Coppell Las Colinas Rambler - ramblernewspapers.com concert hall. ... [DCCCD] Board Trustee JL “Sonny” Williams. ... Tickets are $50. Contact Regina with any questions at 214-755-9644

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By Amanda CasanovaAmong May 11’s elections, residents will have a

chance to decide who will hold two City Council positions, whether to raise the City Council’s pay, and if the Irving ISD School Board will form a majority of members who are critical of the district’s leadership.

CounCil seatsIn the City’s election, seats Place 1 and Place 2 are

up for vote. Candidates for Place 1 include Luis Reyes,

By Jess PaniszczynNewsweek recently released

‘America’s Best High Schools,’ a ranking of the best 2,000 high schools in the nation for 2013. Four local high schools made the grade. North Hills Preparatory School, an Uplift Education charter school in Irving whose students are chosen by lottery, was ranked 41. Coppell High School (open enrollment) was ranked 265. Irving ISD’s Jack E. Singley Academy (lottery) and MacArthur High School (open enrollment) were ranked 1699 and 1775 respectively.

The list is based on six compo-nents: graduation rate (25 percent), college acceptance rate (25 percent), AP (Advance Placement)/IB (In-ternational Baccalaureate)/AICE (Advanced International Certificate of Education) tests taken per stu-dent (25 percent), average SAT/ACT scores (10 percent), average AP/IB/AICE scores (10 percent), and per-cent of students enrolled in at least one AP/IB/AICE course (5 percent).

North Hills Preparatory School has appeared on previous News-

By Amanda CasanovaA Louisiana company has struck a

tentative deal with the City that would put the entertainment center back on a construction track and potentially settle a multimillion dollar lawsuit with the cen-ter’s former developer.

The City Council voted on May 9 for the memorandum of understanding, which states the City can move forward with negotiating a contract with the company.

The Council voted 6-3 for the memo-randum of understanding. Mayor Beth Van Duyne and council members Brad

LaMorgese and Thomas Spink voted against. Council members Rose Cannaday, Joe Putnam, Michael Gallaway, Dennis Webb, Gerald Farris and Roy Santoscoy voted in favor.

“We are not jumping into anything here,” Santoscoy said. “We are entering into a deliberate discussion with a devel-oper that we believe has the possibility to finish this.”

Under the proposed agreement, Ark Promotions would pay to design and build a 6,500 person amphitheater, plaza and indoor concert hall. The “Irving Music

Factory” would also include restaurants and 5,000 square feet of retail space. The deal also stipulates that Ark Promotions would have to break ground by the end of 2014 and finish building by summer 2016.

The City’s part of the agreement would include building a parking garage and of-fering Ark millions in tax rebates, including two percent of the hotel occupancy taxes collected in the City.

The City Council spent more than an hour on May 9 discussing the deal. Chief among the concerns: was the Council rush-

By Phil CerroniIrving ISD Athletics Director,

Joe Barnett, is ready to step off the plate and into retirement after guid-ing Irving sports for 10 years. To replace him, IISD administrators re-cruited Dallas ISD Assistant Athletic Director, Clint Roddy.

“In the end we were looking for someone who we thought could build upon the solid foundation that Coach Barnett has put in place, but also someone who has the capacity to take us to the next level,” said IISD

Superintendent Dr. Dana Bedden.Roddy and Bedden are already

exploring ways to improve the pro-gram.

“One of the things we’ve started working on was the goal to strength-en our feeder system,” Bedden said. “That’s both with our middle school programs becoming stronger but also our connection to our youth programs.”

Barnett is confident that Roddy’s work ethic and administrative skills

By Will JukesTexas Frightmare Weekend took over the Hyatt

Regency DFW, delighting horror fans with vendors, panels, film screenings and celebrity guests. The three day event, May 3-5, featured guest appearances by stars like Gary Busey and Danny Trejo, as well as horror and cult favorites including Sean Patrick Flan-nery from Boondock Saints ,and The Walking Dead cast members Jon Bernthal and Vincent M. Ward.

“The panels here are great. It’s not even about getting a signature. It’s just talking to them and get-ting to know their experience with films, getting to

talk to them on a person to person basis,” said Trace Burnside, self professed horror fan and convention attendee.

“I think I got into horror because my mom wouldn’t let me watch it at first, and I wanted to [upset her],” he said.

Frightmare attracted fans from across the state and the country who wanted to celebrate their love of the horror genre. Some fans took the opportunity to show their affection more ostentatiously, with costumes, makeup and body art - a tattoo artist even

By Sissy CourtneyThe Woodallkids Carnival fea-

turing balloons, animals, games, face painting, food and prizes was a fun-raiser more than a fund-raiser although monies raised will support programs and services provided by the Brent Woodall Foundation to families affected by autism and de-velopmental disabilities. The event was held May 4.

“This is one of our favorite events because our families get to interact in

activities they normally wouldn’t get to have an opportunity to do,” said Tracy Pierce Bender, founder and director of the Woodall Foundation. “It makes them feel like typical kids. They can bring their family, bring their friends, and everybody has a good time.

“All of the activities are geared toward the kids’ success. Sometimes they’re made to challenge the kids in some way. There is definitely a

Council pushes foward on entertainment complexSaturday election could set new tone for Council, IISD

See ENTERTAINMENT, Page 5 See ELECTION, Page 5

See DIRECTOR, Page 14

See SCHOOLS, Page 8

See FRIGHTMARE, Page 11

HIGH SCHOOL SpOrtS

Irving hires athletics director from powerhouse Dallas ISD

Coppell school named among ‘America’s Best’ by Newsweek

Frightmare bewitches fans, prosDressed to kill, these two gentlemen shop for last minute additions that might enhance their impeccable appearance before going out for an evening on the town. / Photo by Jessica Starkey

See WOODALL, Page 14

Carnival lowers barriers for autistic kids

At the Woodallkids Carnival, Suchitya Naidu looks into a mirror to see her face painted by Schuyler Dix, an assistant therapist at the school. / Photo by Sissy Courtney

THE RAMBLER www.IrvingRambler.comMay 11, 2013Page 2

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n May 11, 7 a.m. – 7 p.m.General electionElection for the purpose of election Council Members to Place 1, Place2, and Place 7, to be filled for a three year term, and for voting in a Special Election to consider amendments to the City Charter. This election is being held jointly with the Irving Indepen-dent School District Board of Trustees Elections to elect Trustee Members to Place 5, Place 6 and Place 7.n May 11, 10 a.m.north lake College GraduationNorth Lake College (NLC) will hold its 35th commencement at the Irving Convention Center. Ceremony will feature guest speaker Dr. Darryl E. Howard and Dallas County Commu-nity College District [DCCCD] Board Trustee JL “Sonny” Williams.n May 11, 10 a.m. - 1 p.m.Bicycle FestHosted at Lively Pointe Youth Center, one of the goals of Bicycle Fest is to provide residents with a free oppor-tunity to learn more about bicycling in Irving, including safety information, basic on-the-spot bicycle checks, and information about bicycle safety gear. New this year is the addition of an hourly BMX stunt show by Big Time Actionsports, which will be located in the Skate Park. n May 11, 11 a.m.Remembering Mom luncheonThis signature event held at the Hil-ton Garden Inn in Dallas is designed to provide a loving and supportive atmosphere for women and men to celebrate the memory of their mothers. Activities will include a candle-lighting ceremony, memory reflection and discussions, and a balloon launch. Tickets are $50. Contact Regina with any questions at 214-755-9644n May 11, 3 p.m.irving Run Benefiting the Andrew Esparza Foun-dation, the 5K and 1 mi runs start at the Mustang Recreation Center. Registration fee is $25 for the 5K race and $15 for the one mile fun run, both includes a T-Shirt. If registering on race day, arrive 30 minutes early. n May 11, 8 p.m.las Colinas symphony orchestra (lCso) season FinaleLCSO’s concert at the Irving Arts Cen-ter will feature Auber’s Overture to Le

Domino Noir, Prokofiev’s Summer Night and Rimsky-Korsakov’s Capric-cio Espagnol! This performance will also feature pianist, Konstantine Vali-anatos performing Liszt’s Rhapsodie Espagnole and the orchestra will be led by guest conductor Juan Carlos Lomónaco. For more information, call 972.252.4800.n May 13, 7 p.m.lone star Youth orchestra (lsYo) sea-son FinaleThe LSYO concludes its 2013-2014 Season at the Irving Arts Center. Their final concert of the season, en-titled “Postcards from Europe,” fea-tures works by Sousa, W. A. Mozart, and Beethoven, to name a few. Single tickets are available by phone or at the door. Ticket pricing is $5 per student (with student ID) and $12 for adults. All seating is general admission.n May 14, 4 - 5 p.m.Remington at Valley Ranch teachers’ appreciation open HouseYou’re invited to our Teacher’s Ap-preciation Open House. Appetizers and drinks will be served, and there will be a $50 door prize. Please RSVP at 972-556-0014.n May 15, 7:30 - 10 p.m.north lake College Video showcaseHosted by the college’s department of Video Technology, the 14th an-nual NLC Video Showcase will feature films by current students and former alumni, including Jeremy Williams’ award-winning short “Spirits.”n May 16, 10 a.m. - 1 p.m.Free vision screening for seniorsHeritage Senior Center is proud to host the Carter Eye Center mobile screening unit. Free vision screen-ings will be available for those aged 60 and older. No appointment will be necessary. The mobile unit will be at Heritage Senior Center. For more information call 972 721-2496.n May 17, DeadlineFrom Rails to Wings: 2013 transporta-tion art Contest Irving students ages 6-17 can enter to win cash prizes in the Irving Art Center’s 2013 Transportation Art Contest. Students living or attending school in Irving are eligible to create an original work of art based on the theme, “From Rails to Wings: Irving, Texas.” Deadline for entry is May 17. For more information, visit the Irving Arts Center.

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MEETINGS7 a.m. Thursday morningsLas Colinas Country Club4400 N. O'Connor Blvd.

Irving, Texas 75062

IRVING SUNRISE ROTARY

MAY IS MEDICAL MONTH!Join us to hear some of our best

doctors discuss specialty services.May 16 — TBA

May 23 — Rikin Patel, MD, Gastroenterology

Digestive Disease Service (Biliary Care)May 30 — Kevin O'Neil, MD, OBGYN

DaVinci Surgical Robot Procedures

Yours very truly,

&John and Deborah Danish

City of Irving District 1 Polling PlacesRegular Voting May 11, 2013

Precinct Polling Place

4607, 4611, 4313 Irving High School4615, 4654, 4656 900 O’Connor Rd.

4616, 4620, 4661 J.R. Good Elementary1200 E. Union Bower Rd.

4605, 4606 Otis Brown Elementary2501 W. Tenth St.

4604, 4652 Lee Britain Elementary631 Edmondson Dr.

Dear Neighbor: Election Day arrives Saturday, May 11, 2013. We are better acquainted by this time in the campaign. If you have not already voted, you can locate your precinct’s poling place on the right side of this letter. My wife, Deborah, and I were both born in the Florence Nightingale wing of Baylor Hospital in Dallas. While Deborah was raised in Pleasant Grove, I grew up in Irving. Deborah and I have been married for 31 years, and we have one daughter, Karis, who was born and raised in Irving. As your former Planning and Zoning Commissioner, your former At-Large City Councilman, and your current Representa-tive and Chairman of the DART Board. I am well prepared and well qualified to serve you as your next District 1 Councilman. Together, my family and you will work to see that District 1 continues to be a great place to raise a family. Together, with your vote, we will realize that District 1’s best days are still in our future.

VOTE TODAY — May 6thElection Polling Locations

CITY PRECINCT LOCATIONS & ADDRESSES PRECINCTS1 Thomas Haley Elementary - 3601 Cheyenne Street 4621, 4622, 4628, 4632, 4644, 46482 A.S. Johnston Elementary - 2801 Rutgers Drive 4623, 4624, 4629, 46403 MacArthur High School - 3700 North MacArthur Boulevard 4625, 4630, 4631, 4633, 4634, 4639, 4641, 46424 L.B. Barton Elementary - 2931 Conflans Road 4610, 4618, 4653, 46595 Irving High School - 900 O’Connor Road 4607, 4611, 4612, 4613, 4614, 4615, 4619, 4654, 4655, 4656, 4657, 4658, 46606 J.R. Good Elementary - 1200 East Union Bower Road 4616, 4617, 4620, 4646, 46617 Otis Brown Elementary - 2501 West Tenth Street 4605, 46068 Lee Britain Elementary - 631 Edmondson Drive 4602, 4603, 4604, 4650, 4651, 4652, 46629 Cimarron Park Recreation Center - 201 Red River Trail 2601, 2602, 2603, 2604, 2605, 260610 Mustang Park Recreation Center - 2223 Kinwest Parkway 4635, 4636, 4637, 4645, 464711 J.O. Davis Elementary 310 Davis Drive 4608, 460912 Sally B. Elliott Elementary - 1900 South Story Road 4600, 4601, 464913 Fire Station No. 8 - 650 East Las Colinas Drive 4626, 462714 Grand Prairie Fire Station No. 8 - 3017 Roy Orr Boulevard, Grand Prairie 4518

Constance Q. Zhou, MD

2021 N. MacArthur Blvd, Ste 225, Irving, TX 75061

Call today to schedule an appointment! 972-253-4280

✦ Medical Degree in Otolaryngology from University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, 2006✦ Residency at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center✦ Joined the Medical and Surgical Clinic of Irving, October 2011✦ Bilingual: English and Chinese

Specialist in Otolaryngology, Head & Neck Surgery

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THE RAMBLER May 11, 2013 Page 3www.IrvingRambler.com

By Sissy CourtneyValley Ranch Elementary School

(VRE) Dads Club hosted a cricket tournament to raise funds for tech-nology in the classrooms, but the experience also generated a greater sense of community among those who participated.

“The kids know each other, but the parents don’t meet often,” said Ravindar Kondapalli who has a child at the school, Amolika who is in second grade.

He said this activity provided them all a sense of community.

“That’s the whole purpose re-ally,” said Doug Stephan, vice presi-dent of the VRE Dads Club. He has two children at the school, Cade in fourth grade and Zoe in kindergarten.

Stephan had never played crick-et before, but he already knew a little about it because he investigated it to help organize Saturday’s game.

“Part of figuring out where we would have it, I looked up how big the field had to be, how far they hit the ball, and whether we could we actually do it here,” Stephan said. “I like cricket. I think in many ways, it’s more interesting than baseball is.

“In the real game, the field is round. There are so many different options where you can hit the ball.”

As Stephan spoke, another dad tipped a ball, and it went behind him.

“See, now he’s running,” Stephan said. “In baseball, that would

be a foul.”Many of the dads had played for

universities in India.“In a normal game, we would all

have gloves and pads and helmets with faceguards,” said Korclapilli who played for University of Madras in India. “This is a tennis ball that we wrapped duct tape around. The real balls are almost solid like a baseball, and the bowler (pitcher) bounces it off the ground.”

“So it’s more unpredictable and can bounce into your face,” Stephen added.

“There are different kinds of bowlers,” Korclapilli said. “There are fast bowlers that run from far away and then bowls. And some are medium paced, just not as fast. The spin bowlers just take two steps and throw, but the ball will spin. The captain will keep changing the bowler so the batsman does not get used to it – keep them off balance.”

“In American baseball, the pitch-er has to have all those pitches,” Stephen said. “They can’t just be fast ball pitchers, because pretty soon the batter will catch on. You have to have a curve ball too, or some other ball to keep them off balance. Here, you can switch the bowlers and do it.”

“There will be one player who is always good at fast, one that is always good at medium (pitches) and somebody who will always be good at spin, so the batsman stays confused,” Korclapilli said. “We are all just meeting for the first time, so this is just a fun game.”

Jesse Van Leuven, president

of the Dads Club, coaches his sons’ baseball teams. He grew up playing baseball, and Saturday he learned to play cricket.

“It seems like there’s a little more strategy as to where you hit the ball,” Van Leuven said. “You can do that a little bit in baseball, but you can only go one way. In cricket you can tip it behind you on purpose, but that would be a foul ball in baseball.”

Van Leuven said he thought it made the game a little more inter-esting that everybody gets to bat before taking to the field, whereas in baseball, the team gets only three outs before returning to the field. He

has three children at VRE: Jesse in second grade who plays baseball on the Coppell Giants (U9), Jake in Kin-dergarten and on the Cardinals (U6) in the Coppell Baseball Association, and a daughter Jenellin fourth grade.

Money raised Saturday will go toward more technology for the school. Van Leuven said he thought they raised over $1,300.

“Coppell ISD matches, so with the match, that’s $2,600,” Van Leu-ven said. “We also made $800 with our golf tournament. That’s another $1,600 with the match, so that will buy a lot of iPads and laptops or whatever it is we need.”

Pol. Adv. Paid by Gwen Craig Campaign, Larry Craig Treasurer 804 S. Story Rd. Irving, Texas 75060

Continue to work with the board and superintendent to ensure that every teacher in Irving ISD

has resources to help all students be successful.

● Graduate of Irving High School ● Resident of Irving for 26 years ● Married to Pastor Larry Craig● Mother of 3 Irving graduates

● Current trustee● 20 year veteran educator

Pol. Adv. Pd. By Linda Harper Brown Campaign

Serving Irving & Grand Prairie

State Rep. District 105

Pol. Adv. Pd. By Linda Harper Brown Campaign

Serving Irving & Grand Prairie

LINDA HARPER BROWNState Rep. District 105

Kensley was endorsed by the MetroTex Association of REALTORs because he knows that business works best when government gets out of the way. He’s also been endorsed by Texans for Fiscal Responsibility because he has an absolute dedication to keeping taxes low and exercising REAL fiscal restraint!

He’s been an outspoken voice for keeping taxes low, regulations business friendly, a meaningful ethics policy and accountability. �ese are the exact same views he’s had for years, they’ve not evolved over the course of a campaign.

Kensley was awarded 2011 Volunteer of the Year for his work and dedication to elect candidates that want taxes kept low, business friendly regulations, transparency and accountability. Kensley has arguably helped shape the current city council working to elect Mayor Vanduyne, Councilmen Lamorgese, Spink, Farris and Putnam.

ELECTION DAY — Saturday, May 11

He’ll Oppose New Taxes & Fight for Fiscal Restraint★ Endorsed by Texans for Fiscal Responsibility ★

www.KensleyStewart.comPol. Adv. Pd. for by Kensley Stewart

Please revise the ad and move the BLUE Kensley Stewart over to the left for contributors on the right and broaden the red area with bullet points. The contributors should be sent to us to-night that will be to the right of his NAME if he doesn’t send then the name is a banner all the way across.

Steven JonesGail Conder WellsClyde & Beca DeLoachLucia & Dwight Ro�enbergMa� & Corley Rinaldi�eodore ColeMorgan McCombAnne Deem

Endorsements:Jerry McCorkleKelly PaulsenRichard DetemanBrien PerkinsRoy Ge�ingBob HarperRenald RuizSteve Hillier

Robert KecsegDon Van SlykeOscar WardJames BakerEmmanuel Lewis

and many more...

Today is election day and Kensley asks for your vote!

Kensley has shown his dedication to our city . . . He’s ready to lead.

During a game of cricket sponsored by Valley Ranch Elementary School Dads Club, a bowler hurls the cricket ball toward the batsman while the wicket keeper watches the action. / Photo by Sissy Courtney

Valley Ranch Elementary School students pose with Dads Club President Jesse Van Leuven (back) after the boys played a game of cricket to help raise funds for classroom technology. / Photo by Bliss Blodget-Stephan

VRE Dads Club makes a pitch for school tech funds


Dear Editor:I am writing to recommend

the most qualified, most trustwor-thy, most accessible person for our Councilman in District 1. That is John Danish. John has served Irving in many positions and helped us get im-portant projects that we needed, such as improved DART service, including the Orange Line to the Airport. And we, the citizens of Irving are all so proud of Veterrans Memorial Park which he worked so hard for us to get? He understands our district and knows we want improvements in our City services. He has proven himself by his selfless involvement in Irving, and by his keen common sense. He understands how to manage public tax money and get the right things accomplished. My family and I are supporting John Danish. I hope you will too. We too believe Irving’s best days are ahead and those good things should start right here in District 1. And who better to lead us than some-one who undestands that as well.

Gardy Lopez

Editor:Kensley Stewart is the best

choice for Place 2 (at large) on the Irving City Council. He is a gentleman of high integrity, a believer in fiscal restraint and careful management of public resources and an extremely hard worker. He will represent all the people of Irving and do it well.

James Embry

Editor:I have gotten to know Kensley

Stewart II over the years and he has always encouraged me even at times when we were not in agreement. No one can question his commitment to being active and involved in local government. I almost supported him the first time he ran and I support him greatly this time around. Many can question his tactics yet he knows the rules of the game and does not hit below the belt. I recall when I some-one came up to me and mentioned someone should call his work and say he is doing wild and crazy things at the city in an effort to get him fired. I have heard personally from folks that he has been on different sides of the issues that when Kensley was

at works he put all politics aside and treated people how they wanted to be treated. When people have to go to the hospital for life threatening reasons or to see an ailing love one its great that for nearly 20 years they had Kensley there to lend a hand and give support. We need this on council. He will be able to get past differences and not hold any grudges. He learned this at the hospital. It takes a lot to put yourself out there when you take stances.

I have seen him help out and volunteer on countless and numer-ous campaigns. I have seen him cam-paign for this race and greet many Ir-ving Voters. Kensley sets the example and I hope the younger generation can get involved in the city. They will learn a lot from him. He can mentor them he is one of the most accessible persons on the planet. Thank you for letting me share and God Bless.

Respectfully yours,Emmanuel Lewis Jr

To The Editor:The only candidate running for

Place 2, At Large, for the Irving City Council, who has not wavered from his original platform, who has not hedged his bets, who has stuck by his original goals is Rene Castilla. He has not tried to cover up any outside contributions. He has been forthright about all of his personal business and has honestly answered all questions put to him. He is a fiscal conservative who wants to see that our taxes stay low or are lowered. He wants to trim the budget and stay within a budget once it is approved by the council rather than changing it with the wind. He wants to get rid of million dollar consultants and replace them only if needed. He has the experi-ence needed to do all of this having served in the public arena of the Dal-las County Community College as a Dean and an Executive Dean before his recent retirement. He has the time, no job to worry about, and the desire to spend all the time necessary to fulfill the position of Councilman At Large Place 2, whereas I believe that his opponents will only have time to be partially involved due to their personal circumstances.

Go out to vote today and vote

for Rene Castilla, Place 2, Irving City Council.

Jacqualea Cooley

Dear Editor,I am supporting Rene’ Cas-

tilla for Irving City Council, Place 2. He is a proven leader with many years experience leading different civic boards. He is prepared and well-qualified to serve on the city council. I am asking all my friends to vote for Rene’ Castilla.

Olga Soto

Dear Editor,Irving needs a fresh voice on the

Irving City Council. That is why I am supporting Rene’ Castilla for Place 2. Rene’ is a leader with experience who will bring a fresh perspective to the issues facing our city. He has been a champion for families and small businesses. He is what Irving needs on the City Council. Please join me and vote for Rene’ Castilla, Place 2 on the Irving City Council.

David Gutierrez

Editor:“I would like to pledge my sup-

port for Norma C. Gonzales in her pursuit to serve District 6, on the IISD Board of Trustees. Ms. Gonzales, like so many others, is a gracious parent that has volunteered countless hours inside her own community. More importantly, she understands the short-comings of the district’s per-formance relative to other districts in regards to educational achievement, discipline, English proficiency, and fiscal responsibility. I am confident that she will appropriately repre-sent Irving parents and children by focusing district administration on setting specific performance goals, and executing a common-sense plan to achieve them. Ms. Gonzales has taken the time to tour individual campuses, meeting with both teach-ers and administrators, to better understand how the board and central administration can support classroom instruction and improve student educational outcomes. She is also familiar with budgetary issues such as, the $550,000,000 indebted-ness of the district, and the current expenditure trajectory that has grown

4 times faster than student enroll-ment, over the past decade. Lastly, Ms. Gonzales will exceed her duties as a Board Trustee, by continuing to be an outspoken leader for state education reform, that will reduce unnecessary state mandates, reward and empower teachers, local ad-ministrators and parents, and drive innovation and expand educational opportunities for children all over the state of Texas, in addition to those in Irving ISD.”

Ross Kecseg

To the City of Irving,Please vote this Saturday, May 11

for RANDY RANDLE, Irving School Board, Place 7.

Randy, and his wife, Lynda, grew up in Irving. Both of them at-tended and graduated from the Irving Schools, and their children graduated from the Irving Schools. Randy has a vision and heart for this City, and is committed to making our school system a better place to receive an education. I’ve known Randy for over 35 years. He’s approachable, hands on, hardworker, honest, and once again, has a heart for our City and Schools. I support Randy Randle....He will get the job done!

I look forward to seeing you at the polls this Saturday….

Sincerely,Sharon Story

Dear Irving Rambler editor,My husband and I are support-

ing Randy Randle for Irving ISD School Board District 7. We have decided to support him for several reasons.

One, we have known him since the Fall of 2007 and have found him to be a man of character, integrity and sound judgment.

Next, considering these quali-

ties, along with his passion for the City of Irving, its people and the school district, voting for Randy Randle is an easy choice for us.

Along with all of these qualities, and strong conservative convictions, Randy Randle will demonstrate strong leadership and help to lead Irving ISD to even greater heights. Randy Randle truly cares for the children of Irving ISD and his passion will lead him to truly put children first as he considers decisions fully before rendering his votes and taking a po-sition. Finally, Irving ISD has many important issues coming before it in the months and years to come, such as potential curriculum changes and continued outfitting of classrooms with technology. I believe that Randy Randle is the man to get these, and other issues, successfully completed.

Carrie Caldwell

Editor:When hearing about the late

George Jones’ passing a few weeks back, it instantly had me recalling some of the best moments about growing up so close with my Uncle Randy and his boys. Randy made it a point to educate us on the greatness that was George Jones as we’d con-sistently have’talent shows’ around the campfire in Fun Valley, Colorado. The act that stands out in the memory vault in my head, is Randy pulling his Chevy Silverado up to the campfire area, windows down, and throwing in the cassette tape that we’d all sing to as a karaoke act in our talent show. I still know all the words to “Why Baby Why” to this day.

Its memories like this that make me realize how my uncle would serve as a great member of Irving’s school board. Children first, always have been, always will be.

Kyle French

Readers support candidates for City Council, iisD school Board

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Rodeo Park in Irving’s Valley Ranch neighborhood looks much brighter and more inviting now, thanks to the efforts of several North Lake College students who are work-ing with Keep Irving Beautiful (KIB) in their Service Learning Program. The group of five gave a total of fifteen hours by painting the pavilion at the park on April 12. KIB collaborated with the City of Irving Parks Depart-ment, which identified an area that needed attention and supplied the paint and supplies for the project. The result of this partnership is a bright shiny blue pavilion that now welcomes visitors to the picnic area.

Student Julio Chavez reflected on what a project like this means to him. “It’s great to get involved in something where you are giving your time to the community and also getting credit in your classes,” Chavez said.

“It makes me feel good to know that these kids we saw playing in the park today will enjoy the results of our work for a long time to come.”

KIB has been a participating agency in North Lake College Service

Learning since 2008, and hundreds of students have gone through the program. They donate their time with a non-profit organization such as KIB, and receive credit from participating instructors in various courses. Many of these students have enjoyed the experience so much that they have been inspired to continue volunteering even after they complete their schooling.

“We had a great group of stu-dents here on a beautiful spring day,

and we couldn’t be happier with the results,” said KIB Board Member and North Lake instructor Dr. Yolanda Romero. “Several local residents walked up to tell them how nice the pavilion looked and how much they appreciated their efforts. As always, KIB would like to thank John Page of the Parks Department and his staff for their assistance, as well as the North Lake students, who were outstanding.”

Source: Keep Irving Beautiful

KiB, north lake students join to clean up Rodeo Park

Creating a better place to play, volunteers spend the day improving the facilities at Rodeo Park. / Courtesy photo


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EMPLOYMENT

who is self-employed; Loren Byers, who is semi-retired; and Juan Martin Ronco, Jr., former military service-man; and DART board chairman John Danish.

Candidates for Place 2, which is an at-large position, are Charter Review Committee member Kensley Stewart, former City Council member Allan E. Meagher, high school stu-dent Francis Schommer and former Dallas Independent School District board president Rene Castilla.

City Councilman Gerald Farris, whose seat is also up for election, is running unopposed and wins the seat by default.

The new Council members will have a number of divisive issues to tackle, including the search for a new City Manager. In April, the Council voted to end City Manager Tommy Gonzalez’s contract in October. A search firm can be hired as soon as July to find a replacement for Gonzalez.

The Council will also face the increasing public pressure to restart plans to build an entertainment center in Las Colinas. The project fell through in the fall when the City

Council failed to approve an agree-ment with the development partner Las Colinas Group and LCG sued the City.

CHaRteR aMenDMentsVoters will also have 25 proposi-

tions to decide on in today’s election. The propositions are amendments to the City’s Charter, which hasn’t been updated in more than 10 years.

Among the proposals, voters will decide whether to increase the Coun-cil’s salary. If the proposal passes, the mayor will receive $1,200 a month and Council members will receive $900 a month.

The City Council salary was last set in 1998.

Another measure proposes changing City Council term limits from four consecutive three year terms to three consecutive three year terms.

After three years, the Council member cannot run for office again, except for the seat of mayor, accord-ing to another proposition on May’s ballot.

Other proposals set residency requirements for candidacy and require a City Manager evaluation annually.

A change to the recall provision is also proposed. A petition for recall for a single member district Council

member must be returned to City within 45 days— up from 30— and the deadline for a recall petition for the mayor or at-large district changes to 60 days.

Many of the changes are gram-mar corrections or language changes to make the document comply with state law.

sCHool BoaRDTwo seats will be voted on in the

Irving Independent School District election. In Place 5, Manuel A. Bena-videz and Lee A. Mosty are facing incumbent Gwen Craig. In at-large district Place 7, Mike Gregory is run-ning against Randy Randle. Running unopposed in Place 6 is Norma C. Gonzales.

The board has been divided leading up to the election with many of the board’s votes being split. In March, Gonzales, who has said she lacks confidence in the current dis-trict leadership, was named to win her place 6 seat by default.

With Gonzales’ support, the board could form a majority of trust-ees who are critical of the district’s leadership and direction. In March, the school board narrowly voted to extend Superintendent Dana Bed-den’s contract one more year. That contract will come before the newly elected board members next year.

ing into an agreement without prop-erly vetting the private company’s finances and background?

“I would love to support this, but then the only thing we have from this company is an MOU,” Van Duyne said. “There’s no financials. No due diligence. No background. It’s very bad business practice to enter into

an exclusive agreement for 120 days without any background.”

The City had originally part-nered with the Las Colinas Group to build the entertainment center. However, the entertainment center project stalled in the fall when the City Council voted down a resolu-tion to extend negotiations with the project’s developer.

Shortly after the vote, LCG filed a lawsuit against the city, which has since been discussed in closed media-

tion sessions.LCG’s last proposal for the en-

tertainment center was for the City to pay for about $17 million of the development. It is estimated the City has spent about $35 million on the project already.

Ark Promotions, however, could pay LCG to drop the lawsuit, accord-ing to the memo. Negotiations will continue. Ark Promotions owns the N.C. Music Factory, an entertain-ment complex in Charlotte, NC.

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARINGS -PROPOSED ZONING CHANGES CITY OF IRVING

PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION AND CITY COUNCIL

Public hearings are held to consider applications for amendments to the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance and the Official Zoning Map of the City of Irving, Texas for the properties described herein:

LOCATION, DATES & TIMES OF PUBLIC HEARINGS:City Council Chambers of City Hall, 825 West Irving Blvd., Irving, TexasPlanning & Zoning Commission: Monday, May 20, 2013, 7 p.m. City Council: Thursday, June 6, 2013, 7 p.m.

ZONING CASE ZC13-0003: Approx. 0.02 acres at 7650 Esters Blvd.The request is to rezone the property from S-P-2 (Generalized Site Plan) for FWY (Freeway) and Commercial Parking Facility uses to S-P-1 (Detailed Site Plan) for Telecommunications Tower uses.

COMPREHENSIVE PLAN AMENDMENT AND ZONING CASE ZC13-0011: Approx. 75.79 acres at the southeast corner of SH 114 and N. Belt Line Rd.The request is to amend the Comprehensive Plan Recommended Land Use from “Office/Technology/Warehousing” to “Low Density Residential” uses and to rezone the property from R-40 (Single Family) and C-N (Neighborhood Commercial) districts to S-P-2 (Generalized Site Plan) for R-6 (Single Family) district uses. All interested persons are encouraged to attend the public hearings and express their opinions on the zoning change request. Written response for the record may also be submitted to:

City of Irving – Dept. of Development Services, 825 W. Irving Blvd., Irving, TX 75060.

The application is on file for public review in Department of Development Services at the ad-dress listed above during normal business hours. For additional information, please contact the Department at 972-721-2424. Please reference the case number when requesting information.

This facility is wheelchair accessible. Accessible parking spaces are available. Requests for interpretation services or assistive hearing devices must be made 48 hours prior to the meeting. Contact the City Secretary’s Office at (972) 721-2493 for assistance.

*** REVISED PUBLIC NOTICE***and

REQUEST for PUBLIC COMMENTALL CITIZENS, AGENCIES, AND INTERESTED PARTIES

for certain activities funded through the following federal grants:Community Development Block Grant Program (CDBG),

Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG)HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME).

May 11, 2013CITY of IRVING – Housing and Human Services Department

825 W. Irving Blvd.,Irving, Texas 75060

972-721-4800E-Mail: [email protected]

The City of Irving will be holding the last two public hearings this summer to receive citizen input on upcoming projects and activities. All projects will be located in Irving, Texas. Citizen comments will be used to help create the Action Plan for Fiscal Year 2013-2014, which will be submitted to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in August of 2013. These meetings will be held at the following times and locations. *Please note the date change.

Wednesday, June 19, 2013,6:00 pm - ***DATE CHANGE***

Housing and Human ServicesBoard Meeting City Hall825 W. Irving Boulevard

Irving, Texas

Thursday, July 25, 2013, 7:00 pmIrving City Council Meeting

City Hall825 W Irving Boulevard

Irving, Texas

The CITY OF IRVING, Texas will receive sealed responses in the Purchas-ing Division,

1st floor, 845 W. Irving Blvd,until the date and time below and will open responses at the same location for the following item:RFP #119D-13F Alarm Services Maintenance, Repair, Testing,

Inspection & MonitoringDue Date: 6/3/13 @ 3 p.m.

Pre-Bid Mtg: 5/21/13 @ 3 p.m.Responses must be received in a sealed envelope with solicitation number and due date on the envelope. Late responses cannot be accepted. Information may be found at www.cityofirving.org click Depart-ments/ Purchasing Phone:

972.721.2631

Each year the Texas Lions Camp in Kerrville opens its doors for the summer to children that typically cannot go to camp. Children with physical disabilities, diabetes or Down syndrome are welcomed by camp staff for a week of fun, games and education.

The camp is free of charge, paid for by Lions Clubs in Texas.

The Irving and Coppell Lions Clubs are looking to sponsor children interested in attending the week-long camp.

“We’re looking for kids that are affected by these disabilities so that we might help them enjoy a fun week at the camp,” Coppell Lions Club president Bill Smothermon said.

Texas Lions Camp is a residen-tial camping facility for children with physical disabilities, type 1 diabetes and cancer. The camp is located on more than 500 acres in Texas hill country and is designed to introduce

a “can do” philosophy.There are nine one-week sessions

during the summer, of which children ages 7 to 16 apply to attend their re-spective camp sessions based on their type of special need. Parents of these children should apply and have a Li-ons Club member sign the application after a review of their situation.

Camps for physical disabilities begin in early June and include those children with disabilities such as amputation, cerebral palsy, polio, asthma, lupus, rickets, deaf¬ness/hearing impairment, muscular dystro¬phy, scoliosis, burns, epi-lepsy, sickle cell, blindness/vision impairment, heart conditions, partial paralysis, stroke, cancer/tumor, juve-nile rheumatoid arthritis, spinal cord injury and other similar disabilities.

The facility hosts two type 1 diabetes camps in late July and early August Kids participating will not only have recreational fun, but also

learn more about their condition from doctors, nurses and health-related professionals. In July, there are two one-week sessions for Down syndrome children and those kids affected by burns or cancer.

“If you go to one of these camps and see what these kids are doing and how much fun they have, you’d just be amazed,” Irving Noonday Lions Club President Sam Scott said. “The camp is full of trained professionals to help the kids understand their situation medically, and the rest of the trained staff is there to make sure they have the most enjoyable experi-ence of their summer.”

To find out more about the camp, visit the Texas Lions Camp website at www.lionscamp.com. Re-quest a local Lion to follow up with you. For more information, contact [email protected], or call 214-641-5757.

Source: Lions Club

ERP Programmer IV for TAMKO Building Products, Inc to work at Irving, TX location.

Rev, analyze, & modify systems incl en-code, test, & debug to support ERP apps. Key role to support new & existing SAP

based apps. Ensure complete integrations. Variety of complicated tasks w/ production

& dvlpmt duties incl: Translate biz reqs into web-based designs & dev/rollout new web content & tools; Work w/ cross-functional teams; Dev user-centric design process & long-term web strategy; Customer based-research; Moniter site traffic & scale site capacity; Improve portal efficiency & de-

sign; Do time estimates; Assist w/ training & best practice docs; Resolve customer

support issues; Move object from QA into production systems. May assist as team lead. Also work w/ tools incl: ABAP, ECC,

CRM, APO, Java, Java Script, NetWeaver, & rel tools. Some travel may be involved. Requires MS in Engg, Comp Sci, Math, Systems Analysis or related field, and 2

yrs relevant exp; OR BS in rel field and 5 yrs relev exp. Resume to Attention: ERP Programmer IV, P.O. Box 72, Joplin, MO

64802. EOE

Lions Club seeks children for camp

electionContinued from Page 1

entertainmentContinued from Page 1

Friendships formed during 12 years of applying skills and compassion making Great Days of Service a true community project. Each spring on two weekends in April volunteers, numbering approximately 400 this year, come with hammers and paint brushes, spaghetti and sandwiches to work in teams either at sites or at headquarters ready to deliver meals.

GDS is unique from many service projects contain-ing a faith-based component, in that multiple denomi-nations and faiths participate. Various churches come together, without competition, as an example of God’s love in shared service. Alongside them, volunteers from community groups, businesses, and individuals perform repairs for qualified homeowners.

Many referrals come from City Code Enforcement staff, helping bring properties into compliance when owners cannot afford to make repairs.

Local restaurants and businesses contribute lunches which are delivered to work sites by caring volunteers. There is a bonding together of work teams. The four work days close with a celebration honoring the homeowners who are served and volunteers who provide the service.

Host church this year is Irving Church of Christ, lo-cated at 210 East 6th Street, with Bruce Bailey as co-chair. Ronnie Walker has been co-chair for South Mac Church of Christ, which will be Great Days of Service 2014 Host Church under its new name, Christ Church and new loca-tion on Airport Freeway.

Contact Great Days of Service at P.O. Box 154044, Irving, TX 75015. You can learn more at our website www.gdsirving.org or email [email protected] . New participants are always welcome and are encouraged to express interest as early as possible.

Source: Jan Killen, GDS leadership team

Great Days of service assists 33 homeowners

Among the many volunteers who made Great Days of Service a success, members of the Baptist Men’s Disaster Relief - Tree Crew remove large dead tree on corner lot. / Photo by John Parker - Plymouth Park Baptist


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By Elaine PaniszczynAmid flames and explosions,

three strangers’ lives intertwined in a dramatic way in front of DFW Air-port’s Terminal A when T.J. Griffin’s van caught fire and Walter Vaughn, a Freedom Park valet driver, and Kristy Dana Gish, who was arriving for a flight, rushed to T.J.’s aide about 6 a.m. March 29. T.J. is disabled from a football injury he received during his senior year at Trinity High School in Euless.

For their heroic actions, Kristy and Walter received Citizens Recog-nition Awards at the DFW Board of Directors meeting last week.

“Walter suffered some singeing of his hair and arms; Kristy received no injuries; they saved T.J.’s life,” said Alan Black, Vice President of Public Safety at DFW Airport. “The Department of Public Safety recog-nizes individuals inside and outside the department for those kinds of lifesaving efforts. We submitted these two individuals for Citizens Recogni-tion Awards, and it was unanimously approved by our awards committee of firefighters, security personnel, and police officers who recognized that this is a behavior that deserves public recognition.”

Chief Bryan McKinney pre-sented Certificates of Recognition to the pair who said they believe fate brought them all together.

T.J., a quadriplegic, is a men-tor coordinator for the Christopher Reeve Foundation. He was return-ing from Seattle where he had been teaching others how to be mentors.

Kristy rarely travels, but she was going to meet her best friend for their annual vacation. She said everything went wrong that morning: the cab driver showed up late and took her to the wrong terminal. Because of the delays and mistakes, she was in the right place at the right time.

“I think there was a higher power at work,” Kristy said.

“I know so,” T.J. said.As for Walter, he had called his

supervisor to pick up another shift.“I shouldn’t have been at the air-

port,” Walter said. “When I showed up, both my departures were delayed about 15 minutes, and then my arrival that was 5 o’clock was about three hours late. I was in the garage, and I

heard a faint, “Help.” I turned in the direction of it, and I started to look, but it was dark outside. Eventually I was able to locate it.

“I looked over and saw a van, and I started to see some smoke and a little bit of flame in there, and I started sprinting toward the van. The closer I got to the van I realized the fire was moving extremely quickly…it was probably 40 feet. In just that short distance of the sprint, it was already halfway through the van. I got up to the door and I started to talk to T.J. I unlocked the door and opened it up, and that’s when I started to realize that T.J. had some sort of disability. That’s when we just started talking in general how we were going to get him out of the vehicle. At that point, the flames are moving a little further in the van.”

Walter said there was no scream-ing. They were just going through the scenarios step-by-step.

“I was already so many steps ahead mentally,” Walter said. “I’m focusing on trying to get him out but after seeing the fire, I realized we had to physically take him out of there.”

Because of T.J.’s disability, in order for him to drive, his wheelchair is locked down. T.J. was unable to make it release, and Walter could not find the release button.

“In hindsight, it is best he couldn’t find it because I would’ve backed up right into the flame,” T.J. said.

About that time, Kristy ran over and asked how she could help. Wal-ter told her to call 9-1-1, and she ran to tell the cab driver to call. He was already “on it” he said.

“At one point, the image came in my mind: we’re going to have to step away, but it immediately disap-peared, and I just went back to doing what I was doing,” Walter said.

“He was very calm,” T.J. said. “I ran back over to help,” Kristy

said. “I was just thinking, ‘Get him out!’ I think burning alive is a big fear of everybody. When I approached the van, the flames were rolling over T.J.’s head, so the van at that point was completely engulfed. The whole top half of Walter’s body was inside the van. He was trying to undo the seatbelt, and I heard him say ‘I can’t get it undone.’ Shortly after that, he

said ‘I got it.” The seatbelt then got tangled on

a device on the steering wheel. Walter had to struggle to get it untangled.

“The seatbelt came flying back, so I grabbed (it), and Walter bear-hugged him and got him out of the vehicle,” Kristy said.

“Walter was hugging me and saying ‘What do I do now?’” T.J. said. “About that time, I felt the flame come over my ear, and it burned my ear. I look up, and I can see the flames over my head. I went into panic mode. Walter said ‘Here we go.’ Gravity helped, and we went to the ground. As soon as we got to the ground, Water got one arm, and Kristy got the other. They dragged me about 5 or 10 feet away from the van, and I’m so in shock I said, ‘Oh my God – my cell phone, and Walter looks for a second, and then says ‘No, we don’t need to get the cell phone. I think that’s the last of our concerns,’ and then we heard all the windows

explode. They grab me and move me about 10 feet away. I could just see by the determination on Kristy’s and Walter’s faces that they were going to get me out.”

T.J. said that burning to death trapped in his car or home had been his biggest fear.

“I was getting myself prepared … and I said to myself ‘I hope I die of smoke inhalation before the flames get to me,’ and about that time, Wal-ter came to the window, and I felt like I had a chance.”

Walter and Kristy managed to

move T.J. behind a pillar before sev-eral more explosions rocked the van and damaged the front of Terminal A.

Walter found a wheelchair, and he and Kristy took T.J. inside the terminal. While this scenario played out, other travelers walked or drove by or stood and watched. Nobody else offered to help.

“Walter’s all ‘I’m going to go back to work,’ and Kristy had to leave to catch her plane, and I was trying to get my bearings,” T.J. said. “I was saying ‘Guys, I have got to get your names – your numbers. I’ve got to buy you drinks for the rest of your life.

“These are just the most amazing people,” T.J. said. “People don’t just run into a flaming van and try to help somebody out. Because of them, I get to live the rest of my life. I’ve always tried to live my life good, but after what they’ve done, I’m going to try to give back even more – try to pay it forward as much as I can.”

The trio has met for lunch, and they phone each other and text “all the time.”

“In my phone they’re listed as heroes,” T.J. said. “The world would be better off if there were more Wal-ter and Kristy’s in the world.”

By Nick KammererThe Irving Police Explorers

proudly brought home a first place victory from a regional competition on April 20.

Fifty teams from municipal, state and federal law enforcement agencies attended an annual law enforcement competition in Harris County. The event consisted of indi-vidual and team scenarios including felony and misdemeanor traffic stops, DWI’s, domestic disturbance, and other various crime situations.

Two teams from Irving com-peted in the event, testing their knowledge of state law and police procedures.

Explorers Julia Durham, Edgar Pena, Luke Dillier, and Courtney Cline won first and third place tro-phies in accident investigation and arrest search and seizure scenarios. The second team: Nick Kammerer, Shayna Richardson, Lucy Sanchez, and Jose Longoria took first and third place in active shooter and DWI scenarios. Because of their performance, the Irving Explorers won first place overall for the Harris County competition.

The Irving Police Explorer pro-

gram was established in 1974 and is designed for young adults to explore the field of law enforcement. Explor-ers have the privilege of competing in local, state, and national law en-forcement competitions and riding along with Irving police officers. The Explorers also participate in numer-ous community service activities including National Night Out and Drug Awareness programs for Irving I.S.D. students.

“I couldn’t have been more proud of the way my teams per-formed. They showed great maturity and teamwork,” said Officer Curtis Kaloi, the lead advisor for the group.

The Irving Police Explorers are currently training for the State Ex-plorer Competition in July.

Heroes receive award for pulling man out of burning van at DFW

At the DFW Board ofDirectors meeting lastweek, Kristy DanaGish and valet driverWalter Vaughn receiveCitizens RecognitionsAwards for rescuingT.J. Griffin from hisburning van Mar. 29.Pictured are (Front)Gish, Griffin, Vaughnholding sons Blakeand Noah (Back)DFW Vice Presidentof Public Safety AlanBlack, T.J.’s fatherJim Griffin, Vaughn’swife Angel holdingMadeline, and DFWAirport Fire Chief BrianMcKinney./ Photo by Elaine Paniszczyn

An airport camera records the flames engulfing T.J. Griffin’s van in front of Terminal Aabout 6 a.m. Mar. 29. / Courtesy photo

Police explorers clean house at competition

Irving Police Explorers bring home trophies from regional law enforcement competition. / Courtesy photo



week’s ‘America’s Best High Schools’ lists.

“We’ve been on various lists for seven years,” North Hills Prep’s Man-aging Director Shawn Stover said. “We are very pleased that national publications recognize the fine work we think we are doing in Irving for the kids. How can you not be pleased and excited when you get national recognition at a high school level?

“We think we are just a humble little high school, and we are doing the best we can. It is just very uplift-ing when you get national recognition by independent agencies.

“I hope it lets folks know there are quality options in public educa-tion. I know Irving ISD is doing a good job, and they are turning things around,” he said.

North Hills Prep takes a multi-pronged approach to providing stu-dents a quality education.

“I think we do three distinct things,” Stover said. “First I think we offer kids a college prep education using the International Baccalaure-ate (IB) framework. High school seniors are able to get a lot of college credit while they are in high school. If they graduate with an IB diploma, they are guaranteed at least 24 hours of college credit at a Texas public university. We also offer a lot of AP classes. A lot of our seniors go into college with anywhere from 12 to 36 hours of college credit.

“We have great, great parent support. Parents are active partici-pants in our school. We ask them to volunteer 25 hours per year per family.

“And we just have great, hard working students from literally all over the world.

“Last year our graduating class, which was about 86 students, was offered almost $12 million in schol-arships and financial aid. So far, our 102 seniors this year have been offered over $9 million. One of the things we really focus on is ensuring that our kids are successful once they are in college. Part of that success is not only making sure they are aca-demically ready, but also that they are financially able to afford college,” Stover said.

Coppell Superintendent of Schools Dr. Jeff Turner believes the national attention brought to the school district by the Newsweek rankings is good for the entire com-

munity, not just those families who have students in the school system.

“We are extremely proud of the efforts of our Coppell High School staff and the performance of our students,” Turner said. “We have had a rapid increase in the number of students who are taking advanced classes at Coppell High School, and the Newsweek report is partially based upon the number of students who are taking the AP and IB courses, and the number who are being suc-cessful in those courses.

“The SAT/ACT scores in Texas have been pretty much flat. But in Coppell they have been trending upward, and our college readiness numbers are trending up.

“I think the ranking is a great thing for the community. It means something to the parents who know their kids are getting an opportunity to have a great high school educa-tion to prepare them for college. It also means something to people who don’t have kids. Property values increase every time the schools are put on a list that shows that Coppell ISD is a great school system.

“We are making progress, but we are nowhere near where we think we can be. We have great potential because of the kids, the staff and the supportive community we have. We are continuing to refine and create a system that is second to none in the state of Texas,” he said.

Irving ISD is working towards creating well rounded students who are ready for whatever awaits them after high school.

“These rankings give an external review that the community can be proud of. Our school district tries to provide a well rounded program that is not just about taking a test,” said Irving ISD Superintendent Dr. Dana Bedden.

“Our four year graduation rate without exclusions from the state for 2011 was listed at 84 percent, and the completion rate is 85 percent, and all those numbers are up. Our dropout rate for grade 9 through 12 contin-ues to sit around two percent of our population. Our attendance rate is still going up. About 96 percent of our kids meet attendance expectations.

“We have focused on the num-ber and percentage of kids who are taking AP courses and how they are doing,” he said. “This past year, we had a 9.4 percent increase in AP participation; a 17.3 percent increase in the scores of a 3 or better. (AP tests are scored from 1 to 5.)

“In 2009, our SAT participation

was 39 percent. In 2011, 85 percent of our juniors took the SAT, and we had a 15 percentage point gain in the scores. There is a lot of collaborative effort with central office and the schools to have our kids college and career ready. I think it is finally pay-ing dividends externally also. The dis-trict continues to have a very strong reputation throughout the state and even the nation.

“The things we are doing are systemic across the district,” Bedden said. “In our secondary fine arts class-es, we have gone from 49 percent to almost 69 percent participating in fine arts. In our career and technical education program, we have had an over 50 percent increase going from 6,000 courses being taken to over 10,000; and they are all rigorous when related to science, technology, engineering and math.

“We need to keep working to provide a high quality educational program for our kids that also al-lows them to be well rounded, which means they get to participate in a variety of opportunities. We want to have high school and college gradu-ates that are employable when they leave us, and that is our goal.”

For more information on the Newsweek rankings, visit www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/fea-tures/2013/americas-best-high-schools.html .

Some information provided by Irving ISD.

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Irving Heritage Society wins silver award in publication design competition

The Irving Heritage Society has been presented a silver award in the 34th annual Mitchell A. Wilder Publication Design Awards Competition by the Texas Association of Museums. Created to recognize achievement in graphic design and media production and to encourage quality in public presentations, the Wilder Design Competition drew 36 entries from Museums of all sizes, regions and disciplines throughout the state of Texas.

The Irving Heritage Society entered a video presentation of a dramatiza-tion of a tour of the Irving Heritage House titled Irving Heritage House, A House With A History. This was produced in conjunction with Irving Com-munity Television Network in honor of the 2012 100th anniversary of the Heritage House, a Recorded Texas Historical Landmark.

On hand to accept the award during the April Texas Association of Museums conference were Heritage Society members Dwane Crain, Shirley Chowritmooroo, Mary Higbie, Wilder competition coordinator Lacie Ball-inger, and Kevin Kendro.

Source: Irving Heritage Society

IN GOD WE TRUST

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MIKE GREGORY For District 7, IISD Board of TrusteesElect

Endorsed by

Political ad paid for by Mike Gregory Campaign, Ken Murray, Treasurer

If you live within the boundaries of the Irving ISD, you can vote for me! District 7 is an AT-LARGE district!

■ Barton Elementary2931 Con�ans■ Britain Elementary631 Edmondson■ Brown Elementary2501 W. 10th St.■ Davis Elementary310 Davis St.

POLLING LOCATIONS■ Elliott Elementary1900 S. Story Rd.■ Good Elementary1200 E. Union Bower■ Thomas Haley Elementary3601 W. Cheyenne■ Johnston Elementary2801 Rutgers

■ Irving High School900 N. O’Connor Rd.■ MacArthur High School3700 N. MacArthur■ Irving Fire Station #8650 E. Las Colinas Blvd.■ Eladio Martinez Learning Center4500 Bernal Dr., Dallas

Mike Gregory is the ONLY CANDIDATE in the District 7 race who:■ Has previous Irving ISD Board experience■ Has other previous non-profit governance experience ■ Has professional financial and accounting experience as a CPA in public practice and industry with non-profit organizations■ Mike understands the fiduciary responsibilities of a trustee and the proper roles of Board members and Superintendent. Visit his website at www.mikegregory2013 for details about his experience, qualifications and endorsements.

VOTE EXPERIENCE! VOTE FOR MIKE GREGORY!

By Phil CerroniThree thousand citizens from

across the Metroplex traveled to Main Street Garden Park in Dallas to take part in the 11th annual Walk Like Madd 5K on April 27th.

Organized by Mother Against Drunk Driving (MADD), the walk raised $6,500 - $2,500 over their goal - in remembrance of Irving Po-lice Department (IPD) Officer Glenn Homs, killed in the line of duty by a drunk driver.

On July 3, 1993 Officer Homs was on his way home when he stopped to help a woman whose vehi-cle collided with a cow near Highway 114 and Belt Line Rd. As Homs set up a flare line around the woman’s ve-hicle, a drunk driver crashed through the flare line, slamming into Homs.

Since then, Homs’ story has been a clarion call to citizens in North Texas who have turned out in overwhelming support over the past decade to celebrate his life and do their part to make sure a tragedy like his death does not happens again. IPD took special pains to remember their fallen brother and not only had the largest police representation at this year’s Walk Like MADD, winning the award for most supportive law enforcement team, but the depart-

ment is currently running in 3rd place on the MADD website for funds raised for this area.

“Texas leads the nation in al-cohol related fatal accidents. Our fatality rate in Texas fluctuates be-tween 47 percent and 50 percent of accidents that involve alcohol, with a national average for the United States somewhere between 31 percent and 38 percent. There’s a spot where we’re No. 1 that we don’t want to be No. 1,” said IPD DWI Investigator, Officer Steve Burres.

IPD considers drunk driving a high priority and employs a special-ized unit tasked with stopping drunk drivers on the road before they be-come a serious threat.

“We have a five man full time DWI unit, all of our officers are certi-fied as drug recognition experts, and two of them are crash reconstruction investigators,” Burres said. “We work at night from 6 p.m. to 4 a.m. dur-ing the peak, where you’ll have your early happy hours when people get off work and when the bars close at 2 o’clock. [We are] doing proactive enforcement trying to find drunk drivers before they turn into an al-cohol related crash.”

Some information provided

by the City of Irving.

Students! Did you receive a scholarship this spring?Be sure your good news is included in the upcoming

Rambler scholarship issue! It’s free!Call (972) 870-1992 or email [email protected]

Walk Like MADD eventremembers fallen officer

IPD’s Officer Steve Burres and Chief Larry Boyd present the department’s 11th consecutive Top Law Enforcement Team award to Christy Homs and her family at this year’s Walk Like MADD event on April 27 in Dallas. / Courtesy photo


By Phil CerroniIf you ask either professionals

or opinionated fans, you will receive dozens of reasons why the quality of the horror genre fluctuates almost as much as the temperature in North Texas. But at the Texas Frightmare Weekend May 3-5, a resurgence of print and traditional genre art are playing their part to spearhead a return to quality classic horror.

With the release of new tech-nologies over the past decade that made both publishing and design significantly easier, the market was flooded with books, artwork and films.

For years, author Peter Clines wrote short fiction for Permuted Press, an Arkansas-based indepen-dent publishing company, before signing a contract with Random House. He recapped how the rise of eBooks introduced an effluence of mediocre material that readers have to filter through.

“In one sense being a self-pub-lisher is slowly getting away from the stigma that it had because you’re getting the wide distribution,” Clines said. “On the other hand, because it’s so easy there’s proportionally even more people who write a novel over a long weekend, and that night they can have it for sale on Amazon … but the part no one wants to talk about is there are a lot more people putting out really God-awful things that should never be seen by anyone.”

The accessibility of free or very inexpensive reading material affected specialty shops and mainstream bookstores across the nation. The most notable example is perhaps the super chain Borders that was forced to close its doors in 2011. This shift also forced boutique publications like Toronto-based horror Magazine Rue Morgue to look toward new horizons.

Although Rue Morgue has ben-efited from online publication, the migration jeopardized their tradi-tional markets, according to David Alexander, Rue Morgue’s Editor-In-Chief.

“One of the biggest challenges we’ve faced, that everyone in the in-dustry’s faced, is the closing of brick and mortar stores, so we lost a lot of places to actually sell the magazine physically,” Alexander said. “There’s a still a demand for it; it means we have the find the places to get it; we have to find the smaller specialty shops and let people know that we’re out there and get subscribers. So the business model’s changed, and it’s definitely been a challenge. But in terms of us having a digital magazine, it’s been a good thing for sure. “

“At the same time, however, most of our fans want the print edi-tion because there’s very much a design and an art element to it that makes it collectible,” he added.

If the advent of online publish-ing rocked the print world, “Ghoul-ish” Gary Pullin thinks the release of digital photo editing software similarly allowed film studios to become lazy with their artwork and marketing.

Pullin has been illustrating for films and magazines for almost two decades, working on such projects as UFC Magazine, Austin based Mondo Tees and, most recently, the IFC Midnight film festival series. He remembers when the advent of Photoshop caused a shift from the iconic movie posters of the 80’s to what were, in his opinion, the bland offerings of the 90’s.

“I think in the 90’s, sort of when Photoshop sort of become really ac-cessible … movie studios were using Photoshop a lot to do their key art and their marketing materials … there

was a real dip in artwork for film and television and whatnot,” Pullin said.

But at this year’s Texas Fright-mare Weekend, the same industry professionals who were so grim about where the horror genre has been for the past few years, were positive about the distance it had come during 2012 and optimistic about the direc-tion it is currently taking.

So what changed?Eric Beebe, the publisher at

Post Mortem Press, a midsized in-dependent publishing company, said that the space in between “The Big 6” major publishers which include Random House and Penguin and self publishers has only recently been claimed, affording a place for indie publishing to flourish. Beebe credits the survival of his company partly on the fact that they have resurrected their earlier titles to include upgraded packaging and visuals.

“I think in small and indepen-dent press, the successful ones are the ones that change as needed,” Beebe said. “When we first started out, stuff wasn’t as professional, but the beauty of being small and having low over-head is we can change. We can take something we published three years ago and tweak it and make it better and make it more professional and put it back.”

“People spend more money on good cover art,” added.

Pullin agrees that consumers ex-pect top notch presentation, whether it be in a magazine or on a book cover or DVD case. The mainstream with the iconic illustration for the 2004 film Saw has continued to grow over the past decade.

“Now with companies … [giving] the artist carte blanche again to build something cool from the ground up, illustration wise, I think it’s really turning studios’ heads… I think now it’s starting to come back again,” Pul-lin said. “You’re starting to see better artwork for bigger releases. It benefits the illustrators, it benefits the studios because they get an incredible poster, and it benefits the fans that like the movies because they’ve got a movie poster that represents a film like a tribute.”

Alexander thinks that no matter how enamored both fans and profes-sionals may become with a particular fad, they will always be drawn back to strong content and illustrations and what they represent.

“I think it boils down to this: the more that we live in a digital world, the more that we are going to seek genuine, organic experience. So what that means is you can find any move poster online but to actually own an original means something, so that’s why there’s been such a rise in art and movie poster art for example,” Alex-ander said. “They want to come out to

fan conventions and that’s becoming huge. It’s becoming more important to the fans and you’re seeing that

reflected in all the new festivals that are popping up and the rising number of fans at theses shows. “

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Physicians are members of the medical staff at one of Baylor Health Care System’s subsidiary, community or affi liated medical centers and are neither employees nor agents of those medical centers, Baylor Medical Center at Irving or Baylor Health Care System. ©2013 Baylor Health Care System. . BMCIRV_456_2013 833 CE 02.13
















Ink and typeface reanimate horror

Discussing the trade, haunted yard artist Les Noble gets some advice from the 13th Street Morgue’s Jennifer Lohmann. / Photos by John Starkey Everyone can be themselves at Frightmare as this group cozies up for a warm family photo.

Every girl needs a coffin purse as Hope Sexton can tell you while she shops with Robert Jordan and Michelle Hawkins for those perfect but hard to find accessories.


occupied one of the booths. “Generally, people are going to

want a little stranger stuff, or at least more unique stuff,” said Shaun Kama of Halloween Tattoos. “People here tend to be a little bit more thoughtful in a lot of cases. That’s actually why I like to do this. I tend to lean toward horror and sci-fi and some of the stranger kind of tattoos, and I get that coming to events like these - more so than I do at tattoo expos even.”

But the convention also hosted one of the largest gatherings of ven-dors and producers in the nation, and it’s getting larger.

“Every year I come in here sur-prised, and I’m really proud of these guys. Lloyd [the convention’s orga-nizer] really knows what he’s doing,” said Chris Rowe, producer for Bad-lands Entertainment. Rowe makes horror parodies - his last project was called “Redneck Ghosthunters.” He was at the convention to promote a new television show, a “Zombie parody of survival shows like Bear Grylls.” For people like Rowe, who create the content horror fans want to buy, the convention is a huge part

of their business.“This is where the fans are, this

is where the input is, the marketing is very important. You can sit in your office and do this all day, but you do not understand what the fan input is going to be until you’re face-to-face with them,” Rowe said.

“For me, this is what breaks me out,” said Bob Connor, inventor of Pumpkin Teeth [plastic teeth that enhance the appearance of jack-o-lanterns.] “Even at a show if I don’t sell out of product or make a mil-lion dollars, still 20,000 people just walked past my booth, and that saved me a lot of advertising.”

An event like Frightmare offers huge benefits to someone like Con-nor, who estimates that up to three quarters of his business comes from online sales.

Exposure at Frightmare week-end may not translate into sales right away. A lot of fans don’t come prepared to splurge, especially on items like vintage movie posters, which can cost thousands of dollars in good condition.

“I didn’t plan ahead in terms of spending,” said Burnside, though he expressed enthusiasm for the whole experience. “Honestly I love every-thing here. I love all of it.”

KEEP IRVING BEAUTIFUL SEEKS NOMINATIONS FOR ANNUAL AWARDS Keep Irving Beautiful is asking for nominations to be submitted for the 2013 “Mayor and KIB Proud Partners Awards.” These awards honor local individuals, organizations and businesses that have gone above and beyond in making significant contributions towards making Irving a better place to live, work or visit.

Categories include:

• Youth Leadership

• Educator

• Faith Group

• Civic Organization

• Business and Industry

• Media

• Lifetime Achievement

• Civil Servant

• Green Government

• KIB Hometown

Detailed descriptions of each award, a list of previous year’s winners, and the current nomination form can be found by going to www.rockthegreen.org and clicking the links on the right side of the page. Nominations can be submitted online, or can be downloaded, printed and mailed to the KIB office at: Keep Irving Beautiful, 3000 Rock Island Road, Irving, TX 75060. For more information, please contact the KIB at 972-721-2175, or email [email protected]. Nominations must be received by Wednesday, June 19, 2013.





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By Phil CerroniWith 60,000 readers worldwide,

Rue Morgue is the world’s largest horror magazine. The Rambler sat down with Rue Morgue’s Editor-In-Chief, David Alexander, who shared some insights into where the genre is now and where it is likely to go in the next few months.

Are zombies’ days as a major trend numbered?

“The one thing we’ve learned is that horror goes in cycles,” Alexan-der said. “Something will catch on, people will do something similar, stu-dios will green light similar projects, and soon you’ve got a movement, an explosion. We’ve seen that with vampires, we’re definitely seeing it with zombies.

“Now, the thing with zombies, they’ve really gone mainstream. That’s what’s kept them so popular for the last decade, and that’s why they continue to be popular, because of things like The Walking Dead that have a huge crossover. When you come to this convention, you see a large percentage of the people are

here because they love The Walking Dead. All The Walking Dead actors have lineups and fans are buying stuff, so it’s definitely opened things up to the mainstream. I guess be-cause of that, the dynamic is just a little bit different.”

What was the zombie dynamic before and after going mainstream?

“Traditional horror fans are the guys and girls walking around with the ‘in joke’ t-shirts and stuff you know if you’re a real fan,” he said. “Then when you get the mainstream crowd, they’re people who wouldn’t read us [Rue Morgue]. They’re not that invested in the genre, but they just love zombies. They watch The Walking Dead on TV, or they’ve even read Kirkman’s comic and graphic novels because they’ve become so popular because of the show, and that’s fine.

“I think some people don’t like it, they feel like they’re infringing on our genre our club, however, you want to put it. But I think it’s fantastic that people are getting the chance to come out and see the larger world of

it. A lot of people come up and say ‘I love The Walking Dead, but I don’t even know who you are … that looks cool I’ll try it,’ so it’s a great way to a reach new fan base and meet people who are horror fans in the waiting.”

What is the next big thing?“Right now, apocalypse stuff in

general is still kind of going strong – there’s a ton of apocalypse mov-ies coming out,” Alexander said. “I think we could see resurgence in giant monster movies because of Guillermo del Toro’s Pacific Rim. It’s possible if that’s a big hit – that’s the kind of blockbuster movie that could kick off the trend.

“There’s also a lot of really inter-esting supernatural horror coming out or Spain and some other coun-tries – Mexico as well. I think we’re going to see a lot of film makers out of Mexico that are going to raise their profile, and [del Toro] is responsible for a lot of that, he produces a lot of stuff, introduces a lot of Spanish and Mexican filmmakers into the mainstream and we’re going to see a lot of stuff with that kind of a flavor.”

Do undead have legs to stand on? There’s still fight in the little guy as this dead but not defeated creature continues to protect his territory among the oddities for sale./ Photo by Jessica Starkey

Amid the chaos of Frightmare,

Scotch Mowery takes a deep

breath as tattoo artist Shaun

Kama begins work.

/ Photo by John Starkey

FrightmareContinued from Page 1


Ginger, Steve Echols and wife Kim, David Alan Echols and wife Tracey, Shane Echols and wife Stefanie, Laura Wheless, Kimberly Slaughter and hus-band Scott, Brandon Harris and wife Lindsey, Preston Harris, and Halston Harris; and 10 great grandchildren, Taylor, Nicki, Shelby, Cody, Kinnsey, Ethan, Christopher, Faith, Ethan, and Leighton; and many extended family members including her best friends, James Brandenburg, Lori Byrd, and Rick Noland. A visitation was held 7:00 to 9:00 p.m., Tuesday, at Donnelly’s Colonial Funeral Home. The funeral service was 11:00 a.m., Wednesday, May 8 at First Baptist Church, 403 South Main Street, Ir-ving, TX with Pastor John Durham and Wayne Watkins officiating. Burial followed at Oak Grove Memorial Gar-dens in Irving.

Marvin Ray ReynoldsMarvin Ray Reynolds, born Oc-

tober 3, 1939, went to be with Jesus Christ, his Lord and Savior on May 4,

2013. He was 73. “Big Marvin” became a Chris-tian during VBS at Hempridge Baptist Church in Waddy, KY. He graduated from Waddy

HS, KY, 1957. Served honorably in the Navy from 1957-63. A skilled ath-lete who enjoyed playing basketball and baseball, but loved playing golf best. Marvin was a Royal Ambassador

Karen Lucas CowleyKaren Lucas Cowley, of Irving,

passed away Tuesday, May 7, 2013. She was born October 5, 1950 in Ir-ving. She graduated from MacArthur High School in 1967. Karen was a cosmetologist with CVS Pharmacy, formerly Page Pharmacy and Eckerd Drug. She is survived by her husband Bill Cowley of Irving; daughter Ra-

chel Portillo and husband Mat-thew of Rowlett; son Nicholas C o w l e y a n d wife Dayna of Dallas; mother Imogene Cline Lucas of Irving;

brother Rodney Lucas and wife Wanda of Irving, and Gary Lucas of Seaside, Oregon; grandchildren Ethan Villan-ueva, and Tyler Portillo; nieces and nephew Andrea Lucas, Kristina Lucas, and Allen Lucas, Hannah Summer, Holly Lucas, and Lydia Berman; and numerous great nieces and nephews, and cousins. Funeral services will be held at 2 PM Saturday, May 11, 2013 at Brown’s Memorial Chapel. Burial will follow at Oak Grove Memorial Gardens.

Arlene Harris

Arlene Harris, a resident of Ir-ving, went to be with the Lord on May 5, 2013 at the age of 91. Born April 16, 1922 in Salem, Arkansas to William

B. Wilson and Mary Lou War-ren Wilson, she was the widow of James L. Harris. They m a r r i e d o n May 11, 1940 in Caddo, Okla-

homa. Arlene was a housewife, church worker and her husband’s helpmate in the grocery business. Her greatest commitment and love were to the Lord, her family, her friends and her church. Included in the many lives she has touched, she leaves behind 4 children, Peggy Davis and husband Leon, Patricia Echols and husband David, Janie Wheless and husband Garry, and James Harris and wife Tamara; 10 grandchildren, Shelley Davis-Crutsinger, Scott Davis and wife

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trivia winners named for 2013

The final rounds of the 6th An-nual Irving Trivia on April 20 found four strong teams competing for the honor of hosting the Irving Trivia trophy for a year.

The final teams included last year’s champions the Henry Holmes Breakfast Forum, the Irving Conven-tion and Visitors Bureau, and the Irving Museum Advisory Board. The teams bowed to the new champions of the La Cima Heritage Commit-tee, represented by Patty Landers Caperton, Anne Pfaff, Janice Carroll, and Tom Caperton as a last minute substitute for team member Virginia Meler. A record number of tie breaker questions were required to determine the winning team.

The Celebrating Irving: The City and The Man month long celebration was presented by the Irving Heritage Society, the Irving Independent

School District, the Irving Public Library and the Irving Black Arts Council. This program was made possible in part with a grant from Humanities Texas, the state affiliate

of the National Endowment for the Humanities. It was funded in part by the City of Irving through the Irving Arts Board.

Source: Irving Heritage Society

leader, guiding his RA’s to grow into strong Christian men. Retired from TP&L/TXU after 40 yrs, never missing a day of work. Spent his retirement fishing with his grandchildren at the back pond. Marvin loved to tell of his boyhood days catching catfish with his bare hands down in the “crik”. He could spin a yarn that would make hairs stand on end and send tingles down the spine. He was an ace me-chanic and plumbing enthusiast; a man who could repair anything with some spit, elbow grease, and a good amount of duct tape. An amateur barber whose artistic works are chron-icled through his sons’ elementary school photos. Always made sure his shoes were polished until they shined and never went anywhere without a comb and handkerchief in his back pocket. He had a huge sweet tooth which included his favorites: cokes, sweet tea, chocolate pie, twinkies, crackerjack, and chocolate malt milk-shakes made with vanilla ice cream. Preceded in death by parents William and Louise, eldest son Marvin Ray II, brothers Terry, Butch, James, sisters Tina, Betty. Survived by Susie Gaye, his loving wife of 46 yrs, children, grandchildren, brother, sisters, nieces, nephews, and cousins. Visitation was held on May 9, 6-8PM at Donnelly’s Colonial Funeral Home. Service was May 10, at 10 AM at FBC Irving, 403 S. Main St, Irving. Laid to rest with military honors at Dallas-Ft. Worth National Cemetery.

Irving employees send hope, help to West City of Irving Field Operations Manager Lawrence Crow (right), who serves as the president of the Building Officials Association of Texas, traveled to West, TX, with other volunteers to inspect buildings impacted by the devastating fertilizer plant explosion. “Media reports didn’t paint the picture. The damage is far worse in person,” Crow said. In addition, city employees donated more than $1,800 to the “West, Texas Firefighter and EMS Fallen Hero Fund.” Funds will be used to assist the survivors and coworkers of fire and EMS personnel who died while responding to the fertilizer plant explosion.

Source: City of Irving

The La Cima Heritage Committee team is named Irving trivia winners for 2013. / Courtesy photo


Organizations are required to re-submit their information on a monthly basis to insure that the Irving Rambler will have accurate information. Listings are limited to the Organization’s name, meeting location and time. If an organization wishes to have more information than the free listing offers, we will continue to offer other advertising opportunities.

CLUBSAmerican Legion Post #218

Heritage Park Building215 Main St. Downtown Irving3rd Thursday of each month.

Recruiting/Questions call 469-621-7878

Buttons & Bows Square & Round Dance Club

1st & 3rd Saturdays at 8:00 pm Senter Park East 228 Chamberlain

Circle I - Square & Round Dance Club2nd & 4th Fridays at 8pm

Senter Park East228 Chamberlain

Evening Lions Club1st & 3rd Tuesdays at 7:00pm

Community Bible Church2301 Texas Drive

Friends of The Irving TheaterSecond Tuesday at Joe’s Coffee Shop.

7 p.m. to eat/casual meeting at 7:30 p.m.

Greater Irving RepublicansMeets the first Tues. each month@ Spring Creek BBQ at 7 p.m.

Irving Amateur Radio Club Fourth Thurday of the month

7:30 to 9 PMSenter Park East228 Chamberlainwww.irvingarc.org

Irving AMBUCS Thursdays @ 11:30 a.m.

at Los Lupes

Irving Garden & Arts2nd Thursday, 10am

Irving Garden & Arts Building906 S. Senter 214.435.9876

Irving Genealogical Society meets the third Monday of each month

in the main auditorium of the Irving Public Library.

Irving Noonday LionsPH 972-409-9940

Every Wed. @ Los LupesIn the Irving Mall

Irving RepublicanWomen’s Club

Meets the second Monday of each month (except July) at 7pm

IHOP RestaurantHwy 635 @ MacArthur

Irving Retired SchoolPersonnel Association

2nd Friday, 10amFirst Christian Church210 East Sixth Street

Irving Rotary ClubThursdays at 12 pm

Las Colinas Country [email protected]

Irving Sunrise RotaryThursday at 7 am

Las Colinas Country Club4400 N. O”Connor Rd.

Metroplex Glass ClubThird Tues. each month 7-9 p.m.

Irving Garden & Arts Bldg.For more info call 972-986-2990

The Optimist Club of Irving1st Wednesday at 6:30 P.M. and

3rd Tuesday at 11:30 a.m.Meet at Googly Eyes 2413 W. Airport Frwy.

Saturday SinglesLunch Bunch

1st & 3rd Saturdays 972-254-3525

Single Moms Care & Support of Irving

2nd and 4th Fridays of each month6:30 - 8:00 p.m. at the Irving YMCA (cor-

ner of Irving Blvd. and Story Road)Free meal! Encouraging meeting!

Kids welcome!

TOPS TX #58, IrvingThursday at 9:30 a.m.

Dwelling Place1126 Hilltop Drive

VFW Post 2494 IRVINGPost Meeting – 1st Thursday at 7pm

Ladies’ Auxiliary -1st & 3rd

Wed at 7pmMen’s Auxiliary – 4th Wed at 7pmJunior Girls – 2nd Sun at 12:30pm

3375 Belt Line Rd

Widowed Persons Service Every Saturday @ 8:30 a.m.

at Wonderrful World of CookingKaren – 972-986-4056

Put a Paw print in your heartand a best friend at home!The precious pets at the DFW Humane Society would like to bring a lifetime of love and happiness into your home!!

4140 Valley View Ln.Irving, Texas 75038

972-721-7788www.dfwhumane.com

OPEN:Tuesday - Friday

11am-6pmSaturday 10am – 5pm

Come adopt a new family member today!If you can’t adopt, please donate!

Hello, I'm Smore! That means I'm "smore" love than you can ever dream of! I'm about 6 years old and I came to the DFW Humane Society from another shelter that was overcrowded. I just LOVE people. They are my FAVORITE. I like to follow them around in the play yard and sit next to them on the benches. I get so excited that I run around in circles! I'm a great companion because I've outgrown the puppy phase and I'm just ready to be your best friend. Doesn't that sound fantastic? Please come meet me!

Howdy my name is Napster. I am an awesome looking buff and white, 4 year old male. I have the most beautiful almond shaped eyes. I was rescued from another shelter. Everyone has taken such good care of me and always loving on me, but I really want a home I can call my own. I love to be held, petted and played with. I get along well with other cats. What more can you ask for? Come on by and see that I would be the perfect companion for you.

1. SCIENCE: What is the conversion of water vapor to liquid called?2. PSYCHOLOGY: What is gymnophobia?3. LITERATURE: What was the name of the centaur in “Harry Potter And The Sor-cerer’s Stone”?4. MOVIES: What does Cru-ela De Vil want to make out

of the puppies in “101 Dal-matians”?5. TELEVISION: Where does the show “The Gilmore Girls” take place?6. MUSIC: In what year did the Beatles make their first visit to the United States?7. GEOGRAPHY: What is the capital of Iceland?8. ANIMAL KINGDOM: What kind of animal is a macaque?9. MEDICINE: What is the chief cause of cholera?10. GENERAL KNOWL-EDGE: What is the biggest

snake in the world, in terms of weight and girth?

Answers1. Condensation2. Fear of nudity3. Firenze4. A fur coat5. Stars Hollow, Conn.6. 19647. Reykjavik8. A monkey9. Contaminated water10. The anaconda

• It was French Enlight-enment author Voltaire who made the following sage ob-servation: “Judge a man by his questions rather than his answers.”

• Have you ever heard of an artist by the name of John Banvard? You’re to be forgiven if the name is unfamiliar; few people these days remember him.

In the mid-19th century,

though, he was something of a phenomenon. In 1840, the then-25-year-old man set off on a skiff down the Mississippi River. He spent more than a year on the river, sketching steadily along the way. After he completed the voyage, he spent another five years painting his “Panorama of the Mississippi,” an ambitious work that was 12 feet wide and more than 3 miles long.

When completed, the painting was mounted on two upright revolving cylinders and displayed for the paying public throughout the U.S.

and Europe, earning him $200,000 along the way.

• In the 1960s, the mini-skirt was still controversial. Both Vatican City and Dis-neyland refused entrance to women wearing the skirts.

• If you’re a fan of the TV series “Dr. Who,” you probably know that the title character, a Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey, has two hearts. This may seem like science fiction (and, of course, it is), but it’s not unknown for a human to be born with two hearts. (c) 2011 King Features Synd., Inc.

(c) 2011 King Features Synd., Inc.

FUN & GAMES


make him the ideal administrator for expanding Irving athletics.

“He is very organized, detail ori-ented, takes care of responsibilities very well. People that work with him really enjoy working with him,” he said. “He’s good to be around. Good supervisor for coaches. [He] knows his job very well.”

Besides acting as Assistant Ath-letic Director for DISD since 2007, Roddy has over 15 years experience as both a coach and an educator. He began his career in 1997 at Navarro College’s Corsicana campus as an Assistant Football Coach and both a Development Math Instructor and Physical Education Instructor.

Three years later, he relocated to Dallas and continued his teach-ing and coaching career at A. Maceo Smith High where he served as Direc-tor of Vocational Office Education and as the Offensive Coordinator for the Falcons.

In 2003, Roddy transitioned out of the classroom to became Head Football Coach and Athletic Coordi-nator at Seagoville High School, also in DISD, before finally settling in as

Assistant Athletic Director for the school district.

Roddy will start the next stage of his athletic career as he begins work-ing with IISD on a part-time basis beginning May 13, before joining the district full-time on June 3.

M o v i n g to the signifi-cantly smaller IISD will pres-ent Roddy with a different en-vironment than the one he has become accus-tomed to over

the last decade. With 22 high schools, the organization in DISD is different than that in Irving, which only has 5 high schools.

For example, Dallas is large enough to hold its own district play-offs, sending successful teams to state playoffs for every sport. Irving, on the other hand, must compete with neighboring school districts like Cop-pell and Carrollton/Farmers Branch for coveted titles.

Despite the differences, Roddy is convinced his experience playing with smaller districts, through exhibition games and competitions that in-cluded the smaller DISD schools, has

prepared him for his new position.“We have three 3A schools that

are in a district with outside schools – Farris, Irving, North Hills, amongst others – so I do have the experience working with the outside districts,” Roddy said.

Roddy is also relying on the support infrastructure already in place for Athletic Directors around the state.

“I’m involved with the Texas High School Athletic Directors As-sociation, so I have relationships with all of the athletic administrators that are currently a part of your 6 5A District,” he said. “I don’t think we’ll miss a beat with that.”

Far from being detrimental, Bedden thinks Roddy’s experience with a larger district will be an asset to Irving’s program.

“We are obviously smaller than DISD, so we think that someone whose skill set managing a large program will actually allow him to be more detail oriented and help us improve,” Bedden said.

Regardless of his extensive ex-perience at the district level, Roddy’s stance on student development sealed the deal for Bedden.

“We want someone who is go-ing to be supportive of the student

first,” Bedden said. “Our student athletes consistently have had the highest attendance rate, the highest grades in the schools, and we want to continue.”

“We want to try to use these sports to teach kids life lessons that they can carry on with them once they leave school,” Roddy said.

One of the ways Roddy plans on accomplishing this goal is by cultivat-ing relationships with the students.

“Coaches are the ones who are working with the kids on a daily basis,” he said. “But I always look for the chance to be able to connect with kids, whether that be to visit a practice or maybe get in to speak to a group during an offseason program or being visible before a game, and let them know that I’m there to sup-port them.”

Jess Paniszczyn and IISD Athletics

contributed to this article.

All Makes and ModelsCollision Repair &

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Our services are listed on our newly designed website: www.Linkautoservice.comor call 972-790-8208313 North Belt Line Rd.Irving, TX 75061

Irving Veterans Memorial Park Committee Presents:

5th Annual Irving Memorial Day Celebration Music Performance by: Date/Time: The Silverstones directed by Woody Schober Sunday, May 26, 2013 at 2:30 P.M.

Distinguished Guest Speakers Including: Location: Thomas D. Spink, Irving City Councilman Irving Central Public Don McClelland, SSG, 389th Bomb Squad, USAF Auditorium Library James Brown, 1st Lt., 90th Infantry, US Army 801 W. Irving Blvd.

Irving, TX 75060 Refreshments Will Be Provided

therapeutic model to everything. We don’t advertise that to the kids. Everything here is to work on their skills while they’re having fun.”

Bender said they are always looking for ways to help the children grow.

“Last year, we did the sand and water, and that was the first time some of them had worked with those two mediums at the same time,” Bender said. “The parents loved it. Then, last summer, we did a whole themed camp on beaches, and that was super helpful for our families to be able to go to the beach last summer. One of the families had their first beach vacation after they saw their child was going to be okay with the sand.

“Getting their faces painted is something some of them would never (ordinarily) allow. We really encourage them to do it while they’re here. They really know their therapist, and everything is familiar. So we’ve had parents say later ‘We went to a birthday party, and they let them paint their face’ which they had never done before.”

From Waxahachie, Gina and Paul Robinson, the owners of God’s Little Critters, brought some animals

for the children to pet.“It’s really fun seeing the kids interact with the ani-

mals,” Bender said. “To see them connecting and loving on the animals has been really sweet.”

The Robinson’s donated their time to the Wood-allkids Carnival.

“The animals seem to calm kids,” Ms. Robinson said. “They just lighten up; it’s so exciting for them. This is what the animals do; they’re here to serve.”

The Woodall Foundation has the carnival every spring, and this year’s event was part of the 10th anni-versary for the organization.

“It’s not as much a fund raiser as it is to get our kids together, to get people in the community to have just a really good time.” said Carley Waltenburg, assistant director. “A lot of our clients come and bring friends and family members. It gets bigger and bigger every year.”

DirectorContinued from Page 1

WoodallContinued from Page 1

Clint Roddy

At the Woodallkids Carnival, two boys dig for prizes buried in sand as a Woodall therapist watches. Tickets were $1 and each game cost one ticket./ Photos by Sissy Courtney

In the petting zoo, Paul Robinson with God’s Little Critters in Waxahachie holds a Bantam rooster. He also brought a Bantam hen with her young chicks.

A dad tries to talk his daughter into petting the animals.


WORSHIP

Belt Line Road Church of Christ

1202 N. Belt Line Rd., Irving, TX 750611st Century Christianity in the 21st Century

Sunday Bible Classes 9 a.m.Sunday Worship 10 a.m. and 6 p.m.

Wednesday Worship 7:30 p.m.972.790.8606 www.BeltLineChurch.com

CHURCH OF CHRIST

CATHOLIC

ASSEMBLIES OF GOD

Holy Family of NazarethCatholic Church

One block north of Hwy 183 on Esters Rd.Sat. 5:30pm, Sun. 8am, 10am, 12pm,

5:30pm972-252-5521

www.HolyFamilyChurch.net

DISCIPLES OF CHRIST

LUTHERAN

First Christian Church114 West Grauwyler Rd. 75061

972-579-0911Sunday School for all ages-9:30 a.m.

Sunday Worship- 10:45 a.m.

Woodhaven Presbyterian Church3650 North O’Connor Road

Irving, Texas 75062www.woodhavenpres.org

Rev. Diane Baldwin Sunday School 9:00 a.m.

Sunday Worship Service 10:30 a.m.972.541.0747

May 12 — Celebrate the Gifts of Women/Mother’s Day

Psalm 97; John 17:20-26Mothering Day

PRESBYTERIAN USA

Oak HavenUnited Methodist Church

1600 N. Irving Heights 75061972.438.1431

www.oakhavenumc.orgSunday School 9:45 a.m.

Sunday Worship 10:45 a.m

First United Methodist Church 211 W. Third, 75060

972-253-3531 www.fumcirving.orgSunday School 9:00 a.m.

Sunday Worship 10:30 a.m.in the Sanctuary

6:30 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall

NorthgateUnited Methodist Church

3700 West Northgate, 75062972-252-8519 www.northgateumc.orgWorship Service 8:15 AM in the Dome

Sunday School 9:30 AMWorship Service 10:45 AM in the WAC

at the rear of the complex

UNITED METHODIST

Calvary Chapel of Irving “…teaching the bible verse by verse”

Sundays at 10:30 a.m.1104 N. Beltline Rd.

Call 817-729-6687 orVisit www.calvaryirving.org

St. Stephen’s Presbyterian Church 1621 W. Grauwyler Rd.

Irving, TX 75061 972-259-8744www.ststephensirving.org

Sunday Bible Classes 9:30 a.m.Sunday Worship 10:50 a.m.

Kirkwood United Methodist Church“Where God Continues To Do Something New”

9:00 a.m. Servicio de Inspiracion en Espanol Children’s Church9:30 a.m. Sunday School in English for All Ages10:30 a.m. Fellowship Time11:00 a.m. Inspiration Service in English Escuela Dominical en Espanol

ReverendPreston W. Weaver

Senior PastorReverend

Albano TayengoAssociate Pastor

2232 W. Fi�h St. @ Story Rd. | Irving, TX 75060972-254-4191 | www.KirkwoodUMCIrving.org

SUNDAYS

Good ShepherdLutheran Church

2620 West Grauwyler Rd, Irvingwww.gslcirving.comMid-Week Worship

Wednesdays 2/20-3/13, 7:00 pm

To advertise your house of worship in The Rambler, call 972-870-1992.

Fees apply.

“A New Church”

By Will JukesAudience members at Irving

Arts Center were delighted when Bandan Koro gave a performance of authentic West African music and dance on May 4.

Bandan Koro, which in the West African language Malinke means “under the tree,” is a local performing arts group that promotes awareness and respect for West African culture in the DFW area through education and performance. Their performance Saturday used music and dance to tell the story of the African Diaspora, the diffusion of African culture in the new world.

“The intent of this performance is to show that there’s a connection between what happened in Africa years and years ago and what’s hap-pening in America today,” said Tony Browne, founder and director of Bandan Koro.

“Those rhythms and that spirit never died, it came with us from Africa. The performance is meant to show that even though today there seem to be some things that aren’t tied to Africa, there’s actually a much closer connection than a lot of people understand.”

Bandan Koro brought this con-nection to the audience with per-formances ranging from traditional rites of passage using Djembe and slit drums to a contemporary DJ playing classic Hip Hop and Justin Timber-lake. The performance told the story of a journey from the homeland to the new world, stopping to highlight slave music and Capoeira. Bandan Koro also incorporated the distinctive tendency of African music to encour-age audience participation. At several points the audience was invited to stand up and dance, or to stand up

and be recognized for their place in the community.

Bandan Koro drew attention to parallels scholars have long noted between traditional West African music and contemporary pop music rooted in those African traditions. The syncopated beats of Rock, Hip Hop and Jazz have more in common with the danceable rhythms of West African music than with any Euro-pean source, and all came out of the African American community.

None of this is news to Browne, who brings substantial academic experience to Bandan Koro. Browne founded Bandan Koro in 2008, hoping that his experience studying West African culture and art first hand could be used to create a lively, authentic show.

“I’d always had an interest in Af-rican music and dance and I studied it overseas and also had the chance to study it while I was in college, so I developed a passion for it and mov-ing to Dallas ten years ago or so I got involved with all the different groups that were playing,” Browne said.

“We have some shorter shows that we do, but we always try to in-corporate dialogue to make sure to educate people about the culture,” said Adrian Templeton, founding member of the company. “We all have a love for African dance and African Diaspora.”

The show is a labor of love, ac-cording to Adrian Templeton, but one they intend to continue.

“The hardest part is pulling all the various components together, you have the dialogue, the costume changes, the performance, and you have to pull all those various ele-ments into alignment. That’s not an easy feat,” Templeton said.

Title: The Great GatsbyRated: PG-13

The Great Gatsby finally hits theaters after a delayed release. Initially intended for Christmas of

2012 this remake of the 1974 clas-sic has a strong leading man and a few support-ing actors who get the job done, though in forget-table fashion. There are things to love about this one, but sadly it is plagued with creative deci-sions that will

leave many shaking their head in frustration.

Based on the novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the story centers around Jay Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio), an eccentric millionaire, who befriends Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire), a quiet Midwesterner. Carraway is soon sucked into the flamboyant life of Gatsby and his endless par-ties and acquaintances. There is a mystery surrounding Gatsby, and no one seems to really know who he is or where he came from. The rumors abound, and soon Nick begins to learn more of Gatsby’s obsessions and personal demons.

They story is well known both from the novel, and the 1974 film starring Robert Redford and Mia Far-row. Those who appreciate the prose and understand Gatsby will enjoy this one. Even those that have no earlier connection will soon be drawn to the

character due mainly to DiCaprio’s performance. Gatsby is very flawed, but we still feel drawn to him and his passions. He is in love with a married woman named Daisy (Carey Mulligan) and will do anything to be with her. It is this determination that makes this as much a love story as any out there. And again, Leonardo gives an award worthy performance.

The book and film is set in the 20’s, which is all a film maker would need to create a world of music, color and revelry. But sadly the director (Baz Luhrmann) felt the need to turn the movie into a kaleidoscope of modern music, unneeded extrava-gance, and delivers something that at times seems cartoonish. These elements were so distracting and almost an offense to Fitzgerald’s work. Lurmann also directed Mou-lin Rouge! and the 1996 version of Romeo + Juliet. Though these were cutting edge films for the time, that graphic novel approach was unwar-ranted here and a detriment to the outcome of the picture. It detracted more than it added.

The Great Gatsby is rated PG-13 for some violent images, sexual content, smoking, partying and brief language and has a running time of 2 hours and 23 minutes. It never really pushes the envelope for the rating, but still it is suited for those 16 and over mainly due to the adult themes. I doubt anyone under 16 would want to sit through this film, but if you have to drag along an offspring, make sure they are a little older to handle the mature content.

I give it 3.5 out of 5 fast cars. Superb acting from Leo, but a visual monstrosity.

MATT MUNGLE

MUNGLE ON MOVIES
















Cinco de MayoEveryone is encouraged to join in the fun with drinks, food and mariachi music during the annual Cinco de Mayo celebration hosted by U.S.-Mexico Chamber of Commerce and Greater Irving-Las Colinas Chamber/Irving Sister Cities, and the U.S.-Mexico Cultural & Educational Foundation. / Photo by John Starkey

Bandan Koro traces the roots of modern music back to africa

Latest ‘Gatsby’ is messy


FOR SCHOOL BOARD DISTRICT 7

RANDY WILL WORK TO:Protect the learning environment through a firm and equitable discipline policy.

Create a more posi�ve working climate that will retain our quality professionals.

Re-evaluate our bilingual programs to accelerate English proficiency.

Convey the posi�ve a�ributes of the district throughout our community.

Maintain conserva�ve financial prac�ces through effec�ve alloca�on of funds.

Bring a cohesive team effort to the Board.

Approve a strong curriculum with classroom flexibility.

Focus our direc�on on student achievement.

www.electrandyrandle.comPol. Adv. Paid by Randy Randle Campaign - Renee Copeland, Treasurer

RANDYRANDLE

WORKING FOR YOUTO CREATE POSITIVE CHANGES FOR OUR SCHOOLS

VOTE TODAY - SATURDAY MAY 11th

IRVING VOICES WANTS YOU TO USE YOUR VOICE...

WRITE - [email protected] VISIT - http://www.irvingvoices.com (FB) - http://facebook.com/Paid for by Irving Voices PAC

VOTE FOR CANDIDATES WHO HAVE... Not “changed horses” in the middle of campaigning - have stayed true to their word! Given you a plan for ALL OF IRVING, not just the north or the south Stated publicly in the newspaper and in forums that they do not want public /private partnerships Demonstrated and given you reasons to believe they have budgeting experience. Put their educations and their experience on the line for you to examine No hidden agendas, current baggage, or past council history Not “teamed up” with other candidates for a “last ditch” effort Challenged money being spent on economic development as being a conflict of interest at times between the Chamber and the city/citizens Recognized that the City has personnel problems and vowed to fix them Recognized that the City has “surplus” long time consultants costing the City too much money

KNOW YOUR CHARTER AMMENDMENTS (Call 972 816-9943) IV recommends you read #’s 11, 15 & 25 carefully

Documents

Coppell Las Colinas Rambler - ramblernewspapers.com concert hall. ... [DCCCD] Board Trustee JL “Sonny” Williams. ... Tickets are $50. Contact Regina with any questions at 214-755-9644