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FAR NORTH DALLAS FEBRUARY 2010

Capeless Crusaders

How little acts of selflessness make a big difference in our neighborhood

By Marlena Chavira-Medford

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Carolyn Stewart

Grandmother of an entire football team

When some women retire, they take up knitting or gardening. Others become football coaches.

That’s the case, at least, for Carolyn Stewart. In the late ’60s, she helped form a girls’ program for the Spring Valley Athletic Association (SVAA). After her three daughters played their way through the program, Stewart — who jokes she “wanted to have five sons once upon a time” — started volunteering to coach football, soccer and basketball. She even attended referee school and worked her way up to football commissioner, a volunteer gig that takes upward of 20 hours a week.

“I enjoy kids and sports, so it’s a natural pastime for me. I did quit for a couple of years when my husband passed away, but I had to come back to it because I missed it too much. I don’t know what all these other old people do, but this works for me.”

And though she no longer coaches because she “can’t shoot a layup quite as well these days,” she still spends most of her Saturday mornings on the sidelines cheering for neighborhood kids.

“When you see a kid catch a pass, and you see his face light up, that’s just the greatest feeling in the world.”

L.L. Carter has worked with Stewart for several years as a board member of the Neighborhood Service Council Inc. (NSCI), a local afterschool program for disadvantaged families. He says because so much of Stewart’s work is done behind the scenes, neighbors don’t realize the extent of what she does for our neighborhood. Case in point, she negotiated with the SVAA to lower team fees for the kids in NSCI. Her initiative helped hundreds of low-income kids gain access to team sports.

“Not only did she make those sports affordable for low-income families, she also had to find coaches for all these new teams — and those coaches had to speak Spanish because that’s the primary language of most of our children,” Carter says.

That’s important, he says, because keeping at-risk kids involved in positive activities such as sports helps keep them out of trouble.

“She gets it; she sees the bigger picture of how we’re trying to help the kids in our neighborhood who need it,” Carter says. “She’s an incredibly selfless person, and we’re all very lucky to have her in our community.”

What was once a strip of grass beneath the Oncor easement along Meandering Way is now the unlikely crown jewel of our neighborhood, the Preston Ridge Trail. The paved path is well-loved by neighbors, as evidenced by the several volunteer projects courtesy of the Friends of Preston Ridge Trail — and its constant afternoon foot traffic.

Brad Schweig

Keeper of a cleaner Preston Ridge Trail

It was on one such afternoon stroll down Preston Ridge Trail that Brad Schweig decided to do something to improve it.

“My birthday was around the corner, and I didn’t want any gifts. So I thought, instead, I could raise money for a doggie-bag dispenser on the trail. I figured that’d be a nice gesture because it’d keep the trail clean.

“I really liked the idea of just doing something nice for the neighborhood … and I’m not going to lie, part of me thought it’d be cool to have my name on something.”

Schweig ultimately received his birthday wish. His name is now on a plaque, right next to the doggie-bag dispenser for which he and about 25 of his closest friends and family members raised the money.

“I always hope that one day I’ll be walking on the trail and someone will see the plaque and say ‘Hey, who’s that guy?’ and I can say ‘I’m that guy,’ but so far that hasn’t happened.”

Longtime friend Brian Rubenstein contributed toward the dispenser on Preston Ridge Trail, and he says the idea is representative of how much Schweig loves our neighborhood.

“He’s very pro-local. I mean, we’re talking about a guy who has an entire room in his house dedicated to Texas. He takes that same kind of pride in his neighborhood and in improving it.”

Plus, it didn’t hurt that this birthday tribute was a little off the beaten path.

“When I heard about the idea, I though it sounded like classic Brad,” Rubenstein says. “He likes off-the-wall things that are still for a greater good, so this was a perfect fit.”

Schweig says doing something for the community was an outstanding way to celebrate his birthday, and he encourages others to commemorate momentous occasions this way.

“It’s a simple thing to do for someone’s birthday or anniversary, and it’s more meaningful than most gifts. This is something that will last a lifetime — and it’s something everyone in the community can benefit from.

“What gift could be better than that?”

Mark Dempsey

Visionary for his friend

Most Saturday mornings you’ll find Mark Dempsey at the home of his longtime friend Ralf Wilson. The two met more than a decade ago when Dempsey moved in across the street, and friendship soon followed.

“I’m a lawyer, so Ralf can’t resist telling me lawyer jokes — he’s quite the character,” Dempsey says of his 89-year-old neighbor.

“And he was quite the golfer, too. When he was 77, he shot a 77. Can you believe that? He shot his age on his birthday.”

But Wilson doesn’t golf these days. Several years ago he developed macular degeneration, an eye disorder that makes it difficult to see details.

“If you can imagine what a solar eclipse looks like with the center portion obstructed, that’s what his vision is like,” Dempsey says.

The macular degeneration was the first of many hardships Wilson would face. Soon after, his wife of 60 years, Alma, fell gravely ill. As she lay on her deathbed, his son died. Six days later, Alma, too, passed. Within six months of both deaths, Wilson’s granddaughter died in a car accident.

“Ralf began talking about going to a nursing home, but after the friendship we’d developed over the years, I couldn’t have borne the idea of him going.”

So Dempsey volunteered to help Wilson, taking him on weekly grocery trips and errand runs. That has been his practice for more than five years now.

“I also go over there frequently and just visit with him. For older people, there aren’t too many things you can give them that they need — except maybe your time and company.”

And in this case, his friendship with Wilson has afforded Dempsey some unexpected yet valuable teaching experiences.

“Oddly enough, my father also developed macular degeneration, so I had a better understanding of it on account of Ralf. [Macular degeneration] is genetic, so there’s a chance I, too, could get it one day.”

Most importantly, Dempsey says he’s content knowing he is helping a deserving person.

“To be honest, I think I probably get more from our visits than Ralf does. There’s also a lot of satisfaction to be had in doing good for other people.”

Longtime neighbor and friend Kim Harrison says Dempsey is just “one of those naturally nice guys who instinctively helps others.” Like the time she ran into him at a neighborhood Tuesday Morning store.

“Cheryl [Dempsey’s wife] had told him that was a good store to get stuff for an apartment. So Mark was there checking it out for his friend, who had just gotten his own place and needed everything.”

Or there was the more recent time she bumped into him at a holiday party.

“I overheard Mark asking a single mom if her Christmas lights were working OK. He had seen they were out, stopped and fixed them, and wanted to make sure they were fixed right.

“He sees a need and does it. And he doesn’t think it is any big deal.”

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