Working Hard for the Money

Saturday, I spent a rambunctious evening at Hotel Palomar for the Celebrity Waiter Gala, benefiting the Child Abuse Prevention Center. The room was filled with notable names serving other notable names all in the spirit of charity.

I sat next to David Hopkins, aka the Leppert stalker, and our table’s server was, as it turned out, Mayor Leppert.

Everything was going smoothly, that was, until (more…)

Sexy Stink Bomb Wrappers Live On

I’ve waited a year for this moment and here it is. See, last year when I wrote this about the University Park Elementary School carnival tons of people e-mailed telling me that there is no way the stink bombs are packaged as I descibed in my column. Well…I told you so. And for the record, I don’t care that this is the packaging, I just think it’s funny. And by the way, I was being nice- it says “fart” on the wrapper.

Listen Up Kids, Here’s How to Play T-Ball

Photo: Local pal and dedicated pre-kindergarten t-ball dad Jeff Kittleson in an intense double-point coaching moment. Not a single player was listening.

Kittleson, It was worth a try and the parents appreciate your efforts.

If You Can’t Go Pro, You Just Shouldn’t Go

The most interesting quote in the aforementioned piece about Ryan Michael and his family comes near the end:

“We don’t play football anymore, but none of us were going to go pro in football anyways,” said one of his friends, Cooper Wagner, 11.

I found this quite amusing. The implication in young Cooper’s statement is that it’s not really worth anything to spend time on football, since he and his friends have no shot of doing it at the absolute highest level.

I don’t mean to make too much out of a kid’s innocent statement, but is this another indication of the Park Cities culture demanding excellence — like the BFSB Syndrome that we’ve discussed before? Or maybe this isn’t at all peculiar to the Bubble. Maybe it’s a product of our nation’s popular culture that increasingly worships sports heroes for their paychecks?

We Messed Up

The print version of this story about fifth-grader Ryan Michael and his need for a kidney transplant incorrectly stated that there was to have been a kidney donor screening on Sunday. The event is not to take place until May 18. It will soon be corrected in the online edition. We regret the error.

Re: Enough With The Bullies

I recently had to make a very tough call on this subject. I made a call that I hope no one ever has to make, and one that I hope no one has to receive.

I called the mother of a bully.

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Leppert Lunches Near Nosey Overheardian

Local to the Bubble? No. Kind of fun to know who is where? Yes. This just in:

Subject: Breaking news at Hatties in the Cliff

Tom Leppert is lunching with two old white dudes.

Working on having the identity of “old white dudes” uncovered and the topic of conversation determined. Developing.

HPISD, Enough with the Bullies. Change Your Policies.

Bullying in any school is/should be unacceptable but there’s something about HPISD and the whole excellence thing that makes me think there should be less tolerance for such behavior. How long should it be allowed to go on after administration has confirmed the bullying is taking place before the child doing the bullying is removed (not the victim)?

I understand the rules and procedures and policies but that doesn’t mean, especially in this resource filled district, that we should expect children to endure while we take baby steps to improve the classroom environment.

I’ve been visiting with families at the boiling point not wanting to make waves with administration but tired of the slow pace taken by school officials.

What do you think? Do we tell them “enough” or “suck it up?”

My vote: ENOUGH. Zero tolerance.

HP Library Must Have VIP Parking

An HP Library loving Overheardian sends this photo of Dan Branch at the podium along with this note:

I went to the grand reopening of the Highland Park Library on Saturday.  The town of HP put on quite a party: bouncy houses, face painting, clowns, etc.  And stuff for the kids, too.  The library itself is phenomenal.  They did a tremendous job on the remodel.

I’m sure the library is super duper but did you happen to catch where Branch parked? Just wondering.

Park Cities Real Estate Now Part of the Slide

Candy Evans brings us this less than cheerful link to Steve Brown’s DMN piece.

Even affluent close-in residential areas that had previously avoided declines, including the Park Cities and North Dallas, are seeing falling prices and significant drops in home sales.

Holy Trinity to Get New Pastor

I was saddened to read in yesterday’s Holy Trinity Catholic Church bulletin that the Rev. Jack Cawley will apparently be leaving the parish at the end of June. Bishop Kevin Farrell has appointed a new pastor to take over:

 Upon presentation by the Provincial Superior of the
Vincentian Southern Province, Rev. Dan P. Borlik,
C.M., Bishop Kevin J. Farrell, D.D., has appointed Rev. Juan
Antonio Ruiz, C.M, as pastor of Holy Trinity Parish in Dallas,
Texas effective, July 1, 2008.

Until recently, Fr. Tony has served as the pastor of St.
Vincent DePaul Church near downtown Los Angeles,
California. At the present time he is a member of the staff of
St. Mary’s Vincentian Retreat Center in Santa Barbara,
California. In mid May Fr. Tony will publish a letter of
introduction to our parishioners in the parish bulletin. Our
present pastor Fr. Jack Cawley, C.M. will complete his six
years of service on June 30, 2008.

Father Jack was the celebrant at my wedding last year, so he’ll always have a special significance for my life. He’s well known for some of his catchphrases, such as  beginning every homily with “My brothers and sisters in the Lord Jesus Christ” and finishing each Mass by saying “And remember, you’re always welcome at Holy Trinity.”