured. www.blake-construction.com 214-563-5035 FENN CONSTRUCTION Kitchens And Baths. Call Us For Your Remodeling Needs. 214-343-4645. dallastileman.com INTEX CONSTRUCTION Specialty in Ext/Int. Bath/ Kitchen/Windows, Steve.33yrs exp. 214-875-1127 O’BRIEN GROUP INC. Remodeling Dallas For Over 24 Years www.ObrienGroupInc.com 214-341-1448 RENOVATE DALLAS renovatedallas.com 214-403-7247
CERULEAN POOL SERVICES Family Owned/ Operated. Weekly maintenance, Chemicals, parts & TK REMODELING 972-533-2872 Complete Full Service Repairs, Kitchen repairs. CeruleanPro.com 214-557-6996 & Bath/Remodeling, Restoration. REAL ESTATE Name It- We Do It. dallas.tkremodelingcontractors.com ESTATE HOME NEEDS TO BE SOLD? Remodeling Facing forclosure? IG Heron Homes Call Ricardo Garza @ 469-426-7839 NEAR WRLAKE 2/1 DUPLEX. Hdwds, Appl. Yard Serv. CHA, 1/carport. $1,400+Dep. 469-879-2977
REMODELING A2H GENERAL CONTRACTING,LLC Remodeling, Painting, Drywall/Texture, Plumbing, Electrical,Siding, Bathroom/Kitchen Remodels, Tilling, Flooring, Fencing. 469-658-9163. Free Estimates. A2HGeneralContractingLLC@gmail.com
Bob McDonald Company, Inc. BUILDERS/REMODELERS 30+ Yrs. in Business • Major Additions Complete Renovations • Kitchens/Baths
214-341-1155 bobmcdonaldco.net
SERVICES FOR YOU
BERT ROOFING INC.
DISH TV $64.99 For 190 Channels + $14.95 High Speed Internet. Free Installation, Smart HD DVR Included, Free Voice Remote. Some restrictions apply.Promo Expires 7/21/21.1-833-872-2545
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H E A LT H A N D W E L L N E S S
By LIZ GOULDING
How to use the muse Se e i n g i n s p i ra t i o n a s a to o l fo r l o n g- te r m p ro g ress
“Your relationship to inspiration might say a lot about how you feel about New Year’s.” Photo of Kiest Park by Danny Fulgencio.
T
h e n e w y e a r, a t i m e o f ephemeral promise. Some of you reading this love New Year’s, and others hate it. I guess like everything else these days, it’s a bit polarizing. I’ve come to think of New Year’s as neither good nor bad, but rather a tool. Tools can be used all kinds of ways. To use a tool well we must understand its place and purpose. Without this understanding we will likely misuse the tool or not use it at all. The New Year’s tool I’m talking about is inspiration. Your relationship to inspiration might say a lot about how you feel about New Year’s. To my mind, inspiration is best used when it’s seen as a catalyst. It’s the energy that precedes action. It helps us gather ideas and make plans. It’s an invitation to imagine ourselves anew. But there’s also a false promise baked into popular New Year’s rhetoric. And that’s that inspiration is enough. Which, when you take a step back and think about it, is pretty funny. The idea that a few days’ worth
of inspiration is going to carry you through weeks and months of habit building and action makes absolutely no sense. Inspiration is necessary but not sufficient, and problems arise when we confuse the two. Instead of being deflated, I hope you find this idea liberating. When we accept it, we’re free to let inspiration be what it is, and then build on it from there with other tools. If inspiration is this fleeting energy, then how do we harness it? Like most things, it depends on how you work best. How often do you feel inspired? What are you doing when ideas and inspiration usually come to you? How can you put yourself in those situations more often? From there it’s important to remember the limits of inspiration. Inspiration often helps us envision the end result, but we need daily and weekly habits and processes to actually achieve the results we want. Left unchecked, inspiration can cause us to make goals and plans that are too ambitious initially. In our rush to capture the fleeting nature
of inspiration, we try to make it all happen in a week or two. I like to encourage people to flip how they usually think about making a plan. What is the absolute minimum you could do on a daily or weekly basis that would still move you toward your goal? How can you craft your plan so that it would be easy to do day in and day out for weeks or months? Once you’ve mastered your baseline plan, add onto it from there. The feelings that come from making a commitment and meeting it can help propel you forward once inspiration is gone. The more clients I work with, the more I’ve come to believe in the power of small changes done consistently for long periods of time. You don’t have to do it all when you’re feeling inspired. In fact, I can almost guarantee you that you won’t. Humans don’t walk around inspired 24/7. Just make a plan that you can realistically commit to, even through the days and weeks when inspiration escapes you. LIZ GOULDING is a health and wellness coach in Oak Clif f. Reach her at liz@alongsideliz.com and alongsideliz.com. JAJANUARY 2022
oakcliff.advocatemag.com
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Competitor C
Competitor B
$139M
Competitor A
There’s no subtle qualifier to this statement. It’s fact – backed up by extensive market data and analysis. We pride ourselves on data transparency, and that means that apples should only be compared to apples. When you’re ready to make a move, contact your favorite Dave Perry-Miller Real Estate agent and work with the top producing real estate brand in Oak Cliff.
NORTH OAK CLIFF AREA SOLD VOLUME, YTD DEC ‘21
Dave Perry-Miller Real Estate
Many brands claim to be Number 1. We actually are.
1201woodlawn.daveperrymiller.com
SOLD, Represented Seller
PENDING
1201 Woodlawn Avenue
102 S. Willomet Avenue
3318 Gibsondell Avenue
4 BEDROOMS | 4.1 BATHS | 3,048 SQ. FT. | $1,150,000
3 BEDROOMS | 2 BATHS | 2,065 SQ. FT. | $539,000
3 BEDROOMS | 2 BATHS | 1,883 SQ. FT. | $375,000
Jeremy Whiteker
Sherman & Sherman Real Estate Team
Susan Melnick
214.729.1293 jeremy@jeremywhiteker.com
469.767.1823 shermanteam@daveperrymiller.com
214.460.5565 susanmelnick@daveperrymiller.com
SOLD, Represented Seller
SOLD, Represented Seller
SOLD, Represented Buyer
2843 Woodmere Drive
2631 Ivandell Avenue
2853 Claudette Avenue
2 BEDROOMS | 1 BATH | 1,406 SQ. FT. | $269,900
2 BEDROOMS | 1 BATH | 980 SQ. FT. | $242,000
3 BEDROOMS | 2.1 BATHS | 2,267 SQ. FT. | PRIVATE SALE
Sherman & Sherman Real Estate Team
Susan Melnick
Michael Mahon
469.767.1823 shermanteam@daveperrymiller.com
214.460.5565 susanmelnick@daveperrymiller.com
214.914.5410 mmahon@daveperrymiller.com
An Ebby Halliday Company
Price and availability subject to change. Information deemed reliable, but not guaranteed. Claim based on sold volume, 75211, 75208, 75224, 75233, 1/1/21 through 12/15/21. Includes Ebby Halliday Companies.