Back Talk Lake Highlands

Save-a-Lot on Abrams closes

The Save-a-Lot no-frills grocery store, at the corner of Northwest Highway and Abrams, didn't always smell quite right, but the produce was of good quality and cheap -- as much as one-third less as elsewhere. But when I went to buy onions over the weekend, the store was closed and cleaned out. Not even a fixture was left.

Save-a-Lot apparently closed the location quietly. I have a call in to the Missouri corporate headquarters to see if this was a one-store thing, or if the chain is pulling out of the Dallas market. It still has a half dozen stores in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, including one on Ferguson near Buckner.

Will Smith and Tony Romo video

YouTube is chock full of video this morning detailing yesterday's visit to Lake Highlands High School by the movie star and the Cowboys star. (Though no Jessica Simpson sightings, apparently). I counted four videos, and no doubt I missed several. This is from mnhaos.

I especially like Smith's sweater and tie look -- almost Richie Cunningham-like. And those cheerleaders in back of Smith? They are quite excited, aren't they?

Still on Cloud Nine from Romo and Smith's visit

     I couldn't sleep last night. Visions of Tony Romo and Will Smith were dancing in my head. I could hear the voices of LHHS students enjoying the day. "Oh my gosh, that was so cool!" said Sarah Thompson of the drill team. "Will Smith hugged me!" raved Caroline Snively of the volleyball team (thank you mom, Sid, for these great photos). "My friends and I watch Will Smith on Fresh Prince of Bel Air on reruns all the time. It was really nice of them to come out and help us get ready for the big game," said Travis Crawford, safety on the football team. "Everyone got loud when Will Smith was getting us pumped up, but we were all completely silent when he had something to say," remembered Austin Jones. "It was very exciting to meet them in person," cheerleader Eden Aune told me. "We got to touch them and ask them questions, and Tony said his pinkie would be 100% in two weeks."

"Tony Romo is my hero," said junior quarterback Ricky Zorn. "He never lets anything stop him - he always believes he can reach his goals." Paige Benton of the volleyball team agreed - "Will Smith was the nicest guy ever. He told us as a team to go after what we want fearlessly, which inspired us as the underdog team." Senior Andrew Atama was impressed - "Will Smith shared advice that Quincy Jones had given him. He said we need to be relentless to get where we want to go." What an amazing experience for these kids.

Was that Will Smith and Tony Romo at LHHS today?!

It’s an exciting time for LHHS, what with the Football, Volleyball, Tennis and Cross Country teams all District champs.  Just in case that weren’t exciting enough for the kids - and the community at large — the Fresh Prince and Dallas’ own Tony Romo decided to drop by the school for a Pep Rally this afternoon. They showed up at LHHS at 2 pm to get the crowd rockin’ and rollin’ in The Pursuit of Happyness for a couple of big nights:  Friday in San Marcos (Lady Wildcats face Austin Westlake) and Saturday in Corsicana (Wildcats against Tyler John Tyler).  

By the way the crowd reacted,  you’d thought the gym was the Wild, Wild West.  These are a couple of Bad Boys that got the fans pumped.  Go Cats!

Tony Romo and Will Smith visit LHHS

Today, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo and movie star Will Smith led a pep rally at Lake Highlands High School.

With the Lady Wildcat volleyball team headed to San Marcos for the state semi-finals and the football team going to Corsicana for the second round of playoffs, a pep rally seemed in order. But no one could have ever guessed that these two celebrities would attend, let alone linger and mix with the kids. In the band hall before the pep rally, at the request of Smith and Romo, they answered kids' questions and doled out hugs with no press permitted. Smith had advice for the students, and for the teams in particular - "Be fearless and be relentless." Romo told them from experience, "Every passing moment is an opportunity to turn things around."  Smith and Romo had only one demand - that the day be all about the kids. And the crowd went wild...

Blast off to LHE for dinner and some science

If you head over to Lake Highlands Elementary this Thursday at 5:30 pm, not only can you get a great deal on a hot meal but you can also be blinded by science and mesmerized by math (for those of you who are numerically gifted).  While you dine, you'll be entertained by the world famous LHE second graders too.  Such a deal!

The third annual Science/Math Night at the school promises to be a good meal and a fun time.  The 4th grade parents are again offering up a dinner of steaming hot baked potatoes with all the fixin's and cool crisp salads at the best prices in town.  There will be all sorts of experiments set up, manned by the teachers and guaranteed to test your brain power and sense of adventure.

Rumor has it there will be a visit from 'Rocket Man'.  Who can resist that opportunity?

Thursday November 20th, 5:30 pm, Lake Highlands Elementary, 9501 Ferndale, 469 593-2100

Kiss and ride in Lake Highlands?

As often happens with my blog posts, I sat down to write about one subject and have taken a hard turn in another direction. But I have a concern...

Thursday night, November 13, more than 100 people showed up for a standing-room-only meeting at the LH recreation center to discuss DART's design plans for the LH Town Center station. It got a little heated when DART disclosed that they plan to build a "kiss and ride" station (no parking) instead of a "park and ride." This upset former city councilman Bill Blaydes and others who recall that original discussions included DART and developer Prescott sharing the cost of a parking garage for the station. Some residents were further whipped up when DART indicated that they hope to provide walking and biking access to the station from the east (perhaps via a bridge). White Rock Trail can't handle additional traffic, angry neighbors stressed.

After speaking to several attendees and reading the circulating email avalanche, I can't shake a nagging worry. More and more, it seems the "respected and seasoned veterans" of our community and the "cute young families" moving here in droves don't see eye to eye. I hope someone will tell me I'm wrong (somebody always does when I post), because THAT problem would be a heckovalot more serious than inadequate parking.  The most valuable feature this neighborhood has, the very foundation on which our success is built, is our community spirit and unity.

In every organization in LH, from homeowners associations to PTAs to booster clubs to Women's League to Exchange Club and beyond, enthusiastic young members are bringing fresh new ideas and energy. Nothing could be better for our quality of life and our property values. But the vast array of accomplishments and experiences of the "been there, done that crowd" have value, too. It's time to brainstorm about ways to harness and merge the two for the benefit of the entire community. And it's time to recognize that someone else MIGHT just have a helpful perspective, different from our own.

Council subcommittee considers a smoking ban in bars, billiard halls

A city council subcommittee is considering expanding the city's current smoking ban from restaurants and workplaces to bars, billiard halls and within 15 feet of entrances to publicly accessible villages, according to the DMN. A majority of the six councilmen on the subcommittee seem to be leaning in favor of the proposal, according to the News story and more comments on its blog.

I have to admit that when the city council first decided to restrict smoking in restaurants and other public places a few years ago, I had my doubts: It seemed like a draconian measure, and it seemed likely to drive business out of Dallas. Today, though, I haven't seen a single study indicating that significant business was lost to the more smoking-friendly suburbs, and the air in most places I go these days is cleaner and clearer.

LHE’s Recycle Round Up is terrific success

Thanks to many volunteers and vendors that included LHE staff and parents, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, the City of Dallas, GEEP Texas, Okon, Goodwill, Interstate Batteries, Greenstar, Operation Kindness, DART, the EPA, Home Depot, Rohde’s, EcoDallas, Green Mountain Energy, Sam’s, and Chick-Fil-A (to name a few!), the first big ‘Green’ event at the school garnered almost two full truck loads of E-Waste, an entire Shred Pod filled with paper, another truck load of tires and scrap metal and plenty of reading material to be recycled and reused.

We have pictures.

From all reports, the E-Waste collection, the Shred Pod, and being able to recycle from your car were the most popular attractions, along with the bounce house set up in the gym for the kids. Being the industrious school they are, LHE also raised money for next year's 5th grade Sky Ranch adventure and inoculated 22 folks with flu shots. Not bad for a rookie effort, especially considering the day started with 40 degree temperatures.

LHE Environmental Chair Cindy Engel was thrilled with all the participation and said lots of folks asked if the Recycle Round Up would become an annual event. “I hope so!" she said. "A lot of folks asked about it. I think it would be great if we did this every fall.”

The six-hour event also caught the attention of Texas Media Partners, who came and interviewed many participants for an upcoming HDTV documentary they’re producing called ‘Red, White and Green’.

LHHS playoffs for volleyball AND football

  What's a good Lake Highlands family to do?!?  Friday night, November 21, the Lady Wildcat volleyball team will face powerhouse Austin Westlake at Texas State University's Strahan Coliseum in San Marcos at 7 pm. If they win, they'll meet the winner of Amarillo versus Clear Creek Saturday night at 5 pm at the same location for the state championship. But...

Saturday night at 6 pm, hundreds of miles away in Corsicana (take a virtual stadium tour), your Wildcat football team will kick off against Tyler John Tyler. (See this article in the Dallas Morning News documenting similarities between this year's journey and that of the 1997 team.)

Already, the playoffs have split LH families down the middle, as they did when the volleyball team played in Huntsville Friday night during the football playoff game in Plano, and some went north while others headed south to demonstrate their loyalty. This time, some neighborhood organizations are having to scramble to keep neighborhood events from conflicting. "We're adjusting the times of our "Disciple Now" program," said Melissa Alloway, who serves as a discussion leader for youth at LH United Methodist Church. "We scheduled this weekend event months ago, but we know the kids don't want to miss the games. We figure it's a great problem to have, so we are being flexible." Busy weekend ahead, go Cats!