If you already have a family member with four paws or if you’d like to have one, head over to Preston Hollow Park at the corner of Park Lane and Thackery on Saturday for pet-friendly activities from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Councilwomen Ann Margolin and Linda Koop will be there with dogs in tow, and Dallas Animal Services and Rescue Partners will have adorable pups for adoption. Other perks include low-cost microchipping, and a free T-shirt with every adoption. For more information, go here.

English and economics teacher Amanda Ashmead (who is pretty decorated herself) led a team of academic all-stars from Hillcrest to UIL greatness at the District 12A tournament March 25 and 26. Valerie Morgan took home first place honors in editorial writing, feature writing, and headline writing. A People Newspapers employee in the making, perhaps? For a full list of winners, go to the jump. Read More…

Writing for a weekly paper definitely has its ups and downs. On the one hand, you have more time to investigate stories and develop ideas than a daily can afford. On the other hand, you rarely get to break news and there’s always the chance a story that was written on Monday or Tuesday is irrelevant by Friday. Well, we hit the crest of the wave last week with a lead story entitled “Burglars Prefer Preston’s East Side.” The day before this story hit your lawn, a gang of burglars ran a con on the east side of Preston Road, hitting five houses (three in our coverage area) in one afternoon. Don’t get me wrong — we’re not celebrating criminal activity. We’re simply glad that our reporting was timely and informative. For a full report of recent crimes in your area, read the police blotter in each week’s paper.

Between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. on Thursday, March 24, burglars kicked in doors in the 6400 block of Azalea Lane, the 11100 block of Hillcrest Road, and the 7400 block of Currin Drive. No one was home at the time of the crimes, and an e-mail from the Glen Meadows Estates Homeowners Association stated that a group of burglars would ring doorbells with a fake query. If no one answered, they proceeded to ransack the home. If someone answered, they pretend to be looking for a person or pet and leave. The burglars made off with an estimated $10,000 worth of property from all three homes

Headmaster Dr. Tony "Sven" Jeffrey and faculty member David "Olaf" Leeman displayed their musical skills.

Providence Christian School hosted a faculty talent show on Friday to raise money for student scholarships. Check out more photos of the fun after the jump. Read More…

For many parents of special-needs children, a date night — or just a one of respite — is almost unheard of. But the Night Lights program at Lovers Lane United Methodist Church provides something rare: Free volunteer care and entertainment twice a month for special-needs kids and their siblings.

From puppet shows and animal visits to the chance to cut loose on the playground, Night Lights kids are engaged and entertained, and moms and dads have a few hours to themselves.

“These are parents who, because of their circumstances, don’t have access to a village to raise their children like the rest of us do,” volunteer Skip Hollandsworth told me in an email.  “They go at it alone — determined, dedicated, full of love, but still alone. For them, Night Lights is a godsend. And it has become especially vital to these families as all sorts of social service programs run out of funding and are having to cut back.”

But funding for Night Lights is tight, too.  Though it began as a church outreach event, the standalone nonprofit needs grants and donations to stay afloat — and its first big gala, “Shine On,” is April 8 at the Park Cities Hilton.

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The 16-acre campus at Hillcrest Road and Willow Lane has attracted the interest of Prestonwood Baptist Church. The mega-church is hoping to put a second satellite campus in Dallas to attract more members in a congregation that is already 30,000 strong. Both churches announced the news during Sunday services.

We are working on in-depth coverage of this development for our April 1 edition of Preston Hollow People. If you’re a resident of the Hillcrest Forest Neighborhood, or a member of either congregation, we’d love to hear your reaction. E-mail claire@peoplenewspapers.com