June 19, 2013
Meet Your Neighbor
Susan Morgan holds gardening tools specially adapted for therapy utilizing color and ergonomically-shaped handles.
MEET YOUR NEIGHBOR: Arboretum's horticulture therapy takes root
The greeting card craft with pressed flowers simply did not interest her, and she had no intention of participating. But one pink hydrangea blossom reached into her past and released the memories of her mother that Alzheimer’s had packed away. She smiled in spite of herself and began to speak. “You’ve heard of art therapy? Music therapy? Why not horticulture therapy?” asked Susan Morgan, senior manager of therapeutic horticulture at the Dalla...
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Dr. Nick Chamberlain and his wife, Kimberly Jones-Chamberlain at their Lakewood Studio
MEET YOUR NEIGHBOR: Clear mind, tranquil spirit define Lakewood instructor
A powerful vortex hides quietly in a building tucked away just behind Pacuigo on Abrams. Step into it, and you are pulled into a world that is simultaneously thousands of years old and present day. It is a world where principles never change, journeys are formed and transformed, and a childless couple has hundreds of offspring. This world has a special name: dojo, and it is the East Dallas branch of Chamberlain Studios of Self Defense. With c...
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Photo courtesy of Danielle Girdano The Lake Highlands Miracle 5 celebrate their successful completion of a 5k run.
MEET YOUR NEIGHBOR ‘No obstacle is too great’ to re-d’fine their lives
She only had a third of a lung left. A severe motorcycle accident and two bouts with cancer had left Marta Balleste weak, overweight and out of shape. She was glad to be alive, but had given up on ever feeling lively again… until she met Danielle Girdano. Balleste is one of five people who accepted Girdano’s fitness challenge last spring. All were out of shape. All had reasons or excuses why they stayed that way. None of them thought they coul...
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Photo courtesy of Gary Fineske Gary Fineske will give anyone a massage – even the Mavericks mascot!
MEET YOUR NEIGHBOR From combat to courtside, Fineske kneads the Mavs
If Gary Fineske is pulling Dirk Nowitzki’s leg, he’s not joking. He pulls his leg, bends his arms, rubs his back… anything required to keep the Maverick’s power forward in optimal condition, because Fineske – “Fingers” as he is known to the players – is the massage therapist for the Dallas Mavericks. Other people may think this is a big deal, but Fineske just smiles and shrugs. “People find out and think this is a glamorous job or that I make ...
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Photo by George Boyd
MEET YOUR NEIGHBOR: Monk Parakeets find paradise at White Rock
Tootie, one of the Monk Parakeets at the Lawther electrical substation, enjoys a snack of berries. You can often hear them before you see them. A cross between a screech and a squawk floats on the air and the telltale green feathers herald the Monk Parakeets (MPs) that live in the East Dallas area. “People think ‘parakeets’ and those budgies from Australia come to their minds. But we aren’t budgies!” insisted Tootie, one of the birds that live...
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Bob Kennedy recently rode in the Bike MS to raise money for research for a cure for Multiple Sclerosis. He has only missed four events in the last 18 years.
MEET YOUR NEIGHBOR: Husband cycles toward cure for wife’s disease
“… For richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, till death do us part.” When we say these vows at the altar, infused with love, romance and hope, we usually have no idea how those promises will be tested in the years to come. Bob and Renee Kennedy didn’t either almost 29 years ago. But they learned. When they met in the small town of Lancaster, S.C., she was home from college where she was a chemical engineering major. He was in training...
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George Lucas
MEET YOUR NEIGHBORS: Time running out for WWII Veterans
Honor Flight gives hope wings He flew B-24 Liberators over Germany 68 years ago. He didn’t get to see the tribute to his service until last week. And for hundreds like George Lucas, time is running out. Each day is one less chance to see the World War II Memorial created in their honor. Lucas, a long-time resident in the University Meadows neighborhood, realized his dream thanks to the Honor Flight Network, but for Lake Highlands residents P...
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Hal Barker and Woogie survey Winfrey Point on a reconnaissance mission.
MEET YOUR NEIGHBOR: Memorial’s founder involved in Point preservation
Blame it on General Woogie. If it hadn’t been for him, the Battle of Winfrey Point might never have begun, and his Commander-in-Chief, Hal Barker, would have remained fairly anonymous. But that is about to change. You see, Woogie is a dog – Barker’s dog. They live within a stone’s throw of the point, sharing an apartment with Hal’s brother, Ted and his dog, Snoopy. They walk along the lake twice daily, and it was on one of those walks a month ...
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Photos by Lucy Higginbotham Friends of Wilbur gather at Sunset Bay, including Fussell, Annette Abbott (seated,) Officer Layman, Officer Adams and Anne Carlson.
MEET YOUR NEIGHBOR: Honk if you love the geese!
All it takes is some whole wheat bread and you’ve got friends for life. And, as long as you don’t mind webbed feet and feathers, you’re set. Charles Fussell has a gaggle of friends he visits everyday. Because he has personally fed and rehabilitated many of the flock at White Rock Lake, he has become known as The Goose Guy. If you take a gander at the various fowl at Sunset Bay, you’ll notice several of the 30 species of geese and ducks milling...
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Eva Attel enjoys a beautiful spring day with her mom, Susan, grandmother, Betsey, and brother, Cal. Her fundraiser is May 12 at Good Shepherd Episcopal Church.
MEET YOUR NEIGHBOR: Family finds joy, meaning despite CF challenges
Something just wasn’t right. Babies like to nurse, but not this much. They get colds, but not like this. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but a mother’s intuition left her uneasy. That’s when the doctor’s call came on October 25 last year. Eva had Cystic Fibrosis. At only one month old, she began to face a new kind of life, because Cystic Fibrosis (CF) has no cure. Yet. Her parents, Susan and Tim Attel, as well as both sets of grandparents w...
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