12 February 2020 | prestonhollowpeople.com
Community
‘YOU STEP UP, AND YOU SERVE’
Finishing Her Final Term, Gates Wins Virginia Chandler Dykes Leadership Award
LEFT: Habitat for Humanity’s Tosha Herron-Bruff (left) and K104’s Lady Jade (right) listen to Jennifer Gates speak. RIGHT: Gates catches up with a constituent at a recent community meeting. (BETHANY ERICKSON)
By Bethany Erickson People Newspapers
T
he tornado sirens stopped, the winds calmed, and Dallas city council member Jennifer Staubach Gates took to the mode of transportation that would quickly get her to the damaged areas of her district the night of Oct. 20. “I rode my bike into the neighborhood,” she said. “I just had to cross Royal, and I was just blocks away.” As she pedaled down Lennox Lane, the amount of destruction became clear. “I realized – obviously, I didn’t know it was an EF 3 at this point – that the damage to the area was incredible,” she said. “And I was just in that immediate neighborhood.” Gates took her bike back home that night and headed downtown, but she said it became her preferred way to get around the area when trying to visit and check on constituents the first couple of weeks after the storm. Gates’ brand of public service was
forged by a bit of a trial by fire in her first term. Not long after she took office, Dallas was the epicenter of international news when Thomas Eric Duncan became the first Ebola patient diagnosed in the U.S. Duncan had been visiting family who lived in Gates’ district. The fact that her council career will likely be bookended by catastrophes hasn’t escaped Gates. “I started, and there was probably an expectation and naivete on my part on what it was going to be like to represent District 13 at City Hall,” she said. “And, ironically, Ebola was in my first term, and I got thrown into that without a playbook. What is the role of a public servant during an Ebola crisis?” From that crisis, Gates said she learned
that she could be an effective advocate for the people in her district. “You step up, and you serve,” she said. “And you create your own playbook. And I found my niche.” Gates has been named the recipient of the 18th annual Virginia Chandler Dykes Leadership Award, presented by Bank of Texas, Texas Woman’s University, and the Texas Woman’s University Foundation. She will be honored at a luncheon on Feb. 20. “Jennifer’s leadership in the community, her ongoing commitment to address issues critical to improving the lives of others, and her passion for the value of education make her an ideal recipient of this award,” said Texas Woman’s Chancellor Carine M. Feyten. “Jennifer is someone who demonstrates a
What better opportunity to represent a community that I love and care for, and in a city that I think has meant so much to my family. Jennifer Staubach Gates
A B O U T T H E AWA R D Established in 2002, the Virginia Chandler Dykes Leadership Award is given annually to Dallas leaders dedicated to improving the quality of life in the community and to furthering the importance of education. The award recognizes the life work of TWU alumna Virginia Chandler Dykes as an outstanding health care provider whose professional and civic achievements represent a lifetime committed to helping others. Past award recipients: Dale Petroskey Norman P. Bagwell Stephen L. Mansfield Frances Anne “Francie” Moody- Dahlberg Ralph Hawkins Mary Brinegar Patricia and Curtis Meadows Myrna D. Schlegel and Kimberly Schlegel Whitman Joel Allison Kathleen Mason Caroline Rose Hunt T. Boone Pickens Lindalyn Bennett Adams Marnie and Kern Wildenthal Gretchen Minyard Williams and J.L. “Sonny” Williams Geraldine “Tincy” Miller Susan and Charles Cooper servant’s heart not only through her work as a councilmember but also in her daily life.” Gates said she was “honored” to be considered. But as she finishes up her final 18 months or so as a councilwoman, don’t expect Gates to slow down. “Who knows what to expect in the next 18 months,” she said. “But I was driven to run out of public service, and what better opportunity to represent a community that I love and care for, and in a city that I think has meant so much to my family.” For an extended interview with Gates, visit peoplenewspapers.com.
Of Old Dallas Landmarks and Young Struggles to Fit In Authors often advise: Write what you know. The local writers of this month’s selections got personal with their distinctly different books. One adopted a new workout regimen before taking the first photographs that would fill his pages. The other drew on her experiences as an Asian girl trying to find her place in predominantly white schools to create a heroine for her children’s fiction.
“Doug’s Gym: The Last of Its Kind.” By Norm Diamond $45 normdiamondphoto.com
We wrote in early 2018 about this retired Dallas doctor turned photographer whose debut book, What is Left Behind – Stories f rom Estate Sales, featured images of unexpected items people no longer wanted. Before he could begin shooting pictures for his newest book, Diamond had to spend a month working out three days a week at
the legendary “no frills” gym, a downtown Dallas landmark operated for 55 years by cigar-smoking owner Doug Eidd.
“Mindy Kim and The Yummy Seaweed Business” “Mindy Kim and The Lunar New Year Parade” By Lyla Lee $16.99 each lylaleebooks.com
S ome readers may know this Korean-American
author, who first moved to Dallas when she was 5, for the tutoring she does in our markets. Two of her children’s chapter books came out in January, featuring Mindy Kim, a plucky protagonist working to fit in at a new school where most students don’t look like her. – Compiled by William Taylor