Congrats to Greenhill 10th-grader, Russell Houston, who will play at The Meyerson at 7:30 p.m. on Monday as part of the Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra’s Young Virtuoso Series. Russell, a cellist, won the 2010 GDYO Concerto Competition. He’ll play  Sibelius’ Pohjola’s Daughter and Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 10.

Tickets range from $10 to $40. Snag them at gdyo.org

Mmmmmm, I love Girl Scout Cookie season! Today through March 21, Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas will be hosting cookie booth sales at stores such as Blockbuster, Kroger, Tom Thumb, and Albertsons. The sales are an integral part of the organization’s business and economic literacy initiative for girls in kindergarten through twelfth grade. I’ve found it’s helpful to repeat that last sentence over and over to myself after tearing into a box of thin mints. Go here to find the cookie booth closest to you. Get there before I do!

Howdy, campers! Next week’s edition of Preston Hollow People will include our semi-regular Camps section. Do you have a fond memory or funny story related to your time at Camp Longhorn, Sky Ranch, Camp Fern, or some other remote wooded area? Would you like to share it with your fellow readers? Could you sum it up in 100 or so words, and e-mail it to dan.koller@peoplenewspapers.com? Sure you could.

Back in May, the Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas indicted a good portion of the Rand family – patriarch Tony and sons Gregory, Mark, and Bill – for allegedly committing securities fraud, mail fraud, and wire fraud and trying to bilk investors of $56 million through their company, Aspen Exploration, Inc. The Rands told investors their money would go toward drilling a couple of oil wells. The first well became the subject of liens and litigation, and the second well was never drilled. The Feds allege the Rands instead used the cash for themselves, spending it on real estate, vehicles (Papa Rand was forced by the court to sell a 2005 Ferrari he purchased for $315,000), and a 2006 Sunseek Predator yacht, among other things. Oh, and Papa Rand spent seven years in federal prison in Arkansas for bank fraud and money laundering.

Which is relevant because you could have a shot at buying Greg’s former Russwood Acres digs (see second listing). Not sure whether this is because of the Aspen case (still open) or the unrelated $7.2 million Greg owes in federal income taxes, according to court documents. There’s an open house March 16 from 1 to 2:30 p.m. and another on March 31, same times. The auction itself is April 1. Doors open at 8 a.m., bidding begins at 9 a.m.  But come prepared: the minimum bid is just over $1 million, 10 percent of which the winning bidder will have to cough up as a certified check or cashier’s check on the spot.

In a related note, brother Bill’s $4.9 million Preston Hollow home near Inwood and Walnut Hill was transferred to a Maryland bank on Feb. 10, according to county property records.

Hockaday sent word a few minutes ago that Headmistress Jeanne Whitman will step down effective June 2011. The board of trustees is busy forming a search committee, which will be headed by alumna Talley Dunn, who owns Dunn and Brown Contemporary and chairs the board’s finance committee.

“I love this job, especially the daily lessons and wisdom that I gain from our girls,” Whitman said.  ”I also know that this is the right time to plan for a transition.  We have accomplished much together; I can’t wait to watch and, hopefully participate in, the next generation of the Hockaday legacy.”

Frock hub Terry Costa will roll out the red carpet for a glam day of gowns and glitz from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday. Guests will get to strut down the red carpet – complete with camera-happy paparazzi – and hob-knob with local celebrities including fashion show producer and international model Jan Strimple, and Kidd Kraddick in the Morning radio host J. Si. The fun will start up again at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, when the Terry Costa Teen Board hosts its annual Prom Fashion Show. The best part is that a portion of Saturday’s proceeds will go to the Kidd’s Kids organization. If you like giving as much as you like shopping, this is the place to be this weekend!

The Ursuline soccer team rallied past rival Fort Worth Nolan, 3-2, in Saturday’s TAPPS Division I soccer state championship game for its 20th straight state title. Ursuline and Nolan have squared off in the last 10 championship games.

Juliann Jeffrey, Natalie Huggins, and Jana Jeffrey all scored goals in the title game, which was knotted at 1-1 at the half.

Ursuline finished the season with a perfect 21-0-0 record.

The Bears, coached by Jamie Cantrell, beat San Antonio Antonian, 4-0, in the state semifinals.

Kessler Park UMC is a caring and inclusive congregation, celebrating God’s love for all people. The congregation combines a tradition of vibrant worship with a relevant and progressive message as well as concern for the real issues, challenges and possibilities of today’s world.

We seek to nurture and strengthen persons of all ages for spiritual growth expressed in love of neighbor and servant ministry.

Children’s programs include out exciting “Carpenter’s Corner” Sunday School, where children gather for songs and snacks before rotation each week into age-appropriate classes for lessons, storytelling and hands-on activities in our “Holy Word Theater,” “Solid Rock Cafe: and other creative settings. Annual events include Vacation Bible School, an innovative Religious Arts Academy each summer, a parade and egg hunt at Easter, a Christmas Pageant, and much more.

Our dynamic group enjoys weekly fellowship and teaching events while also emphasizing service projects and missions both locally and on extended mission trips. Youth-sponsored activities include seasonal retreats, a fall carnival, and a “living nativity” at Christmastime.

Adults find an open and accepting place to explore their spiritual journey in a cross-generational environment. Adult Sunday School classes, seasonal events, Bible studies, weekly church suppers and other fellowship activities allow ample opportunities for members to come together in the love of Christ.

Together we strive to live out our mission statement:

We are a community of hope, founded in faith, fostering spiritual growth and meeting human needs by reflecting God’s love in Christ’s name.

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Vendors and neighborhood farmers market organizers have been marshaling supporters for a couple of months now in preparation for a meeting with the city, initially scheduled for Feb. 11 but delayed until today because of Snowmaggedon. Jack Ireland, working to draft guidelines to present to the City Council’s Transportation & Environment Committee in early April, expected about 60, rather than the 20 who turned out, but he said it was a productive session.

A lot of the usual suspects were out — Ed Lowe from Celebration, Sarah Perry and Bruce Bagelman from White Rock Local Market, Susan and Brandon Pollard of the Texas Honeybee Guild, Clyde Greenhouse from the Kessler Cookie Company — and Ireland broke them into groups of market organizers, vendors, and neighbors, each of went into a corner of the conference room with a city employee  to discuss what eachwanted out of the neighborhood markets.

There was a lot of overlap. Everyone wanted local and everyone wanted fruits, vegetables, and baked goods. The ”neighbors” group decided they wanted just produce and honey and nuts, plus baked goods if they come from a city-certified kitchen. Organizers wanted to include locally produced crafts and jewelrly. The vendors wanted all that plus soils, gardening supplies, even worms and worm casings.

Ireland said the city input he got today will be the primary factor in drafting guidelines for markets and the idea that this will be top-down and bureaucratic, isn’t true, although he didn’t go so far as city sustainability coordinator Kevin Lefebvre, who was leading the ”neighbors group” (“We keep getting black eyes from the media … every time we try to do something good.”).  The city and farmers market folks need to find “a way around zoning” and establish some sort of special events permit that will supplant the current option–going through the arduous process of getting a special use permit from the Plan Commission.

Ireland hopes to get the yet-to-be-drafted regulations on the Council agenda by May for a vote.

With all the hubub about Pinkberry opening at Preston and Royal and elsewhere in Dallas, I figured other yogurt chains might just give up and cede the entirety of North Texas to the L.A.-based frozen phenom. But no. I was going tothe Lincoln Park Tom Thumb, right across Northwest Highway from NorthPark, and I saw it: California-based Yogurtland, to be sandwiched between Up in Smoke and the T-Mobile Store. It looks to be the third in the area, with one up in Southlake and one in Carrolton, according to the website.

They have quite the mission statement: “To bring people together for the most flavorful, natural, and fun frozen yogurt experience while promoting a healthy lifestyle.” I’m more curious about their taro flavor. Who knew a startchy Polynesian staple would make good yogurt?

The contractor at the store, which was under construction, said it should be open by the end of this month. He said the owner, one Eddie Yang, was flying in from California today to check on progress.