Advocate Magazine

The Shops at Park Lane to host “Movies Under the Moon” Fridays in June

Whitney Thompson — Thu, 23 May 2013 20:48:32 +0000

The “Movies Under the Moon” series at The Shops at Park Lane kicks off June 7 at 8:30 p.m. with a screening of, “Escape from Planet Earth.” Sponsor 7-11 will be giving out free Slurpees and other movie-themed swag at the screening. The full movie series schedule is listed below: June 7-Escape from Planet Earth June 14-The Lorax June 21-Madagascar 3 June 28-The Blind Side Movies will be shown at the southeast corner of Park Lane and Central Expressway across from NorthPark Center. No tickets are necessary and all movies are free and open to the public. Food and beverages will be available for purchase from Gordon Biersch, including bags of popcorn at $1 a pop. © Whitney Thompson for Advocate Magazine, 2013. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags:

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How to run a marathon

Christina Hughes Babb — Thu, 23 May 2013 18:37:17 +0000

1. Get over the name change. It’s the Dallas Marathon now. If you want, keep calling it the “White Rock Marathon” among your friends. That’s what I do. Except when Marcus Grunewald is around. 2. Buy a pair of good running shoes. You need to go to Run On! or Lukes Locker or a similar running specialty store to be fitted for the shoes. They will be $80-$120. Spend the money this time. Once you know what type of shoe you need, then you can start buying that shoe at a discount shop such as runningwarehouse.com. 3. Test your skills at the Kickoff 6.4k Presented by Miller64, May 30. It starts at Winfrey Point at White Rock Lake at 7 p.m., costs $20 and is followed by a beer- and adrenaline-fueled afterparty. 4. Register for the MetroPCS Dallas Marathon. Registration opens June Those who sign up early get a better price, plus, registration will close at 6,000 entrants in the marathon and 13,000 entrants in the half marathon. 5. Join a running club such as the White Rock Running Co-op or the Dallas Running Club. The WRRC is a free group that meets Saturday mornings and Wednesday evenings. They offer loosely organized training for the Dallas and other popular marathons or social running. The best place to keep up with this group is via their Facebook page. Even if you plan to train alone for the marathon, the WRRC page is a good spot to join running conversations and get tips. The DRC offers a discounted marathon-training program. (Most people I know are part of both these groups). If you fancy more-formal and more expensive training, Run On! and Lukes both offer training programs. 6. Stick to the training program, eat good food, drink water—regularly, and don’t let the hot Texas summer thwart your progress. Read inspirational stories such as this and this to keep you going. 7. Pray hard for good weather on race day. Last year, Mother Nature greeted marathoners with high winds, 70-degree-plus temperatures and excessive humidity—so much humidity that the streets were wet and one half-marathoner slipped and broke a bone. The weather we want for marathon day is 40-55 degrees, no wind (which, ironically, was the weather that rolled in right after last year’s race). So think cold. 8. Rally your non-runner friends and neighbors (by now they are probably avoiding the guy who can’t shut up about his upcoming marathon, but it’s time to rekindle those relationships) to participate in Dallas Marathon Day, a citywide holiday, by volunteering or cheering. 9. Feel real good about yourself after you run the 26.2 miles on race day. Eat a lot of food. Heck, wear your medal to work on Monday. © Christina Hughes Babb for Advocate Magazine, 2013. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags:

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This weekend: Movie screening, art and Texas Ballet Theater

Brittany Nunn — Thu, 23 May 2013 16:26:29 +0000

Garden Cafe is hosting a movie screening on Friday, May 24. Doors open at 6 p.m. with a la carte dinner from 6 to 8:30 p.m. BYOB, and snacks offered during the film. The movie is Viva Les Amis, which looks at a local cafe in Austin as an example of a national trend: the loss of the mom and pop shop. The film explores the 27-year history of Les Amis Cafe through the eyes of Newman Stribling, who was once the manager of the coffee shop and is now a cab driver after his sidewalk cafe was replaced by Starbucks. If you’re interested, RSVP for $4 at gardenfilms.eventbrite.com. Ages 18 and up only. Closing Friday, May 31, the directors of Alan Barnes Fine Art bring you “The Other Impressionists,” an exhibition dedicated to the French, Belgium and European artists from the Impressionist period. The exhibition accounts for over 35 artists in France and Belgium during the same time as Monet. The event is at Alan Barnes Fine Art, 2800 Henderson, 214.828.1311. The exhibit begins May 10 and continues through May 31. The hours are Monday through Friday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and by appointment. Texas Ballet Theater Springfest is this weekend, from May 24 to 26. Lakewood resident Anna Donovan has been working as an integral part of the world-class Texas Ballet Theater artistic staff to prepare for the TBT Springfest at the AT&T Performing Arts Center. The Springfest is a celebration of two cultures, life, heroism and Balanchine. The event is in the Wyly Theater. For more information, visit texasballettheater.org or call 877.828.9200. Tickets are $19-99. © Brittany Nunn for Advocate Magazine, 2013. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags:

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Lower Greenville Goody Goody to close

Whitney Thompson — Thu, 23 May 2013 15:43:29 +0000

The privately owned property where Goody Goody is located at 2937 Greenville Avenue was sold to Centric Capital last year. Broker Robert Williams represented Centric Capital in the sale. Williams says that Centric Capital worked to renew and renegotiate the lease with Goody Goody, but an agreement could not be made. “Goody Goody will have to vacate the property by July 2,” Williams says. The Goody Goody liquor store is the flagship location of the Texas chain, and has been in the same location on Lower Greenville since 1969. An employee from the store who preferred to remain anonymous lamented the store closing, saying “We’ve been here many years, this is very sad.” Representatives from Centric Capital worked with four of the surrounding homeowner’s associations for the past several months to ensure that if Goody Goody were to leave that the future tenant would be a good fit for the community. All permits were passed by the city. The permits include very specific restrictions on all remodeling work to ensure that the appearance will be similar to the surrounding historic area if Centric Capital chooses to upgrade the site. Per the new conservation district restrictions, the next tenant will also have to meet specific requirements. For example, a 24-hour care clinic can’t go into the space, but the guidelines do allow for another liquor store to go in to the space. What do you think? Was Goody Goody an iconic piece of Lower Greenville or was it long overdue for a remodel to suit the evolving neighborhood? © Whitney Thompson for Advocate Magazine, 2013. | Permalink | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us Post tags:

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Child dies after being left in a hot car: who does this?

Christina Hughes Babb — Thu, 23 May 2013 01:28:10 +0000

A couple years ago I was at a writer’s conference where Gene Weingarten spoke about the time he almost accidentally left his child in the car all day. It prompted him to write the 2009 Pulitzer-winning piece Fatal Distraction, which is about parents who accidentally kill their child by leaving him or her in a hot car. Finally, today, I actually read the whole story. The first time I tried, I got to the part — about six paragraphs in — that begins to describe in detail the physical impact on the body of a baby or child experiencing hyperthermia. Later, I read through to the part about Andrew Culpepper, whose son baked in a hot car; he was not prosecuted, but he is serving a life sentence of unimaginable guilt, shame and loneliness. I decided to read the whole article last Friday, when a Dallas ISD teacher reportedly, allegedly, left her child in the car to die while she went to work at a Pleasant Grove elementary school. My cousin, a Dallas police officer, was one of the first on the scene. When they went in to question Vibha Marks (after, unbeknown to her, a teaching assistant had called 9-1-1, smashed Marks’ car window and attempted, unsuccessfully, CPR on Marks’ 1-year-old) she asked if her child was OK? Did something happen at day care? It seemed to observers that teacher Vibha Marks initially believed her daughter was at day care, while she actually was dying of hyperthermia in the school parking lot. Why am I doing this? Reading Weingarten’s article makes me physically ill. Writing about this is uncomfortable, too. But there are two important points about Weingarten’s article, gleaned from his extensive research, that I want to point out. 1) Everyone believes this would never happen to them. Clinical Psychologist Ed Hickling: “Humans have a fundamental need to create and maintain a narrative for their lives in which the universe is not implacable and heartless, that terrible things do not happen at random, and that catastrophe can be avoided if you are vigilant and responsible.” The comments section following stories about Marks and others like her are full of anger and vitriol. That is because we need to assert that we are not vulnerable to this sort of thing, Hickling told Weingarten. “We want to believe that the world is understandable and controllable and unthreatening, that if we follow the rules, we’ll be okay. So, when this kind of thing happens to other people, we need to put them in a different category from us. We don’t want to resemble them, and the fact that we might is too terrifying to deal with. So, they have to be monsters.” 2) But the truth is, it could happen to anyone. What kind of person forgets and accidentally kills a child? Weingarten: The wealthy do, it turns out. And the poor, and the middle class. Parents of all ages and ethnicities do it. Mothers are just as likely to do it as fathers. It happens to the chronically absent-minded and to the fanatically organized, to the college-educated and to the marginally literate. In the last 10 years [published 2009], it has happened to a dentist. A postal clerk. A social worker. A police officer. An accountant. A soldier. A paralegal. An electrician. A Protestant clergyman. A rabbinical student. A nurse. A construction worker. An assistant principal. It happened to a mental health counselor, a college professor and a pizza chef. It happened to a pediatrician. It happened to a rocket scientist. The summer before Weingarten wrote the piece, it happened three times in one day. Now it has happened here in Dallas. Only by being humbly aware of our vulnerability can we make sure it does not happen again. © Christina Hughes Babb for Advocate Magazine, 2013. | Permalink | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us Post tags:

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Garden Cafe: New hours at espresso bar + movie screening

Brittany Nunn — Wed, 22 May 2013 23:20:16 +0000

Garden Cafe announced it is extending its hours of operation. Starting May 28, the espresso bar at Garden Cafe will be open 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. Also, they’re also offering a movie on Friday, May 24. Doors open at 6 p.m. with a la carte dinner from 6 to 8:30 p.m. BYOB, and snacks offered during the film. If you’re interested, RSVP for $4 at gardenfilms.eventbrite.com. Ages 18 and up only. The movie is Viva Les Amis, which looks at a local cafe in Austin as an example of a national trend: the loss of the mom and pop shop. The film explores the 27-year history of Les Amis Cafe through the eyes of Newman Stribling, who was once the manager of the coffee shop and is now a cab driver after his sidewalk cafe was replaced by Starbucks. The film also looks at Les Amis Café and Austin by decade. During the 1970′s, a counterculture of hippies, musicians, mimes, and protesters flocked to the café. In the 1980′s, punk rock dominated the landscape. Les Amis held an occasional punk rock show, and countless customers watched skateboarders whiz by on the street. In the 1990′s, big business, hi-tech companies, and a rapidly growing population changed the face of Austin. As a city grows, what is lost? The filmmaker goes to the site of what once was Les Amis Café and interviews several employees of Starbucks. The films shows the contrast of then and now, of local versus corporate establishments. Viva Les Amis explores how a local place contributes to the culture and identity of a city, and mourns the loss of locally owned businesses like Les Amis. © Brittany Nunn for Advocate Magazine, 2013. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags:

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Beer dinner at The Libertine to showcase 5 DFW breweries

Whitney Thompson — Wed, 22 May 2013 21:45:02 +0000

On Wednesday, May 29, The Libertine is hosting a beer dinner starting at 7 p.m. that will feature beer from five separate local breweries. Head Chef Rosanna DiLeo five-course menu for the evening includes offerings such as smoked salmon with a Thai chili glaze, paired with Lakewood Brewery’s Bourbon Barrell Temptress. But wait, there’s more. Certified Cicerone (i.e., official beer nerd) Mate Hartai will be on hand to discuss the characteristics of each beer style and the reasons for each pairing choice, so if you want to officially learn what’s so amazing about craft beer, and enjoy some gourmet bites while you’re at it, this night’s for you. Cost is $50 per person. Call 214.824.7900 to reserve your table. The Libertine is located at 2101 Greenville Avenue. © Whitney Thompson for Advocate Magazine, 2013. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags:

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Q&A: Marilyn Hansen

Brittany Nunn — Wed, 22 May 2013 20:13:41 +0000

The old Trinity Lutheran Church property at Gaston and Loving was on the market for many years after it closed in 2006. Developers pitched redevelopment ideas, but they all met with resistance until 2012, when the White Rock YMCA decided to pursue the property and was largely supported by the community. Neighbor Marilyn Hansen was very involved in Trinity Lutheran Church, mostly because of her late husband, Ken Hansen, whose father was the first president of the congregation in Lakewood. The church was a huge part of her life and her children’s lives, she says — but so was the YMCA. Before it closed, your family was very involved with Trinity Lutheran Church. Ken’s father [Nels Hansen] was the president of the congregation when the church was built. The Hansens have been members of the church since its founding in the late teens. I didn’t become a member until I married Ken in the late ’60s. I was married in that church, and all four of my children were baptized in that church. Is it safe to assume you know a lot about the history of the church, then? The church was originally in South Dallas, and it was a German-speaking church, and it moved over into East Dallas in the late ’40s. Mr. Hansen was the president of the congregation that built the church. He was the first president of the congregation after it moved from South Dallas to East Dallas. The whole church moved over because the area was changing, and they were all primarily Scandinavian immigrants. They moved over to East Dallas, and most of the people moved over here with the church. How do you feel when you see the current state of the church building? It’s sad. Of course, the end of the church was sad. How so? To be really honest, that church was never heavily a part of the community because it moved from another community. There were a lot of people from Lakewood, but they were all people who had moved from South Dallas. (But it wasn’t a community church, and it dissolved as a church.) It did not move anyplace else. It dissolved because of a declining membership. I never understood why they wanted to close. You’ve also been very involved in the YMCA. What do you think about it moving to that space? I was chairman of the East Dallas board. In fact, the first woman. That was back in the early ’80s. I, of course, am delighted that the Y is going to be there. To drive by and see a church that had children and an after-school program for children, that my children grew up in and went to youth groups with — to see it abandoned and dirty, it was sad to watch that, and I think it would be wonderful to see the Y come. My children are delighted because they say it will be wonderful to see children there again. All four of my children worked for the East Dallas Y through high school. My oldest son was a full-time employee as a swim coach. It was a major part of our social life. The old Y [on Worth Street] that I’m talking about was primarily a youth-oriented YMCA, with a pool and a lot of high school activities, youth and government, and an enormous sports program. Then, when it moved over to Gaston, they put in a superb fitness department, which I think has grown enormously, and I think it was needed in East Dallas, so I’m glad that’s going to continue. And I’m glad that the Y is not moving out of East Dallas, because it could have moved anywhere, and I’m really pleased that it’s staying in East Dallas and using the space of Trinity. I think old members of Trinity would be equally pleased. Do you think it will be sad to see the church torn down? Of course. It’s always sad to see something torn down that represented a really positive part of your life. And although the end relationship wasn’t positive, it was a positive influence in my children’s life. Certainly in my husband’s life. He was very involved in the church. All of his life, it had been the primary thing that he did. He had been confirmed there, I don’t know how many people in his family were married there, all of his family was buried there. The church had been the most important thing in Ken’s life growing up. He was very upset when it dissolved. But he would be very happy to see the Y going in there, and even though they will tear down the church, he would be very happy to see children on the grounds. It would actually please him. Since the church left, it was the best solution they could make, to bring children back there. Interview has been edited for brevity and clarity. © Brittany Nunn for Advocate Magazine, 2013. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us Post tags:

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Paint the town

Brittany Nunn — Wed, 22 May 2013 20:13:38 +0000

Versatility and artistic fearlessness are two of Lakewood artist Suzy Moritz-Rawdin’s greatest assets. Moritz-Rawdin experiments with many mediums and many subjects, simply painting whatever speaks to her. “I just love all of it,” she says. “I’m not afraid of anything. I think that’s the thing, is that I’m not afraid to try any of it.” Around East Dallas, she’s recognized as the creative brain behind the house paintings for the Junius Heights Home Tour, which are featured in the tour brochure. She also painted the historic Junius Heights streetcar that adorns the cover. When painting a house, “I have to take a picture and get a feel for the outside of the house,” she explains. “Each house has its own personality. You can see the love these people put into their homes.” Her paintings aren’t perfect architectural replicas of the buildings, she says, but rather whimsical, artistic renditions. Moritz-Rawdin also drew 400 original ink drawings that are featured in the guest bedrooms of the new Omni Convention Center Hotel in downtown Dallas. Aside from structural art, she’s known for her pet portraits, which are packed with personality and artistic flair. “My pet portraits, they just speak to me. I have to paint the eyes first because I talk to the pets while I paint,” she says, laughing. Skies also “speak to her,” or maybe that’s just her excuse to travel to beautiful New Mexico once a year to paint the vivid colors and breathtaking southwestern skylines. “I see the world in light and shadows,” she says, and explains that’s a trait she picked up from her mother, who was also an artist. “I can envision something and then draw it. I’ll see something and say, ‘Oh, that’s so paintable.’” © Brittany Nunn for Advocate Magazine, 2013. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us Post tags:

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Woodrow golfer takes gold

Brittany Nunn — Wed, 22 May 2013 20:13:38 +0000

Woodrow senior Grace Choi sat in a coffee shop on a drizzly Thursday afternoon, chatting excitedly about the 4-A state golf championship game she had won just a couple of weekends prior. A woman and two teens in Woodrow uniforms stopped by and gave her a hug, lightheartedly announcing themselves to be her “biggest fans,” which Choi good-naturedly laughed off. In reality, though, many in East Dallas — certainly those with Woodrow affiliations — have been watching the young woman’s golf swing continue to improve year after year since Choi was a girl. She’s definitely someone who is easy to rally behind: She’s homegrown, having gone through Lakewood Elementary and J.L. Long before arriving at Woodrow; she’s obviously a phenomenal golfer; she’s also an exceptional student, preparing to graduate in June first in her class as an AP Scholar with Distinction and president of the National Honor Society; and on top of all that, she’s warm, engaging and incredibly humble about her accomplishments. “I’m extremely lucky to live in this neighborhood and know people who’ve watched me, even people I don’t know, people who just live here,” she says. “It’s really special to know, because when I play well, it’s not only for myself; it’s for my neighborhood.” Choi has won regionals twice and played in state tournaments three times. The first year, Choi went to state as a sophomore and placed fifth. The second time, as a junior, she placed third. Since the beginning of her senior year, her coaches joked that they hoped the trend continued and she improved by two again. “The reason she’s so successful is her incredibly hard work,” says Woodrow golf coach Tom Crabb. “I always say I’ve never seen anyone work so hard at a sport as she does at golf.” On April 30, their wish came true when Choi snagged first place by six under 64, finishing eight under 132 on 36 holes. The victory also broke a record for lowest winning score for UIL girls golf for state. Overall, she beat everyone by an impressive 12 strokes. The crowd, including her coaches, went wild, she says. “I think they were more nervous than I was, actually,” she says with a laugh. Choi says she felt good about the day from the very beginning, especially after scoring four birdies in a row on the third through sixth hole. “It was my last time [to play in the state championship], so I figured I might as well have fun, and I just happened to play well,” she says. Choi was heavily recruited by Harvard and planned to go there, but she fell in love with University of Michigan during her first visit. “I just pictured myself fitting in there better, and I met the coaches and players and they were wonderful,” she says. “I felt that I could succeed both as an athlete and a student there.” So in the fall, she’s heading to Michigan on a full-ride golf scholarship to study biomedical engineering. “I feel like I can continue to do well if I work hard,” she says. “I think my future looks bright.” © Brittany Nunn for Advocate Magazine, 2013. | Permalink | 3 comments | Add to del.icio.us Post tags:

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