When my children were young, I would take them to a playground in Highland Park….it was just better! Williamson Park was there; I had been going to play there since I was a child, but it was outdated and not particularly safe. You had to walk across a log just to get to the other side. A lot has changed since then – so funny to think about the park as it used to be! So a group of us got together in my living room on Lakewood Blvd along with assorted children and The Lakewood Service League was born.

Inexperience made our little group bold!   Looking back, I think we must have been nuts to think we could just start this organization and build a park. We learned very quickly that the City of Dallas had some pretty interesting thoughts as well about our little endeavor. The more we got into it, the more we realized that our organization could do more than just build a park. My family had always been service oriented and the idea of a service component was very appealing. We drew up by-laws, installed officers, and became a 501©(3) organization. The Lakewood Service League was formally established.

We held our first fund-raiser at Lakewood Country Club. It was a formal affair with casino theme and an auction. My father was so afraid that I would fail that he bought almost every item in the live auction! Surprising everyone, we raised over $70,000. It’s rare in life that you have an idea and people listen, rarer still that they join forces with you and make something happen. The Lakewood Service League exists as a result of tremendous community support and the hard work of tons of amazing and talented women. As I looked out at the faces at the Provisional breakfast a couple of weeks ago, I was gratified and grateful.

The Lakewood Service League may have been my “Baby” but it is you, the members, who have nurtured, directed, and grown it into the successful and thriving organization it is today.