WRVNA 2015 President's Letter

White Rock Valley Neighborhood Association

Volume 16, Issue 1 January, February, March 2015

WRVNA 2015 President’s Letter

Richard Duge

Dear Neighbors, to over 800 and the page has been a smashing success. 2014 was another great year for White Rock Valley and 2015 looks to On our Facebook page you will find be even more promising for our posts about suspicious activity, wonderful neighborhood. Before we weather updates, lost animals, and turn our attention to 2015 let’s re- preferred vendors that allow every FIRST DAY OF visit some of the success we had in member to get real time updates SPRING IS 2014: and connect with the entire neighborhood with a few simple clicks on MARCH 20TH  Crime in our residential area their computer or smart phone. I was down 3% versus 2013, 28% don’t believe it is a coincidence that versus 2012, and 51% versus with the launch of our Facebook 2009. page in 2013 the neighborhood as a  We collected more than $70,000 whole began to get more engaged Inside this issue: in dues and ENP and security and aware of what was happening contributions which is an in- around them and as such we saw a crease of more than 23% versus significant reduction in crime from President’s Message 1 2013 and the most we’ve ever 2012 to 2013 and 2014. I think this collected. is evidence that if you look out for your neighbor as much as you look Bio & Photo of WRVNA 2  Our residents continue to invest, out for yourself then we can drasti- 2015 Board and reinvest in the neighbor- cally improve the overall security of hood with home renovations on our neighborhood. Although no WRVNA Membership 4 every street. crime should be acceptable to us we Form do have to realize that we choose to  More than 100 homes changed live in an urban environment and hands in 2014 giving us a pleth- White Rock Valley is one of the saf- Yard of the Month 6 ora of new neighbors. est neighborhoods in the city of Dal-  We recruited 5 new board mem- las. It doesn’t mean that we can’t be WRVNA Financials 7 bers for the neighborhood associ- better. We need to let potential ation. criminals know that we will not tol- erate suspicious behavior and we WRVNA General Meeting 8  More than 100 new households are watching them. Invitation joined the neighborhood association. As part of our efforts to reduce 8 crime and raise the awareness of Adam McGough &  Facebook membership increased Paul Ryes-Speakers' Continued on page 5 Bio

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White Rock Valley Neighborhood Board for 2015

2015 President - Richard Duge - Richard and his wife Heather moved to White Rock Valley in 2009, reuniting Heather with her childhood neighborhood. Heather grew up on Edgepine in WRV and attended Lake Highlands Junior High and High School. Richard grew up in Waco, TX and attended Baylor University. After graduation Richard began his career in public accounting with Deloitte and has spent the last 8 years with Dr Pepper Snapple Group. He is currently the Director of Supply Finance for Texas and California. Heather graduated from Texas A&M University and is currently a free-lance writer and stay at home mom. In October 2013 Richard and Heather welcomed EllieKate to their family. Richard, Heather, and EllieKate are proud to call White Rock Valley home, and Richard is looking forward to serving the White Rock Valley Neighborhood Association. 214-870-9822 - [email protected]. 2015 Vice President - Allen Davis - After hearing of a house coming on the market, Allen and his family jumped at the chance to move to White Rock Valley from Lochwood in late 2013. Allen is Director of Account Services at Banowetz + Company, a boutique advertising and marketing firm located near Fair Park. His wife Virginia is an advertising sales executive for ELLE DECOR, House Beautiful and Dr. Oz The Good Life. Their son John Wilson is almost six and is in Ms. Barnes' Kindergarten class at WRE, and their daughter Georgia is four. Allen is a sucker for old British and Italian cars, an avid runner, a decent cook and an abysmal golfer. 901.210.2679 - [email protected]

2015 Secretary - Susan M. Abrahamson - Susan has been an executive search consultant and career coach for more than 25 years, and is the co-founder and president of SearchCom, Inc. Prior to that, she held managerial positions in marketing, advertising and public relations with both major corporations and their agencies. Originally from Fort Worth, Susan moved to Dallas in 1980 and except for almost three years living in Bonn, Germany, has lived in the Dallas area since; she moved to Forestridge Drive in Lake Highlands in 2007.

214.349.9800 - [email protected]

2015 Treasurer - John M. Arena - John has been a licensed CPA since 1989 and has been op- erating his Dallas-based CPA practice since 2003. Prior to that, he had held managerial positions both in public accounting and in private industry. Originally from Maryland, John moved to Dallas in 1996 and settled on Crestedge Drive in Lake Highlands in 2001. He is married to Maria, previously a high school teacher and currently an office administrator for a private equity firm, and together they have a 9-year old daughter Ava, who is a 4th grader at White Rock Elementary.

214-577-5126 - [email protected]

2015 Beautification and National Night Out - Mark and Maurie Gray - Mark and Maurie own M Gray Architecture specializing in residential design. They moved to Shadydale Lane in late 2012 with their two children Gunnar (1st Grade) and Landry (age 5).

469-855-6275 - [email protected]

VOLUME 16, ISSUE 1 PAGE 3

2015 ENP - Public Safety - Ken and Rhonda Coutant - Ken and Rhonda have lived in the neighborhood 27 years with Ken having previously served on the WRVNA board as Beautifi- cation/Landscape chair and Treasurer. Ken is a partner in a local CPA firm and Rhonda works in the home. They have two sons, one a civil engineer that lives in LH with his wife and son, another an electrical engineer that lives in Houston. 214-340-3953 - [email protected]

2015 Volunteer in Patrol (VIP) Leader – Tom Mairs - Tom and his wife Judi have lived in Lake Highlands at 9216 Shoreview since 1974. Tom grew up in Orlando, Florida and received his engineering degree from the University of Florida in 1967. After graduation he and Judi married and moved to Dallas. Tom went to work for Texas Instruments (TI), and while there he earned his masters degree in business from SMU. After 5 years at TI, Tom began a 31 year career at Frito-Lay headquarters from which he retired in 2003. They have two grown children both of whom graduated from Lake Highlands schools. Tom enjoys making new friends and supporting the great neighborhood we all enjoy. 214-341-1710 – [email protected] 2015 Newsletter - Dana Kimbrough - Dana and her family have lived at 7820 Blackbird Lane since 1970. She and her husband Kermit were local business owners, and their two children started their education at WRE. The major motivation of accepting the position of newsletter editor was to re—establish close ties with the neighborhood, which was easier to maintain before her two children graduated from high school. She is a consultant with BeautiControl Cosmetics and works from a studio in her home. She added MySelectiveMemories as a new department in her business. She is “Nana” to her two granddaughters.

214-341-3266 - [email protected] 2015 Communications- Melissa Martin Guerrero—Melissa and her husband Evan are both graduates of Texas Christian University. Melissa is a writer and multimedia producer with a background in broadcast news. Evan is an interior architect in the hospitality industry. They have lived in White Rock Valley with their justifiably spoiled dog Lulu since 2010, and now they can't imagine calling any other neighborhood “home”. 817-707-9316 - [email protected]

2015 Welcome Committee – Sarah and Rahul Yodh - Rahul has been in the executive search industry for over 13 years specializing in attorney recruiting. He has owned his firm, Link Le- gal Search Group, since 2009. Prior to opening his firm, he held leadership positions at the largest retained search firm in Dallas and a publicly traded international staffing company. He is married to Sarah, who grew up in White Rock Valley and attended White Rock Elementary. They live on Spring Branch with their 2 daughters, Sophia (5) and Claire (3) and a standard poodle, Lola (7). 972-333-6252 - [email protected]

2015 LHAIA Liaison—Jason Thomas—Jason and his wife Wendy along with their three sons; Tucker, Hank and Owen live at 9520 Crestedge. Jason and Wendy both graduated from Texas Tech and moved to White Rock Valley in May of 2002. The only move they plan to make from here on out will be to a bigger house in the Valley. Jason is a partner in the Chris- ty/Norcross/Thomas Real Estate Group of Nathan Grace Real Estate. 214-538-3390 - [email protected]

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2015 Website - Glenn Vance - Glenn is a graduate of Baylor University and works in web devel- opment and content management for Citibank. During his free time he likes to spend time out- side, off-road biking, hiking, inventing gadgets or sprinting after his two sons – Noah and his younger brother Peyton, who both attend Dallas Academy. He welcomes any website content suggestions you may have for the neighborhood website. 214-714-4807 - [email protected]

2015 Government Liaison - Sean Eidson - Sean and his family are new to White Rock Valley. They moved in last year after a long renovation project. Sean is an Executive with a marketing consulting firm, Brierley+Partners, and works in Plano. His wife Shelby is an attorney, exploring opportunities in non-profit and legal aid that will afford her the time required to keep up with their two young sons. Stephen, 7, is a first grader at WRE, and Thomas, 4, attends White Rock North. Sean enjoys running, outdoors, and spending time with his family when he gets off the road. 214.673.1090 - [email protected] 2015 PTA Liaison - Anna Wrightsman -Anna and her husband Don have lived in White Rock Valley on Meadowglen since 2002, and have three children. Their daughter Leslie lives in Hou- ston and works for CBRE. Their son Webster is in the 8th grade at Lake Highlands Jr. High and Benjamin in 1st grade at White Rock Elementary. 214-342-8883 - [email protected].

IT IS TIME TO RENEW YOUR WRVNA MEMBERSHIP

Include membership in White Rock Valley Neighborhood Association for 2015 at the top of your list of New Year’s Resolutions. Your talent, experience and fresh ideas are welcome. There will be many opportunities to contribute to the continuing growth of the neighborhood we all love. Clip this form and mail with your check to the address shown below, or go on-line at wrvna.org.

 Clip Here

VOLUME 16, ISSUE 1 PAGE 5

President’s Message Continued help of project managers you are passionate about some-

Continued from page 1 throughout the neighborhood. thing in the neighborhood and Whereas participation on the want to get involved please our special neighborhood we board has a finite term and e m a i l m e a t will launch a new brand strate- regular monthly commitments [email protected]. gy campaign in 2015. This cam- we will be asking neighbors to I’m optimistic that 2015 will be paign will include the design of get involved as project manag- an even better year than 2014 a new logo that will be used on ers in areas that they are pas- and I hope you’ll help us to en- increased security signage sionate about (security for ex- sure we get there. throughout the neighborhood as ample) for assistance on one well as on our newsletters, web- time projects that they can Best wishes in 2015, site, and exterior entries to the work on at their own leisure. Richard Duge – neighborhood among other uses. We hope that this new idea President WRVNA The new brand strategy will be will help us get more neighbors well thought out and purposeful involved with overall improve- and we will keep you informed ment of our neighborhood. If every step of the way. As part of our brand strategy in 2015 we will begin to invest funds in capital projects that will improve the security and aesthetics of our neighborhood. In order to do this we will need your help. Financially we will need to continue to raise funds to pay for these projects. You can easily sign up for membership by visiting our website www.wrvna.org and you can even pay online with a credit card or you can mail us a check with the attached membership form included in this newsletter on page 4. In addition to financially supporting the neighborhood by joining the association we also need a little bit of your time. In 2015 we will enlist the

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Yard of the Month December George and Ann Hill 9703 Broken Bow

Yard of the Month January Robert & Lindsey Brewer 9225 Shoreview

Volunteers In Patrol New Residents to White Rock Valley The WRVNA VIP program has 14 trained, actively pa- Update Your Directory trolling individuals; and more trained people that are taking some time off. They drive the streets and allies of our neighborhood, watching for problems before they become crime. The low-crime reputation WRV enjoys does not happen by chance, but rather because we watch out for our neighbors. This is a excellent oppor- tunity for you to get to know the VIP patrolling individuals, learn about crime prevention from the Dallas Po- lice Department and contribute to your neighborhood’s safety. The next scheduled training is Saturday, March 7th. Contact Tom Mairs for more information.

214-341-1710 [email protected]

VOLUME 16, ISSUE 1 PAGE 7

White Rock Valley Neighborhood Paul Reyes: Association Newsletter Paul serves as General Counsel of Associa, the largest resi- 9660 Audelia Rd., Ste. 123-20 dential realty management firm in North Texas with more than 9,000 employees. He is also President of AssociaTitle, Dallas, Texas 75238 Associa’s full-service title company. Before joining Associa, Newsletter Editor: Dana Kimbrough Paul was a member of State Senator John Carona’s legisla- tive staff where he worked on numerous issues affecting Phone: 214.341.3266 District 10 residents.

[email protected] Paul earned his undergraduate degree at University of Tampa where he played baseball. He went on to receive a J.D. from Tulane University School of Law and We’re on the Web an Executive M.B.A. from Southern Methodist University wrvna.org Cox School of Business.

Paul and his wife, Claire, have two daughters who attend St. Patrick Catholic School. They have lived in Lake High- lands for eight years, three of which were spent in White White Rock Valley Rock Valley. They are currently block captains for the L Streets Neighborhood Association. Paul previously served Neighborhood Association on the board for both WRVNA and Town Creek Homeown- ers Association. Paul is a board member of the White Rock General Meeting YMCA, and is a member of the Lake Highlands Exchange Club, Lake Highlands Chamber of Commerce, St. Patrick Monday, February 9th - Time 7:30pm Catholic Church and Serra Club.

WRE School—9229 Chiswell As the Lake Highlands representative on Dallas City Council, Paul will work with the Dallas Police Department Program Speakers : and other organizations to reduce crime and improve safety in our neighborhoods. He is committed to making sure Adam McGough & Paul Reyes Lake Highlands continues to have the highest quality edu- cational options for our children and for families that move Seeking to represent District 10 here. And Paul will be a tireless advocate for smart growth as Councilmember - working to complete projects and initiatives already un- derway while closely studying any zoning cases that come across his desk to make sure they are the right fit for our community.

Adam McGough: brought Lake Highlands its first Community Prosecutor.

Adam and his wife Lacy moved to Lake Highlands in In 2013, Adam was appointed as a Special Assistant US 2006. They have three boys: Noah, Cooper, and Eli age Attorney where he focuses time on making our neighbor- 8, 6 & 2 respectively. hoods safer. Adam is also the Director of Conflict Man- agement for El Centro College in downtown Dallas. Adam grew up in Nacogdoches, TX, and attended The University of Texas in Austin. Adam earned his law de- In 2013, Mayor Mike Rawlings appointed Adam as his gree from SMU Dedman School of Law and an LL.M. in Chief of Staff and leader of the GrowSouth economic de- Dispute Resolution from the Straus Institute for Dispute velopment plan. As Chief of Staff, Adam has facilitated Resolution at Pepperdine Law School with a specializa- task forces on education, poverty, charter review, and tion in mediation. After graduation, Adam practiced Fair Park. He has served on numerous boards and main- commercial litigation before joining the city attorney’s tains a successful mediation practice. office as a community prosecutor where he focused his time eradicating problem properties, increasing public Adam is a proud husband, father, and servant leader, safety, and empowering communities. Adam rose quickly and he looks forward to continuing his public service as to become the Chief of Community Prosecution and Com- the next Councilmember for District 10. munity Courts where he supervised the team and