Life in Dallas - Page 5
St. Thomas Aquinas Neighborhood Church and School
For Catholics and non-Catholics alike, St. Thomas Aquinas is an Old East Dallas landmark that is found in the Wilshire Heights neighborhood. The church serves a vibrant Catholic population spanning several generations of Lakewood and Old East Dallas residents. The St. Thomas Aquinas school is a valuable educational resource for both Catholic and non-Catholic students who live in the nearby East Dallas neighborhoods. The church has been expanded in a graceful way over the years, enhancing versus diminishing its architecture. Regardless if one is a member of the church, one can think of the church fondly as part of their neighborhood and part of their life.
Dinner Under the Stars at Cafe Pacific for Interior Designer Stars
How can one have a more elegant and fun evening than joining gracious and clever interior designers that are the best in their field in Dallas and across the country exchanging ideas, stories and past hijinks. Cafe Pacific on the patio was the perfect setting for this April dinner under the stars.
Dallas City Councilperson Bill Roth Takes Office
After his first day in office as a City Councilperson, Bill Roth is celebrated by community leaders at a reception hosted by the Allyn Company. I served with Bill on the Metrotex Association of Realtors Board of Directors. He filled a position on the board reserved for commercial brokers. I found him to be dedicated to service and a thoughtful board member. When MLS was considering selling all of the images in MLS to the Dallas Morning News, I expressed my concern at several meetings and at the MLS meetings. This was also at a time when MLS would use a photograph already on file if the current agent had not submitted one. The board attorney and other board members were unconcerned with the copyright issues and liability because this had not previously been an issue. Bill Roth was the only board member who took an interest in this issue which to this day I appreciate. Ultimately, I flew to the Chicago National Office of Realtors and spoke to the chief attorney. He agreed with my opinion and assessment of the issue. He wrote an opinion and directive to the Greater Dallas Association of Realtors that required them to change course, which they did.
Blair Pogue is Highland Park Home Developer with Best Experience and Greatest Insights for Architecturally Significant Homes
Visiting the Dallas Mayor at City Hall
Riding the elevator up to the fifth floor office to visit Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson, I realized he was the tenth mayor that I had personally met with, most of them at some point at their Mayor’s Office at City Hall. When I arrived on the fifth floor, there was a row of photographs of every past Dallas mayor. These images brought back memories of my first visit to Mayor Robert Folsom’s office and my visit to the mayor’s office when Starke Taylor was mayor. It was fun to see in Mayor Taylor’s office a 12-inch walnut spool of copper wire with two tin cans at the respective end of the wire that had been presented to him when he presided over a Restoration House of the Year Award on his first day in office. This was given to him as a hotline to the neighborhoods of East Dallas. Looking at the pictures on the wall made me recall many of the conversations I had with each of these mayors in their office. It was a treat to meet Mayor Eric Johnson in his office, as I so admire how he has continued to build on the success of the previous mayors. Under his leadership, Dallas has never been stronger. There has also been much written recently about the I.M. Pei designed-City Hall building. It was fun to see the city from the balcony that I.M. Pei designed for the Dallas Mayor.
John Reoch Pivots from Fine Food and Fine Wine to Gourmet Root Beer Float
Mary Peyton Burgher Promotes Good Architecture, Preservation and Aesthetics in Dallas and Across Texas
John Reoch Opens Bluffview Home
After seeing my post of the Trenton Doyle Hancock exhibition at a New York museum, John Reoch invited me to see his Trenton Doyle Hancock painting. I think this is a particularly good example of his work and is even more meaningful as John purchased it at the first show of Trenton Doyle Hancock that took place in Dallas at the Gerald Peters Gallery.
Park House Lunch with John Reoch
Park House in Highland Park Village is a convenient spot for lunch halfway between the estate area of Highland Park and Bluffview.
The Death of Harry Gibson is the Passing of an Era in Munger Place
Harry Gibson, married to Marian Gibson, was a legendary figure in Munger Place and in Dallas. He and Marian, in the early 1970s, were one of the first urban pioneers in Munger Place and Old East Dallas. He was chair of the Old East Dallas Community Design Committee Neighborhood C. He ran these neighborhood meetings with the same toughness he did as Secretary General of the Dallas Public Employees Union. He was as tough as they came and incredibly politically astute. His wife knew everyone in the city and everyone in the neighborhood, and she let people know what they should be doing. What once was the first home to be renovated, a beacon of hope for the neighborhood, a home for neighborhood parties including Swiss Avenue, and a home with the highest Munger Place architectural rating, over 50 years deteriorated and became the most distressed property in the neighborhood. The morning Harry Gibson was removed from the home, his stepson, Daryl Probst, his daughter, neighbors and friends gathered to say goodbye. The family was incredibly kind to me when I was 22 and I first moved into the neighborhood and knew nothing about old houses, home ownership or politics. I could always stop by their house to get something to eat if my cupboards were bare. I will be forever grateful. Daryl Probst, sitting on the front porch, was one of the handful of investors in the first two new homes that were built after Munger Place became a historic district.
