As you probably know, Sunday, May 12 is Mother’s Day. A celebration honoring mothers and motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence of mothers in society, moms all around will be honored with gifts, flowers, breakfasts-in-bed and Sunday Brunches.

Former VPNA President and current Vickery Place resident Shelia Huffman sat down with three East Dallas women who shared their views on being a mother and what they hope to accomplish for their daughters.

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Once again, the weather for the annual St. Patrick’s Day parade and Greenville Avenue street party event was perfect and the crowds were as large and green as ever.  The “Block Party” that adjoins our neighborhood’s section of Greenville Avenue seemed to be steady and a little calmer this year, which continued the trend of yearly incremental improvements.

But why would the streets surrounding the block party be clean while some of the neighborhood streets further out were not?  The Greenville Commerce Association (the group of Greenville Avenue business between Vanderbilt and Vickery that host the block party) must get a permit from the city.  In order to get that permit, in addition to paying for onsite security and extra police both in and outside of the block party, they also have to pay for trash pickup that extends well outside of the official block party area.  Thus, those streets are clean.  Outside of that area, where there is no dedicated money – or where unplanned BYOB block parties occur - you see the trash.  

This trash issue has been brought up many times in the past and it is something that we will address with our sister neighborhood associations yet again in 2014.  The question is always about who should pay.  The Greenville Commerce Association (GCA) argues that businesses to our north (Snuffers, Granada, etc.) and to our south (the “Lowest Greenville Avenue” businesses south of Belmont) also profit from this event and that they attract patrons who don’t attend the block party. Yet they do not have to participate in the cleanup and why should GCA pay for them too?  Those outside businesses of course are not going to volunteer to pay for something that they currently get for free.  One solution might be to require them to get a permit from the city too, but then of course they’d want their own block party...  which the neighborhoods would object too…  but we don’t like the trash either and this event is not going away anytime soon...

2012 began on a sad note.  Before last Christmas, the Flores family’s house burned to the ground.  No one was injured, but they lost everything. Vickery Place residents rallied behind the Flores family and gathered gifts from our neighborhood, sister neighborhoods, former VP residents and North Dallas High. These gifts totaled almost $5200, plus clothing and home products. 

In March of course was the annual St. Patty’s Day Block Party, hosted by our adjacent businesses on Greenville Avenue.  This annual event draws 20,000-25,000 people into our neighborhood and remains controversial among neighborhood residents.  VPNA has worked every year with city authorities and businesses to make this event as safe and as orderly as possible. 

Throughout 2012, VPNA continued to expand our partnerships with other nearby neighborhood associations and residents along Greenville and Henderson Avenues.  

On Greenville Avenue, a major success was changing the former Belmont Post Office property’s zoning from Commercial Retail to Residential to ensure that a late-night establishment could not be operated at the location. 

On Henderson Avenue, the City of Dallas kicked off their “Complete Streets” initiative and VPNA has participated in multiple neighborhood/city meetings discussing ways that Henderson Avenue can be improved to “calm” traffic and make it a more walkable environment. 

Residents who know each other also look out for each other.  And knowing your neighbor is the best crime fighting activity of all!  In addition to our monthly educational meetings, VPNA hosted our 2^nd Annual Wine Walk in June and our annual “National Night Out Against Crime” (NNO) block party.  Just over 100 residents participated in the Wine Walk (it was a sellout) and enjoyed a progressive march to four beautiful porches on Vickery and Miller to enjoy wine and paired appetizers.  The NNO Block Party featured Vickery Place resident Salim Nourallah and his band, food trucks, a beer garden, and great raffle items donated by local merchants. 

I’ve had the privilege to live in Vickery Place for 20 years and in 2012 I’ve reconfirmed what I’ve known all along – IT’S ALL ABOUT COMMUNITY!  THANKS to everyone who makes our neighborhood the best place to live in Dallas. 

Mark Rieves

2012 and 2013 VPNA President