Lightening strike sparks Council votes to raging apartment ......dent, depending on the degree. DeVry University’s history is rooted in making quality, career-oriented education

Details INSIDEKids eat for 1/2 price

By Nick Kammerer Local moviegoers will soon be able to enjoy a luxurious cin-ematic experience at Irving Mall AMC Movie Theater. AMC is teaming up with Si-mon Property group to renovate the aging mall location. Plans for the theater include many ex-iting new amenities. Irving AMC moviegoers will be able to relax during movies while sitting in a power reclining chair equipped with footrests. Also included are bathroom ren-ovations and a new concession area that will house a Coca-Cola Freestyle machine, providing movie enthusiasts with over 120

Theater renovationsrejuvenate aging space

In a lengthy and sometimes divisive discussion on the future of an entertainment center in Irving, the City Council voted to approve a partnership with ARK Group and revive a plan to build the $165 million center. The City Council voted 5-4 in a series of votes at the July 25 meeting after spending hours discussing the partnership and listening to public input. The marathon meeting wrapped up at about 12:30 a.m., more than five hours after it had started. Councilmembers John C. Danish, Allan Meagher, Den-nis Webb, Rose Cannaday and Joe Putnam voted to approve the partnership. Mayor Beth Van Duyne and council mem-bers Brad LaMorgese, Gerald Farris and Thomas Spink voted against. “I think there is a good bit of evidence that this is something

Council votes to partner with ARK

Lightening strike sparks raging apartment fireBy Phil Cerroni Plumes of smoke and towering flames confronted first respond-ers at Eagle Crest Apartments on July 20. As the roof and up-per floors were consumed like fresh kindling, firefighters’ fears were realized when they discov-ered the fire had already spread to the attic. “Once it’s [a fire] gotten into the structure, our big concern is to keep it out of the attic, be-cause if it goes up into the at-tic now you’ve got a wide open space for the fire to travel from one end to the other [of the building], so that’s what we at-tempt to prevent,” said, Rusty Wilson, the Assistant Fire Chief for Irving FD. As IFD personnel scrambled to set up a defensive perimeter from which to fight the flames, other firefighters rushed inside the furnace in a battle to keep the searing conflagration at bay with hand hoses just long enough to search for survivors in the 24 units engulfed in flames. The intense heat gained ground as one responder, de-spite his protective equipment, received minor burns and had to be evacuated to Parkland Hospi-tal. Retreating firefighters sus-tained another casualty when

a responder fell as the structure began crumbling beneath him. He was also taken to Parkland. By this time, firefighters at the perimeter had deployed aerial towers, trained the trucks’ deck guns at the blaze and were unloading thousands of gallons water into the inferno. Fire Department personnel extinguished the fire without further complications, and not only were no civilians in-jured, but both injured responders were released from Park-land by the next day. Investigations are underway to ascertain both the extent of the damage and cause of the fire, which Chief Wilson said eyewitnesses reported as a lightning strike.

drink options. The theater also plans to expand the concession menu. “We’re thrilled AMC is add-ing its upgraded seating options to its existing theater at Irving Mall. Their renovation will rede-fine movie going at Irving Mall and will enhance the entertain-ment offerings for our custom-ers,” Greg Zimmerman, Senior Vice President at Simon Prop-erty Group, explained. The movie giant has ap-proximately 344 theaters across the United States, and has re-cently renovated a few North

that’s needed,” Spink said, cit-ing hoteliers who had decried the City’s lack of entertainment. “There is clearly a significant market here for this project.” But first, to revive the proj-ect that stalled last year with Las Colinas Group, ARK Group would have to pay $3 million to LCG to drop a lawsuit against the city and also pay $1 million to Billy Bob Barnett, creator of Fort Worth’s Billy Bob’s and LCG partner. In that separate vote, Spink voted for the settlement along with Meagher, Webb, Canna-day, Putnam and Danish. “Time is of the essence and litigation does tie up these things,” Danish said. “I want to get these lawsuits settled.” Under the deal outlined in the contract, the City would first contribute $40 million to ARK

Local sports fanatics had reason to cheer as the Kansas City Explores made their new home in Irving as the Texas Wild.

Team’s inaugural season runs Wild Mylan World TeamTennis got off to a smashing start as the Wild broke the Washington Kastles’ 34 game winning streak (the best in any professional team sport) in the home opener at the Four Seasons Resort and Club in Las Colinas. It came to a screeching halt on Thursday night when the Wild fell short in the Western Conference Cham-pionship game, losing to the Springfield Lasers 25-9. Somewhere in between the season’s highs and lows, the Texas Wild became the latest addition to Irving pop culture. Among the incredible tal-ent the Wild brought with them to Texas were Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi, a top ranked doubles specialist, Genie Bouchard who

is currently ranked 55th in the world for women’s singles and Darija Jurak who holds 38 ITF Women’s Circuit Doubles titles. Not to mention Wimbledon Men’s Doubles champs Bob and Mike Bryan, the most successful duo in men’s tennis doubles his-tory. “When you are putting a team together you want to look at talent, team chemistry and everything,” said Jeff Launius, the Wild’s owner and general manager. “With this particu-lar group of players, we have a little bit of everything. We have youth. We have some veterans. We’ve got great leadership in all aspects. “This team leaves it out on

A raging fire at Eagle Crest Apartments injured two firefighters and damaged 24 units after the conflagration, purportedly started by a stray lightning bolt, spread to the structure’s attic and from there to the entire building. The fire department was forced to set up a defensive perimeter and fight the blaze from a distance with aerial towers and deck guns. Photo courtesy of IFD.

See IRVING Page 4

Outlandish, dedicated fans cheer on the Texas Wild during their final game of the season against the Sacramento Capitals on July 24. The Wild lost to the Washington Kastles in the semi-final round on July 25 in Springfield, MO. Photo by John Starkey.

See THEATER Page 6

See TEAM Page 5

www.Ramblernewspapers.comTHE RAMBLERJuly 27, 2013Page 2

Nasher Art exhibit sparks dialogue

By Jess Paniszczyn On a pleasant evening as long shadows began to fall across the garden, the Nasher Sculp-ture Center welcomed about 100 guests to explore its galler-ies and art. The annual private event allowed new members to meet each other and take a guid-ed tour of the Center on July 18. “A friend told us she enjoyed being a member because there are so many interesting lec-tures,” said Estelle Odell, a new member from Irving. “This is a private tour with a curator and a wonderful wine and cheese reception before. You don’t get those opportunities often. And you have an opportunity to meet new people. It is fun just to have different experiences.” Some of the evening’s most talked-about work was WUN-DERBLOCK, an exhibition of works by Berlin-based artist Katharina Grosse. In the lower gallery, WUNDERBLOCK in-cludes a work of art consisting of a room filled with mounds of spray painted dirt surrounded by spray painted walls. “This is always an interest-ing place to see,” Estelle’s hus-band Fred said. “My favorite exhibit so far was the colored dirt I walked through. I enjoyed the vivid colors. It was different when you were in it than when you were looking at it from out-side the exhibit.”

“I just thought it was bi-zarre. I had a little trouble get-ting the mood,” Estelle added. “We are fortunate to have the Nasher here. New York wanted it very badly,” Fred said. “Dallas is one of the few cities anywhere that has all of the arts basically in one location. You’ve got the Nasher, the Meyerson, Winspear, and the AT&T Per-forming Arts Center all in one corridor. This is unique.” One large, eye catching piece of WUNDERBLOCK seems to slice through one of the Nasher’s glass walls, resting partially outside the museum near the garden area, while an-other piece claims its spot in the garden. Catherine Craft, adjunct assistant curator for research and exhibitions, explained a lit-tle about the artist’s work. “Katharina Grosse really thinks of herself as a painter, and Jeremy Strick, our director, had seen some of her large scale installations. He was very inter-ested in seeing what she could do in the context of the Sculp-ture Center,” Craft said. “Katha-rina works in large scale, and she uses spray paints. She often sprays architectural spaces in temporary installations, but she is also becoming interested in painting larger objects. “This is a work made espe-cially for the Nasher’s space. It is

DALLAS — The Youth Target Foundation (YTF) recently re-ceived a total $1,256,000 in grants from the Midway USA Foundation to support the Youth Target Foundation’s youth com-petitions. For 2013, Midway USA

Foundation granted $395,000 for the 2013 TXSCTP State shoot and also for 3 YTF competitions in the fall: one each in trap, skeet and sporting clay. For 2014, YTF was granted $861,000, to again fund the SCTP State shoot, and

also four Texas Regional com-petitions and another three YTF competitions in the spring.While a small amount will be used as operating funds for all 12 competitions, the majority of the funds are earmarked as endowment funds to be given to teams participating in the com-

Youth Target Foundation receives grants from Midway USA

DOWNERS GROVE, IL -- DeVry University recently announced it is offering a new scholarship, the Career Catalyst Scholarship, designed to support students along their educational journey toward graduation. The career-oriented university has set aside more than $15 million to fund the scholarship over the next three years, which will be awarded to qualifying students who enroll in the September session by Aug. 29. The scholarship value is up to a total of $20,000 per stu-dent, depending on the degree. DeVry University’s history is rooted in making quality, career-oriented education at-tainable for students looking to launch or advance their careers, said David J. Pauldine, presi-dent of DeVry University. We understand that affordability impacts attainability, which is why DeVry’s new scholarship provides progressive financial support designed to help stu-dents not only begin, but also complete their degree programs. Students qualifying for DeVry University’s Career Catalyst Scholarship are eligible to re-ceive scholarship awards of progressive amounts over a pe-riod of three years. For example, students in their first year of a bachelor’s degree program can be awarded up to $5,000. Dur-

DeVry University scholarship makes career-oriented higher education more affordable

petitions. More than $1.1 mil-lion will be placed in the Scho-lastic Shooting Trust accounts for participating youth teams; $290,000 will be endowed at the 2013 TXSCTP State Shoot on June 15 -16. These funds directly support teams in the Scholastic Clay Target Program,

Youth Target Foundation, 4-H, FFA and many more programs. Teams will benefit from this money for years to come, mak-ing it possible for more teams to participate and to continue to support growth.

Source: The Youth Target Foundation

ing the second year, the avail-able award may increase up to $7,000. For the third year, the award can increase up to

$8,000. For additional details and to apply for the scholarship, visit DeVry.edu.Source: DeVry University

Exploring a new landscape, some of the Nasher Sculpture Center’s newest members includ-ing Estelle (front) and Fred Odell (back) journey through the WUNDERBLOCK exhibition while becoming a part of the art itself. Photo by John Starkey

See MODERN Page 9

972-870-1992 THE RAMBLER July 27, 2013 Page 3

1000s items - Furniture, clothes for all ages, shoes, kitchen & household items, dishes, appli-ances, linens, pictures & home décor, toys, books, games, elec-tronics, CDs & DVD’s, decora-tions for every season, jewelry, craft, luggage, office supplies, tools & home improvement, outdoor equipment and much more.

WHAT

Huge indoor cHurcHgArAge sAle

This annual sale provides funds for Mission projects locally and around the world.

Lots of free parking on East side of church. Snack bar available daily so you can eat lunch while you shop

IRVING

Plymouth ParkUnited Methodist

Church

1615 W Airport Frwy (North of 183 between MacArthur & Story)

Irving 75062

WHereThurs, Aug. 18 a.m. - 6 p.m.Fri, Aug. 2

8 a.m. - 6 p.m.Sat, Aug. 38 a.m. - 3 p.m.Bag sale clearance

Sat, 2-3 p.m.

WHen Adventures in AutismJuly 27, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.More than 20 presentations at the University of North Texas Business Leadership Building will cover research developments that will be of interest to special educators, behavior analysts, speech and language patholo-gists, occupational therapists, parents and other autism service providers. After the conference, eight bands from the DFW and Austin areas will rock the stage in a benefit concert from 4:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. The lineup will feature School of Rock, Goodnight Ned, Blue Bear, The O’s, Fate Lions and Jess and the Echoes. Gospel ConcertJuly 27, 7 p.m.African Nations Fellowship pres-ents an evening of gospel music at the Irving Arts Center. “Sawdust & Spangles”July 29-August 2, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.The Irving Arts Center’s multi-arts camp for ages six to 12 in-cludes costume design, sculpture and body casting, felting, reverse glass painting, and aerial arts -part two featuring Lone Star Circus School performer Alora Scavella. $198. Give Blood!July 29, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Fortis InstituteJuly 29, Noon to 5 p.m. at Avia-tion Institute of MaintenanceVacations, activities and holidays contribute to a decrease in dona-tions during the summer, but patients don’t get a break from needing blood. Whether some-one is among the 39 percent of the U.S. population with type O positive blood or the 2 percent with B negative, the American Red Cross is looking for eligible donors of all types to give blood this summer to help avert a shortage.

Small Business ForumAugust 1, 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.The North Texas Governor’s Small Business Forum at the Irving Convention Center will offer a series of expert speakers and in-depth seminars to encour-age small businesses to grow and expand. It will include a busi-ness expo and opportunities for networking with other business leaders. Bells Are RingingAugust 2 to 10, 2:30 p.m. & 8 p.m.Award-winning ICT MainStage Irving Las Colinas presents the classic musical by Betty Comden and Adolph Green with music by Jule Styne about a dizzy switch-board operator’s relationship with a colorful variety of clients. The 1950’s hit features the mem-orable tunes and entertains with romance and comedy! $16-$23. PUNT, PASS & KICK EventAugust 3, 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.Irving PAL is hosting an NFL Punk, Pass & Kick event at the Sam Houston Middle School Football Field. The oldest grass-roots initiative at the NFL, con-tinues to reach children ages six to 15 and allows them to experi-ence the fun of learning footbal fundamentals in an engaging and support non-contact envi-ronment.Contact Officer Joseph Palomar at 972-721-2545. Kids’ Works 2013 Through September 1 The Irving Arts Center presents a showcase of the works created by 2013 summer campers including painting, photography, sculpture and more. Free. Tegge Circus Archives Col-lection Through September 29This exhibit at the Irving Arts Center includes works that ex-plore the fascinating life of the American circus through litho-graphs, photographs, banners, memorabilia and historical arti-facts. Free.

On the afternoon of august 6th 2003,the first issue of the Irving Rambler was delivered.

Please Join Us as we celebrate 10 Yearsof Service to the Irving Community.

Where: Glory HouseWhen: Tuesday, August 6, from 6:30 to 8 p.m.

FUN, Food & Door Prizes!!

Please, RSVP [email protected] or call/text 214-676-1145 by August 2nd

Professional women learn about modern business stylespants hair styles that are most commonly seen for working women on TV and in magazines. Guests were shown new devices for creating wavy hair, contrap-tions to create the perfect bun, and the secrets of the profes-sional pony tail. Everyone had a great time learning the latest trends and mingling over wine

and snacks. When asked why they initiated this event, Raegan Arrington stated, “Working women seem to be some of the busiest people,” Raegan Arrington, MPACT’s Di-rector of Business Development, said. “We at MPACT make a conscious effort to bring these women together around an area of interest with no agenda be-yond personal and professional

inspiration.”Source: MPACT

MPACT Financial Group gath-ered a group of 30 professional women at Scott Lemaster Salon in Las Colinas on July 11 for a dual purpose: to support and network with other business women and to learn about look-ing our best for work on a tight schedule. The stylists taught partici-

Guests receive hair lessons while discussing best tips with salon experts.

Former TX Fest Chairs, Amanda Oneal Brummit, Clem Lear and Raegan Arrington, gather together after having their hair done at the event. Raegan Arrington, a partner at MPACT Financial Group, was the co-host of the event along with Scott Lemaster, of Scott Lemaster Salon. Courtesy photo


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Group to build the $165 million center. Later, the City would have to pay another $44 mil-lion to ARK. That money would come from Las Colinas property owners. ARK will pay the rest of the$165 million total construc-tion cost. The center is expect-ed to be completed by summer 2016. The center would be owned by the City, but for 30 years, ARK will receive more than $35 million in tax breaks and pay $1 in rent for the first 30 years. ARK can then choose to pay rent and continue as the operator for up to a century. “I was cautiously optimis-tic about the (memorandum of understanding with ARK) when we first voted on it,” Farris said. “On a personal note, I have no reason to go to this venue. It’s not going to put anything in our City coffers. When people come from out of town or to take my family, I will have no incentive to take them there.” Van Duyne agreed. “If we create a city-owned project that’s not getting any taxes, we’re basically going to be cannibalizing the businesses that private development is pay-

ing to put in the urban center,” Van Duyne said. “We’re talking about $44 million that could go to things like enhancements to DART sta-tion, road repair, landscaping, open spaces, the Water Street (development),” she added. “We are doing our citizens and our city, for 99 years, an incredible disservice.” The center, dubbed the “Irving Music Factory” would house a 6,500 person amphithe-ater, concert hall and plaza. The area will also boast restaurants, possibly including one or more from LCG partner Barnett as part of ARK’s lawsuit settlement with LCG. The City had originally partnered with the Las Coli-nas Group to build the enter-tainment center. However, the entertainment center project stalled in the fall when the City Council voted down a resolution to extend negotiations with the project’s developer. Shortly after the vote, LCG filed a lawsuit. LCG’s last pro-posal for the entertainment cen-ter was for the City to pay for about $17 million of the devel-opment. It is estimated the City has spent about $35 million on the project already.

Irving contracts forentertainment center

By Phil CerroniWhat do companies that spent the last decade building war ma-terials do when there is no war?Specializing in armored glass, Addison based Consolidated Armor Products (CAP) made their bread and butter outfitting tactical vehicles for the military. Now they are changing their en-tire marketing strategy to focus on bringing high quality, cus-tom glass creations to the civil-ian consumer through a line of products ranging from the utili-tarian to the artistic.Perhaps the most accessible product CAP offers is a close relative of their ballistic armor, called vehicle security glass, or VSG. Designed to protect against smash and grabs, an eight inch sheet of polycarbonate is lami-

nated to the inside of the exist-ing window, keeping it from breaking even under the force of a 10 pound sledgehammer.If the $5,000 price tag seems too steep for this James Bond-style accessory, it is worth not-ing that at North Park Mall alone there are on average five to seven smash and grabs every week involving cars like Mer-cedes and BMWs. Insurance companies are usually happy to replace damaged VSG windows, said Paul Sivertson CAP’s CEO, because the price is much lower than replacing a stolen vehicle and its contents.Since CAP returned from Af-ghanistan, it has also focused on earning a degree in art. Home builders, companies or private individuals who want original

art can supply a painted canvas, or CAP’s in house artist can cre-ate a piece either on canvas or directly onto glass. The piece is then laminated between two sheets of plastic and can be used as a window, door or panel, bringing another dimension of light and color to a room.“This is sort of [a] 3-dimensional [lamination] trying to get colors and ideas so that the customer can look and think outside their box and say, ‘Wow these colors are good for me,’” Sivertson said. “On the artistic side, it’s a new area. “There’re really not a lot of peo-ple doing that. They’re doing architectural type glass, or they do some kind of figure in a glass – that’s pretty common – but as artistic glass; that’s very, very new.”But it is hard to teach an old dog new tricks, and CAP continues to armor cars. Alongside hulk-ing tactical vehicles for law en-forcement and security firms, they are also creating driving machines worthy of a member of Her Majesty’s Secret Service.

They install natural looking ar-mored glass (it does not even require any modification to the car) and Kevlar lining that makes the vehicle virtually im-pervious to calibers up to .44 magnum. Also, the armor only weighs 400 pounds, so it does not significantly affect mileage or wear and tear. Phil Mickel-son recently contracted CAP to do exactly this to his new Aston Martin.“Now you stop the carjacking. You stop the smash and grab, as well as you have low level ballis-tics. So the demand is growing as we’re pulling out of Afghani-stan and Iraq,” Sivertson said.After the glass is made at their facility in Addison, TX, its bal-listic capabilities are rigorously tested onsite before a sample piece is sent to a third party for further testing and certification. Besides being completely reli-able, the final product only has a two percent visual distortion ra-tio, keeping drivers secure with-out compromising their ability to safely operate the vehicle.As CAP transitions from a time

of war when it conducted 98 percent of its business with the military, the industry and in-novation poured into protecting America’s service men and wom-en is being turned to protecting and beautifying their homeland. The outcome is limited only by the customer’s imagination.

Glass company applies wartime lessons to peace

Continued from Page 1







the court every single night. I could not be more pleased and happy with everybody’s effort, individually and as a team. It has been nothing short of fan-tastic. “Everybody is extremely competitive. If somebody loses a set, when they come to the bench, they are not happy about it. Everybody here is competing to win for the team. The key is the teammates – I, everybody tries to pick them up and we move forward and past it.” Bonding as a team is an important goal for Alex Bogo-molov, Jr. “The team chemistry has to be as strong as possible. I think we started off the season not really know-ing each other too well,” Bogomolov said. “Once we got here, since day one, we’ve made a commitment to each other to work hard, to bond as a team and to do all the right things on the court and off the court as well. “We play well. We play well to-gether. We cheer for each other, and

Bringing the Texas Wild to Irving was a shrewd decision for everyone involved, according to Mayor Beth Van Duyne. “You have various Metro-plex cities that have football, baseball, hockey, soccer, bas-ketball. I think I want to see the city of Irving be defined as a tennis Mecca,” Van Duyne said. “We have the facilities for it. The players are interested, and we definitely have the fans. I’m ex-cited. “I’m enjoying the game (July 19). I liked it better on opening night when we creamed the Kas-tles. They had a 34 game streak, and we creamed them. That was a great game. “But, you know, you have the Bryan brothers here. They are the best doubles team ever

in the history of ten-nis. They have won the US Open, the French Open, Austra-lian Open, Wimble-don and the Olym-pics. Where are they just a few weeks after winning Wimbledon? Here in Irving. It is definitely something this city should be proud of. “This is unlike any tennis match I have ever seen. Ten-nis tournaments are

ready for the players, and they hand the players the towels. That is it, but it is no small mat-ter. “We chose the kids from Hackberry, because we know they are responsible kids.” Elated to be selected as a ball person, Iman Ghalibaf (11) hopes to one day be a pro her-

Forget not the youngest kings & queens of the court

self. “I am honored to be out here and ball boy for these players,” Iman said. “It is really fun. It is good experience just to watch them play. You can learn a lot from them. They stay low when they hit the ball, and you can see their footwork up close rather than watching it on the TV.

“The most fun part is working the baseline, because I like giving the balls to the players. But the net is difficult, because your knees get tired, and you have to get up quickly.” One of the tallest ball persons, Daniel Ten Eyck (17) plans to someday teach tennis profession-ally. “Being a ball boy is fun and exciting,” Daniel said. “You get to be on the court with the pros watching the balls go back and forth. You get to be up close and personal with the pros. It is awe-some to watch the power of it all. It is pretty cool. “The best part is when you run right into the middle of the court, be-cause I feel like everyone is watching me then. It is kind of fun. The worst

part of the job for me, being that I’m tall, is that my knee hurts when I go to sit on the ground.”

By Jess Paniszczyn Standing along the baseline or passing balls to the pros, ev-eryone knows the ball boys or ball persons are the unsung he-roes of any tennis tournament, without whom chaos would reign. For Texas’ only professional tennis team, the Texas Wild, nothing but the best of the best could be consid-ered. A survey of the lo-cal youngsters revealed a wealth of untapped ball person talent right in our own back yard. Future tennis pros and teachers studying the game at Hackberry Creek Country Club and Slam Jammers from the USTA’s own develop-ment program volun-teered for the vital posi-tions. “Being a ball per-son means the world to these kids,” said Ruth Lopez, a volunteer from Hackberry Creek watch-ing over the youngsters. “It means being on the court with idols. They are all eager to get on the court. They are all like, ‘Am I next? Am I next?’ These kids all play tour-naments, and they are all champs or super champs. So they are all big tennis geeks. “On the court, the kids are responsible for keeping the balls

At halftime during the July 19th match between the Texas Wild and the Washington Kastles, Irving’s Mayor Beth Van Duyne presented the Bryan brothers the key to the city. “This is presented to Bob and Mike Bryan in honor of select-ing Irving to serve as home court for Texas’ only professional tennis team, the Texas Wild. Anytime you want to come back to my city, we will welcome you with open arms,” Van Duyne said.

Mayor welcomes Bryan Brothers

KENNEBUNKPORT, ME -- President George H. W. Bush recently joined members of his Secret Service detail in shaving his head to show his support for the two year-old son of a detail member who is being treated for leukemia and started losing his hair. The 89 year-old command-er-in-chief took the unusual step earlier this week after learning, and seeing, that many members of his security detail had already gone under the razor to show their support for young Patrick, whose father Jon is a member of the Bush Protective Division (BPD). (Surname being with-held per family’s request.)

BPD members have also launched a website at www.patrickspals.org to assist with Patrick’s medical bills, and or-ganized the Inaugural Patrick’s Pals Motorcycle Benefit Run on Aug. 10 in Kennebunkport to raise funds for Patrick’s treat-ments. Once President and Mrs. Bush learned of this “Patrick’s Pals” effort, they made a dona-tion and President Bush vol-unteered to shave his head as well. The Bushes lost their sec-ond child, Robin, to leukemia 60 years ago this October at the age of four.

Source: Office of George Bush

President George H. W. BUSH “41” shaves head in solidarity with young cancer patient

Team takes Irving on a Texas Wild ride

Tara Snyder slams the ball back across the court. Photo by John Starkey

that is the most im-portant part.” Playing in the heat and humidity may ultimately offer the Wild’s players, an edge once the WTT season is over. “This is great preparation for the US Open series,” Bob Bryan said. “We were in Europe for three months and it was 65 degrees. Your body kind of gets used to that. When you come over to this, it is a little bit of a shock to the system, but it is great prep. “We will be playing in Wash-ington, DC, which is hot, humid and brutal. And Cincinnati is the same way. The US Open can be hot as well. It is great to come here and kind of get broken in for the tough run ahead.”

normally very low key, formal and qui-et. Here, they play five different types

of tennis matches; and the mu-sic, the energy and the crowds are amazing. How many tennis tournaments have you gone to where the crowd does the wave? “When we talk about having family activities and entertain-ment in the city of Irving, this is what we are talking about. Any-body who says we don’t have en-tertainment in the city of Irving has not looked.” Irving now has professional tennis. Mylan World TeamTen-nis. The Texas Wild may not be playing for the Mylan WTT Championship and the King Cup… But there’s always next year!

Standing proud, young ball persons pres-ent the colors during the National Anthem before the start of a Texas Wild home game. Photo by John Starkey

Setting the season’s newest fashion, Presi-dent George H. W. Bush and two-year-old Patrick show off their matching ensemble after Bush shaved his head in support of Patrick’s struggle to survive leukemia. Courtesy photo



Arrangements byChism-Smith Funeral Home,

972-259-7644Neta Sanford,

April 30, 1937 - July 16, 2013

Donna Joanne Adair,March 21, 1951 - July 22, 2013

Susan Marie Wallace,August 9, 1956 - July 19, 2013

Roger Martinez Ramirez,March 16, 1933 - July 18, 2013

Arrangements byDonnelly’s Colonial Funeral

Home, 972-579-1313Patrick “Pat” J. Thomsen

January 9, 1974 – July 18, 2013

Betty PetersenJanuary 3, 1931 – July 19, 2013

Bessie Lee EllisSeptember 21, 1931 – July 19, 2013

Richard W. WalkerNovember 25, 1948 – July 20, 2013

Jo ArmstrongAugust 25, 1931 – July 21, 2013

Ronald Gene BakerJuly 22, 1934 – July 22, 2013

William “Bill” Davis, Jr.

William “Bill” Davis, Jr. of Irving passed away July 24, 2013. He was born on February 9, 1927

in Dallas, Tex-as to William Samson Davis, Sr. and Mary Jameson Da-vis. Bill owned Swiss Cleaners in Irving for 53 years. He won

several awards competing in motorcycle endurance racing and was a bowling enthusiast win-ning several trophies. He was a US Navy veteran serving during WWII. He enjoyed driving and traveling and also refurbishing old houses. He was a life mem-ber of The American Motorcycle Association. He is preceded in death by his parents, wife Lila Ruth Galyon; son John Alan Davis and sisters Evelyn Car-son, Lucy Hendricks and Doris Russell. He is survived by wife of 33 years, Rae Davis of Irving; sons William Michael Davis, Sr. of Irving; Dr. Perry Davis and wife Fiona of Ireland; daughters Vickie Siegrest and husband Dr. Jack B. Siegrest of Granbury; Eugenia Foust and husband Don Foust of Irving; son Grey Yeatts and wife Glynda of McKinney; grandchildren Mike Davis Jr. and wife Debbie; Wendy Bagley and husband J. D.; Alan Davis and wife Becky; Christie Weaver and husband Terry; Jack Siegrest, Jr. and wife Roxanne; Lindsey Collins and husband Patrick; Tyler Siegrest; Caroline Sloane and husband Diarmid;Stephanie Howes; Brett Christiansen, ESQ.; Jennifer DeVries and husband Brandon; Tyler Yeatts; Zachery Yeatts; Noah Yeatts; Elijah Ye-atts; Greg Bagley; Great-grand-children Doug Davis; Brandon Richards; Michael Richards; Hunter Budd; Alex Bagley; Chris-tina Bagley; Greg Bagley; Crystal Abner; Bryce Davis; Bailey Davis; Tyler Weaver; Tanner Weaver; Morgan DeVries; Haley DeVr-

ies; Great-great grandchildren, Jack Siegrest; Ford Collins and Lyric Davis. The family received friends from 6 – 8 PM on Fri-day July 26, 2013 at the funeral home. Funeral service will be at 2:00 PM Saturday, July 27, 2013 at Brown’s Memorial Chapel with Terry Penn officiating. Interment will follow at Oak Grove Memo-rial Gardens in Irving.

Ethel L. RobinsonEthel L. Robinson, preceded in death by her husband, Murrell, survived by son Murrell Carol

Robinson, Jr.; daughter, Bar-b a r a L u c a s ; grandchildren John, Carol , Matthew, Mi-c h a e l T o d d , R o b e r t ; n u -merous great-

grandchildren; sister, Marjorie Jones; and brother, Gerald Sher-bourne. Graveside services and interment were held at 10:00 AM Saturday, July 20, 2013, Crown Hill Memorial Park. Arrange-ments by Hughes Crown Hill Funeral Home.

Robert Joseph Edwin Robison, “Joey”

Robert Joseph Edwin Robison, “Joey”, was born in Dallas, Texas on September 21, 1991. Joey was

carried home in the arms of His Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ on July 14, 2013 to be with his Heav-enly Father and loved ones who w e n t b e f o r e

him. Joey lived in Irving, Texas, where he attended Bethel Meth-odist Church. He also lived in Keller, Texas for part of his child-hood. He later moved to Denton, Texas where he attended Guyer High School. Joey was a licensed Pest Control Technician. Joey was saved by grace on Saturday, May 4th, 2013 at Hickory Creek

Baptist Church in Denton, TX. Joey will forever be in our hearts as a beloved son, brother, uncle, grandson, and friend. He is sur-vived by his parents, Raymond and Tammy Castro; his grand-parents John and Ruth Robison and Shirley Justice, and Joy Lieb; his sisters Crystal, Summer, Cassie, April; Jayda and Corrine; other siblings Jennifer and Tim; his nieces Claudia, Gemini, Em-mersen, Meadow, Sadie, Sabrina, Lauren, and Emily; his nephews Seth, Ryan, and Ethan; 18 aunts and uncles; and 34 cousins. He was preceded in death by his father Robert Robison; his great-grandmother, Zora Newberry; and grandfather Gene Justice. Joey now dwells in Heaven wait-ing for us to join him. The family has requested that any donations in honor of Joey be made to Hickory Creek Baptist Church 5724 Teasley Ln Denton TX 76210.

bar and lounge area. “The enhancements at AMC Irving Mall 14 will redefine ‘go-ing to the movies’ in terms of comfort and presentation,” said Mark McDonald, executive vice president of Development at AMC. The Irving Mall recently lost two anchor stores; Barnes and Nobles Book Store and Skechers Shoes; however, the mall recently added a Fitness Connection gym that offers low monthly payments for member-ship. The gym will soon occupy the old Circuit City location near the food court. Along with the addition of the gym, Simon Property Group hopes that the theater renovation will bring new customers to the mall and the AMC Theater.

is great and my boyfriend and I definitely prefer the dine-in movies. My family and I always go to Grapevine Mills when a new movie comes out, and it will be awesome having a similar movie theater closer to home.” The Irving AMC Theater is also considering adding a full service bar where guests will be able to purchase beer, cocktail or wine during a movie, or relax with friends in a lounge area be-fore or after a movie. The City of Irving and AMC are still considering the bar op-tion. A City Council public hear-ing will be held at City Hall on Thursday, July 25th at 7 p.m. to determine the specifics of the

Texas locations including Grapevine Mills AMC, which is now equipped with a “fork and screen” dine-in experience and a full-service McGuffin’s Bar and Lounge. This allows customers to order full entrees and alco-holic beverages during a movie. The Irving Mall AMC renovation will be similar to the theater in Grapevine Mills. “I really enjoyed the new Grapevine Mills Theater after it was renovated,” frequent mov-iegoer and long time Irving resi-dent, Lindsay Kile, explained. “The reclining chairs are very comfortable and really add to the overall experience. The food

Fine food and fellowship complement fastinggrateful to God, and we, there-fore, thank him. And that in-creases our awareness of God and the blessings that he gives us day in, day out that we gen-erally take for granted,” Imam Sheikh said. Rabbi Frank Joseph from the Irving Havurah emphasized the similarities between the Is-lamic and Jewish traditions of fasting. “They [the prophets] laid the emphasis not on fasting as mor-tification of the digestive system but on the awakening by means of it the individual’s slumbering conscience,” Joseph said.

Nouman Ali Khan, CEO of the Irving-based Bayyinah Arabic school shifted the con-versation from the theological similarities between Judeo-Christian and Muslim traditions to his experience of Ramadan in the United States. “Somebody actually asked me on my last trip, ‘Does Bush let you fast,’” he said. “So it took me a while to get over the absur-dity of the question, but I find it pretty amazing there is a pretty negative assumption of Muslim life in America across the world.“I think it’s [America] one of the

most beautiful places to cele-brate Ramadan. This is a month for you to have an opportunity to celebrate the joy you have, as the blessing of Ramadan, with your neighbor. “You really need to let them know and celebrate with them, and when you make your Iftar just go over and – I know it’s going to be weird – knock and share some of that, but not the extra spicy stuff, just the normal stuff. Because they might com-pletely misunderstand the ges-ture of spicy food.”

comfort listening to speakers in-cluding Mayor Beth Van Duyne, ISI’s Imam Zia ul Haque Sheikh, and Methodist pastor Rev. Dr. Wesley Magruder, who sur-prised Christians last Ramadan when he decided to participate in the fast. The speakers stayed away from doom and gloom and de-cided to focus, instead, on the joyful aspects of fasting. “We purposefully lose these things [food and drink], so we become appreciative of these things much more. And when we become appreciative of these things we become, in turn, more

By Phil Cerroni Although Ramadan is seen as a time for self induced priva-tions, the mood at the Iftar Din-ner was a distinctly festive one. Members of the community and civic and religious leaders gathered at the Islamic Cen-ter of Irving (ISI) on July 23 to share an Iftar Dinner. Iftar is the tradition of breaking the fast during the month of Ramadan, a month-long observance when Muslims do not eat or drink from sunrise to sunset. The group assembled an hour before sunset, and whiled away the last 60 minutes of dis-

Theater to offer drinks and dining

Imam Sheikh (far left), Rod Alleman of Great Days of Service and Rev. Dr. Wesley Magruder share Iftar dinner at the Islamic Center of Irving. Photo by Phil Cerroni.









By Jess Paniszczyn Perhaps it is the oversized, glistening pieces of equipment, the lure of sliding down a pole as alarms sound or the prom-ise of a life less ordinary, but at some point almost everyone has wondered what it would be like to be a firefighter. Members of the community were invited to have lunch with Irving Fire De-partment’s Interim Chief Victor Conley at Glory House Bistro on July 19 to find out more about what the fire department and its staff does. A 28 year veteran of the de-partment, Conley began fighting fires out of Fire Station 4 locat-ed at 3303 N. MacArthur. As a young fireman, he was required to ride on the outside of the fire truck, standing on a tailboard and hanging onto the back. “Nowadays it is safety, safe-ty, safety, and I support it 100 percent; because I’ve seen the other side,” Conley said. “The challenge was, the driver was trying to throw you off of the tailboard. Nowadays we have to be inside a cab, sitting in a seat with our seatbelt on. We’ve come a long way for the good. “Right now our current save rate based on the Dallas County Appraisal District; we save 91.59 percent of the property, which is outstanding. Our response times are also under the national stan-dard. “We all know firefighting is dangerous. Since 1977, over 4,300 firefighters have died. This year, we’ve had 66 report-ed. And in Texas alone, 14 fire-fighters have died this year.” “It’s 20,” an audience mem-ber interrupted. “That is unacceptable. We’re here to help. We’re not here to die,” Conley said. “A lot of times as long as the lifesaving part of the equation has been answered, it will get to the point where a lot of these structures will burn up.” In addition to firefighting equipment, the Fire Department is also responsible for maintain-ing and operating the ambu-lance fleet. “We have eight frontline,

Irving Fire Chief shares rewards, challenges of firefighting

advanced life support ambu-lances,” he said. “That basically means we are able to do a lot of what the emergency room nurses and doctors do out on the scene. We communicate with the doctors. We transport. We are able to give medication and address cardiac needs. We have about 185 paramedics in our de-partment and about 55 EMTs. “All of our front line engines and trucks are advanced life support. The only thing they do not do, that the ambulances do, is transport. A lot of people will ask ‘Why do I get an engine when I called for an ambulance?’ Well, a lot of times, we are not really sure what is going on over the phone. So you don’t want us to assume it’s not that big of a deal. We are always going to assume that it is the worst, so the closest apparatus will respond to your location, and the personnel on that apparatus are able to give advanced life support. That is a good thing for our community. “Our latest CPR report from our Return of Circulation study is 40 percent. That means when we go out and we are perform-ing CPR, we get a pulse back on a patient 40 percent of the time before we get them to a hos-pital, which is incredible. The numbers were way down in the single digits.” Following the lunch, the Chief took a few moments to speak about his pride in the de-partment. “I grew up in this depart-

ment. I am very proud of this department and the personnel who work for it. We take great pride in what we do,” Conley said. “Our training is very exten-sive. We have multiple entities that dictate how we train and what we are supposed to know. “Our department is deeper than just fighting fires. We are basically an all hazard mitiga-tion department. If it is haz-ardous materials, urban search and rescue, swift water, cardi-ac, there [are] multiple things we address. It is not just fight-ing fires and responding on the ambulance, even though we are good at that too. “I want people to know more about their department, because a lot of tax money goes towards the fire department. I want the citizens to be able to hold us ac-countable for what we know and what we do, but they can only do it if they know more about what we do.” Monica Ellington, former Ex-ecutive Director of the Irving Fire Foundation, explained why

the lunch was important to the firefighters. (Ms. Ellington re-cently accepted a position as the Executive Director of the Irving Interfaith Clinic.) “We wanted to connect our community with our fire depart-ment,” Ellington said. “We’ve been holding the Fireman’s Ball for eight years, but there are certain individuals who that has never reached, so we needed an-other opportunity venue. Today we overfilled our event. We had a capacity for 125, and I think we ended up with 145 people here. It was a very good turnout for a very important message. “There was a very success-ful turnout from very commit-ted citizens of Irving who have been committed for a long time. I think that will come across strongly for the men, and that is important.” One of many curious citizens who dined with the Chief, Gwen Craig hoped to learn more about the Fire Department. “I wanted to come out and listen to what the chief had to say,” Craig said. “I didn’t real-ize how much the firefighters are involved in this community. I knew about Blue Christmas and collecting school supplies, but I had no idea of all the other things. “When you think of educa-tion, you don’t think about peo-ple in their professions having to do ongoing education. So for them to continue their educa-tion to be as viable as they can in their field impresses me. I think we have the best of the best here in Irving. We are blessed to have such wonderful firefighters here in Irving.”

competed in the event, testing their knowledge of state law and police procedures.Julia Durham, Edgar Pena, Shayna Richardson and Baylen

Irving Police Explorers compete in state

The Coppell City Council unanimously voted on July 23 to call the special election for Nov. 5. Already the tax, which was first voted on and established in 1996, has paid for an aquatic center, Wagon Wheel park im-provements, a tennis center and improvements to the city’s hike and bike trail system. If the tax is reauthorized, the committee has suggested a number of new projects for the revenue, including Andrew Brown park redevelopment, Cozby library expansion, green-space additions, a fire safety ed-ucation building and park and sport amenity developments. All of the projects would have to first be approved by the City Council. If the tax is not reautho-rized, a sunset clause will end it in 2018. Earlier in July, the Coppell Recreation Development Corpo-ration (CRDC) committee asked the Coppell City Council to con-sider reauthorizing the half-cent tax and to also broaden the use of the revenue outside of just park and recreation projects. That recommendation has sparked some concern from citi-zens, who worry that expanding the use of the tax will cause the City to rely on the funding. The committee also recom-mended that the Council slash a sunset clause that will end the tax, but the ordinance passed by Council says that the half-cent tax will only last 25 years. “This is an exciting oppor-tunity to offer this to the voters, to grow the amenities without having to issue general obliga-tion bonds,” Councilman Gary Rhoden said. “Philosophically, the right thing to do is to sunset. What seems like a no-brainer in 2013, might not seem like a no-brainer in 2038.” Extending the CRDC tax will not pose a hike in property or sales taxes to residents. About 65 percent of the tax comes from industrial businesses in Coppell, while the remaining 35 percent comes mostly from visi-tors eating out and shopping in the city. The special election will be Nov. 5. Early voting will start Oct. 21.

Coppell City Councilcalls special CRDC taxBy Amanda Casanova Voters will have a chance to decide in November whether a half-cent tax (CRDC tax) that generates funding for parks and recreation developments will be reauthorized and broadened for use with other city projects.

The Irving Police Explorers competed in the annual State Explorer competition July 18-21. Over 75 Explorer teams from several municipal, state and fed-

eral law enforcement agencies throughout the state of Texas attended the four-day competi-tion. Two teams from Irving

Clegg -2nd Place, Domestic Crisis -2nd Place, Officer Down -2nd Place, Burglary in Progress -3rd Place, Arrest and Search ScenariosRicky Morado, Francisco Sifu-entes, Jacky Orellana and Nick

Kammerer -1st Place, Intoxicated Driv-er -1st Place, Robbery in Prog-ress -3rd Place, Domestic Crisis -3rd Place, Misdemeanor Traffic Stops

The Irving Police Explorers proudly hold their trophies after winning eight awards for their performance at the annual State Explorer competition. Pictured left to right: Jacky Orellana, Edgar Pena, Shayna Richardson, Tristin Jones, Julia Durham, Baylen Clegg, Nick Kammerer, Ricky Morado and Francisco Sifuentes. Courtesy Photo.

Sharing lunch with the community, Fire Chief Victor Conley discusses his early days, 28 years ago, working out of Station 4 with the Irving Fire Department. Photo by Nick Mallouf


a two-part structure. The forms are basically cut Styrofoam that is then laminated with fiber-glass. The outer part matches up perfectly on the glass so it looks like it is penetrating the glass. “If you come here a couple of times while this show is up until the end of August, you will see that all the colors change. It can be interesting or difficult to read what is happening on the surface of the object. It is sort of like a painting in space.” “We enjoy the Nasher’s gar-den, the focus on sculpture and the whole ambiance,” Lee Gib-son said. “I like the WUNDER-BLOCK. It is sort of bizarre.” His friend, Annie Cooper, disagreed with his taste in art. “I think it looks like it be-longs at a construction site,” Cooper said. “I like the Dubuf-fet (Tower of Lace). And this new piece right here (Head of a Woman by Pablo Picasso). “The Nasher is gorgeous. The grounds are beautiful. It is peaceful and inviting. The Nash-ers have been important collec-tors forever, and they have con-tributed so much to Dallas.” A love of art and landscap-ing led Paul Burek and his wife to become members. “My wife and I really enjoy art, so I bought her a member-ship for Mother’s Day,” Burek said. “She is a landscape de-signer, so she likes the whole art in the garden concept. It kind of reminds us of when we were in Paris a couple of years ago, and we went to Rodin’s Garden. “This is a venue where you don’t have to invest all day to en-

joy the art. You can come for an hour, and it is nice. They change their displays often, and I enjoy that too.” Sporting a lovely garden, world quality artwork, children’s events, speaker series, music events and private functions for its members, the Nasher Sculp-ture Center has inspired a love of art for nearly 10 years. “The Nasher Sculpture Mu-seum is one of the finest mu-seums in the world,” said Jill Magnuson, Director of Exter-nal Affairs. “The Patsy and Ray Nasher collection has about 300 works in its permanent collec-tion. But at any time, you will see just a fraction of that on dis-play, which is what is really nice, because come time and time again to the Nasher and you will see the collection rotating. In addition to the permanent col-lection, we have a rotating series of special exhibitions.”

The North Lake College Hawaiian Field Studies (HFS) Photography Exhibition is cur-rently on display in the Central Campus Gallery through Aug. 8. Comprised of 60 digital im-ages by approximately 30 North Lake students, the show features work from the 2013 HFS trip to islands of Oahu, Kauai and Ha-waii. “This program changed my life,” former student Terry Bates said. “The courses were inter-esting, the scenery was beauti-ful, and I made lifelong friends.” The first community college student to receive the Collegiate Fellow’s Emmett J. Conrad, MD award, Bates is continuing his quest for a career in healthcare at the University of Denver. Offering college credit in everything from botany to biol-ogy, the Hawaiian Field Studies

Hawaii Field Studies Program showcases student photography

program previously catered to science and pre-health students. New classes like digital photog-raphy and physical fitness, how-ever, have allowed for student collaboration acrossmultiple disciplines. “Experiences like this al-ways open your mind,” said stu-dent Sean Toner, who signed up for the HFS trip to combine his two passions: photography and meteorology. “You can’t have a balanced look at life if you’re only looking at ‘art’ or only look-ing at ‘science.’ You gain a better understanding and appreciation for how things work when you look at the world from multiple angles.” Images from the 2013 HFS trip were shot with digital SLR cameras, provided by the North Lake College Photography De-partment.

Source: North Lake College

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Modern art evokes wonder and critiques

Touring the galleries, art lovers take a moment to contemplate Anish Kapoor’s work, In Search of the Mountain I. Photo by John Starkey



By Jess Paniszczyn The young and the young at heart flooded into Coppell’s William T. Cozby Public Library to experience the Festival of Na-tions: Russia. Throughout the afternoon, the event offered a glimpse into Russia’s food, cos-tumes, art and culture. “This is our third year do-ing the Festival of Nations,” Librarian Jennifer Franz said. “We started off doing one festi-val and trying to have many na-tions, and we really didn’t serve anybody well. So we decided to focus on a country. Each sum-mer we try to have a wide range of nations. “The crowd today is phe-nomenal. We’ve had quite a turnout, and a lot of it is from the Eurasian Association. They helped with a lot of the tables. It’s been awesome. “There is something for ev-erybody here. It is a great pro-gram to bring kids to, but the adults get a lot out of it as well. It is a good all-ages program.” A unique aspect of the pro-gram was that a number of for-mer Russian citizens attended the event, filling the room with the sounds of the language and offering their perspective on life as Americans by choice.

Festival brings tasteof Russia to library

“I came from the Ukraine, which was part of the former Soviet Union,” Liliya Tsimberg said. “You here in America say we came from Russia. Here to-day is part of my culture as well. “I brought my two grand-sons, Misha (6) and Joshua (4). I want them to see people who speak Russian. I wanted them to see the fairy tale, which was translated from a Russian au-thor, as well as Russian food, folk costumes and attributes. It is a pleasure for them to be a part of my culture. “I don’t miss being in Rus-sia. I am an American. I have lived here 22 years. I enjoy life here. I love it. I just don’t want to lose my roots.” Peter Miller spent the after-noon speaking with his friends and family in Russian. He left Russia 22 years ago. “We are part of the Russian community, and we came be-cause we wanted to meet peo-ple,” Miller said. “We are new here. We just moved from the Chicago area. “Our children speak Rus-sian and English. They have Russian friends, and they have from-school friends. All of their school friends are local guys. “We still have our Russian culture. We listen to the local news in the Russian language. We eat Russian food. To be honest, we are living this every day.” While taking her five-year old daughter to the library, Tay-lor Grimmett noticed the event and decided to stop and ex-plore. “I hope she learns some-thing new about another culture and has some fun while she’s doing it,” Grimmett said. “She is fascinated by the nesting dolls.” Each month during the sum-mer, the library chooses a dif-ferent country to celebrate. The library’s next Festival of Nations will feature Vietnam on Aug. 17.

By Stephen Fielder Back in March, Houston-based Glazier Foods moved their Dallas area facility from Farmers Branch to a larger one at 777 Freeport Parkway in Cop-pell. Last Wednesday morning, a ribbon cutting ceremony gave

Glazier serves up plate of growth for Coppellthe city a chance to formally wel-come them to the community. As dark clouds threatened with the possibility of a show-er, LuLu Mayo of the Coppell Chamber of Commerce opened the ribbon cutting by thanking everyone for coming out in spite of the weather. Mayor Karen Hunt and City Council Member, Marvin Franklin, were on hand to welcome their new neighbor. “We’re very pleased that you are a new corporate citizen, and we re also very pleased that you recognize that getting involved and supporting the community is important as well,” Mayor Hunt said. Glazier Foods primarily services regional and national account restaurants from their Houston and Dallas area distri-bution centers, but their busi-ness had grown beyond the limits of their base in Farmers Branch. Once Glazier started looking for a larger base of op-erations in the Dallas area, the search led them to recognize the advantages of the location they

found in Coppell. “Certainly from an access standpoint Coppell made all the sense in the world. It has the ac-cess to where we need to go to service our customers and then, from an infrastructure and a community support standpoint, it was the best choice. Frankly, a very easy choice,” said Glazier President John Miller. Glazier is definitely indicat-ing that they are interested in staying around for a long time. The new Coppell facility is just under 250,000 square feet, but they have an option on 225,000 square feet next door. They have a 12-year lease with an option to renew for another 15 years. The company also made $7 million of improvements to accommo-date cooler and freezer storage areas. The employment outlook also looks promising. Currently, Glazier has 170 employees in Coppell. That number could increase to 200 within the next year, Miller said. Glazier Foods currently has annual revenue approach-ing $700 million. However, they have big plans for Coppell. Board chairman Jim Spring said, “We’re looking to do at least $500 million a year [at this location] in the next few years.” Glazier Foods also has a long tradition of community service. Miller explained, “Our founder, Bob Glazier, and his son, Tom Glazier, began and were extremely active in the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. Then they expanded into numerous other charitable and

community events. Typically, those events revolve around children and education. That s kind of a primary tenet of our

focus with regards to the com-munity. We re also heavily in-volved in cancer activities and healthcare related research.”

Ready for tea, Iryna Foss and Zlata Leiva sit dressed in their finest clothes while demon-strating a traditional Russian repast. Photo by John Starkey

Dressed like a Russian princess, Victoria Neff explores the Festival of Nations. Photo by John Starkey

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Lightening strike sparks Council votes to raging apartment ......dent, depending on the degree. DeVry University’s history is rooted in making quality, career-oriented education