West Kessler Neighborhood Association Westkessler.org Issue No. 16-1 >> Spring

It’s Spring of 2016, and the neighborhood trees and plants are blooming and coming to life

after a relatively mild winder (thank you, El Nino!). I want to take this moment to welcome

all of our new neighbors to West Kessler, which continues to be one of the most caring, fun

loving, and diverse group in Oak Cliff. I feel very thankful for the privilege to live in West

Kessler and have the friendship of so many amazing people; I hope you take advantage of all

this group has to offer.

We accomplished quite a bit in 2015, thanks in whole to the great neighbors that invested

their time, knowledge, and creative ideas; opened their homes for events; and showed up

at the events (the people really do make the party!). For the remainder of 2016, we have in

store a number of events, including:

Quarterly Parties, including Spring Salad Supper, Summer Pool Party, Fall Festival, and

Holiday Walkabout;

Monthly Neighbors Night Out;

Monthly Fourth Friday Wine Down;

Building two Free Little Libraries: one for West Kessler, and one for our neighbors to

the west on Boulevard Terrace;

Beautification projects for the common spaces on Tenna Loma, Stevens Woods Court

cul de sac, and at the Golf Course entry to our neighborhood;

North Oak Cliff Conservation League Fall Tour of Homes;

North Oak Cliff United Police Patrol activities;

Dallas Community Emergency Response Team training and development of a neighbor-

hood emergency response plan;

Designing and building our Mardi Gras Float for 2017.

I would also like to gauge interest in establishing a social responsibility committee, with

events such as a build day at Habitat for Humanity or other event that gives back to our

community. Come out and join us, and feel free to contact any of your board members or

block captain on ways to get involved.

I look forward to continuing to serve you all this year,

Stephanie Engwall, President

UPCOMING EVENTS Mark Your Calendars!

Neighbor’s Night Out

2nd Wednesday of the

month. Time remains at

7:00pm. Invites will con-

tinue to be sent via email.

Monthly Meeting

4th Thursday of the month

at 7:00pm. Please contact

an officer for meeting loca-

tion; they are open to all

residents.

Wine-Down Happy Hour

4th Friday of the month

from 6 - 8:00pm BYOB

Happy Hour, WKNA will

provide the glasses and

the host family has snacks

Coming Soon

Spring Salad Supper

Summer Pool Party

Severe Weather Prep Knowing what to do and what not to do can be your best protection dur-ing disasters. It is your responsibility! Where will your family be when disaster strikes? They could be any-

where - at work, at school or in the car. Since Dallas County is spread out across many miles, it is especially important that your family members and those who depend on you are prepare. How will you find each other? Will you know if your children, elderly family mem-bers and pets are safe?

Disasters and major emergencies can strike quickly and without warn-ing. They can force you to evacuate your neighborhood or confine you to your home. What would you do if basic services - water, gas, elec-tricity or telephones - were cut off? Families can cope with disaster by preparing in advance and working together as a team.

Discuss with household members the dangers of fire, severe weather, earthquakes and other emegencies. Create a plan and post it where everyone will see it. It's only too late if you fail to plan!

Follow these seven steps to safety… Find out what disasters could occur

Create, practice and maintain your family disaster plan

Plan for family members with special needs and for your pets

Pick an "out-of-state" contact for family members to call if separated by disaster

Do a home hazard hunt - check for anything that can move, fall, break or cause fire

Prepare a disaster supplies kit

Prepare an emergency kit for your vehicle For more information on how to prepare your home, contact the Dallas County Emergency Management at (214) 653-7980 Find out more at knowhat2do.com

Shortly after Twister's introduction in

1966, the game became a huge sensa-

tion when Johnny Carson played it with

Eva Gabor on The Tonight Show. The

intimate nature of the game caused

some controversy, with par-

ents and competitors claiming

it was "sex in a box." Despite

the uproar, Twister proved to

be huge and would remain in

people's homes for decades to come.

Paws Profile Maggie is not your average West Kessler

celebrity. Get ready to feast your eyes on our

newest neighbor, the adorable goldendoodle,

Magnolia Clementine.

Get to Know Maggie

Magnolia Clementine, but I go by Mag-

gie. (Honestly, I wonder what she was think-

ing with that long name) I’m a goldendoodle,

and I hope to be 25 pounds when I grow up. I

am 3 months old and my human is Lena Liles. I

must admit to being shunned by neighboring

cats. I love them and want them to be my

friends.

Read the full interview at

westkessler.org/Maggie

Want to share your pawfectly perfect friend’s Paw Profile? Send

an email to WKNATips@outlook.com and we will be in touch!

Bike Friendly Oak Cliff is a Dallas-based 501c3 nonprofit focused on creating a more bike friendly community in Dallas through family friendly bike events and activities, installation of bike infrastructure, and bicycle-related ad-vocacy.

Who isn’t into saving cash money these days? BFOC knows how to get you to ride more around the hood, and that’s to give you an extensive list of local businesses to reap HUGE discounts from their generosity. They’ve been work-ing hard in updating this program and hope it gives you more reason to stop driving and start riding!

When you see their logo below on the front door of a local business, they are a proud member of the Local Business Discount Program. Ride your bicycle to that business, tell them you rode and would like the BFOC discount.

Find all the discounts at bikefriendlyoc.org/discounts

Oak Cliff Film Festival - June 16 - 19, 2016

“Recognized as the new heart of North Texas film culture…a burst of indie street credibility.” – The New York Times

The Oak Cliff Film Festival seeks to showcase the best of inde-pendent and brave filmmaking of all stripes from Texas-based filmmakers, as well as the rest of the country and the world.

The festival will take place in the heart of the burgeoning Jefferson Blvd and the Bishop Arts District. Each year the festival takes on a theme that guides some of the programming and feel of the four day event.

The 5th annual Oak Cliff Film Festival will build on our previous years reputa-tion and further foster a sense of collaborative community within the Dallas film scene and film scenes around the world – while having a grand ol’ time. OCFF celebrates the eclectic flair and tastes of its birthplace with an equally diverse lineup of films and events. The fest takes place in the Historic Texas Theatre, Kessler Theater, the Bishop Arts Theatre, and the Belmont Hotel. Get your tickets at oakclifffilmfestival.com

Cross railroad tracks near the side

of the road. It's usually smoother

there than in the center.

Bright Idea: Report Light Outages

Street lights are vital

to our everyday

lives, lighting the

way for drivers and

pedestrians. Oncor

has approximately 400,000 street

lights in its service area, and they

always appreciate your help identi-

fying lights that are in need of re-

pair. The sooner Oncor teams know

lights are out, the sooner they can

get them fixed!

Standard repairs can take up to

three weeks, but they try to get the

job done in five days or less.

Report to oncorstreetlight.com

Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head Rainwater harvest is

the process of di-verting, capturing and storing rainwa-ter for future use. Implementing

rainwater harvesting is beneficial because it

reduces the demand on the water sup-

ply, reduces run-off ero-sion and contamination of surface water. Rainwater can be used for any pur-pose that requires water.

Last fall, I attended the Texas A&M AgriLife pro-gram on building a rain barrel. Although you are “building” your rain barrel, the Texas A&M staff makes the process easy by al-ready cutting holes on top of barrel where the drain spout rests and on the side for the faucet. Even an all-thumbs person like me easily man-aged to finish the project. The staff circulated around the room to help anyone with questions. The bigger challenge was getting my rain barrel into the back of my Toyota Prius .

According to the Texas A&M infor-mation, you can harvest 660 gallons of rainwater from a 1,000 square foot roof with 1 inch of rain. I in-stalled my rain barrel this spring to capture the rain run-off from my garage; the location is one where I can easily fill up a watering can and water container plants. Since a

white rain barrel wasn’t too attractive, I had my rain barrel painted green so it blends easily into the backyard at my house.

If you’re interested in

taking about 2.5 hours

one evening to hear

about benefits of rainwater har-

vesting and building your rain bar-

rel, email urbanwater@tamu.edu to

ask about the next class. I like my

barrel so much, I plan to enroll again

to build a second one. Even a brief

rain shower can easily fill up my rain

barrel.

By Sue Hall

Congratulations to West

Kessler Neighborhood Asso-

ciation's own Angie Mobley

for being elected to the Old

Oak Cliff Conservation

League's Executive Board

Officers.

Angie will serve as Vice

President of Neighborhoods

The WKNA Review is published by the West Kessler Neighborhood

Association’s Communications Committee. If you have a story that

you would like included, please contact WKNATips@outlook.com.

www.WestKessler.org

You have two identical coins. If

you place one above the other,

as in the image below, how

many times will the top coin

rotate completely (360°) as it

orbits around the coin below it

before returning to its original

position?

Think About It

Answer at westkessler.org/thinkaboutit