By Lori Stacy
Select clothing courtesy Vineyard Vines in Southlake Town Square
Southlake Style’sbrannual Tastemakers recognition is a spotlight on those people who help makebrSouthlake a first-rate community. From restaurateurs who have put our city onbrthe culinary map to those working to make Carroll schools the best in thebrnation to a volunteer who makes everything she touches a little more beautiful,brour 2016 Tastemakers are proof that it takes great citizens to make a greatbrcity.
Kari Mawn
Let’s first get something straight aboutbrKari Mawn: When friends call her “the party mom,” they’rebrnot implying that you might see her dancing on tables. Rather, Mawn is morebrthan likely decorating those tables for worthwhile causes around thebrcommunity.
“I have a decorating problem,” admitsbrMawn, a mother of three. “I love to decorate for events andbrfundraisers.” She’s put her design talents to work onbreverything from teacher’s luncheons to lacrosse banquets tobreven her tennis pro’s wedding.
And in fact, it was Mawn who, two years ago, started TableTops inbrorder to raise money for the needy. After hearing from a friend that a localbrcharity was not going to get all the bikes it needed to distribute to childrenbrin need, Mawn came up with an idea to create an event featuring—notbrsurprisingly—beautifully decorated, sponsored tables at a luncheon andbrauction that could help raise money for the bikes. She approached Mike Hutchisonbrat the Southlake Hilton first, garnering his support and securing the room, andbrthen put out a Facebook call for help, which brought more than 40 women onbrboard in less than 24 hours.
In its first year, TableTops raised $35,000—morebrthan enough to purchase the needed bikes for children. “In Southlake, webrhear of a need and we pull together,” says Mawn, who admits that it wasbremotionally gratifying to see so many volunteers come together in such a shortbramount of time—30 days—to make TableTops successful thatbrfirst year. Last year, with more time and more volunteers on board, they raisedbrmore than $80,000 for local charities.
“So much of life happens at special events like holidays orbrparties,” says Mawn. “I just like to make them beautiful.”
Michelle Moore
As director of foundations for the United Negro College Fundbr(UNCF), Michelle Moore has raised
millions of dollars to fund programs on thebrpremise that “a mind is a terrible thing to waste but a wonderful thing tobrinvest in.” Now, in her role as a Trustee for Carroll ISD, she is usingbrher experience and talent so that the youth in our community are positioned tobrachieve excellence today and for years to come.
“One of the reasons I wanted to serve on the school board andbrhave dedicated my career to building better futures through education wasbrlargely due to my parents instilling the value of education at an early age,”brsays Moore. “Both of them immigrated to the U.S. from Cuba as teenagers. Bothbrenrolled in college, but never finished. I am a first-generation collegebrgraduate in my family, and for that, I will be forever indebted to my parentsbrfor all the sacrifices they made.”
A quality education for her own children—her daughter, Katie,bris 13 and her son, Harrison, is 10—is what brought Moore and her husband,brBrandon, to Southlake 11 years ago. Moore says she feels blessed to be livingbrhere and gives back to the community through her extensive volunteering. Inbraddition to her role on the school board, she has served on the Carroll ElementarybrPTO board, is co-chair of teacher grants for SAGAT (Southlake Association forbrthe Gifted and Talented), and serves as an advisor for the Carroll EducationbrFoundation. She’s also involved in the National Charity League and Odyssey ofbrthe Mind. And yes, she still works a full-time job at the UNCF.
Moore recalls filling out a get-to-know-you questionnaire forbrthe National Charity League. “There was a funny question on the form: If youbrhad a warning label, what would it say,” recalls Moore. “I wrote, ‘willbrvolunteer for anything.’”
So why does this busy working mom stay so involved? SaysbrMoore, “I heard a quote at a UNCF conference that really spoke to me about whybrI do what I do: ‘The true meaning of life is to plant trees under whose shadebryou do not expect to sit.’”
Officer Diron Hill
You could say that Officer Diron Hill wears many hats—bothbrfiguratively and literally. On any given Friday, you might find him wearingbrwigs or funny hats in his role as school resource officer (SRO) at EubanksbrIntermediate School. It wasn’t part of the job description when he signed on tobrbe SRO, but Hill wants the students at Eubanks to see the more human side ofbrpolice officers.
As an SRO in Carroll ISD, it’s an officer’s job to provide abrsafe campus and environment for students and teachers. But that’s only a smallbrpart of their role, Hill explains. “It’s not just about walking around,brchecking doors and looking for suspicious people,” he says. “The most importantbrpart of our job is to build relationships with the kids in our community. Webrwant them to trust police officers, to confide in them, to be able to go tobrthem in a time of need.”
So Hill, a semi-retired former police chief, makes it a pointbrto have lunch or play sports with the students and to talk to them about what’sbrgoing on in their lives. He also created a citizenship award that’s handed outbreach month to a student, nominated by a teacher, who has shown good character,brsuch as one recent recipient who stepped in and took action when he feltbranother student was being bullied.
And when it came time to help raise money for the CarrollbrEducation Foundation, Hill offered up his time, providing auction itemsbrincluding “SRO for a Day,” a chance for kids to work alongside Hill for thebrday, and a flag football game and pizza party at Dragon Stadium that he hosted.
Hill is thankful that Southlake has empowered him to get creativebrin his role as an SRO. “Southlake has done the right thing with the SRObrprogram,” says Hill. “It really should be a pilot program for all schools inbrthe U.S.”
Gemma Brady
If you’ve had the pleasure to dine at Del Frisco’s Grille inbrSouthlake, you’ve probably been greeted
at your table by a warm, friendly womanbrwith a British accent. Gemma Brady, the restaurant’s London-born general manager,brmakes it a point to stop by and say hello to guests, many of whom the Southlakebrresident has come to know.
The Southlake-based Del Frisco’s Restaurant Group, whichbroperates 51 restaurants around the country, reminds its employees that they arebrin the people business, serving food, and not the other way around. Butbrthat’s something that Brady needs little reminder of. Having grown up withbrparents in the restaurant and hotel businesses, serving others has been a partbrof her life for as long as she can remember. “Hospitality is definitely mybrcalling,” she says.
In addition to bringing the community into Del Frisco’sbrGrille, Brady strives to ensure that the restaurant also reaches out to thebrcommunity it serves. Every Friday, she reviews the myriad donation requestsbrthat come in from schools and charity groups, identifying the opportunities tobrbest make an impact in the community. “We have a pretty big budget for donatingbrto the community,” she admits. “But if we have to miss one event for a schoolbrfor one quarter, I try to be sure to work with them another time.”
Brady is a mom (she and her husband have four young childrenbrbetween them), so she knows how important it is to work with schools and otherbrlocal organizations in town. “What sets Southlake apart from other places isbrthe sense of community here,” she says. Even the “competition,” she admits,brlikes to work together. “The other restaurants here are not our competition;brthey’re our friends,” she says. “We get calls from them to borrow something orbrto just see what’s going on.
“Southlake is just this quaint, little place,” she adds. “Thebrschools, the education—everything is phenomenal.”
Christopher Archer
To get a better understanding of why Christopher Archer wantedbrto get involved with Carroll ISD, you might need to do a little math. Betweenbrhe and his wife, Stacey, the Archers have five children, all of whom have gonebrthrough or are going through the district. Considering that his childrenbrstarted in Southlake’s school system in 1998 and the youngest will graduate inbr2019, that’s more than 20 years of having a Dragon in the household.
Five children, 21 years—that’s a lot of PTO meetings and open houses.brIt’s also given Archer, president of the Carroll ISD Board of Trustees, abrfirsthand look at what a phenomenal job the school district is doing.
“There’s a good administration, quality programs; there’s notbra need for a lot of change,” says Archer. Rather, “I wanted to be a part ofbradding to the success. It doesn’t matter how many National Merit Scholars youbrhave, you still want to improve.”
In addition to meeting with the Board every other Monday,brArcher attends school-related events throughout the week—lunches, banquets,brprograms, sporting events and more—in part to show the school board’s supportbrbut also because Archer wants to stay connected to the schools he represents.
Not to mention the fact that Archer, who is president andbrowner of Associated Time & Parking Controls, and Stacey are involved inbrlocal charities including the GRACE Gala (for which they were chairs two yearsbrago), the Bob Jones Nature Center “Naturally Sweet” fundraiser (also which theybrco-chaired), Miracle League, Art in the Square and the Carroll EducationbrFoundation, on which Archer serves as an Advisor.
But giving back is important to the Archers. “We feelbrSouthlake has been such a great place to raise kids,” he says. Although, withbrjust 24 hours a day and seven days a week, even Archer sometimes has troublebradding it all up and finding enough time. “We might need to learn to say no abrlittle more often,” he admits. But somehow we doubt he will.
Robert Talamantez
On his first week on the job as General Manager at Brio TuscanbrGrille, Robert Talamantez received many welcome greetings from guests. There’sbrone that he remembers in particular, though.
“I had the opportunity to meet Brian Stebbins on our terracebrand he said it the best: ‘You are now part of the Southlake family.’ That wasbrsuch a warm, genuine welcome to the great city of Southlake,” recallsbrTalamantez of the late developer from Cooper & Stebbins, the firm thatbrconceived and developed Southlake Town Square.
Indeed, it’s been Talamantez’s goal to make Brio a part of thebrcommunity. In addition to partnering with charitable foundations such as KidsbrMatter International, Guzman 23 Foundation, Art in the Square and WoundedbrWarriors (to name just a few), the restaurant also does lunch drop-offs tobrlocal firefighters and police stations on Labor Day.
“We are grateful to be able to touch people’s lives inside andbroutside of the restaurant,” Talamantez says. “Known as a community restaurant,brBrio believes in giving back.”
And the community, it seems, has embraced Brio as well. “Briobrhas always had that hometown restaurant feel. You often run into your friends,brschool teachers and business associates,” Talamantez says. “We are privilegedbrin hosting many family get-togethers during the holiday season and throughoutbrthe year.”
Talamantez, who has been in the restaurant business for 23bryears, admits that being in this industry has transformed him from a shy kidbrfrom Snyder, Texas, to an executive whose main job is dealing with people. “Ibrremember my first mentor stating, ‘You will learn a lot about yourself andbrother people in this industry—more than any other industry out there,’” recallsbrTalamantez. “He was correct.”
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